Tag, You're It!

[Brian Setliff]

Brian gathered the lunge whip he had picked out for the purpose of this game, an old thing that he'd modified and shortened, as it had been about to go into the trash anyway. Now the whip was two feet of handle, three feet of lash, with the lash decorated and ending in a large knotted tangle of the rest of the lash. He hoped the end would give the students more of a visual about where the actual 'tagging' was going on, as well as making sure the thing didn't look too whip-like for the horses who were used to being lunged.

After checking his watch, Brian decided that he'd better make his way to the arena, and left the barn. As he walked to the indoor arena, he reviewed the short list of rules he'd decided to implement for safety. They were relatively short, but consisted mainly of three things:
1) Only the rider could be 'tagged'. Horses didn't count.
2) Any speed was acceptable, but any reckless actions could result in being asked to dismount.
3) Anyone dismounted could still play, but would be on foot. Their horses could be tied outside.

Along with those rules, he knew that he would cover with anyone playing that a fall would lead to immediate dismounting from all, although he hoped that wouldn't happen. Finally, he reached the arena, and nodded as he spotted one of the barn hands tending to the three horses he'd picked out to keep on hand should students not think their own mounts suitable to play.

Finally, the first student arrived, and Brian handed them the whip, explaining the rules briefly before he opened the gate. Minus the whip, the process was repeated for each student, and soon, the barnhand was left just watching the students.

**There's no posting order, and only the first post for each person must be 200 words. After that, this is a thread where the word count will not be enforced (but make sure you note at least who you're attempting to tag, or getting away!)

[Deleted]

Julius was a little unsure if he wanted to go to the the Tag Clinic for two reasons.  The first was that it was run by Mr. Setliff and his last encounter with him had not been good.  The second was that it sounded a little silly but it also sounded kind of fun.  He had nothing else planned to do on that day and he had been getting a little board this summer, without class's and such to go too, so he decided that he might as well try it.  Julius was a little worried about Solo's occasional bolting, but that was only a minor problem and he could not come up with any real reason why Solo might not be a suitable mount. 

On the day of the clinic, he saddled up Solo and headed to the arena, only to see that he was the first one there.  He was a little uncomfortable with being the first one there, but he tried not to let it show.  Mr. Setliff handed him a wipe and explained the rules.  They seemed simple enough and it sounded like this was going to be fun.  He walked Solo around the arena, waiting for everybody else to show up.