REINING

[Deleted]

It was cold, he guessed.  Cold enough to actually bother with long sleeves.  He would also have to actually teach today he supposed.  Chase had been bumming around long enough, getting through the settling in phase.  That, and he still hadn't settled in,  There was some sort of hangup he had, one that rested in the fact he was here and not where he felt truly at home with himself.  This wasn't France.  This wasn't home yet.  A part of him doubted it ever would be, but he shoved that out of his mind.  He had a class to figure out hot to teach today, and that would be his first priority.  Throw himself into his work... seemed about right.  People were shit anyway.  

Chase managed to get himself dressed for a class he would spend on the ground.  No horse yet... River was hardly stable as it was.  The gelding had his own issues, and they were the ones that kept Chase on track.  He tried thinking and he tried feeling, and at least his horse brought that out in him.  At least River left him as a fully functional human being.  It was hard sometimes.  Screw that.  It was hard most of the time.  

So he was there fifteen minutes before the start of class, waiting for the children to come tumbling in.  Today he'd see what each of then already knew... how was he to teach them without knowing what they knew?  It seemed simple enough.  Chase's eyes cast to his phone, waiting for an iMessage from Adam to come to life on the screen.  It had been four days since he'd heard anything at all.  Worried, to say the least.  

Fifteen minutes.  

click for outfit

Adonya van Rutherford
@calebm
@surfsup
@olivia
@valentine

[Adonya van Rutherford]

Their arrangement seemed to be working well. Blythe smiled to herself as she pulled Kodak out of his stall and walked him to the cross-ties to groom him. So far, she hadn't had to do the gelding's stall even once, not that she would have considered it. She set to work grooming the palomino gelding, spending the longest amount of time on his mane, making sure it was neat and not tangled. Luckily, she had left lunch a bit early, with the excuse of needing to run up to the dorm to stock up on certain... supplies.

Finally finished, she hurried to put on the gelding's saddle, then slipped on the headstall, before she grabbed her helmet. She would rather not wear it, but rules were rules, and she didn't want to be horseless for a few weeks either. Picking up Kodak's reins, she walked towards the reining arena, slipping into the arena and looking over the teacher, "Good afternoon." She led Kodak to a space a few feet away from the teacher, waiting for his instructions, and then waited, playing with the gelding's mane as she studied the teacher, who wasn't too hard on the eyes, although she knew she would never act on what she thought.

[Deleted]

Everleigh walked into Hollywood's stall and patted the horse's neck. "Time for class boy." She murmured to the gelding. She pulled a halter over his head and brought him to one of the grooming stations. Checking her watch, she realized she was a good 20 minutes ahead of schedule. She took her time brushing her horse, Curry, stiff brush, soft brush, hoof pick. She loved the time she got to spend with her horse, seeing as he was the one familiar thing in this new place. She stroked his neck. "I don't know if I can do this." She whispered to the horse, already feeling a little homesick. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. "But I have you, right? You'll get me through this class." She whispered to the horse, knowing full well he wasn't going to reply. She threw her saddle pad on Hollywood's back, along with the pretty western saddle her old riding instructor had given her as a going away gift. She tightened the girth, slipped his bridle on, and grabbed her helmet from beside her brush box.

She guided Hollywood to the Reining arena, following the signs that pointed there. She walked, noticing the arena was almost empty, except for a girl, and a man she assumed was the teacher, the man was a little intimidating, and Everleigh made a conscious decision not to get on his bad side. She walked Hollywood over to stand by the girl and her horse. "Hi," she said, addressing the girl, "I'm Everleigh. I'm new here."

[Deleted]

Olivia had given herself half an hour for lunch before she could be found in the barn, brushing Goldie and then tacking the mare up. She had maybe twenty minutes before class started, far more than enough time to get the most excess energy out of Goldie before she had to worry about getting to class on time. So, grabbing everything she would need for the class, along with a lunge whip, she walked towards the round pen.

After giving the mare a good ten minutes to get the spunk out, Olivia caught her and checked the tack, making sure that nothing had slipped and that she still looked mainly neat. Glancing at her watch, she saw that she still had enough time to get to class by walking, but deciding she'd rather be early, she buckled on her helmet before leading the mare out of the arena and mounting, struggling with the lunge whip for a moment before she found a position in which it wouldn't bother the mare or anyone they passed.

With that, she clucked to the mare and let her walk towards the reining arena, where she dismounted as she saw the rest of the students standing on the ground. Dropping the whip along the length of the fence, on the outside of the arena, she checked over the mare again before entering and finding a space. She smiled at the man, who looked to be the teacher, "Good afternoon!"

[Deleted]

Valentine had shuffled into his horse's stall, pretty much skipping lunch. He had to admit, he was a bit hungry. And come dinner time, he would be absolutely ravenous. But, nonetheless, he did it anyway. His horse was settling in well to the new surroundings, but he could see some sign of him still being a bit anxious without his owner. He had brought some soap with him and spread along the edge of the stall door, as he saw signs of Teardrop chewing on it. After the young boy had pulled the Azteca out of his stall he had led him into ties, and did not hesitate in going at the dirty horse with a brush. While the horse had spent most of the day in his stall, Valentine had let him roam about in the pasture all night after forgetting to bring him in and had not had the time to groom him.

Taking a quick peek at the watch he wore Valentine cursed under his breath and quickened his speed, pausing only to retrieve the hoof pick and remove the dirt that had clustered beneath the horse's hooves. After he had reassured himself that Teardrop was clean, he had immediately began to saddle him in his western tack. It had taken a minute for Valentine to remember if Reining was English or Western, but luckily he had guessed right. He supposed it would be a bit embarrassing to show up in an English saddle, eh?

Looking at his horse he smiled and stroked his neck affectionately, before sliding the reins off of the horses neck to take them in his hand and lead the pretty dapple to the Arena where his Reining class would be held. Unsure as to whether he should already be mounted he looked around uncertainly, trying to see what the other students were doing. Sure enough, they all stood on the ground. With his grin ever-present on his pretty boy face, he said a polite "Hello, sir" to the teacher, and moved to stand near Everleigh. While he intended on making new friends, he might as well keep near the one he had already made as well.  

[Deleted]

Caleb hummed quietly while he walked to Snow's stall. He pouted a little since he received absolutely no greeting from the mare. She had her head buried in a fresh leaf of hay with her lips searching for choice peaces. He made little kissing noises until she looked up at him then went to go get his stuff. Snow must have laid down in the stall at some point, judging by the straw that had collected on one side of her body and not the other. Caleb preferred to keep her indoors in the winter while they were here as he knew she was not an easy keeper at all and she wouldn't have a thick winter coat for some time.

Hastily, he ran his brushes over her, making sure to check his phone every now and then for the time. The only thing that bothered him so far was that there were no bells around the equestrian part (which made perfect sense) so he had to manage his time properly, and that was one thing he wasn't always great at. His time was beginning to run short so he sped himself up enough until she was clean. Caleb made up enough time to slow down when he slipped her pad and saddle on. He stroked the flea-bitten mare's neck then pulled the bridle over her head and unclipped her halter from the cross-ties.

Before he reached the reining arena, he checked his phone for the time once more, letting out a satisfied breath which he could see float up towards the sky. He had managed to get around just in time before the classes should begin. Some of the class had gotten there before him but he really wasn't worried as long as the instructor wasn't already talking. He nodded towards the teacher then turned towards his mare. She brought her nose to him while he stood at her shoulder, stretching out her muscles until class started.

[Deleted]

Chase had greeted each stoically on entering, a quiet nod as the students got themselves prepared for class. It was a sort of easy thing to do, a simple nod and a curt smile. tight lipped smile, that was. He wasn't used to this being friendly business quite yet. The ginger haired man grabbed the mounting block from the side of the ring and the driving whip he'd brought out earlier. With a long stride or two he moved to draw a line in the sand of the ring, marking a starting point. By the time he looked up again, everyone had pretty much come in. Checking the time on his phone one more time, it was a decision to start without the rest.

"Well, welcome to reining. My name is Chase, if you call me Mr. Riley I'm going to look over my shoulder for my father. I'd like each of you to introduce yourselves... give me some idea of how long you've been with your horse and what you can do, if you've shown before, and if your horse is going to freak out if I raise my voice any." Seemed simple enough. The man stood with his weight to one side, looking to the first young lady in the group that had gathered before him. It was on his mounting block that he took a lazy seat, and on that spot that he simply waited.

[Deleted]

Everleigh smiled at Valentine as he walked towards her. "Hi." she whispered to him, not wanting to draw too much attention to herself. Her attention shifted to her instructor as he began to talk. He introduced himself as Chase, and told them not to call him Mr. Riley. She already knew she was going to have trouble with that. She was so used to calling teacher by their last name, though if she was honest, this man didn't look much like you classic or stereotypical teacher.

Feeling confident, Everleigh volunteered herself first. "I'm Everleigh," she said, shyly at first, "This is Hollywood." She explained referencing and the horse, subconsciously putting a protective hand on the gelding's neck. "I've owned him for 3 years, but I've been riding him for 5. We didn't several rodeos back home, but he's more experienced him barrel racing. I've been trying to work with him more on reining lately and he's pretty good at it, but he's not as experienced as some other horses. And, he doesn't really spook at anything, unless it's like a loud moose from out of no where, but it has to be pretty loud to spook him." She said, gaining more confidence as she spoke.

[Adonya van Rutherford]

Blythe watched the rest of the students that entered after her, not really recognizing any of them as any she'd had a connection with yet, but then, she wasn't here to make friends. She was here to ride. When the teacher started the class, she turned her attention to him and listened, nodding as she heard his request. It wasn't a surprise to her anymore, it seemed like a lot of teachers at the Academy preferred the informality, although she had no problem with those that asked for the respect either.

She was about to speak up, seeing as she had been the first one in the arena, and that was how it went, but the brunette managed to jump in front of her. Seething, Blythe contented herself with a glare. Who did this girl think she was, anyway? However, she waited her turn, not wanting to appear petty in front of this new teacher. When the brunette had finished, Blythe was quick to start, lest someone else try and speak.

"My name is Adonya, but I go by Blythe." No need to confuse the teacher, although if anyone questioned the nickname, she didn't want to admit that it was just one of her middle names, "This is Unmistakable Shine, or Kodak. We've worked and showing together for about two years now, and have almost everything down, although our spins usually go short." Admitting weakness? Her? Well, it was better than not saying anything, "Unless you pop a balloon in the arena, he'll be fine."

OOC;: Mandolin, do me a favour and read this thread for future reference. 24 hours wait, not 2.

[Deleted]

Olivia played with Goldie's mane as she waited for the class to start, hoping that they wouldn't be standing too long, because otherwise, the mare would get spunky again, and that was never fun. When Chase started speaking, she listened, keeping half an eye on her mare. Call him by his first name? What was it with the teachers and this informality? That would never have been heard of at home, but here it seemed almost commonplace. She would have to really work on it, it was embarrassing to slip up, but rather get it wrong with the informal teachers than by calling the formal teachers by their first name.

She listened to the other two girls in the arena, feeling the undercurrent of tension there, although she wasn't sure where it had just come from. Anyway, she wasn't getting involved. Instead, she shifted her weight onto the other foot, and speaking when the other two had finished, "I'm Olivia, and this is Goldie. I've been riding her for about a year and a half now, although we haven't shown yet. I'm rather new to reining, and Western in general, as I just got into it when I got to the Academy. She's rather bomb-proof, although I prefer to lunge her or run her in the round pen before riding her, which is why I'll probably show up with a lunge whip most days."