Blue Ridge is a fictional town located deep in the heart of Kentucky. It is home to one of the most well known equestrian academies in the United States. Students and staff from all over the world join the academy for what it has to offer. Do you have what it takes to join us and learn from the Academy?
Smilys were made by Sapphire Heaven of LiveJournal.
The mini-profile hover follows a tutorial by Kagney of Adoxography.
Photos in the skin used under CC from Flickr.
Post by Jessamine Smith on Jan 8, 2018 8:26:40 GMT -8
Jessamine looked at the buckskin horse who was standing there, more or less patiently, saddled and ready to go. She'd decided today was the day to take him for a test ride - Not with barrels yet, just a 'get to know each other' ride. He seemed rather grumpy with her, but she'd already sensed that lessening over the four days she'd been working with him, as they got used to each other and this new standard.
She grabbed her helmet and led the gelding to the indoor arena, glad to find it empty so early in the morning. Most would still be asleep, or just getting breakfast, the first weekend after classes had started again. She closed the gate behind her and then led Alien to the middle of the ring before she paused, standing at his head and rubbing his forehead, sharing a brief moment before she checked his cinch and then mounted.
The gelding tried to start walking off straight away, and Jessa frowned, tightening her grip on the reins, "Uh-uh." She would have to keep an eye on him, it seemed - But she had to tread the fine line between building a relationship, and letting him get away with things. After he'd stood for a moment, the girl relaxed her grip and cued him forward, letting him walk freely.
Post by Kallistos Rolleston on Jan 20, 2018 1:41:06 GMT -8
Kall wiped his hands on his pants as he walked back to his horse from the tackroom, wondering if he should wash his hands before riding and then just let Cue lick the sticky licorice residue from them before wiping them on his pants again, and removed the cross-ties from the gelding's bridle.
He felt that he'd been ignoring the Quarab lately and that today they would have a gentle workout in the indoor arena, it was too cold this time of the morning to be riding outdoors.
Leading the gelding to the arena, he pulled a disappointed face to see that someone else had already had the idea of using the arena. With a shrug, he whistled a merry tune as he approached the gate, so at least the horse in the arena would know they were there, and waited. "Morning." He said when the rider was facing him. "Do you mind if we join you?" He chuckled as Cue rested his chin on the gate, ears flicking back and forth as he watched the other horse.
Post by Jessamine Smith on Jan 20, 2018 6:33:09 GMT -8
Jessa spotted the boy standing at the gate as they turned in that direction, and paused Alien nearby so she could talk to him for a brief moment, "I don't mind." She paused, trying to phrase the warning right, "But I should give you a heads up just to be fair - This is my first time with him, and I don't know how he is around other horses. I'll try to keep him away from you, obviously, but I figured I'd let you know." She blushed as she admitted that, feeling like it was an excuse for whatever might happen, but feeling the need to make the disclaimer anyway, "He's been good so far, so I don't expect issues, but still."
Post by Kallistos Rolleston on Jan 22, 2018 0:59:44 GMT -8
Kall's lips curved in a smile and nodded at the warning, his horse giving the other no more attention than flicking his ears back and forth. "I'm glad I decided to spend time with Cue then." He said as he waited for them to move around the arena and he entered the arena, latching the gate behind them, and walked to the middle before he pulled the stirrups down, tightened the girth and swung into the saddle.
"Cue here is pretty laid back, so you won't need to worry about him wanting to have a conversation with your horse." He knew a number of horses here who liked talking. "We'll keep out of your way. Oh, I'm Kall and this is Cue."
Post by Jessamine Smith on Jan 26, 2018 20:04:39 GMT -8
Jessa nodded as the boy accepted the warning - At least she could say she'd given him the opportunity to go elsewhere. Alien barely seemed to notice the horse at first, with just a brief flick of the ear before he was focused back on what Jessa wanted from him.
She gave the boy some room as he mounted, although she smiled at his overture, "That's good to know, thanks." She paused, "I'm Jessa, and he's Alien. My step-dad just had him show up, so I really don't know much about him at all." She rolled her eyes a little at that, "So he could be great, or he could be terrible. Michael wouldn't know the difference."
Post by Kallistos Rolleston on Jan 28, 2018 1:50:01 GMT -8
Kall couldn't help but laugh at the other horse's name. "I should have ridden my other horse." He said with a smile. "Then we could have been the Men in Black." Well, kind of, since his pants were black and his top had black in it. Sorry, and my other horse would have been useless. He hates sharing his space with others."
He pressed his lips together at what she'd said about her step-father, deciding that she probably wouldn't appreciate a comment. "I'm sure that you'll both find your stride soon enough." He said instead, as he focused on getting Cue to walk forward nicely.
Post by Jessamine Smith on Jan 30, 2018 8:33:43 GMT -8
Jessa laughed, "What's your other horse's name?" She only vaguely knew Kall from seeing him around - This was their first real interaction.
As he commented on finding their stride, Jessa nodded, "I hope so." She let the conversation peter out and turned her full attention back to Alien - Who seemed to be paying slightly more attention to the other horse, who was opposite the arena from them at the time. So - A bit distracted, but nothing earth-shattering. And for barrel racing, they'd never have another horse in the arena, so it didn't really matter for shows.
Post by Kallistos Rolleston on Jan 31, 2018 14:54:23 GMT -8
Kall laughed. "His name is Jett. Being a jet black horse, it's a name that no one would ever guess."
He could see, right from the get-go, that him and Cue being in there were causing issues, but he didn't want to just make an excuse and leave as he didn't want Jessa to think she had chased him off, and it would do the horse good to learn to listen to his rider while also sharing the arena, as it was a good lesson for every horse to learn.
Post by Jessamine Smith on Feb 4, 2018 20:02:24 GMT -8
Jessa laughed at the reveal of the gelding’s name, “At least it’s better than if he was a grey!”
She wasn’t too pleased with how distracted the gelding was, but was willing to let it go until they turned onto the same length of the arena as Kall and his horse, and Alien took off. Caught off guard, Jessa took the briefest of moments to respond, but then grabbed her left rein and pulled with all of her might, trying to force the gelding’s head around. After a few seconds of panic, she was able to regain some semblance of control, and the gelding’s spun.
Once he’d stopped, sides heaving, Jessa slid out of the saddle and took his reins tightly, her face pale. She stood there for a moment, regaining her composure, and then looked over to Kall, “I’m really sorry about that. I think I need to ask Ms. Carr or someone for advice - that’s not okay, and I’m not sure what to do about it.” She wasn’t even sure what had set the gelding off! It hadn’t seemed like a spook to her. “Are you and Cue okay?” She hadn’t come near them, thankfully, but it could still have affected the quarab gelding.
Post by Kallistos Rolleston on Feb 5, 2018 22:24:55 GMT -8
Kall nodded. "True that." He replied with a laugh.
Cue seemed to take charge when the other horse took off, and the Quarab came to an instant stand-still - being the perfect school-master that he was purchased as - and Kall watched in silence as Jessa handled the gelding and brought him to a halt.
He nudged his horse forward, keeping their distance from the other horse so hopefully not to spook him anymore. "Are you alright?" He asked with a concerned frown. "We're fine, I think Cue knew what was happening before either of us did." He studied buckskin gelding. "If you think you can mount up again, I have an idea." It probably wasn't a great idea, but he wanted to see what the other horse thought of them working side-by-side for a while. And the fact that Alien had been naughty and he didn't want the horse to get away with being rude. "Or, if you think it would be better, I could ride Cue outside." He had intruded on their ride as it was, and that may not have happened had he not been in here.
Post by Jessamine Smith on Feb 6, 2018 12:24:45 GMT -8
Jessa took another deep breath as Kall seemed more concerned than upset - She'd gotten lucky, it seemed. Not someone who was going to be upset about it. "I'll live." She tried a weak smile, although she was still shaken, "Yeah, Cue handled that really well." She considered the two options that Kall suggested, "No, don't go." That, at least, wasn't an option. "It's not your fault. If you're willing to try it again, I think I can give it a go."
With one last breath, she looked over at Kall, "What's the plan, before I mount up?"
Post by Kallistos Rolleston on Feb 6, 2018 16:48:24 GMT -8
Kall grinned, pleased that she praised the horse for the actions, not him. He nodded, at least he didn't have to worry about leaving her to ride solo, though she seemed to have been doing just fine until he had turned up and ruined everything.
He shrugged. "My plan is that we see how Alien feels about working side by side." He said. "It seemed that everything went down hill was when we were both working down this side, and Alien turned it into a competition." After all, the gelding was going to have to get used to working in an arena with others, should Jessa want to use him in lessons, and it was better to sort issues out now, rather than when in a lesson and the pressure was really on.
Post by Jessamine Smith on Feb 20, 2018 16:45:24 GMT -8
Jessa considered the idea, then nodded. She hadn't really had time to consider that part - But they had just turned onto the same side as Kall and Cue when Alien went wild. She took one last deep breath, and then swung back into the saddle, taking her reins and carefully bringing Alien in line with Kall and Cue.
Post by Kallistos Rolleston on Feb 20, 2018 23:42:43 GMT -8
Kall smiled, he knew that his idea could just make the other horse turn their working into even more of a competition, but he also didn't want to just desert Jessa, and have the horse thinking that he'd won.
"What is Alien trained in?" He asked. "I'm guessing it's not flat racing." He couldn't help but throw the joke in there as he gently squeezed Cue forward and the Quarab released a heavy sigh as he stretched his neck out, dropping his head and ambled forward, flicking an ear toward the other horse, which Kall took as him telling the buckskin to behave himself.
Post by Jessamine Smith on Mar 20, 2018 11:33:37 GMT -8
Jessa chuckled, "Close, but no. Barrels." Although, unlike Fury, the school horse she'd been riding for shows when she started, apparently Alien was the type to go crazy even when there wasn't barrels around!
As they started off at a walk, Jessa focused back on her horse, trying to find the balance between being alert, should he try something, and relaxed enough that she wasn't transmitting nerves to the horse. Alien was less inclined to rocket off, at least, although he did put up quite the fight to stay just a noselength ahead of Cue. "Maybe I should look into flat racing for him after all."