Natural Horsemanship (Group C)

[Anastasie Chevalier]

The students in this class:
Becca Walsh,
Ben Hall
@john,
Miranda Florin,
@running4

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.

[Becca Walsh]

Becca was always a bit nervous for her Natural Horsemanship Classes, and today was no different. Frye's manners were terrible, and often the classes did not go well. She had considered dropping the class pretty often, but always told herself that she and Frye needed it, and that the classes would probably help her with her relationship with Frye. She got along well with the teacher, and the woman had once helped Becca when she was lunging Frye. Ever since, she'd held the woman in high regard, and respected her immensely. What she'd taught Becca that day had made lunging Frye much better, and she was able to do it now without his bullying her.

She groomed Frye in his stall until his bright coat was perfectly clean, which didn't take very long since he'd had his blanket on. Once happy, she slipped Frye's halter on quickly, so that she'd be able to do it before his head shot up like it often did. Once it was buckled, she clipped on the lead and lead Frye out to the Natural Horsemanship Field. The moment they left the barn, Frye's head was up in the air as high as it could go, lead taught, with his ears pricked and nostrils flaring. Becca managed to get him to the field without him dragging her somewhere else. She found that she was the first one there, and greeted Ms. Chevalier warmly, "Hello!" She just hoped that today's class wouldn't be too embarrassing. In the past the students had been told that they could let their horses off the lead, and Becca was almost always the only one who chose to keep her horse on his lead. Today would be the same, as she just didn't trust Frye enough to let him go. For now, she just focusing on keeping his head low enough so the lead was at least a little but slack.

[Miranda Florin]

Miranda frowned as Cray sidestepped away from the brush again, holding the object out for the mare to sniff and reassure herself. They had played the same game every time Miranda tried grooming Cray, and while the stall kept Cray from getting too far away from Miranda, the girl didn't want to have to crowd Cray into the wall to groom her. After the mare had relaxed enough, aparently remembering the brush, Miranda rolled her eyes and stepped forward to start running it across Cray's body. The mare's shenanigans had cost her some time, so as Miranda glanced at her watch, she noticed that she was running slightly behind. Grimacing, Miranda finished, then hurried up slightly, without appearing to move too quickly, that Cray didn't shy away.

After she had finished grooming the mare, Miranda hurried to put on the mare's red nylon halter, choosing the sturdier one for the mare, then took hold of the lead rope and opened the stall door. As Cray stepped out into the aisle with her, Miranda glanced at her watch again and noticed that she had managed to make up for the lost time. Nodding to herself, she led Cray towards the field where the Natural Horsemanship class was held. As they approached, she saw the colorful ropes, but didn't know what to do with them, so she led Cray past them, glad to see that the mare didn't avoid them, and into the field. She found herself a bit of space and let Cray's lead rope loose, giving the mare enough slack to graze.

[Deleted]

John picked up Lilja's grooming kit and walked out to where the mare was, in the pasture. He buckled a halter onto the mare, then dropped the lead rope to the ground before he started brushing her, knowing that she wouldn't move anywhere anymore. After he had finished, warming up in the wintery sunshine, John picked up the mare's lead again and led her down the lane, taking a detour to the barn to put away the grooming kit. He hadn't saved much time in grooming the mare outside, but it had been nice, and Lilja seemed to like it more than being in the cross-ties.

After closing the mare's tack locker, John walked back outside and started towards the Natural Horsemanship field. He saw the pile of colorful ropes outside of the gate and stopped for a moment, looking from Ms. Chevalier to the ropes, then shrugging and picking one up, a bright lime-green. He looped it around his shoulders, then led Lilja into the field, smiling at Ms. Chevalier and the two girls who were already present. He found some space in the big field, then dropped Lilja's rope and played with the rope that he had picked up, twining it through his hands.

[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.

[Becca Walsh]

Becca almost groaned when their first instruction was to get one of the ropes, cursing herself for not getting one before the class had started. She smiled apologetically at Ms. Chevalier as she walked Frye with her over to the ropes and chose a bright red-orange one. Frye didn't seem to mind the short trip, and used their movement to just keep moving more. He never really stopped moving, and Becca knew that she didn't really have a choice about leaving him alone.

When she heard what the lesson would be, she smiled. It would certainly be a difficult lesson for them, but if she managed to teach Frye that it would be very helpful. She always worried about him bolting and hurting himself if he got his legs caught, and she just hoped that he;d cooperate enough to learn. Standing with him still clipped to the lead, she rested her hand on his neck, and he stayed still rather than moving away as he might have on some days. At least that was a good sign.

Holding Frye's lead with one hand, she slid the knot toward the coil as Ms. Chevalier showed them, and watched the rest of her demonstration before she started with Frye. She was sure that the gelding wouldn't like it, and just hoped that he wouldn't throw a fit. She trusted her teacher though, and didn't want to disappoint her by refusing to do it. She was sure that Frye wouldn't react like her teacher's horse had, but maybe he would actually be good.

She kept her hand on Frye neck as she slipped the loop over his head and took the lead off of his halter. She didn't have a chance to gently pull it so that it was against his neck, as Frye put his head up and took a step back. She could tell that he was thinking about bolting, but the taut of the rope around the neck seemed to stop him. Hesitantly, she began to walk around him, wrapping him in the rope. Frye was extremely tense, and his eyes were wide. When she gave the rug as instructed, Frye rose up a little bit on his hind hooves, but didn't turn as the other horse had.

[Deleted]

Entering the field this was Noah’s first class and really didn’t know anyone. Walking up to the lady who seemed to be in charge he knew he had to introduce himself to her. It seemed as if he was late as she already gave instructions, in which Noah had caught the last part while making his way down to the field. ”Hello, my name is Noah Anderson. I’m new here.” Thinking about it he probably should apologize for being late. ”I’m sorry for being late I didn’t exactly know where I was going.”

Standing there for a while the other students wandered around with their horses. Thankfully the day was ending as far as classes. Noah was always eager to come to equine classes, especially Natural Horsemanship. He could work one on one with Rayne. The mare loved to be around other horses and this was exactly where she could do that without having stress of being the best. The class wasn’t exactly big which was perfect for the sixteen year old. He didn’t do the best in large classroom situations, Noah felt that he always missed something and then was behind.

Draping the dark blue color lead rope over the mare’s neck, there was no doubt in his mind that the mare wouldn’t move. She would most likely just begin grazing. Noah walked up and grabbed a coiled up rope. Following the directions he slid the rope over Rayne’s neck and unclipped the lead rope from the halter and hung it on his shoulder. The Quarter Horse stood there, a silly rope was nothing compared to the children back home hanging on her face and legs. As Noah walked around the mare and wrapped the rope around her. Rayne watched him, her head and eyes following him. Still holding the other end of the rope when he reached the equine’s head, Noah gave it a slight pull a few times. The mare just stood and had the look of why are you making me do this? on her face. ”Good girl.”

[Ben Hall]

Ben stood with Lady, ready for the class to begin. He was excited about this class, and thought that he and Lady would do well. He trusted her, and believed that she trusted him since she seemed to be at her best when he was working with her. He shifted from foot to foot with her lead a bit slack in his hands, and she occasionally reached out to nibble at his hair.

When instructed, he unclipped her lead and left her to stand while he quickly got a blue rope from where they sat. Returning to her, he was glad to see that she had stood, though she was looking around as if ready to wander. She was always curious, though once in a while she found something she didn't like and flipped out.

Ben watched Ms. Chevalier's demonstration carefully, eager to try it with Lady. He was fairly sure that she'd been taught something of the sort, but how well she would react would still be a mystery. He formed the loop and slipped it over Lady's head, grinning as she reached down to try to nibble at it curiously. She was usually pretty good about standing when he was around, so he began to slowly walk around her, forcing himself not to rush.

When he finished his circle, he studied Lady, impressed with how well she was standing, as if she didn't know what to do. Giving a tug on the rope, he watched, hoping that she would unwind herself as the other horse had done, but instead she just stood there, looking at him a bit helplessly before pawing at the ground a bit.