An Apple a Day

[Anastasie Chevalier]

Anastasie stood at the front of her classroom, the actual room as opposed to the field that she also referred to a classroom for her natural horsemanship students. Picking up the Whiteboard marker, she wrote All the Essentials on the board in large letters. Then, knowing she had a number of new students she didn't have before the winter holidays, she walked around the room, placing a copy of Hilary Page Self's A Modern Horse Herbal on each table. The students who already had a copy, she would just collect the extra books as the conversation started, and hand out the copy she had in braille when she knew the girl who needed it.

She greeted the students as they entered and waited quietly, allowing them to speak among themselves until the tardi-bell sounded as she rose to her feet and walked to the front centre of the room. "Welcome, I am hoping you feel refreshed and energised after your break. When feeding horses we often concentrate on the major components of the diet. Does the horse have enough pasture, hay, chaff or even hard feed? When we are pressed for more details of the diet we can sometimes recall the amount of protein in the feed, but most other nutrients seem unimportant. However, it is the intake of these other nutrients, the small things, which keep horses healthy. Specifically, it is the intake of minerals and vitamins that are vital to the performance, growth, immune function and reproduction of all horses."

She paused as she looked around at the students, judging whether they were taking it in or not. "Minerals can be divided into two broad classifications – macro-minerals and micro-minerals, based on the amount required in the diet. Macro-minerals are required in large amounts in the diet. They include minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, sodium, chlorine, and sulfur. These minerals are vital to the development of the skeleton, muscle contraction, acid-base balance, activity of the nervous system and hoof and hair growth. The other classification of minerals is micro-minerals. These minerals are required in small amounts in the horses diet. They include minerals such as copper, iodine, iron, manganese, selenium, and zinc. These minerals function in most of the chemical reactions in the body helping to metabolize nutrients, maintain connective tissue and joint tissue, aid in oxygen transport to muscle and perform as antioxidants.

"Vitamins are equally important in the diet of horses. Vitamins are classified as either fat-soluble or water-soluble based on how these are stored within the body. The major fat-soluble vitamins include vitamins A, D, and E. These vitamins are important for vision, calcium absorption and regulation, and as a primary antioxidant within the body protecting cells and muscle function. Fat-soluble vitamins are stored within the fat deposits of the body and can accumulate giving the potential of toxicity if overfed. The other classification of vitamins is water-soluble vitamins. These vitamins are often referred to as B-vitamins. They include thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, biotin, and folic acid. These vitamins function in nearly every chemical reaction within the body; therefore, they are critical in metabolism, growth, and energy generation. The B-vitamins are manufactured by healthy bacteria within the horse’s digestive system and specific requirements have only been established for thiamin and riboflavin." She looked around the students again. "Can anyone tell me why dandelions are so good for your horses, without looking in your books first?"

Calling:
@anna
@jacobturcotte
@maeve
Rachel Deacon
Rose Hoff

@natashka
Amelia DeFoe
Cara-Jean Kitchi
Danielle Green
Fionn Paquet
@anya
Othello Buskirk
Stefan Eder

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara closed her eyes as she crossed the campus toward the building that held the unmounted equine courses. Her head was pounding, and the cold temperature was doing nothing for it other than making her cold.

Walking into the building, she headed down to the classroom and entered. She gave the woman behind the desk a respectful bow of her head and then walked to one of the tables at the front of the room. Sitting down, she delicately pushed the book that was on the desk to the top right corner, as she already had a copy, and began to set her desk up, which by itself was almost a ritualistic act, as no matter what class, her desk always looked the same; notebook in the front centre, pencilcase top centre with her blue, black and red pens, writing pencil and eraser on the table in front of it, and her glasses case top right corner. Removing the wire-rimmed classes from the case, she put them on and turned her attention to the board, nodding her head at the words.

Taking her own copy of the book from her messenger bag - if she could get away with it, she didn't touch public owned books - and placed it on the right-hand side of her binder. Opening the binder, she took up the black pen and dated the top left corner of the fresh sheet of paper and then wrote down the heading on the board.

She listened as Ms Chevalier spoke about vitamins and minerals in horse feed and the fact that not a lot of people knew a lot about them. She wrote down the woman's question on the page in her black pen, and then swapping it for the blue pen, she wrote down her answer; as speaking up in class wasn't her thing.

While people see the yellow flowers as nothing but a weed, they are a very essential herb to most livestock as they are rich in a number of vitamins and minerals and also assist in helping with worm control

She had learned a thing or two during the pasture management topic covered at her previous school.

[Othello Buskirk]

Othello shivered as he crossed campus from the warmth of the cafeteria to the building where he would find the Herbal Remedies classroom. He was still in two minds about this class, as his dreams of becoming a large animal vet were looking less and less likely, but he would rather be sitting in a class rather than sitting in the library, so this was it.

Walking into the classroom, he gave the woman a bright smile and then walked over to an empty desk at the back of the room. Picking the book up, he flipped through it and nodded. He then pulled out the things he would need and sat back. He pressed his lips together and sighed as he reached up and pulled the woolen hat off his head to reveal his bald head. The rules at school said no hats in class and he was a little too proud to wear a wig - and he looked like a dork wearing one - so the bald head was it.

He listened as the woman started the class and wondered if he should be taking notes, an idea which he quickly dismissed, and listened. When Ms Chevalier finished speaking and asked a question. He pressed his lips together and shook his head. All he knew was that dandelions were yellow flowers, he didn't know they actually had a purpose.

[Fionn Paquet]

As strange as it may seem, but Finn enjoyed the colder weather, and took his time as he headed toward the building for the equine courses - though he didn't walk so slow that he would chance being late.

Entering the room, he smiled and bowed toward Ms Chevalier and walked over to his normal seat in the middle of the room, flashing Cara a quick grin. Although she seemed no closer to wanting to talk to him, he always made a habit of trying to be friendly toward his fellow gymnasts. He pushed the book to the top of the table, as he already had a copy, and pulled the things he would need from the bag, before kicking the bag under his chair and making himself comfortable.

He listened attentively as the woman started the class, writing down the odd note here and there and arched his eyebrows at the question. He grabbed the book, and then put it down again as she finished speaking. He frowned in thought as he tried to think about what he had read and heard, though he couldn't remember anyone ever mentioning that dandelions were herbs. He put his hand up. "Don't quote me on it, but I remember someone at the stable I used to ride at mentioning yellow weeds and worms." He shrugged, now wishing he hadn't spoken.

[Deleted]

Liesl walked across campus in a black windbreaker, dark grey dress pants, and a purple shirt. Her boots clicked against the pavement. Entering the building where her unmounted classes would be she choose an empty desk after greeting the teacher. A book was on her desk and as she looked around the same book was on other desks as well. 

She took out a clean notebook and opened it to a new page before grabbing a pen. As class started the woman raster no time getting right to the lesson. Liesl took notes figuring that what she was saying would come in handy and though she had a great memory she felt she may as well write it down. She wrote frantically her notes in German as she abbreviated things in both English and German as well as Old Church Slavonic. She could easily decipher the languages and words so it would no problem to write in different languages. 

She listened intently to the lesson all while her pen was scribbling on the paper. This sounded very interesting so far and she was enjoying choosing this as one of her equine classes even though she could've chosen a riding class instead. 

The Austrian paused her pen in mid air as the teacher asked why dandelions were good for their horses. She had no idea. They had a very short summer and she had never seen a dandelion in person. She knew it was yellow and a weed from her books but she couldn't recall anything about the weed so that lead her to believe none of the books she had read had said anything about dandelions being good for horses.

[Deleted]

Alexandra entered the equine classroom dressed in jeans, a long sleeve shirt,  black coat, and paddock boots. She murmured a soft hello to her teacher before scanning the room looking for anyone she knew. She recognized Cara-Jean but Alexandra was there early so most had probably not yet left their previous classes. Two boys were also in the classroom and another girl that looked to be about her age. She didn't look like she fit in choosing to sit alone instead of near someone. Alexandra thought about sitting by her but instead she chose to sit by Cara-Jean. 

Sliding into the seat she dropped her back pack on the floor and pulled out a notebook and pen which she set neatly on her desk. The book which had been sitting in the middle of the desk had been moved to the upper right hand corner of the desk so it wouldn't be in her way. 

The tardy bell rang and her teacher promptly started class. Opening her notebook to a new page she quickly wrote down key words and things that she found important as the woman switched from talking about minerals to talking about vitamins. She made a break in the page to indicate a new subject before writing down more notes and key words. 

Alexandra was silent as the woman asked why dandelions were important for horses. They had minerals and vitamins in them which were good for horses but other then that she had no clue and as such didn't raise her hand or speak up. They had dandelions in Ohio. Just not a lot and not many grew near the stables she had boarded Annie at. 

[Amelia DeFoe]

Amy paused by the side of the equine theory classroom to dispose of some waste, then bent down, refastening Wolf's vest, as she had taken it off during lunch. After making sure that the dog was properly equipped once more, she headed into the smaller classroom building.

After turning into the correct room, Amy took a seat in the back of the classroom, on the other side from her dorm-mate, pushing the copy of the book away and pulling out her own, along with a notebook that had some flowers on it. She had already been a part of the class, and as such, had the book already, and had taken the liberty of marking passages she'd found interesting in previous classes, and outside reading, with post-it notes.

After titling the new page in her notebook, she looked up, and as soon as the bell had rung, Ms. Chevalier had begun the class. Amy took notes as she heard things that sounded important, starting to feel desperate at the amount of information they were given, before Ms. Chevalier stopped. As they were asked about why dandelions were of such importance, Amy shook her head. Despite having taken the class, she still couldn't remember having gone over the yellow plant before.

[Stefan Eder]

Kai walked into the herbal remedies classroom with just the textbook, a notebook, and a pen in hand. Sure, he could have brought his bag, but what was the point? The things he carried, he could leave in his tack locker afterwards. He didn't particularly want to try shoving his entire bag into the space, because it would probably mess up the organization that was already there. He only had the one class, anyway, before he moved to mounted classes for the day.

After greeting the teacher, Kai looked around. He could see Ally sitting near Cara, but Finn was also already in the classroom. He walked over to the other male gymnast, smiling, "We meet yet again." After setting his things on the table, he pushed the book that had been laid out to the side, to keep himself from mixing the two up. The class started right after the ringing of the tardy-bell, which was nice, and Kai took some notes, although he wasn't too fussed. Most of the things seemed to be from the book, if he'd read the right section before class.

As the teacher asked a question, Kai was about to raise his hand, then reconsidered, then shrugged and raised it anyway. He'd read the book, and researched some of the plants, dandelions being one of them. The information he'd found might be from the book, or it might not, but hopefully the teacher wouldn't mind. It wasn't like he was looking it up right then, after all. "Don't dandelions have a lot of minerals, copper especially, and some vitamins?"

[Danielle Green]

Danielle was sort of excited for her next class. She was far from late but she still hurried to make it to the classroom. Giving a curt nod to Ms. Chevalier she took a seat and pulled out her notebook, a pen, and her textbook. Sitting back into her seat her eyes scanned the room and landed on the board. The girl grabbed her pen and scribbled in her note taking font at the top of her paper the words All the Essentials. She again sat back and waited for class to start. Though Danielle knew the other students' names she didn't feel like conversing today, it was normal for her not to talk to anyone but O'Malley all day, though it was a funny thought.

Finally class started and Danielle picked up her pen and had it poised above the paper and every now and again would take some notes; the difference between fat-soluble and water-soluble based vitamins. The question was asked and Danny was definitely not one that was going to answer all she knew about the yellow flower was that it was a weed. Though other students spoke up without hesitation and the girl didn't think twice before jotting down the answer or possible answer.