Natural Horsemanship (group B)

[Anastasie Chevalier]

The students in this class:
@sync4
@boldandbrave,
@luka,
Rose Hoff
Sara Jane Lyena

Anastasie Chevalier stood in the middle of the field that she called a classroom for her horsemanship classes - she used one of the actual classrooms for her natural remedies class. She ran her hand down the nose of the gelding who stood in front of her.

Taking a deep breath, the French-woman rose her life-force and gave the smallest movement with the wrist of the hand that was holding the lead and she smiled as the gelding's head shot up, his ears pricked forward and he backed away. She relaxed her stance again once he had taken three steps. And then gave a sweeping bow when the young gelding stopped moving

The woman glanced toward the gate to see if any students were arriving with their horses. She blew out a breath as she thought about that day's lesson. Today she was going to teach the students to teach their horses not to panic if their legs got caught in anything. Many would roll their eyes at her class, but this was one lesson that all equines should be taught, as it was a valuable thing if the animal got caught up in a fence or got their reins tangled around a leg after losing a rider out on the trails or cross country course.

On the fence post beside the gate, a number of coloured coiled ropes were waiting for the students. Ana liked using coloured ropes as she found that they were less likely to spook animals then the natural coloured ropes did - as they looked like snakes.

She pushed the cowboy hat she was wearing back so that her forehead was uncovered, it was pretty early in the afternoon, but the weather was seeming to be warming up nicely. There was a light dusting of snow on the ground of her classroom, but the air didn't hold that chill that it had a month ago.

[Rose Hoff]

Rose had decided to take Eleanor to her Natural Horsemanship class that day. In the past she had taken Vintage, but she felt that Eleanor could benefit from it more. She'd been hesitant at first, but now at least the mare trusted her, and she could work with her in that class. She was sure that she would be nervous around the other horses and students, and was bound to stay by Rose's side, but she wouldn't act up unless something really spooked her. Finding the warmblood mare in her stall, Rose took off her Joules rug and groomed her over quickly with a soft brush to sweep off the dust that had collected on the mare's coat. Happy, she slipped on her baby blue halter and matching lead slowly before leading her out to the Natural Horsemanship Field.

She was rather glad to find she was the first one there, and she had time to let Eleanor settle before other horses joined them. She smiled at Ms. Chevalier in greeting, petting Eleanor's neck. The sensitive mare wasn't paying much attention to the gelding, which was a good sign for how the rest of the class would go. Rose noticed that the mare would shift her weight from one side to another every so often, which suggested that Eleanor wasn't completely relaxed, but she was behaving well enough and wasn't too nervous as of yet.

[Sara Jane Lyena]

Sara finished running the brush over Balian's grey coat and rubbed the gelding's nose before she picked up the teal rope halter and swiftly exchanged it for the nylon one that had connected the gelding to the bar she had quick-tied him to. Leaving him ground-tied for a moment, Sara walked over to the gelding's stall and hung the halter and lead set onto the hook next to it, ready for when they returned, then picked up the thinner rope lead that was tied to the halter that her gelding was now sporting. She glanced over to where Cinder lay and called the dog with a quiet, "Pars." Once the dog, with the leather tab dangling from his collar as usual, had come to her right side, Sara clucked to Balian and led him out of the barn, and towards the Natural Horsemanship field.

When the field came into view, Sara took a detour and stopped at the closest tree to the field. Pointing next to the trunk, she looked at Cinder, "Praesto, mora, pax." After the malamute had lain down in the shade, Sara nodded and turned towards the field's gate, smiling at Ms. Chevalier and the other girl who was already in the field, with a warmblood. As she approached the field, she saw a pile of bright colors. She glanced over them until she found a soft, bright pink one. Hoping that they were there for them to take for the class, she picked it up and wound it around her hand before she entered the field, finding a spot with enough room for herself and Balian, then dropped the lead rope and telling Balian to 'Stay'. Taking her now-empty hand and rubbed it along Balian's neck, waiting for the class to start.

[Deleted]

Luka smiled at the ruckus in the barn as the various students got ready for their equestrian classes. He shifted Quiz's grooming kit over to his other hand as he walked towards the gelding's stall. He could see the draft-horse's dark face, looking at the commotion, but focusing on Luka as he was recognized. The boy held out the carrot that he had grabbed from the sack in Neb's tack locker, and Quiz picked it up from his hand. As the gelding crunched on the treat, Luka haltered him, using the light-grey halter. It had originally been white, but through repeated usage, it had turned a slight grey, despite washing it regularly.

After grooming the gelding, taking a long time with the feathers, which seemed to always be caked in mud, Luke grabbed the gelding's lead rope and clipped it to his halter. Releasing Quiz from his cross-ties, the boy led the Gypsy out of the barn and towards the Natural Horsemanship field. He led Quiz into the field and found some space away from the two girls that were already present. As he smiled at the teacher and Rose, whom he recognized from the Equestrian team, he loosed his grip on Quiz's lead and let the gelding graze.

[Anastasie Chevalier]

Ana smiled as her students entered the field and she remained silent as they took time to find their own space and settle their friends in preparation for the lesson to begin.

After waiting for a few more minutes, in the hope that more students would arrive, before she turned toward the two students she did have with a warm smile, keeping a loose hold on the young horse she had at the end of her rope as she looked at the class as a whole. "Those of you who didn't pick up a rope on your way in, can you please go an choose one and return to your horse." She knew that it was a lot to ask for the students to leave their equine friend alone in the field, but it was up to them if they towed the horse to the gate or trusted their friend not to move.

Once all of the students had a rope, she began. "Today, we are going to work on teaching our friends that they don't need to panic if they get their legs caught." She bent down and picked up the coiled rope that was by her feet and he didn't even flinch when it wiggled in front of him. "Clever little man." She whispered as she rubbed his forehead. "You will see that you have a knot tied at the end of the rope, if you slid this along toward the coil, you will create a loop." She demonstrated as she spoke. "This loop I want you to slip it over your companion's head and unclip their lead rope." She slipped the loop over Gold's neck and pulled it so that it gently hugged the gelding's neck. "Now, you are to carefully walk around your horse's body so that he is wrapped up in the rope." She was once again standing at the colt's head, but this time on the right-hand side. "And then give the rope the slightest of tugs." She applied a little pressure on the rope and Gold flickered his ears before, like a dream, he turned away from his handler and unwound himself.

[Rose Hoff]

Rose held Eleanor's lead loosely, smiling at the other students as they joined the class. Eleanor got more tense as the other horses joined them and Rose pet her until she calmed down. She hoped that Eleanor wouldn't get too nervous in the class, but the mare seemed to be calmer when she was around Rose. Rose had always had a good bond with Vintage, but what she was forming with Eleanor was a bit different. Whenever she was around, Eleanor wanted to be beside her, and loved attention, but only if it was from Rose. She was glad that the mare trusted her, and was actually quite proud of their growing relationship.

She decided that it would be fine to leave Eleanor where she was to go get the rope, and left the mare in her spot as she began to walk over to grab one of the colored ropes. Looking back, she smiled when she saw Eleanor with her ears pricked towards Rose, following the girl. She walked with Eleanor over to the ropes, choosing a pink one and returning with her mare to their place. She watched Ms. Chevalier's demonstration in interest, thinking that she and Eleanor probably wouldn't have a problem as long as she was able to keep the mare calm and aware of her actions. She was glad that they were having this lesson, especially since Eleanor spooked so much.

Forming the rope into a loop as demonstrated, she slipped it over Eleanor's head. The warmblood mare tensed, obviously already nervous, but Rose talked softly to her, trying to keep her calm. When Eleanor relaxed again, she began to wind the rope around her as shown, keeping a hand on the mare as she walked around so that she wouldn't startle her. Eleanor was definitely tenser, so Rose spent a moment petting her before giving a little tug on the rope. Eleanor looked at her for a second without moving a muscle before unwinding herself about halfway from the rope. It wasn't like Ms. Chevalier's horse had done, and Eleanor moved nervously and quick, just trying to get out.