Comfort vs. Discomfort

[Anastasie Chevalier]

Anastasie stood in the middle of the small field she was using for her class, with a rubber curry comb in her hand. Beside her, stood a large bay Standardbred gelding the only white markings on him was a line of iodine burns that resulted in white spots down his near foreleg and the half coronet band on his off hind. The gelding released a heavy sigh as he lowered his head, jumping as the lead that had been slung across his withers slipped down his neck. “It’s okay, sweetie.” The woman said as she gently took the rope off his neck, unclipped it from the blue rope halter he wore and placed it on the ground behind her own feet. She would clip the lead back in place once their students started to arrive – more to keep the gelding in his safe place than in worry that he would attack anyone.

She went back to running the rubber comb in circles down the gelding’s back and over his rump. Pushing the comb in between the belt she wore and her jean jods, she used the tips of the fingers on her right hand to scratch just to the side of the gelding’s dock, laughing as he stretched his neck out and pulled his top lip back in sheer enjoyment as he leaned his hindquarters into the scratch. “You are such the goof.” She told him, but didn’t stop scratching.

She took this time to think over what she planned to do with the students who showed up today. She had already turned the speakers on and the wireless microphone - also know as a Madonna mic - was already in place, she just needed to switch on the pack she wore at her waist.

She finally stopped scratching the gelding’s dock as she arm began to cramp, and she laughed as she stepped away and Cedar moved his hindquarter over to that the other side of his tail was now in her reach. “Later, bub.” She told him as she pushed his rear end away. She then scooped up the blue and white lead, and walked toward his head and laughed as his ears flattened – a defense mechanism he had when someone approached him. “Silly boy.” She whispered as she lifted her hand and took hold of the loop on the halter that the lead attached to. She had now had him a number of years, but she didn’t think he’d ever stop flattening his ears when anyone walked up to him. “We have company.” She said as she clipped the lead to the halter and turned around so she was standing at his side, her arm circling his face and her hand running up and down his nose. She smiled as the gelding relaxed, his head getting heavy on her arm, his eyes blinking softly.

---

Students:
Becca Walsh
@hound3
Elizabeth Toman
@running5
@john
Rose Hoff

[Elizabeth Toman]

Elizabeth was in a grump, and it showed in her stride - as the students around her quickly made more room for her or just left the area. To make things worse, she had to deal with the brattish mare that she had been assigned.

She grabbed Ember's grooming kit from the tack room and walked to the prissy little Thoroughbred cross' stall. "What kind of mood are you in today?" She asked as she grabbed the dark orange halter off the hook by the door and entered the stall. To the girl's utter shock and amazement, the mare stood where she was and allowed the halter to be put on without a fight, and then she just stood there as she was being groomed.

Not quite trusting the mare, Libby led the mare out of the stall and down to the field that they used for the horsemanship classes. She gave the teacher in the middle of the field a small nod in greeting as she let herself in, using the carrot stick to make sure that the pony didn't have any ideas on knocking the girl into the gatepost.

Libby then found them a space along the edge of the field and began running her hands over the mare's body, as they did at the start of every other class, and allowed the simple motion to calm her down and allow her to start relaxing.

[Rose Hoff]

    Rose was beginning to feel the tries that came with the second half of the school year. She was sluggish and tired all the time, and blue shadows showed under her eyes, illuminated on her pale skin. After academic classes, she was ready to go take a nap, but that wouldn't be possible until she finished all of her homework, probably late into the night. Pushing down a yawn, she entered the Red Willow Barn and grabbed Eleanor's brushed from the tack room before finding the mare in her stall.

    Upon entering, she greeted the mare with a pat on the shoulder and pulled her light sheet off. It wasn't as heavy as the other rugs that she'd used in previous months, but she didn't like for Eleanor to be without anything just yet, especially with her clipped coat. After folding it and putting it away, she used a dandy brush over Eleanor's legs and then worked over Eleanor's body with a soft brush, taking her time so that the mare's coat was smooth and shiny. Luckily, she didn't have to deal with much shedding.

    Once Eleanor was sufficiently cleaned, Rose put on her halter and clipped on the lead. Grabbing the carrot stick she'd been given for the class, she led Eleanor out to the field that the class was held in. Finding a spot, she worked on calming Eleanor down while waiting for the class to begin. She ran her hands over the mare's body, stopping to scratch the mare's withers where she liked it ever few moments. 

[Deleted]

Still being fairly new to the whole academy life, Jackson was still getting to hang of balancing riding time, study and homework time, and bonding time. Although he was never really the type of person who actually made the attempt to study he felt that he owed Phillip at least that much and so did try his hardest. He walked to the White Oak to get the mare that he had to use riding and for this class.

Jackson was excited to learn some new ways he could get to know a horse and how to determine personal space as well as other things. He picked up the Paint’s forest green halter and slid it over her nose and clipped it on her cheek. He wore boots just in case Fore decided to not mind her manners and step on her handler. ”Are you ready for class girl?” He asked the mare, she wasn’t going to answer, but he took her walking out of the stall quickly as a “yes”.

He caught up to the mare and matched her stride as they made their way down to the natural horsemanship field. He was sort of happy to see that he wasn’t the only one who was in the class or that he wasn’t the first person to show up; there were two other female students standing there with their equines. The instructor was standing in the middle of field with her lovely bay gelding. Jackson stayed towards the back of the field with Fore standing beside him.

[Becca Walsh]

    Becca hadn't been sure if she wanted to use Frye or Sailor in her Natural Horsemanship class, but she'd decided to stick with Frye. She'd been making progress with him, and he certainly needed more help than Sailor. Already, her new gelding was infinitely more comfortable with her than Frye ever was. 

    After stopping in the tack room to grab her brushes, Becca walked to Frye's stall, stopping to pet Sailor while on her way. Once with her thoroughbred gelding, she began to groom him carefully, wary of his sensitivity. Luckily, the gelding was mostly clean, so it only took a soft brush to get him to shine. Once she'd brushed him and picked out his hooves, Becca slipped on Frye's halter and clipped on his lead to bring him out to the field, carrot stick in hand.

    Upon arriving to the field, Becca found a place for her and her horse, as far away from any others as possible. Frye, as usual, was edgy, and wouldn't stand still while they waited for class to start. The thoroughbred was always jigging, weaving, or trying to step away. Head high in the air and ears pricked and wary, Frye was the absolute image of a wiry thoroughbred. Becca couldn't seem to put any weight on the horse, so he was skinny and long, and with his muscles, looked rather like the racehorses found at tracks, though the gelding had never raced.