Vaulting Class

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Ray shrugged into her thick sweatshirt, already glad that the indoor arena would be heated to allow her students to work in their usual gear. She had a simple t-shirt and yoga pants on, which looked slightly odd with the tall black riding boots that she wore, but they were comfortable, and that was all that mattered. Grabbing her 'class bag', which held all of her supplies, Raenn let herself out of the apartment and made her way down to the pastures, with a short stop to pick up Choo's royal purple halter. She haltered the giant gelding and led him out of the pasture, leaving her other two horses inside, then reached up and vaulted onto the gelding's bare back. Clucking her tongue, she leaned forward and directed the gelding towards the barn.

After grooming up the sorrel gelding, Raenn tacked him up, making sure to keep the surcingle tight enough that it wouldn't roll, but loose enough that it wouldn't bother the gelding while she took her class through the exercises that she had chosen for the day's lesson. Leaving him in the cross-ties for a moment, Raenn grabbed a large tarp, which was usually used for desensitizing young horses, and tucked the folded rectangle under her arm before she picked up all of her material and took Choo's lead rope.

Once she had reached the Benedict's Arena, Raenn quick-tied Choo to the fence rail, then set up the tarp, spreading it as wide as it would go in order to create as much dust-free space as she could for her students to stretch on. She dropped her bag, which held her vaulting shoes and a number of hair-ties, beside the gate, then walked over to Choo and rubbed the gelding's nose as she waited for her students to arrive.

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Avery was in a rather surprisingly good mood despite all the late points she’d been accumulating. Though, slightly distancing off into the random space, the brunette was much happier than she’d been when she’d first come to the academy. It certainly hadn’t long at all however. Avery pulled on sweatpants over her spandex pants with slight annoyance – she was a big fan of the material. Her form fitting shirt really did no good for the cold weather outside either and she pulled on a sweatshirt to protect her top half. She finished getting ready by grabbing her bag and exiting out of her house.

To her surprise, Avery found herself being the first one at the class. She offered the woman a smile; as the brunette actually quite liked this teacher much to her surprise. She didn’t usually quite adults or teachers in general. In any case, she was prepared and ready to begin with her hair placed in a tight pony tail and her new gymnastics shoes slipped onto her slight feet. She’d done a bit of gymnastics in the past and from the past lessons, vaulting didn’t seem like it would prove to be ridiculously crazy hard for her. 

Rather it sounded quite exciting. Finding her voice, Avery greeted her teacher properly “Hey Coach Rae.” she distinctly remembered when the woman had explained on what to call her. Coach Rae had appealed to the brunette the most, simply because she liked calling someone a coach. 

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Kate was very excited for her second vaulting class, especially after having so much fun last time. She wore the same sort of outfit she'd had last time, with thick fleece lined leggings and a long sleeved ballet leotard, this time light blue. She'd pulled on a fitted sweatshirt to keep her warm, and hoped she'd be able to keep it on for most of the class. She wore her moccasins, and carried her old gymnastics shoes with her. She had her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail, and felt very prepared for the session to come.

When she arrived, she smiled in greeting to Ms. Merced and bounced over to stand beside Avery, "Hello Avery!" She was really excited to have the girl in some of her classes, and from what she'd seen of her so far, she really liked her company. She'd worn other shoes over to keep her gymnastic shoes safe from the snow, but now she changed into her old gymnastics shoes to be ready for the lesson. She bounced up and down on her toes, ready to go. She guessed that the tarp might be for them to stretch on, but Avery wasn't, and she hadn't been instructed to. Instead, she began to stretch a bit on her own standing up until they were told to stretch on the tarp.

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Finally her favorite, and only, class was here. It was the only thing the six year old looked forward to all day. Walking quickly through the White Oak Barn, Mia always stopped by to see Crystal before she went to class. Pulling her hand from the pocket of her jacket the young girl held it flat revealing a half carrot. The mare lipped up the orange vegetable and the small girl reached up to scratch the mare’s forelock. ”I’ll be back Crystal.” That sentence was repeated every day and today was no different. Making her way through the parking lot, the large indoor arena stood across the blacktop.

Seeing that Avery and Kate were already there Mia kind of faded into the background. ”Hi Ms. Merced,” Running her hand along the long hair that was pulled back into a ponytail, the six year old usually did that when she was nervous or didn’t know what to do. In this case she could go with what Avery was doing, which was pretty much nothing or she could following in suit of Kate was starting to stretch out. Deciding to side with Avery on what to do, she just stood there and looked at the large horse they would be practicing on, possibly, today.

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Sam bounced around in her room, preparing for her first vaulting class in ages. After her early morning migraine things had actually gotten better and she was excited to get back into vaulting. She dug around for one of her decent gymnastics leotards, getting stuck between a sleeveless and long sleeved leotard. After a minute of debating she chose the black leotard with green wrapping down the sleeves. After she slid on a pair of black leggings she put on the chosen leotard then a pair of volleyball sweatpants with her name running across the back.

When she was finally ready she slipped on her traditional Nike sliders and made for the arena. On her way over to the designated area she put her hair into her braided athletic bun while still trying to keep her gymnastic shoes in her hands. She put a smile on her face as she reached Benedict's arena. Keri had already filled her in on the instructors name which rang a bell but Sam couldn't figure out why the woman sounded familiar.

As she walked in and saw the others in the arena the gymnast smiled seeing the four others. Upon seeing the instructors face she remembered why she was familiar. Over the summer Sam had taken a walk with her puppy and had run into Ms. Merced and one other man. "Hello Ms. Merced. I'm Sam." Sam smiled and went to stretching with the others, making sure to stay off the tarp as the others had.

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Keri was running late and by the time she'd reached her room, Sam was already gone. She sighed, knowing that this was not the way to start off her first vaulting class, even though she wouldn't be able to participate yet. She threw down her back pack which she had to lug around on one shoulder, which was just causing her to get a bruise on her left shoulder, and ran over to get changed into a leotard and yoga pants. She struggled for a moment with the leo, but eventually got it over her shoulder and then slid into the pants. She frowned lightly at how they didn't seem to hug her as well as normally, but then again, it had been a while since she'd worn yoga pants. She brushed it off and went to pull on her socks and tall boots, as well as a zip front jacket for the walk down and probably for while she was in the arena. Her green and black leotard, which she wore often to gymnastics before getting the uniform leotard, forced her to feel a bit self conscious as well, seeing the extra fabric around the stomach. She rolled her eyes, telling herself that it was all in her head.

As she walked down to the arena, jacket zipped up high, yoga pants letting the wind bite at her legs, she hoped that she wouldn't be late. She hated to be late, it only added to her stress level, which right now, was through the roof. She entered the arena and immediately felt the heat call her in like an old friend. She scanned the room quickly, spying two girls she had never seen before, a boy whom she may have seen once or twice in the library, and then her roommate Sam. She smiled to her friend and made her way over towards the woman whom she assumed to be the instructor, since she seemed the most at ease out of all of them, and the fact that she was clearly older than the teens didn't hurt. She smiled to the woman and, once within hand shaking distance, she introduced herself, "Ms. Merced? Hi, I'm Keri Rocha. I'm sorry to have joined at such an inconvenient time... The cast should come off in another week or so, and they'll tell me about the collar bone then as well. Until then, I'll just watch and take notes, or whatever you see best." She said to her.

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Audrey dug around her clothes as she tried to find her black leotard that was an extra. She pushed her clothes around until she found it. She pulled it over her and found some shorts and slipped them on over and put on her sweats and a jacket over her and zipped it up. Hands went quickly to take all her jewelry off as she left her necklace on. She had already pulled her hair into a bun on top of her head as she moved toward the door. She was excited about being able to vault again. She headed down the stairs and toward the arena.

Audrey walked through the door and noticed that there was quite view person who was in the arena. She grinned as she moved closer. She was nervous about meeting everyone and hoping she hadn't missed a lot. She walked forward toward the group and with a smile stepped on the tarp and looked toward everyone and the looked at the teacher. "Hello, I'm Audrey Cummings," she said toward the teacher of the group and smiled at the geared horse as she so badly wanted to just mount the horse and start working, but knew she would have to wait.

Outfit

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Raenn looked up from Choo as she heard her name being spoken. Turning away from the sorrel gelding, she smiled at Avery, "Good afternoon, Avery." Stepping away from where Choo was waiting, she smiled as Kate as the dancer arrived, although she didn't greet the girl verbally. As Mia arrived, Raenn smiled at the young day, "Hi, Mia." She nodded at the new girl who entered 'her' arena, "It's nice to see you again, Sam." She remembered talking to Antoine about the girl, but this was the first time they had met face-to-face, with a name to the face. She turned away from the girl as another approached, her arm in a cast. Raising an eyebrow, she listened as the girl introduced herself, "It's quite alright, Keri. I doubt you had a choice as to when you would break your arm." She thought for a moment, "I'm sorry, I wasn't prepared for a student sitting out for the next few weeks. How about you just watch today, and learn what you can, and next week I'll have something else for you to do." She turned to the next girl to arrive, nodding as she introduced herself. She nodded at the girl's necklace, "Put that into my bag, or I can hold onto it until we're done. Don't wear jewelry again." As the girl complied, Raenn turned to the class in general, "Stretch out, that's what the tarp is there for. Today we're just going to be practicing mounting while the horse is moving, with a review on dismounts at the end of everyone's rounds." She grinned at the group, "Unless you'd like to stay on the horse?"

While she left the girls to stretch, Raenn walked over to Choo and switched the gelding's lead for the lunge. Picking up the whip from where she had leaned it against the fence, Raenn grasped the lunge loosely in her hand and jogged towards the 'circle' that she would be working on, forcing Choo to keep pace at a trot. As she arrived in her self-imagined 'center', she sketched a bow at an imagined panel and then sent the gelding out at a trot. After a few rounds, she switched him to his other side, and repeated the process, before starting him at a canter. After repeating the process, she stopped him and checked his surcingle, then called the girls over, "We're just going to be working at a walk for the start. Choo is going to be circling, you will be lined up against the fence to my left in the order I call. After Choo passes the first of you, you will run to me, standing on my left as I turn, until I raise the whip. When I do that, you will move up to walk, or run, next to him, for half a round, staying right at his shoulder. When you feel confident, swing yourself into the saddle, ride a round, and dismount to the outside. The next student should come to stand at my left when the first student moves out to walk along Choo, and so on." She looked at the girls, "Any questions? We'll be going twice through." She paused, then looked at Mia, "Mia, you sit out and watch with Keri, okay? Fill her in on what we learned last week." The little girl wouldn't be able to pull herself onto the large horse, and she didn't want to have to stop Choo to help her up. Biting her lip, she considered changing her lesson time with the child, although she would approach that later on.

Sending Choo out at a walk, she called out, her tone authoritative, "Vaulting order: Avery, Kate, Sam, and Audrey." She paused, then added, "Avery, go ahead and start."

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Avery cast a happy grin at the younger girl’s sweet voice. Immediately, being a relative of Peter, the girl had soon been somewhat appealing to the brunette and as time went on, Avery felt herself liking the fourteen year old even more. It was different for her however, due to her usual dislike of younger, immature kids – especially freshman. She didn’t mind babies too much however. “Hey.” her face was bright and happy despite her small answer, and Avery moved her full attention onto the coach. She respected the woman even more as time went on – it seemed she was respecting a lot more people in general these days.

She nodded as Coach Rae told them to go stretch out on the tarp and did so quickly; so as to waste time. At any time, Avery hated to waste any sort of time with exception of wasting time just to annoy someone that she felt deserved her Avery wrath. Moving in tune to her breathing, Avery found her flexibility was not as terrible as she would’ve though due to the break she’d taken from gymnastics (or really end) and grinned as she laid her palms flat on the surface on the tarp.

The brunette did a few more exercises before finishing with some kind of yoga stance and looking up to hear the teacher addressing them. She listened intently, trying to figure out her movements and such. Avery gulped slightly before dispersing of her usual never appearing nervousness as she realized that she was supposed to go first. Opening her eyes gently, the brunette made her way to Coach Rae in the center until she raised her whip and then, she was off. Deciding to start things slow, Avery walked beside the large horse’s shoulder, pulling herself together. Finally, Avery pushed herself on in one slightly smooth action, falling a bit roughly onto the gelding’s back. Avery gave the horse a mental apology and sat a circle before dismounting and stepping out to watch the rest of the students go.

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Kate smiled at Avery's response. She really did like Avery, though she wasn't particularly surprised. Sure Peter was nice to just about everyone, but anyone he'd get close to was sure to be pretty impressive in their person-hood. When instructed, she made her way over to the tarp and began to stretch out slowly, going through a couple stretches she did regularly for dance. She listened as she stretched but never stopped moving completely, knowing that it would be best to keep moving so that her muscles stayed warm and loose, especially in the colder weather.

She smiled a bit more when her instructor joked that they'd be reviewing dismounts unless they wanted to stay on the horse. Honestly, Kate would love to stay on the horse longer. She loved the big movements of the horses used for vaulting and wished that she could be around them more often. She continued to stretch slowly as she thought through the process they'd be taking in their turn.

She watched Avery, sort of glad that the other girl was going before her. While Avery was taking her turn, Kate left her spot she'd been standing in by the fence and walked by Ms. Merced's side when she was supposed to. When her turn came, she waited for the signal of the raised whip before walking quickly to Choo's shoulder. She walked by him for a couple of strides before deciding that she much preferred jogging lightly. When they reached the half-circle mark Kate had set for herself, she called to mind last class's lesson and pulled herself on, trying not to land as hard as she had last time. She enjoyed the circle around the ring as much as she had last time, and dismounted when they'd gone around once. She took a step back to balance herself when dismounting, as it hadn't been as graceful as she had hoped. Finished, she took a spot besides Avery.

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Waiting for class to begin, two three more girls entered. Again Mia was the youngest and smallest girl, of course she was only six and the other girls were actually attending the academy, but still. The six year old observed the girl who had her arm in a cast and wondered how she had done it. Listening to Ms. Merced as she asked the girls to stretch and the little girl was no exception. Sitting down on the tarp Mia touched her feet and pulled back on her toes to make sure that her legs were loose. Taking both arms across her chest and folding them up, she pushed them one by one down her back.

Once done with her stretching she stood back up and waited for further directions. Watching Ms. Merced warm up the large gelding she couldn’t wait to get on him. Once again the instructor spoke, informing everyone that they would be pulling themselves up onto the horse’s back. Taking a gulp, Mia knew that she wouldn’t have been able to even reach the horse’s wither which was going to be a giant problem. Looking at Ms. Merced she was looking back Mia and then she said it. That Mia would have to sit out this lesson. A little flustered that she wouldn’t be able to do anything, she thought about it and it was probably for the best.

Doing what she was instructed, the six year old moved over to Keri, the one with the cast. ”Hi I’m Mia.” Extending her hand towards the girl’s non-casted arm, she shook it. Watching Avery and Kate go through the exercise the six year old turned to Keri and thought about what they had learned last time. ”Last time we learned how to dismount safely.” Mia continued to talk about where they placed their hands and the motion the used to swing off the horse’s back.

OoC: This is Mia’s last post so just go about as if she is still there I just won’t post her again.