Progressing Forward

[Demeter Carr]

Demeter was pleased with how the students were going with their assigned horses, and now she had a full class she had sent them all a message, asking them to meet once again as a group.

The current clinic residents were out in their respective yards, Beauty sharing her yard with the Thoroughbred colt who was forever nudging at the mare's udder with no reaction from the mare, no milk for him either. The vet was pleased with how healthy the once sickly foal now seemed, but she couldn't get hold of the Thoroughbred's owners and she was almost at her wits end on what to do with the foal, as she didn't have time to be giving him a bottle every four hours and her students were busy with school and plans to return home for the holidays, her last choice would be to go and speak with Sir Solomon and see if he had any nursing mares.

She walked over to the meeting area and sat down on her half barrel as she waited for the others to arrive, keen to hear how each of them was getting on with their charge and to see if any of them had any questions.

[Othello Buskirk]

Othello jogged his way toward the Equine Clinic. He was moving forward with Barque in leaps and bounds and he was almost positive that he had finally discovered the cause of the gelding's problems, but he would need to ask Dr Carr about moving forward with his ideas.

Walking through the barn and out to the yards, she grinned when he saw the young vet sitting down in the meeting area. "What's up, Doc?" He said as he walked over and took a seat, pulling out his blue edged notebook and opened it up to the latest page he had filled out and read through it, the page contained a few questions he wanted to ask, which he had added under what he had written about what he had been doing with Barque.

Barque was a challenge in itself, he was the picture of perfect health, he stood well on all of his legs, though he also showed all the signs of a horse with a bad back, however Leo was sure that it wasn't as simple as a "bad back" and today he was hoping that he could prove or confirm his theory, but for that, he would need the veterinarian's permission as the Clydesdale was technically hers.

[Deleted]

Vervain walked to the Equine clinic, her face holding its usual sober, I-don't-care look. Her lips were pressed tightly together, and it was visible even in the way she walked that she was liable to injure anyone who tried to mess with her. She had her hands shoved in her jean pockets, her arms covered by a thin blue Stitch jacket, the characters face and ears dangling from the edge of the hood that was currently down.

Her crimson hair was let loose for once, for more purposes other than laziness. She knew that Rogue was a bit jumpy at shadows and such, and she wanted to see what things in general seemed to spook the pony. She had brought nothing with her, as this was her first class in Equine Rehabilitation and did not know what she would need. As she entered the clinic she looked about before she managed to find the vet and who she assumed was someone else in the class, both sitting down.

Not quite sure what to do with herself she took a seat as well, intentionally distancing herself from the others. She kept to herself as well, as she knew her presence was known, and that was all that was needed. As much as she loved horses, people she did not find quite to...pleasant to be around, and she avoided socializing at all costs unless it was absolutely necessary.

[Miranda Florin]

Miranda stopped by the White Oak barn for a moment to pick up a few carrots, then walked toward the Equine Clinic. She had Equine Rehabilitation first, but then afterwards, a couple was coming down to take a look at Dynamite. The gelding was coming along well, which meant, rather, that he could stand being out in a quiet pasture as long as he had a fly mask, although people still freaked him out.

As she looped around the barn, she spotted Dr. Carr, Othello, and a red-haired girl who she didn't recognize. Rather than walking right over to the barrels, she paused at Fingal's yard, reaching up to rub the grey gelding's forehead. She gave him half of a carrot, with a promise to stop by later, after the class, and then walked back over to the barrels, smiling at her mentor. She found a space on the barrels next to Leo, sitting down and dropping her backpack next to her, although she removed her notebook on Iskierka, as well as a horse-head pen. Balancing the two on her lap, she glanced at the girl, whom she really didn't know, "Welcome to Equine Rehab. Who are you working with?"

[Deleted]

Vervain had been absently flipping through her mental schedule whenever Miranda had spoken to her, and it had taken a moment for her to realize that Miranda was talking to her. She wondered vaguely if they had any other classes together, and while they most likely did, Vervain couldn't say she particularly remembered or even cared to remember. As usual she was being rather antisocial, and was feeling in her typical mood-- the one where she hated all people, whether they were nice to her or not.

She cut her bright eyes over to Miranda, their icy depths devoid of emotion, as dull as steel, save a bit of irritation. Her lips were pursed and they only opened for her to mutter "Rouge" in a terse way, and the look she had as well as her tense body language made it quite clear that she had no desire whatsoever to get into a conversation with the other girl. She looked back to the ground in front of her, lightly drumming her fingers on her thighs as she continued waiting for the class to start.

Instead of waiting for Miranda to say something else she thought about the fact that she knew she probably seemed like an introvert, but could not really find the space in her emotions to particularly care.

[Deleted]

Luka jogged down to the rehabilitation yards, smiling as Bruno loped after him. His black and tan cocker spaniel loved running off the lead, and Luka made a plan to let him run as often as he could. He slowed before he reached the horses, calling Bruno to him and clipping on the dog's lead and fixing his vest. Checking the time, he saw that he still had a few minutes before class started and went to Jester. The gelding whinnied eagerly and Luka smiled, feeding the chestnut some carrots before going to where the class met. Bruno sniffed the gelding's nose, and licked it before being called away by Luka.

He had worked with the gelding everyday or tried to at least, and although he hadn't ridden him yet, he had developed quite the bond with the horse. It was different to working with Aleena, because generally, Jester was a lot more forgiving than Aleena.

He smiled at Miss. Carr, and sat down, taking out his journal and doodled in the corner of a page. Apart from the groundwork he had been putting in with the gelding, Luka felt as if there was something he was missing with the gelding that he simply couldn't put his finger on.

[Deleted]

    Anna bundled herself into enough clothes to keep warm, as she knew that she would be spending a lot of time outside in her rehabilitation class. The Kentucky winter was proving to be nothing in comparison to Anna's New England winters on the water, but she was cold nonetheless, as always. Pulling her hands into gloves, she made her way over to the equine clinic, and found her way to yards where the group of students always met. She sat upon her usual barrel, smiling at Dr. Carr in greeting and setting her notebook down on her knees, pressing her hands down on top of it. 

    Forseti was certainly a challenge for Anna, but a welcome one. The mare not only had to heal physically, but mentally as well. Anna was less concerned about Forseti's physical wounds, knowing that they would heal in time. The mental ones would be trickier however, and Anna was planning on starting small with that today. Forseti hated to be tied up, and Anna hoped to help her with this, and she hoped that she could also help the mare so that she wasn't always so anxious. The mare was very distrusting, and Anna hoped not only to win her over herself, but to help the mare trust other humans as well.

[Demeter Carr]

Demeter gave Othello a withering look at his greeting, though the twinkle in her eyes let him know she wasn't really mad. If she couldn't get a joke, then she was in the wrong line of work.

The veterinarian smiled when her small group had gathered. "I know it's cold, so I won't keep you sitting still for long." She said. "I just want to start off by seeing if anyone has any problems or any questions?" She raised her eyebrows in question as she looked over the group.

Once question time was over she nodded toward the yards where the horses were. "I'll let you get to your charges then. If the weather drops any more, feel free to take your respective horse into the barn, if you feel that it would be for the best." She rubbed her gloved hands together. "In fact, if it gets any colder, we'll move into the classroom for the next session." After all, it wouldn't do them any harm to have a couple of theory lessons, as they were supposed to be involved with the animal they were working with as much as possible, so this class wasn't the only time they could have hands-on experience with the equines. "I'll be with Tau if anyone needs me." She nodded toward her tobiano Friesian Sportshorse, who was spending more and more time at the clinic lately.

[Othello Buskirk]

Leo laughed at the woman's look. "First and only time I'll ever do that, promise." He said smoothly.

He smiled as Miranda sat on the barrel next to him, but remained quiet as the girl spoke with another female in the group. He offered Luka a smile as the boy arrived with his canine.

When they got started, he raised his eyebrows as he though about what he wanted to ask. "Would I be able to work Barque on a lunge line in the arena?" He wasn't even sure if the gelding knew how to lunge, but if his problem was indeed his back, then lunging shouldn't be a problem. As long as he kept the gelding on a long line, then there wouldn't be any stress to bend his spine in a small circle.

When they were told they could go to their horses, he grabbed his drink bottle and headed over to Barque's yard. The gelding was looking pretty snug as he grazed on the short grass wearing his  blue and grey plaid mediumweight rug. He then bypassed the gelding and headed into the barn and through to the tackroom to collect the gelding's grooming kit, along with his halter and lead, before returning to the gelding.

Walking into the yard, he whistled to catch the gelding's attention, or at least to get Barque to look up at him, and then approached the Clydesdale. "Let's give you a groom." He said as he slipped the halter over the horse's big nose and flicked the pollstrap over his poll before doing it up. Leading the gelding a couple of steps toward the gate, the boy removed the cover and got to work gently grooming Barque's thick winter coat. He chewed his bottom lip as he worked, wondering if the horse had even been broken to the saddle.

[Miranda Florin]

Miranda smiled as she heard the redhead's answer, thinking of the little Exmoor that the girl had named, "That's good." She knew most of the ponies of the class to some extent, although obviously not as much as she knew Iskierka, but that was only to be expected, after how much time she spent here. As they were released, she rose, but then heard Othello's question. Since that had been her plan as well, she walked over to Barque's yard for a minute, waiting for the boy to come within earshot before she asked, "Would you mind letting me know when you're done with the arena? No rush, though, otherwise I'll stick around after class." Once they'd worked out the details, she walked towards Iski's yard, hearing the mare's loud whinny and laughing, "Silly horse."

She picked up the mare's lead rope from where it was looped around one of the padded posts, as the mare wore her halter almost 24-7 until Miranda knew what exactly triggered her episodes. As she clipped the lead on, she did a brief check to make sure that no sores had formed on the mare's head, all the same. She wouldn't risk her horse's comfort for easing her fear of an episode occurring again. She led Iskierka to a break in the padding of the fence and tied her with a quick-release knot, then began cleaning the mare, pushing the mare's nose away every time she tried to get around to nip.