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 Rachel Deacon on Jun 8, 2015 5:48:34 GMT -8
Ghost sat quite happily at the door into Alpha's box as Rachel ran a brush over the horse's coat, already in the rhythm of the task. First, her hand smoothed over the short hair, then the brush, then her hand again until she was sure that it was as clean as she was going to get it. One of the stablehands, who was working close by, was keeping a careful eye on her as she had been asked to. It was a busy time for everyone who worked in the barns, trying to get the majority of the horses ready to go home, certainly not a time when they needed to have their focus divided by having to make sure that some riders weren't a danger to themselves or the horses.
Rachel sighed quietly, patting Alpha's neck. He needed to go out and get some exercise, but she really couldn't face working him in the ring today. Hacking sounded like a good idea, but it wasn't something she had ever really done, and certainly only a handful of times off of a lead rein. Listening for the distinctive sounds of Ghost's breathing, she took the few steps over to him, putting the brush back into the grooming box that she had placed next to him and gave him a scratch under the chin while she was there.
Rachel Grace Deacon | Sophomore | 15 Ghost | GSD | Service Dog Phoenix Rising | 'Alpha' | Paradressage
Post by Martijn van der Berg on Jun 8, 2015 6:36:44 GMT -8
Martijn whistled as he finished grooming Ritske, running a comb through the gelding's feathers to make sure they hadn't picked up too many tangles since the morning. Only once the Frisian's coat was gleaming did Martijn leave him at the hitching post to return the grooming kit and grab his saddle, and other tack. Deciding he'd rather not work in an arena today, Martijn grabbed his saddle pack as well, then carried the bunch back to where he'd left Ritske.
After throwing the black pad with red trim over the gelding's back, Martijn straightened it, then lifted the saddle up, holding it steady as the gelding shifted, "Woah there. Almost done." He did up the girth, and then moved to the gelding's head. Once he had swapped halter for bridle, he moved the halter along the hitching post to the side, and then led Ritske towards the nexus of the barns before stopping and looking around. So many options that he had, especially now with the nice weather, "What do you think, Ritske? Where do you want to go riding today?" The gelding probably wouldn't have an opinion, but it was as good a way as any of making up one's mind.
Post by Rachel Deacon on Jun 8, 2015 7:25:03 GMT -8
With Alpha now as clean as she felt he was going to get, Rachel picked his tendon boots out of the box, slipping them into place and strapping them into place. Once all four legs had been done, she lifted his saddle and saddle pad off the stable door, balancing it carefully on her arms so that her hands could still be palms down, running them along the gelding's back until she felt that it was in the correct place and slipped her hands out from under it. She quickly did up the girth before slipping off the headcollar, quickly replacing it with a bridle.
With a quiet sigh, she first ensured that Ghost's lead had been tied to the ring outside Alpha's stable and that he had water before clipping on her riding helmet and shrugging on her air jacket. Under the careful eye of one of the stable hands, she led the gelding out of his box and out of the barn, deciding that if she was going to have to ride in an arena, she might as well do it outside since the weather felt so nice.
Alpha, on the other hand, had other ideas. She found herself jerked to a stop as he extended his head toward a Friesian also standing outside the barns. Hearing another voice, she swallowed hard, trying to pull her horse away from whatever he had found that was so interesting.
"Alpha, what are you doing?" the young girl murmured to the horse before adding in a slightly louder voice so as to address whoever was standing there: "Sorry, but, um, where are you?"
Rachel Grace Deacon | Sophomore | 15 Ghost | GSD | Service Dog Phoenix Rising | 'Alpha' | Paradressage
Post by Martijn van der Berg on Jun 8, 2015 7:35:15 GMT -8
Martijn noticed a horse and two people approaching. As he considered the horse, he realized that it had been pointed out to him previously, and his eyes flicked to the girl who must be Alpha's rider. As Alpha grew distracted and stretched his neck out to Ritske, Martijn glanced at the barn hand from the other barn, raising an eyebrow. The man should have known better than to get so close, but everyone was getting used to the situation.
After asking Ritske to take a couple of paces back, although Martijn remained where he was, the boy turned his attention to the girl, who had spoken, "He was curious about my gelding who was standing here, I apologize. I didn't think to step out of the way." As she asked where he was standing, Martijn glanced at the ground for a moment, "Two or three paces to your right is all. It's a nice day for a ride, were you thinking of going to the arenas, or would you care to join us out on the trails?" He didn't want to tell the girl, but the student barn hands had been advised of the students who could not ride without a partner, although it was a good practice for everyone. Better for the fact that they'd been told to offer whenever they saw her to remain unspoken, even if she did know.
Post by Rachel Deacon on Jun 8, 2015 8:04:52 GMT -8
As the other gelding took a couple of steps back, Alpha leaned forward as if to follow, but Rachel put a hand on his bridle, staying him. As curious as he was, she didn't know if they knew each other, nor how this other horse behaved around others. It could be very dangerous for her given that she couldn't read Alpha's body language. Her cheeks coloured a little in embarrassment as she realised that she must have passed pretty close to him in order for her gelding to take an interest. She was going to have to be far more careful in the future. It was easy enough to forget that she had no vision what so ever to help her know when she was putting herself or others in danger.
Being able to pinpoint him, even vaguely, helped the teenager to relax fractionally, and the offer of joining them on a hack even brightened her up a little. "I was going to use one of the arenas, but it would probably do Alpha some good to go out, if you don't mind us joining you," she replied, offering him a shy, faint smile. The gelding next to her even pricked up his ears, almost as if he understood the conversation and the prospect of getting out into the open rather than doing more circles in an enclosed arena.
Rachel Grace Deacon | Sophomore | 15 Ghost | GSD | Service Dog Phoenix Rising | 'Alpha' | Paradressage
Post by Martijn van der Berg on Jun 8, 2015 8:20:46 GMT -8
Martijn smiled as he heard the girl's assent, "Of course not." It would be an interesting experience, he figured. "I'm Martijn, by the way. And my horse's name is Ritske. What's yours?" He knew it already, of course, but they could continue their charade.
As he looked to the girl's guide, he spoke, "I think we can find our way out to the trails." It was all a team effort, after all, and the barns worked closely together even when people didn't see. "I was planning on heading out to the meadow trail, if that works for you? It's nice for relaxing, and there's a couple of nice river spots that are nice to cool off, now that the weather's getting warmer."
He stood for a moment, then swapped Ritske's reins to his other hand indecisively, "Would it be easier for you to follow us mounted until we get to the trails, or would you prefer to walk to the trailhead?" Ritske snorted at the boy's repeated wiggling of the reins, and Martijn stopped, reaching out to rub the gelding's forehead, "It's all good, boy. We'll be out on the trails soon, and we even get lovely companions to ride with!"
Post by Rachel Deacon on Jun 8, 2015 8:39:14 GMT -8
Nodding in acknowledgement of their names and trying to commit the voice to memory, Rachel reached up to lay a hand on her horse's neck. His presence was a reassurance to her in unfamiliar territory.
"I'm Rachel and this is Alpha," she offered in return, unaware that Martijn would already know her name, if not necessarily that of her horse. She wasn't sure just how many people around the barn had been informed about her.
The meadow trail sounded like a good idea, the thought of nice, relaxing ride one that appealed to her at that moment. Working on dressage all the time, no matter how much she liked it, got boring if you continued doing it for long enough without a break. Boring not only for the rider, but she was sure for Alpha as well.
"The meadow trail sounds good," she said shyly, winding her fingers nervously in Alpha's pulled mane. One day, she would get over her nerves about interacting with other people, but that wasn't about to be today. "If it's ok with you, it's probably best for me to mount up here. At least that way I can be fairly sure that I won't bump into you," she added, trying to add a bit of levity to the conversation.
Rachel Grace Deacon | Sophomore | 15 Ghost | GSD | Service Dog Phoenix Rising | 'Alpha' | Paradressage
Post by Martijn van der Berg on Jun 8, 2015 19:48:43 GMT -8
As she replied with her own name, and that of her horse, Martijn smiled, although the girl would only hear it in his voice, rather than see the expression, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Rachel, and Alpha as well." As they spoke, he took the time to check on Ritske's girth, not wanting to pressure the girl, who didn't seem quite too at ease yet. Not that he could blame her. "Very cool. It's a lovely place."
As she suggested mounting up, and then added a joke, Martijn chuckled, "Fair enough. Will Alpha follow us alright?" He glanced around, "If you're looking for a mounting block, there's one about twenty feet diagonally to your front left, if not, just ignore me." He decided he might as well mount too, as he was pretty sure he wouldn't be leading Alpha and the horse could just as easily follow Ritske when he was mounted.
Patting a hand along the gelding's neck, he collected the tail end of the running braid and then placed his other hand on the back of the saddle before boosting himself up and settling onto the gelding's broad back. "Just give the word when you're ready to go!"
Post by Rachel Deacon on Jun 9, 2015 11:02:46 GMT -8
Hearing the chuckle coming from Martijn, Rachel's shy, tentative smile grew a little more. Fitting in with people was always difficult when they didn't necessarily know what to do with you, but this male seemed to be comfortable enough with her. Now she just had to hope that she didn't do anything to majorly screw up and give him any negative associations with her.
The sound of boots on the hard ground and faint squeaking of leather was enough to tell the young teenager that Martijn had mounted up, meaning that she had better get a move on and get herself up onto Alpha. With his reins already looped over his neck from when she had been leading him, she put her left hand on his neck, using it to guide her to the base of his neck where the saddle was. After quickly checking her girth to make sure that it was tight enough, she took a handful of his short mane. With her right hand, she felt for the stirrup leather, then the iron before putting her foot in it. With two hops and a jump, she swung herself up onto the bay gelding, easily slipping her other foot in to the stirrup before clipping the trigger of her jacket onto the bridge of her saddle.
Taking a second to gather up her reins in to a loose hold, Rachel then looked over to where she remembered Martijn's voice coming from. "Ok, I'm ready!" she said, hoping that the edge of excitement in her voice wasn't as pronounced as she thought it was.
Rachel Grace Deacon | Sophomore | 15 Ghost | GSD | Service Dog Phoenix Rising | 'Alpha' | Paradressage
Post by Martijn van der Berg on Jun 9, 2015 15:21:54 GMT -8
Martijn grinned as he heard that the girl was ready, "Alright then." He nudged Ritske forward, steering the gelding towards the green hill trail first, although they would be able to take the branch to the meadow trail pretty much as soon as they reached it.
Once they were on the wide path that denoted the trail, Martijn spoke again, "I'm going to slow up a bit and move more next to you so that we can talk." Keeping an eye on Alpha and reaching out a hand carefully, he asked Ritske to shorten his walk until they were only slightly in front of the other horse, more diagonal than anything. Alpha would still have to follow Ritske, after all.
"So how are you liking Blue Ridge so far? Did you actually get to go to any of the classes before they ended, to sit in on them, or are you waiting to start them with the new year?" Some of the students did that, just sit in on the last few classes to have something to do, although others didn't. Just a matter of preference, for those who came early enough to avail themselves of the possibility. He glanced out at the open trail, without any trees that might pose a danger, although most horses learned to avoid those. Alpha probably knew that better than most, too, since it was far more important for him.
Post by Rachel Deacon on Jun 10, 2015 3:36:07 GMT -8
Hearing the other horse's hoofbeats start to move away, Rachel gently nudged her own horse forward, keeping the rein slack in the hope that he would take direction from Ritske and not from her. He seemed perfectly happy to do so, his ears pricked forward. He pranced a bit on the spot, eager to go, but a slight twitch on the rein from Rachel soon brought him back under control.
The gelding settled into an easy rhythm alongside the Friesian, quite content to walk with his head about level with Ritske's flank. Rachel settled back in her saddle, happy to let the sounds of the outside wash over her. The sound of birds chirping away merrily, the faint rustle in the trees as the wind caressed their leaves, the quite, muted thudding of the horses' hooves on the ground. Sometimes, she wondered what it would be like to be able to see all of these things, but those thoughts were always quickly tossed out.
"Hm?" she said as Martijn spoke before quickly realising that she had been letting her mind wander off again. She flushed slightly in embarrassment before quickly answering. "I'm waiting until next year to start. I've been trying to memorise my way around the campus so that I shouldn't get lost so easily next year."
Rachel Grace Deacon | Sophomore | 15 Ghost | GSD | Service Dog Phoenix Rising | 'Alpha' | Paradressage
Post by Martijn van der Berg on Jun 12, 2015 20:38:01 GMT -8
Martijn nodded as he heard Rachel's answer, "That's cool." He paused, "Probably a good idea to get the layout of the buildings before you have to fight your way through the crowd, that's for sure." He smiled, and a joking tone entered his voice, "They can be viscious out in the hallways." Sobering up, he went on, "Not really. There's not a lot of pushing and shoving, just the fun American high school stereotype." His high school hadn't really had that issue, being centered around a square of grass rather than actually contained in a building with proper hallways. But Blue Ridge wasn't busy enough to warrant so much shoving, and he didn't doubt that the TV movies slightly exaggerated the whole matter.
Lapsing into silence, he focused on the trail ahead, realizing slightly too late that he'd interrupted Rachel's train of thought. He was probably slightly too talkative for the girl, and he didn't want to bother her. As they rode, he spotted a couple of tracks from what was probably a canid, although he didn't stop to investigate further. The tracks were dried into the dirt, probably ages old from the last rainfall, and subsequent mud. Especially on the edge of the trail, they wouldn't be disturbed.
Post by Rachel Deacon on Jun 14, 2015 15:41:34 GMT -8
Alpha shook his head, sidestepping a little as he felt his rider tensing up on his back. Quickly grabbing hold of the pommel of her saddle to steady herself with one hand, Rachel patted the gelding's neck with the other, hoping to reassure him and herself at the same time. With a huffing snort, he settled back into his easy, swinging walk.
She had always found it difficult in her old school to handle the class changes, even with Ghost being there to help create a safe path for her. While she never blamed the other students for it, she had developed a tendency to withdraw into herself, walking hunched over and trying to stay out of everyone's way. The only time she ever carried herself proudly was when she and Alpha were working together. It was the thought of finding the same atmosphere here at Blue Ridge that had caused her to tense up so much as to affect Alpha.
Realising that she had walled herself off in thought from Martijn, the teenager swallowed hard, digging into her sparse store of confidence and turned the questions back on her riding companion.
"How long have you been a student here?" she asked. "Do you like it?"
Rachel Grace Deacon | Sophomore | 15 Ghost | GSD | Service Dog Phoenix Rising | 'Alpha' | Paradressage
Post by Martijn van der Berg on Jun 14, 2015 15:55:18 GMT -8
Martijn had fallen into his own thoughts, trying to remember how many different animals he had seen out on the trails while he was riding. Lots of different kinds of birds, although he couldn't identify them all. He'd seen a fox out on the trails before, and he smiled as he remembered the vulpine. That didn't count, though. Mei hadn't been there naturally, the domesticated fox belonging to the man who used to be the barn manager for Evening Primrose. That, in turn, brought his thoughts to the man, and curiosity about what would be happening to the academy's breeding program. There had been rumors of big changes, especially of the mares being sold, but he hadn't had a chance to talk to Mr. Xayarath yet, and didn't know more about the matter.
As Rachel asked him about his time at Blue Ridge, Martijn considered, then shrugged, "Since just about December. I moved in during winter break, and started the second semester with everyone else." It had taken that long to work up the courage to actually go through with his plan. Now that he was here, though, "I do enjoy it here. It's different from what I grew up with, but even that has its benefits." Like the academy still existing, he muttered in his head, before he turned to the more positive things he'd found at the school, "The teachers are all relatively nice, and it's kinda cool when you meet the science teacher in the barns or something, so I guess it's really easy to get to know them. And the campus is nice, too, it has enough arenas to where they can't always be crowded."
Deciding that that was his prompt, his allowance, to ask the girl another question, he considered carefully, then spoke again, "What's your home like?" Not house, particularly, although it could be interpreted as such, and he wouldn't mind hearing about it either. Just in general, anything that the girl wanted to share.
Post by Rachel Deacon on Jun 15, 2015 8:37:37 GMT -8
Rachel listened closely to Martijn, interested to hear how he experienced the school. He may only have been there for one semester, but he could still provide her with a wealth of information about what to expect during an active time, when the school was once again full of students. As she had found out on numerous occasions: the more information she had in order to prepare herself, the easier integration was. Taking both reins in on hand, the young teen laid her free hand on the curve of Alpha's shoulder. At least she had him and Ghost to help her make the transition.
Before she could respond with any more questions about the school and his experiences with it, Rachel found the questions turned back on her once again. Although she was silent for a moment to collect her thoughts, she then spoke slowly, tentatively, as if she wasn't sure of Martijn's reaction.
"It was ok," she replied. "My parents are pretty over protective. This is the first time I've been away from them for more than a day, actually. My brothers loved to move the furniture in the house to catch me out. Never by very much, just a couple of centimetres, but it was enough to have me walking into tables and couches nearly all the time."
Rachel Grace Deacon | Sophomore | 15 Ghost | GSD | Service Dog Phoenix Rising | 'Alpha' | Paradressage