The Art of Dressage

[Deleted]

Lotti had worried about her first class so much that suddenly the anxiety of it all just sort of ran out.  She was fine now.  She had worried about how Flori would react to the class so she got one of the schools english horses, Sunny Reminder, who was trained basically in dressage.  That was fine though, she would only be teaching the basics this lesson and her mother had promised soon to send in her "birthday present", Daisy, who was well trained in dressage.  So Lotti made her way up to Remi's stall.  She got there and walked in slowly with halter in hand.  She hadn't realized the horse was a curly.  She stroked the mare's tightly curled coat and giggled girlishly.  
She groomed the mare, tacked her up and gave her a carrot before making her way to Benedict's arena, leading the curly mare behind her.  She had nine students in her class and she had sent them all reminders to groom their horses and tack up today. She had planned the lesson for 1 o'clock.  She mounted in the entrance to the arena and urged Remi into a trot.  She decided to warm up while she waited for the students and test the mares abilities.  First she went silently through all the basic gaits, then through collected and extended gaits.  The mare, although not flawless, had been well trained and had some talent.  Remi cantered in a clockwise circle on her right lead leg.  Lotti prompted her and she changed leads.  She whinnied and Lotti smiled and petted her.  She was a good-natured mare and very willing.  Lotti took a deep breath and pinned her hair behind her ear.  She straightened her shirt collar and reached down and smoothed the a stray lock of the mares mane into place.  They were ready.


"Calling:
@emmy
Athena Achilles
Cara-Jean Kitchi
Cassian F. De Fiore
@running9
Danielle Green
@diana
@kate
and
Thomas Oliver!"

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Stepping out of the shower - she knew that people would think it was strange that she was shaving a shower in the middle of the day right before heading to the barn, but that was just Cara. She dried her hair until it was just damp and then skilfully pulled it back into the French braid, which was then wound up to sit in a neat bun at the nape of her neck. She clipped a bow above the bun, the bun tucked into the net below the clip. After dressing into a pale blue shirt, she pulled her white jodhpurs on and buttoned up the black vest she had chosen to go with the outfit. She then pulled a tracksuit over the outfit to keep it clean while she got Kit ready for the class.

She picked up the paddock boots from beside her door and ran down the stairs in her socked feet, slipping her feet into the boots as she made her way out the front door and then headed to the barn to get Kit ready.

She had intentionally skipped making an appearance at the cafeteria that day so that she would have the extra time to get the grey Welara pony ready for class; which would include a complete grooming and a braid. She worked quickly and efficiently with the mare, making sure that there was not a single stable stain on her coat and that the braids she put along the mare's mane were neat and straight.

Leaving the mare, half asleep, she took the grooming kit back to the tack room, where she shed the tracksuit, brushed down her clothes and took the helmet and her white gloves from her locker. Placing the helmet on her head, she fastened it below her chin and walked out to the mare.

She led the mare out of the barn, not anticipating her to play up, but ready for it all the same, and it only took a couple of circles before they made it to the indoor arena. She could see that there was a woman working one of the Academy horses in the arena, and she could only assume that this was Ms Adler, their teacher. She swallowed hard, pushing down the butterflies that were trying to fight their way out as she approached the gate and hesitated, unsure what to do next.

Her decision was made for her as a male cleared his throat from behind her and walked past, entering the arena with his chestnut mare, she quickly followed them in; halting the mare in the middle of the arena with a hand on her nose to stop her from getting any ideas about calling out.

OOC: The equestrian classes are held in the afternoon; from: 13:00-13:55 and then from: 14:00-14:55

[Thomas Oliver]

Tommy bounced down to the barn, making his decision on his way there as to which of his two horses he would ride in dressage that day. His pace slowed a bit as he felt a slight pull on his side, he knew he shouldn't have scoffed the last of Reni's pizza, but he couldn't let it go to waste, not with all the starving people in the world, think of the children!

He sauntered into Red Willow and made his way down to Amber's stall, sharing an apple between his mare and his sister's. He then led the large chestnut out of her stall and down to the grooming stalls. Tommy was all about first impressions; which was why he was dressed in his neat clothes today, but he wasn't going to go all out with the mare for a simple class, so all she got was a lick and a promise - aka a thorough grooming but without the added extras of wetting her mane and tail to make sure they were sitting nice - and he tacked her up in her dressage gear.

Once they were both ready, Tommy led the mare toward the indoor arena. He arched an eyebrow when he saw a girl and pony standing by the gate. "Excuse us." He said after he had cleared his throat, he felt slightly guilty by the way he had caused her to leap into the air, but she really shouldn't have been holding up traffic. He led Amber into the arena and halted her in the middle, awaiting instructions. Yes, he would enter an arena without waiting to be told, but he knew better than getting up on his horse before being told to do so.

[Athena Achilles]

Athena had spent most of her time in the cafeteria picking at her lunch. Her thoughts had been on her parents a bit as of late, even more so since the talk she'd had with Amber, and it was getting to the point that it was beginning to consume her. Pushing the tray away, she left the cafeteria and decided that what better way to get her dead parents out of her head than to go and spend time with the gelding she rode.

After a quick stop to her dorm, she made her way down to White Oak, grabbed Bear's grooming kit and quietly let herself into the dunskin's stall. "You always make things better don't you?" She said softly as she slipped the halter over his nose and fastened the poll strap, before she began to brush the gelding down, she would wait until she had him out of the stall before she picked out his feet.

Once in the grooming stall, she finished working on the gelding's coat and tacked him up, her mind suddenly plagued by the fact that they would be meeting a new teacher for the first time. "I should have come earlier." She whispered as she pulled Bear's ears free of the headpiece. "Oh well, you'll have to do." She didn't have time to pretty the gelding up any more than what she had already done, and it was past time that they were heading toward the arena. It wasn't like they were even close to being late, but she knew that there were some days that the gelding needed to be settled into the idea of doing dressage.

Arriving at the arena, she followed the two people before her in and halted the gelding with the two mares. She rubbed Bear's forehead as he looked from one mare to the other, seemed to shrug and dozed off where he was standing.

[Deleted]

Lotti drew a deep breath and reined Remi to a halt.  The curly horse stopped smoothly and obediently.  Students had begun entering the arena.  First came a boy leading a chestnut.  She guessed this was Thomas.  He was followed by smaller girl with a much smaller mount, one of the academy ponies.  Lotti had never had much experience with ponies but she supposed dressage with them must be much the same as with normal horses.  Next came another girl with another of the academy horses, a dunskin lusitano that she'd seen a few times as she walked to Florenz's stall.  She waited patiently, knowing this was not even half of her class.  After a minute she surmised the rest of the class must be late or not coming.

"Hello!" She said loudly and firmly to the three students.  "I am Ms. Lotti Adler, you can call me Ms Adler, Lotti, Ms. A, whatever you want.  Now you have all signed up to be instructed in the art of dressage.  First I will give you a brief teaching about it, before we begin.  Dressage has been around since humans started riding horses.  It is the praise of intensive training and a strong bond between horse and human.  Dressage is often called "horse ballet" and rightly so because, like ballet, it is fluent, it is beautiful and it requires a lot of balance and discipline from all involved.  It is important in dressage to have a strong bond with your horse..." she reached down and petted Remi's neck and withers "because they are doing a lot of work for you.  They are not, however, doing all the work, as some people suggest.  To be a dressage rider you need to first have immaculate balance and posture in the saddle.  You need your horse to be comfortable.  Next you need to be in touch with your horse so that you can make them understand what it is you want from them.  Now each horse is different when it comes to dressage.  For example this horse I am riding now, Remi, will give me a lead change if I ask only with my legs, but my own horse, Florenz, will only give me a lead change if I use my legs and the whip.  The same action, two differently trained horses with different attitudes.  Today we are going to start the lesson with the basic gaits and commands.  You may mount up!" 

She walked Remi first over to Thomas, class list in hand "Hi, you're Thomas?  Welcome to my class, I hope you learn and enjoy your time.  If you need anything just come to me." she smiled and urged Remi on quickly to the smaller girl with the pony "Hello, Cara is it?  Welcome to my class, I hope you enjoy your time here.  If you want any help with anything don't be afraid to ask." and then finally to the last girl "You're Athena, am I right?  I hope you enjoy my class, welcome.  If you need any help just shout out."  She was very eager to make friends with her pupils and be one of those teachers that everyone likes.  She trotted Remi back to the front and waited for everybody to mount up.

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara listened to the woman speak, the hand not holding the reins was playing with Kit's ears. She had been studying dressage pretty much since she had started riding, so nothing the woman said was news to her; and she liked dressage so much because it reminded her so much of the grace and precision of her own ballet training.

She took a small step back as their instructor approached her. She knew it made her look almost afraid of the other horse, though Remi knew better, and she nodded her head in reply to the woman's question about who she was. She swallowed, but couldn't force herself to form any words to what else was said, though she had a feeling there wasn't a need for an actual reply.

When the instructor moved on to the next person, she pulled the stirrups down, tightened the girth and led Kit over to the mounting block, guessing the vaulting into the saddle wouldn't exactly be very professional in a lesson. Standing on the block, she slipped her fingers under the girth and tightened it again before swinging gracefully into the saddle and giving Kit the slightest of cues to get her to step forward.

[Thomas Oliver]

Tommy arched an eyebrow as the woman spoke, she wasn't the first instructor here to say that the students could address her by her first name. He scratched Amber's chin as the woman gave a background on dressage, but he held back any comment he wanted to make about none of them here being new to the sport.

He gave a charming smile as the woman on horseback approached him and he gave a sweeping bow. "I am he, but, if milady doesn't mind the informality of it, I much prefer Tommy." He straightened and his smile turned into a wicked grin and he rubbed Amber's nose as the woman moved onto the girl and pony.

He made quick work in tightening the girth and mounting his Trakehner mare and squeezing her forward. He'd tighten the girth properly once the mare had walked around a bit. Yes, he could have done it up nice and super tight before he got on, but he'd rather do the lesson with all of his skin in tact. She didn't always object to it being tightened, but there was the odd day when she got really mouthy about it and he didn't want to find out if this was going to be one of those days.

[Athena Achilles]

Athena knew her way around dressage, but she liked listening to how people explained it. As, unlike in a classroom, no two instructor's ever said it the same way, though most did, as Lotti had done, compared it to ballet - though she'd had one instructor in the past who had compared it to synchronised swimming, which has the class in hysterics. She chuckled at the memory, that instructor had be a lot of fun. She had done ballet, so could easily see how they would compare.

She smiled as the woman approached her. "You are indeed." She replied to the woman guessing what her name was. "I'll ask if I need anything." She then took her time getting Bear ready to mount, starting by getting him to wake up, and then easily mounted him from the ground and tightened the girth another hole once she was sitting in the saddle. Unsure what else to do, she asked him to walk forward, keeping him moving rather than just standing in one place. She knew that dressage was the gelding's weak point, but she had been working with him on it and she hoped that from the sounds of it, that this class would be perfect for him,

[Martijn van der Berg]

Martijn had finished grooming Ritske, then stepped back, looking at the gelding's mane critically. He didn't know how to braid for dressage properly, and hadn't wanted to try just yet, so he hoped that the running braid that he had put in that morning would be fine, if non-traditional. After tacking the gelding up in his black tack, which Martijn had had help in picking and fitting, so it should be fine, he grabbed his helmet and then undid the halter from around the horse's neck, before leading him to the arena.

As he entered, he nodded at the teacher, then held his gelding's reins as he waited, listening to the teacher's introduction. It seemed that she was new as well, which would make it easier to get around, although he hoped she wasn't too much of a stickler. When they were asked to mount up, he did so, making sure that Ritske's girth was tight before leading the Frisian over to the mounting block. He was glad to see that he wasn't the only one without a properly braided horse, which helped put him at ease, and he gathered his reins and ran a hand along Ritske's back as he waited for further instructions.