On the Offside

[Anastasie Chevalier]

Anastasie walked into White Oak and down to the stall where her young Gypsy Cob was housed. She loved the gelding's spunk, and felt that he would be great to use for the lesson. "Hey baby boy." She greeted as she took the gelding's turquoise halter off the hook and stepped into his stall. "Quit that!" She said firmly as the gelding started tossing his head and pawing the air in front of him. Every inch of him displayed stallion tendencies even though he had been gelded at six months of age. She shook her head as she closed the gap between them and put the halter on the gelding's head.

Leaving the barn, she made her way to her outdoor classroom and unclipped the gelding's halter once the gate was secured. She shook her head as he trotted a few steps away before throwing a playful buck and then cantering around the field. "Gypsy." Her firm voice was suddenly amplified as she turned on the wireless mic that she used for her classes and her voice came from around the field, causing the gelding to skid to a halt as he looked around, his ears pricked forward, looking completely bemused before trotting over and nuzzling the woman's shoulder.

Shaking her head, Ana gave the gelding's forehead a rub before she walked over to collect the five cones that she had borrowed for the class, she then paced them out in a straight line down the centre of the field. Walking back over to the flaxen chestnut gelding, she clipped the twelve foot lead back onto his rope halter and waited for her students to arrive. She had asked that they arrive with their horses already on the long lead that they had been assigned at the start of the school year - she had brought along a few extras for her new students when she brought the cones over - along with the carrot sticks so that they would be ready to start as soon as everyone had gathered.

---

Group A Students:
Ben Hall
@hound3
Elizabeth Toman
@jase
@john
@niallb
Rose Hoff
@vervain

[Elizabeth Toman]

Libby walked out of the classroom where she had been sitting for the equine nutrition and health. She was dressed in pink jodhpurs with PONY written across her rear in glittery print, with a black short sleeved polo, her hair was up in double buns with pink and silver glitter sprayed over her hair, she was also wearing a hint of glittery makeup, but not enough that it looked over-done.

Walking straight past her pony's stall, she headed straight for the tack room and returned with everything she needed, the grooming kit could remain in the mare's stall while they were in class. Giving the mare a good groom, she then put a dusting a pink glitter over the mare's coat, and leading her out of the stall, she painted the pretty bay's hooves with pink glitter as well and they then made their way out to the classroom.

Entering the field, she gave the teacher a bright grin before walking down to the back of the field where she found a spot for herself and wisp in the back corner. "You're such a good girl." She whispered to the mare as she rubbed the pony's nose. She then let the lead out and decided to do a bit of yielding with the pony while they waited for class to start.

[Deleted]

John laughed as he saw Lilja's face, shaking his head as he paused, "What did you do?" The mare, who had been in the pasture, had found a way to dye her snip marking green, a streaked green from the grass, presumably. Heading on, John grabbed his grooming kit, then returned to the mare's stall, giving the rest of her a quick brush before turning to the green.

Despite his best efforts, however, the time he had planned wasn't quite adequate for a bath, so he had to halter the mare and lead her out, using the long lead rope and holding his carrot stick. As he entered the field where Natural Horsemanship was held, he found himself a space, hoping that Ms. Chevalier wasn't the kind of person to call out students for a lack of cleaning. He glanced at Lilja's face again and cringed inwardly, it was rather obvious. However, it was stuck for now.

Dropping the bright blue carrot stick into the grass, John started playing the friendly game with his mare, trying to push out the concern over his mare's antics as he let himself focus on getting on friendly terms with all of her body, so that she wouldn't forget.

[Deleted]

Jase walked towards the stall where he had placed left his horse, Jumping the Inferno (Aka Blaize), a small smile resting on his face. This was his first day of classes, and so far he was rather enjoying it. As he made his way to the tack room he found Blaize's things, and took his grooming kit from where he had placed it and entered his precious gelding's stall.

The gray gelding stuck his nose out at Jase whenever the boy entered his stall, sniffing at his pockets for a treat. It was with a small laugh that Jase nudged the Arabian's head away, rubbing him behind the ears a little as he slipped to his side. He used the time he had to brush and carefully groom the horse, though he always had a problem with that small bit of dirt that had absolutely refused to disappear no matter how hard he scrubbed it. With any luck, between assignments and classes, he would find time to give it a better scrub.

Taking his maroon halter off of the hook Jase slipped it up Blaize's nose, buckling the strap behind his ears. With a small huff Blaize rubbed his nose on Jase, but seemed otherwise unaffected. Clipping his personal lead rope onto the halter and opening the stall Jase led Blaize out, making his way to where he knew this class would be held.

Blaize walked with a bit of a prance to his step, his muscles tensed as if he were anticipating a good run, but with a firm grip Jase kept the gelding in check, stopping whenever the Arabian got ahead of himself. As Jase found where the class would be held he entered the field, glancing about for a moment before he tucked himself and his eager horse in a space that was still near the teacher and his classmates, but he did keep some room between his rather eager horse and the others.

[Deleted]

Vervain walked in her general slow, somewhat mopey fashion to Casper's stall, her face taking on the smile that only ever graced her face whenever she was around horses. She smiled and rubbed his nose gently as she stepped into his stall, and he responded with a simple huff though from his body language he seemed to be enjoying it. With her she had brought her grooming kit, though she wanted to get it down quickly so she would not be late for the Natural Horsemanship class, as there only seemed to be 5 minutes between classes. Though, honestly, the teachers seemed to be lenient with the schedule, which was good considering the time it actually took to get ready for the next equestrian class.

As she finished she quickly put the halter onto the gelding's face, and proceeded to clip a lead rope on and lead him out of the stall. She quickly made her way to where the Natural Horsemanship class would be held, taking long strides which Casper seemed happy to keep up with. As they finally entered Vervain noticed, with no lack of disdain, that Jase was in this class as well, and promptly led Casper as far away from him as possible as she silently prayed he hadn't noticed her.

[Deleted]

Niall picked at his small bag of chips as he walked towards Red Willow. Crumbs dribbled out of his fingers, onto the ground, and left behind him a little crumb trail. Once the last of the crumbled chips were sucked out of the bag, he crushed the bag and tucked it away in his pocket until a garbage was nearby. Inside the barn, Niall tossed his bag and went to collect his mare for class. Ve was standing in her stall with her head hanging and her eyes shut peacefully. Her ears twitched when the stall door swung open then her head raised when Niall abandoned his attempts to be quiet and talked to her.

A swift attempt was made to get her brushed then on went her green halter. Niall clipped on her long lead then brought her out of the stall and closed the door behind him. They walked to the field for their lesson with a smile plastered on Niall's face. He waved toward the instructor and smiled at anyone who was looking at him when he approached. Niall brought Lady to a halt and began bending her nose to him while he stood at her left shoulder. After her left side was done the action was repeated again for her right side while they waited.

[Rose Hoff]

    Rose swept her horse hair finishing brush over Eleanor's coat, ridding the mare of any dust that may have collected under her blanket. The mare was clipped for the winter, so keeping her clean wasn't a problem, though Rose was a little concerned about bringing her mare out for her natural horsemanship class without a blanket and clipped. However, she didn't think that it would be acceptable to keep the mare's blanket on for the class, so she would just have to make sure that the mare was warm after they were finished. It wouldn't be a problem as long as Eleanor didn't end up sweating because of her nervousness. 

    Once the mare was clean, Rose put her light blue halter on and clipped on the lead that they had been given when the classes started before leading her out to the natural horsemanship field. Once there, she found a good spot for them, as far away from other horses as she could get, and spoke to Eleanor for the rest of that time that she had before the classes began. The mare was already showing signs of nervousness due to the other horses and people in the field, and Rose did her best to calm the mare down.

[Ben Hall]

    Ben carefully folded Ram's hunter stable sheet before returning it to the tack room, giving it such care mostly because it was new and he hadn't gotten careless with it yet. Returning to Ram's stall with brushes, he set to work grooming the gelding, which didn't take long at all, except for the geldings legs, which were wet because of the slush outside. His hooves were packed with ice, which took Ben a while to dig out, and he noted to himself that he should get Ram and Lady snow pads when the farrier next came for them.

    Once done, Ben clipped the long line onto Ram's green halter and led the gelding out to he natural horsemanship field. The young horse was fine being led, but he was always wanting to be played with, and kept trying to get Ben's attention. Unfortunately, Ben couldn't help himself and obliged, giving in to the gelding's desires, and tickled his muzzle. Once they reached the field, Ben found a good spot for them and while waiting for the class to being, he looked around at his classmates. After only a few moments, Ram was nudging at his back for attention, and Ben turned to pet his gelding once more.

[Anastasie Chevalier]

Ana watched as the students arrived and once she had ninety percent of the class number, she decided that she had waited long enough - as there were no class bells around the equestrian part of the Academy. "Welcome." She said warmly. Her voice was soft, but the mic boosted the volume so there was no need for her to talk loudly. "I want to start the lesson with you just running your hands over your equine friend's body. In this class, you should be able to touch every inch of your friend's body." She ran her hands over Goldie's body, down his back, under his belly, between his legs, under his back legs. "If you find that there are parts that your friend doesn't feel comfortable with you touching." She stepped away from her gelding slightly and held up her carrot stick. "That's what we have this for. It becomes an extension of your hand." She then fell silent and allowed the students to work with their horses.

The woman walked down the long side of their field (which was shaped more like an arena then a square), and placed a dressage marker B where it would be had they been in an arena, and then walked back to where Goldie was contentedly dozing where she had left him. Picking up the rope, she wiggled it to get the gelding's attention and then walked over to the marker. "Just to be annoying, can I please get you all to stand on the other side of the field, in something that semblances a line. Today's activity will be something you will do one at a time. While you are waiting your turn, continue to run your hands over your friend's body, working on that bond, and establishing yourself as their alpha horse." She smiled. "I know that it sounds strange that all you're doing is rubbing the animal, and this alone is making you their leader."

She led Goldie down the long side and spoke as she walked. "Today is going to be about leading your horse from their offside. Some horses won't lead this way at all as they are so used to seeing us out of their left eye.

"The aim is to have your horse yield to the slightest field on the line, maintain distance on a short contact and not hold back, run past you, or switch sides on you.

"Stand beside your horse's right side facing forward. Hold the rope in your left hand, twelve to eighteen inches below the clip. Hold the stick in your right hand with it pointed down to the ground and out behind you.

"To move forwards, extend your hand forwards and ask him to step forwards. Starting at B, lead him (or her) along the long side of the field. Turn up the centre line and weave between the cones in a serpentine. Turn right at the fence, which would be C if we were in an arena, and halt at B. Change rein and repeat, still staying on the offside." She rubbed Goldie on the forehead as she halted him.

She led the gelding to the back of the line of students, willing to address any issues that popped up as they came up.

[Elizabeth Toman]

Libby did her best to ignore the other students as they walked in. She had been on the look out for a boy-toy, but she so preferred the looks of male gymnasts to male riders. So, she spent her energy and attention on the mare she was working with rather than checking out the opposite gender.

She diverted her attention as the teacher began to speak. She rolled her eyes when they were told to spend time touching their horses. Isn't that want they were already doing? Rather than saying anything though, she just did as she was told and ran her hands over all over Wisp's body. She guessed that this was the benefit of riding a school mistress who had so obviously been there and done that, the little Welsh didn't have any areas that couldn't be touched.

As they lined up, as instructed, Libby was a little shocked to find herself at the front of the line, but didn't make any move to shift her position. In gymnastics she had been the person to go last, as she could be counted on to rack up the points, rather than the first string who were sent out because they were known to be low scoring people, the girls that everyone knew were the worst gymnasts and would make the rest of the team look bad if they followed another gymnast.

Once the woman was on their side of the field, Libby moved around to stand on mare's right, and moved forward toward the marker. She made sure that she kept her hand light on the rope, so that the mare wouldn't feel like she was being dragged along or pulled back, and she kept the carrot stick out to back, keeping it still. She had no issues as she made the semi-circles around the cones and then halted the mare back at B, before changing rein, repeating the exercise and then returning to the back of the group where she rewarded the mare for a good job by making a huge fuss over her.

[Deleted]

Chelsea's heart thundered in her chest. This is what happens when she's put in a situation that she can't control. She can't handle it. Her head was spinning, and she could feel Shy starting to get agitated because of it. Chelsea had picked his hooves and groomed him down roughly with what she thought was enough time, and now... and now what? She'd tried to find the field, but all she'd been able to locate were the empty paddocks and the riding rings. There was a dressage arena, an all purpose arena... so where were they? Chelsea had gone as far as to check the barn office, and there was no one there either. Heart pounding. What in the hell was she supposed to do?

Checking the time on her phone, she was just barely running late. Barely late. Still late. On time was early, after all. Or was it early was on time? Her mind spun as she moved easily in time with her gelding, the creature nosing in her pocket-- he knew where the threats were. It was with relief that he found the class that had to be natural horsemanship. Chelsea had needed another class, and this one looked like as good an option as any... she'd been on the more traditional side of things. As she was about to open her mouth, Shy reached out and gave her a bit of a shove. "Git--" The word came with a gentle push at the creature's nose, and she didn't speak until there was a quiet moment. "Um, I'm ah, awful sorry ma'ma. Got lost on my way out here..." And she fell quietly in line with the rest of the class, flashy gelding in toe.

click

[Deleted]

John turned his attention away from his mare as Ms. Chevalier started the lesson, although once they were released to start work, he kept doing what he had been doing. He used the carrot stick around the mare's udder and around her tail, more because he was still slightly squeamish about touching her, rather than her having issues with it. He worked from back to front, then legs up, then reversed the pattern, although he heard Ms. Chevalier calling them before he managed to finish that go-round.

John found a space in line when asked, behind two girls, one of whom he recognized from Barrel Racing, although he didn't strike up a conversation. He did find himself admiring the horse, but then turned his attention back to Lilja, continuing playing the friendly game as he watched the girl ahead of him taking her turn. When it came time for Lilja and him, he moved to the mare's off-side and walked on.

The mare didn't give him much trouble. He didn't know if anyone had worked with her before his parents had bought her, but somehow, she seemed to know what he wanted her to do, and they didn't encounter any worries. Indeed, the walk was over in a flash, and they were back at the end of the line, back to playing the friendly game and watching the other students.