Blue Ridge is a fictional town located deep in the heart of Kentucky. It is home to one of the most well known equestrian academies in the United States. Students and staff from all over the world join the academy for what it has to offer. Do you have what it takes to join us and learn from the Academy?
Smilys were made by Sapphire Heaven of LiveJournal.
The mini-profile hover follows a tutorial by Kagney of Adoxography.
Photos in the skin used under CC from Flickr.
Post by Tobias Xayarath on Nov 26, 2014 8:48:58 GMT -8
Tux smiled as he led Red towards the farriery. Sure, the rest of the school had to contend with local farriers while the administrators tried to find another farrier to deal with their hoof issues, but he had offered Sir Solomon his services for the broodmares, and anyone that might catch him while he was taking the time to deal with said horses. He wasn't willing to give up his proper job to be the farrier, and probably wasn't quite as qualified as the academy would like in any case. He was certified to the second level, as a tradesman farrier, but he had never bothered to continue on to journeyman, and he couldn't be bothered with it now.
But still, he knew how to trim a horse's hooves and fit a regular shoe. After clipping Red into the cross ties, Brian let himself into the shed and began gathering the materials he would need, checking to make sure they were still in good condition, despite their disuse. He had once had his own set of tools, but he had lost them somewhere before moving to Blue Ridge, so the Academy's set would have to do. After he was satisfied, he walked over to Red and ran a hand down her leg, asking her to pick it up before he set to work, undoing the clinches that held the horseshoe in place so that he could pull it off of her foot.
Tobias Ulric Xayarath | 'Tux' | EP Barn Hand + Foal Handling Instructor | 46
Signing up for classes had - and this is a bit sad, he knows that, he's come to terms with it - been really exciting as far as Erik was concerned, and he hadn't objected at all to his parents being determined that he would have a full class schedule. Blue Ridge's academic reputation had interested them far more than its equestrian one, so he had a full load of the more normal school classes, as well as as many riding ones as he could possibly fit in. Foal handling was something he knew nothing about, but it sounded great, so he'd added it to his schedule not really expecting to get in (he was just a freshman, after all!) and had thus been over the moon when it had transpired that he'd gotten into all of the classes he'd wanted!
However, he was very aware of the fact that he'd never interacted with foals before, so he had decided i the car on his way to Blue Ridge that he needed to go and talk to the instructor for that class. He'd decided a lot of things on the drive actually, and had made a lot of lists - he was finding it very satisfying to be ticking things off them. It was the day after he'd arrived, a couple of days before term started, and Erik had foud himself awake early and raring to get going. He'd managed to wait until an actual reasonable hour to start doing things by unpacking and lying on the floor attempting to make nice with his cat (that had failed) but now he was out and about!
Making his way across campus, Erik looked significantly more rotund than he usually did, and very little of his face could be seen between his fluffy scarf and his fluffy hat - alright, he was a wimp. The snow was pretty exciting, even if it was only an inch or two, which was far more than Vancouver ever got, and so he'd managed to get distracted several times jumping in snow and making footprints. Eventually he made it to the Evening Primrose Barn, where all the broodmares were, only to be told that Mr. Xayarath was actually at the farriery. In retrospect, he decided as he struck out into the cold again, maybe he should have made an appointment...
But there was no going back now, so he approached the building without much hesitation, heading towards what sounded like a hoof against concrete. "Hello? Mr. Xayarath?" He said, as he rounded the corner, word half-muffled in scarf and hoping he was pronouncing the name right, realising as he did so that he probably should have realised that 'being at the farriery' would involved actually shoeing a horse. "Oh! I'm sorry, I, uh, didn't mean to disturb you!" Realising he was rather muffled by wool, he unwound a couple of loops of his scarf, "Ooh, your horse is beautiful - but sorry for the interruption, I'll just, um, be going now."
Post by Tobias Xayarath on Jan 15, 2015 18:55:55 GMT -8
After tossing the used shoe to the side, having bent the nails inward so that nothing could step on them, Tux pulled his hoof knife from his pocket, where he'd stuck it earlier. After scraping away at the edge of the hoof wall, revealing the light material underneath, he quickly cleaned out the mare's hoof, trimming away the horny parts of the frog as he did so. After trimming at the hoof wall with a pair of nippers, he rasped down the sole of the hoof, making sure that it was more or less flat on the bottom.
Before he could get to shaping the rest of the hoof, which needed a little bit of a touch-up, he could hear his name being called. He let Red drop her foot and rose, stretching his hands over his head for a moment as a boy whom he most certainly did not recognize came around the corner. Lowering his arms once more, Tux dropped the rasp onto the stand, smiling, "It's not a problem."
Patting Red's neck, he stepped away from the horse, ready to turn his attention to whatever it was that the boy was searching him out for, "There's no need to leave, you've managed to find me, I'm sure that there's a reason?" He prompted, hoping to get the boy to spit it out. Yes, he would have to finish with at least the foot he'd started on Red, but he did have a proper job to do, and that was what he was paid for. Not this messing around like it was the old times, although it was of use to the academy.
Tobias Ulric Xayarath | 'Tux' | EP Barn Hand + Foal Handling Instructor | 46
"Oh, well, if you're sure it's not a bother..." Erik said, unwinding another loop of his scarf so that he could actually move his neck properly. "I guess I should have made an appointment but I didn't really think that far ahead." Foresight never had been - and probably never would be - Erik's strong point, and no matter how many times he ended up in situations where he sort of regretted it, it hadn't yet managed to actually change his behaviour.
"I'm a new student, here - I just arrived yesterday, actually - and I'm signed up for your Foal Handling class - which I'm super excited about! - but I've also never actually worked with foals before... Or even untrained horses, really, so I thought I should come and, uh, tell you that, so it's not a terrible surprise." He paused a moment, and then barreled on, demeanour an odd mixture of excitement and nerves. "Is it okay if I stay in the class? I don't want to make things harder or, like, traumatise some poor foal... I really don't mind doing extra work to catch up and learn everything - I'd enjoy it, actually!" More time to be doing horsy things - how could that be a bad thing?
"Oh, er, my name is Erik Choi, by the way." That was maybe something he should have mentioned earlier, now that he thought about. Hopefully Mr. Xayarath was used to getting accosted by random students at random times when he was shoeing his horse... Which was another interesting thing. "Are you the school's farrier, as well? That's really cool.
Last Edit: Jan 17, 2015 15:27:06 GMT -8 by Deleted
Post by Tobias Xayarath on Jan 17, 2015 15:43:52 GMT -8
Tobias smiled easily, "Most people don't make appointments, but they usually have the luck of catching me in the barn." Because that's where he usually was, "It's not a problem, I assure you." He didn't mind the chance to set Red's foot down, actually. Only when he had did he realize how tired his arm and back already were. Quite a different set of muscles from what he used everyday.
He listened to the boy's introduction, and realized that yes, he had gotten an email about a new student joining his class, although it had said nothing of experience. He thought briefly about the horse that he'd assigned the boy, but decided that it wasn't going to be a problem, "A lot of my students actually don't have any foal experience, so you're certainly not out of place." A little behind, yes, but Tux had worked with the other foals, and coerced the other barn hands into helping when they had time, so while they might be a little less certain in their motions, they were all around the same level, "You're welcome to stay in the class. I can show you around the barn in a little bit, just let me finish with this one shoe here." Eh, once the mare was shod again, he could do the other feet another time. That's why you only started one hoof at a time, right?
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Erik." He'd known of the student, but hadn't bothered to remark upon the name, but 'Erik' seemed familiar. Yes, probably the same kid. "No, I'm not the farrier, I just teach foal handling, and I'm the head barn hand in Evening Primrose. The school doesn't currently have a farrier employed, so the major barns work with one from in town." He paused, considering how much to tell, but then, there wasn't a reason not to, "My first horse experience was working under a farrier, so I offered to do our broodmares from the Evening Primrose barn, is all." It gave him a change in pace, and he would have had to stay with the farrier anyway, so what did it matter if he just did the shoeing himself?
He considered how long it would take, then looked back at the boy, "I do have to finish Red's shoe now, which I apologize for, it will probably take about ten more minutes." Estimating high, but he didn't want to keep the boy waiting, "You're welcome to meet me in the barn then, or you can stick around and watch if you'd like, she's easy-tempered enough."
Tobias Ulric Xayarath | 'Tux' | EP Barn Hand + Foal Handling Instructor | 46
"Oh, good!" Erik was incredibly relieved to hear that lots of the other students also wouldn't have much experience, and brightened immeasurably in an instant. "I'm so glad to hear that! I would have been really sad to drop out!" And he was back to talking in exclamation marks again, a mode that he ended up stuck in quite frequently, and that everyone he talked to would have to get used to, unless they decided to just avoid him at all costs instead.
"Wow, all that must keep you busy!" Eternally impressed by anyone who was good at anything, no matter what it was, Erik was always amazed by people who were good at multiple things. So many people were just so awesomely talented! And Erik was pretty sure that here at Blue Ridge he was going to meet tons of them - who knew what he might be able to learn?! Mr Xayarath certainly had a lot of talents...
"I'd love to watch, if Red definitely wouldn't mind? Shoeing is so cool, and I still find it amazing how patient most horses are with it! And how complicated it all looks! Am I out of the way enough if I stand here?" Erik didn't think he was in the way where he was, but he wanted to check. "She's really gorgeous - is she yours, or is she one of the Academy horses? They have broodmares, right? Is there a lot of breeding that happens here? Wait, sorry, um, I'll be quiet and actually let you concentrate. His run of questions might have continued indefinitely if he hadn't suddenly remembered that Mr. Xayarath was actually trying to do something; he would have to save them for later! By which point he probably would have come up with a thousand more...
Post by Tobias Xayarath on Jan 17, 2015 23:02:36 GMT -8
Tux grinned. The boy's enthusiasm was strangely infective, not that he minded, "Yes, I suppose so, although I have enough down-time should I want it." Sometimes, that was. Other times, he was catching up the foals that weren't assigned to a student. At least he didn't have his own horse on top of the foals, which were time-consuming enough.
As he bent back to his work, Tux smiled at the boy's questions, none of which were too in-depth, and he could answer while keeping his attention mainly on his work, "You're perfectly fine there, and no, Red won't mind." As he took the mare's hoof again, she whinnied, but Tux ignored it, knowing that the mare was just very vocal as the norm. It was when she was quiet that they had to be careful. "No, she's not mine, she belongs to the Academy. They do indeed have broodmares, about ten if I'm not mistaken." He dropped Red's hoof to try and shape the horseshoe he was fitting a bit better, then returned, picking up her foot and holding the two together again. As he moved back to the anvil, he smiled, "You're fine asking questions as long as you don't expect me to recite the constitution or something." He went back and forth between testing the shoe's fit and the mare's hoof, "Did you bring a horse, or were you assigned one here?"
Glad that he wasn't being a nuisance, Erik listened intently to Mr. Xayarath's answers. He might be good at talking, but he was good at listening as well, always genuinely interested in the answers to the (many) questions that he asked. "Do they do a lot of breeding? Is there, like, a Blue River bloodline or something?" He was, to be quite honest, a little fuzzy on how breeding actually worked. Well, not the biology bits of it, he knew that bit - sort of, he'd never been very keen on biology - but the business side of things was a complete mystery to him. "I was talking to Mr. Fitz and he was saying his mare was pregnant." Something of a non-sequitor, perhaps, but the connection made sense in Erik's head.
"I didn't bring a horse, but Ms. Carr assigned me to Genie - uh, Aladdin's Lamp. He's great! I got to ride him yesterday and he's so incredibly patient! And has really nice paces. He's kind of bigger than I was riding before, so that's interesting. And then I'm signed up for the Mounted Games class as well, but I don't know which pony I'll be riding for that." Erik might only have met Genie less than 24 hours ago, but he was fast becoming the gelding's Number One Fan.
Watching Mr. Xayarath work, he asked, "So, how long does it take to train to be a farrier? It looks like there's heaps to learn - you definitely don't want to be doing something wrong to a horse's hooves by accident, right? Where did you learn? Do you learn at a school, or is it like an apprenticeship thing?"[/font]
Last Edit: Jan 17, 2015 23:20:23 GMT -8 by Deleted
Post by Tobias Xayarath on Jan 17, 2015 23:34:53 GMT -8
Tux grinned, "No, there's not a Blue Ridge line at the moment, although I believe Sir Solomon is considering changing that and cutting back to one or two breeds. Right now, the academy breeds a little bit of everything, mainly for the purpose of the Equine Reproduction class, and then the foals come to us, and after a year they get sold, and the money just about breaks even." Not quite, as it was, but then, there were other factors that came into play in the monetary side of things. "Indeed, Fitz's mare is, and she's quite big. All of the pregnant mares are stabled at Evening Primrose, so you'll be able to see her when we head over there."
He kept working the horseshoe as he listened to Erik talking about his assigned mount, glad to know that at least some students weren't put off by using one. There was nothing wrong with the horses the academy offered, but so many of the students made it sound like a bad thing, to have an assigned horse, instead of one's own. It wasn't like there was a real difference in the workload, and the academy had some pretty decently trained horses for its higher students. "He sounds like a wonderful horse. I'm sure the two of you will get along famously."
"So, it takes about a year's worth of experience to certify for the first level with the American Farriers' Association, which is called a 'certified farrier'. The second level, which is optional, is 'certified tradesman farrier', which is what I'm certified to. It takes at least two years of experience to certify." He was finally satisfied with the fit of the shoe and began setting the nails, "I definitely don't want to do something wrong to their hooves. I did an apprenticeship with an Educators Endorsed farrier, which means he had done at least seven years of work and assorted certifications, and was licensed to teach other farriers. I do think that there are farrier schools out there, though." He tested the feel of th shoe, then nodded, happy, as he set it down, "So, there's that. Ready to go and meet your foal?"
Tobias Ulric Xayarath | 'Tux' | EP Barn Hand + Foal Handling Instructor | 46
"That's pretty cool," Erik said, absorbing the information about Blue River's mares and foals with interest. "Where do the mares come from? Do people bring their mares here specially to breed?"
Erik had never even considered being perturbed by riding one of the Academy's horses, though his perspectives were probably shaped by only ever having ridden school horses before, and never having actually owned a horse. Not only would keeping a horse in Vancouver be very expensive, but while Erik's parents didn't object to his hobby, they didn't want it to take up more time than it had to - when selling them on Blue Ridge he had emphasised the academics, and not mentioned the things like getting to muck out and feed your horse. Some things they'd be happier not knowing, right? "He is pretty great,"[/color] Erik agreed, happily.
"That all sounds very complicated..." He had a couple more questions on the tip of his tongue, but was preempted by Mr. Xayarath finishing with the hoof he'd been working on. Except... surely there were three more hooves? "Definitely ready! But, uh, and this is probably a stupid question, but doesn't she have three other shoes? I mean, don't they all get done at once?"[/font]
Last Edit: Jan 20, 2015 21:16:08 GMT -8 by Deleted
Post by Tobias Xayarath on Jan 22, 2015 14:30:30 GMT -8
Tux shook his head, "No, most people don't bring their mares here to be bred. Some might, I'm sure, because Sir Solomon is well-practiced in artificial insemination, but those mares don't work in the classes, and go back to their owners sooner rather than later." He paused, considering what he knew of the academy's mares' histories, "Some were donated, by people affiliated with the academy or breeders who have their own reasons, others belonged to the previous equine reproduction teacher, and were donated after she had to leave. I'm not sure where they were from originally. Others were bought, although that was very few." He would have to talk to Peter about what was happening to the mares if they did indeed reorganize the school's program to somewhat more of an organized one, although he could understand the other man wanting a couple of years to get used to the programs here first.
At the mention of complicated, Tux shook his head, "There's plenty of time between the tests, obviously, and there is a point to having a mentor, they know the procedures, if they weren't even involved in creating them." Someone had to, after all. At Erik's question, Tux grinned easily, "No, not at all a stupid question. She does indeed have three other shoes, but they don't have to be done at once. I can get to them later, it's not a time sensitive matter." He brushed off the dust and dirt from his shirt and jeans, then set the stand in a corner. He might not admit it, but he was out of practice, and wouldn't mind the excuse to take a break, "I have a couple of yards here, I'll get it all done today, it's not a problem."
After undoing the cross-ties, Tux led Red towards one of the two yards that were there for the horses waiting for the farrier, offering shade and water, although the feeders had been conscripted... Some time ago, probably. Not like the horses got fed there. He undid the mare's halter, then left her in the yard, draping the halter over one of the posts and turning to Erik, "Alright, then."
He led the way back towards Evening Primrose, although he bypassed the barn, heading towards the pastures instead, talking all the way as he walked, "Your foal's name is Tudor, or Battle of the Roses. He is an Arabian colt, although he's still nice enough, up to now. He has done basic halter-work, and leading, although he's far from being perfect. They are learning to be groomed, and that hasn't gotten too far, so you haven't missed much there. Other than that, it's just a matter of getting them used to having every part of their body handled, and getting them to stand for being tied."
They had reached the foals' pasture, and Tux stopped, "Before we go in, do you have any questions?"
Tobias Ulric Xayarath | 'Tux' | EP Barn Hand + Foal Handling Instructor | 46