Pending Questions [Katherine]

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Tagged: Katherine Carr

As he did every day, Noah went to the White Oak Barn. It was a daily thing as he visited Rayne; the mare was what kept him going most of the time. She was his rock; she was the only thing that he had from home. But that was not the reason he was venturing to the barn today. He needed to speak with Ms. Carr, the barn manger. Noah hadn't really thought about it but he needed a mount for his English Riding class, Cross Country. The sixteen year old couldn’t resist giving his mare a pat on the neck. Tossing a carrot into Rayne’s feed trough, the mare made her way quickly over to the food and munched on it happily.

Moving over toward the office the boy knocked on the door. Hoping that the woman was there or at least in the facility he really didn’t feel like coming back. A knot formed in his stomach, it happened every time he wanted to do something that was even slightly important. Trying to rid himself of the butterflies in his stomach Noah waited. The boy hadn’t really looked at the horses on the school’s website much, but he saw one or two that he could possibly get along with. Running his hand through his brunette hair Noah let out a deep breath.

[Katherine Carr]

Katherine left her mare's stall, wiping her hands on a dark red towel as she headed back to the feed room. She had taken the free time she had found the day before and had taken the black mare on a trail ride. However, the mare had shied to the side of the trail and her near foreleg had slipped down a hole and she had pulled it out with a stick through her leg above the fetlock. She'd had her daughter look at it and the mare had been given a tetanus injection for her troubles after the stick had been removed and the area cleaned and bandaged. The barn manager's job was now to keep the mare settled and the bandage clean.

After putting away the ointment she had just applied to the wound and throwing the towel and used bandages into the laundry hamper in the tack room, she headed back to her office. She picked up her pace as she saw a student standing at the door. "Can I help you, Mr Anderson?" She asked as she got closer and recognised the new student. "Is everything alright with Rayne?" She stepped around him and led the way into her office.

After pausing at the door and removing her field boots, she walked over to her desk where she took her own chair and gestured to either of the two chairs by her desk for the student to take a seat.

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Coming to the conclusion that Ms. Carr wasn't in her office, Noah turned to face the stalls, his back against the door to the office. Dazing off, as he most of the time did, the day dream only lasted for a few moments before he heard a voice. Shaking out of his fantasy world he caught the sight of Ms. Carr. "Uhh.." The boy had to think about why he was standing at the White Oak Barn office door. "Yes, I think you can." Letting the woman lead the way into her office he thought about Rayne. ”She’s fine, settled in already.”

Thinking about his next words the sixteen year old took a breath. As he began to speak he took a seat in one of the two chairs that sat in front of the desk. ”That’s actually not why I’m here. I am mount-less for Cross Country class. I was wondering if you could help me with that.” An awkward smile crept onto his face. Deep inside Noah hoped that this wouldn’t take very long, he had planned to take Rayne out for a bit of trail riding. Sitting forward in his chair it was a giveaway sign that he was uncomfortable.

[Katherine Carr]

Katherine watched as Noah lowered himself down on the edge of the chair and she nodded as he spoke. She knew what equine classes the boy had signed up for and she was wondering when he would turn up in her office with this very question.

She leaned forward as she studied Noah. "How much time have you spent in an English saddle?" She asked gently. She knew his skill in the western saddle, but she couldn't just assign him a horse based on that. English and Western trained horses were as different as night and day and an advanced Western rider could still be a novice in an English saddle. She already had a couple of horses in mind, both of whom were housed in this barn so going to see them would be hard, but she had a couple of conditions, regardless of his answer to the question.

Sorry, my muse ran short without power-playing Noah. Just remember you don't mention anything about English riding in his app and that's what Katherine's knowledge is based on

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Even though the sixteen year old had been basically raised in a Western saddle he had some knowledge of the smaller English saddle. His lips pressed into a line when the woman behind the desk asked him about his past experience with and English saddle. Thinking about it for a little bit, the boy spoke up. ”I really haven't had a lot of time in the saddle. So yeah.” Biting his lip he wondered which horse he would be able to work with, his mind ran back over the names of the horses he had skimmed over on the school’s website.

A slight smile crept onto his face to try and hide the awkwardness he was feeling that very second. Although he was in the very office for questions about an English trained horse, Western riding would always be his favorite. It was more free flowing and not as judgmental, in his opinion. The idea that he wouldn’t have to ride Rayne for everything was starting to set in. Although he loved the mare to death, he sometimes wondered if she needed a break. Just a day or two to be in the pasture and graze or something like that. Turning his attention back to Ms. Carr he waited to see what she had to say about his possible horse assignment.

[Katherine Carr]

Katherine nodded as he spoke, arching an eyebrow. His having any experience in an English saddle was news to her, as it hadn't come through with the rest of his riding experiences. "I have a horse in mind for you." She finally said. She leaned forward and gave him a serious look. "I will have a word with Ms Salenk, as I have a condition of letting you loose with an Academy mount." She waited a moment to make sure he took it in. "You are to attend the Novice English class that I run. I want to be able to assess your riding in a class situation."

She sat back in her chair, her gaze not moving off the student. "You are also aware of the fact that if I assign you this horse, you will responsible for taking care of this animal?" She wanted to make sure that Noah actually understood the responsibility he was taking on before she gave away the gender of the horse she had in mind for him.

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Right away Noah could tell that the woman sitting across the desk was a bit surprised that he had any English riding experience at all. Western was his thing, mostly working with cattle. The sixteen year old had at least sat in the smaller saddle and walked around a bit never really doing anything more. Nodding when Ms. Carr stated that she had a horse in mind, looking at it as a plus that he could be paired with a horse. Continuing with the nodding when the woman said she needed to talk to the Cross Country instructor about some conditions. "Okay, that sounds great." Thinking back to some of the horses that he looked at online, he didn’t really have any problems with any of them.

Thinking about it, the advanced to intermediately trained horses would probably be out of the question for him. A beginner would be assigned to the sixteen year old he would have to work from there. Turning his attention back to Ms. Carr when she asked him about the terms of riding an academy owned horse. ”Yes I completely understand that.” And truly he did, most probably just nodded their head and said yes just so they could go meet the horse.

[Katherine Carr]

Katherine nodded as she rose to her feet. "As the horse I have in mind is housed in this barn, I may as well take you down to meet him while I tell you about his training." With an encouraging smile, she headed to her door, pushed her feet into her field boots, led the way out of the office and down to the stall of a large bay Irish Draft. "This is Donovan, or Gentleman Tophat as he is registered." She tickled the gelding's chin as the large horse snuffled at her hand, looking for any tidbits.

"Donovan here is a well schooled cross country horse, it is his one and only speciality. He is eighteen hands tall, an Irish Draft and twelve years old. He has quite a few miles under the saddle, which makes him a great teacher for novice students." She looked at Noah. "As with your own mare, his locker number matches the number above his stall, and everything in the tack room is the same. I will give you some time to get used to each other, and I will see you in my riding class Monday afternoon. Ask one of the barnhands to help you saddle him the first time."

The sound of a phone ringing caught the woman's attention. "I need to get so. If you need any help, my office door is always open and the barnhands are here to help." She waved a warning finger, her eyes sparkling. "Not to do your work though." With a bright smile, she headed back to her office.

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A rush of excitement flew over him. Noah had really no idea which horse he would be assigned all he knew at this point was that the equine was in this barn, according to Ms. Carr. With that Noah stood and followed the barn manger down the aisle. Looking at each horse in their stalls as he passed them. Soon enough Ms. Carr stopped and introduced the boy to the large horse. Big eyes gaze at the tall horse, soon enough the woman confirmed the fact that he was eighteen hands tall. As for Rayne the mare was only a stubby little Quarter Horse standing at fifteen hands even.

”Hi Donovan.” The gelding had a thick head that suited his body well. So far the gelding hadn’t shied away from Noah’s hand, which was defiantly a good sign as far as getting along with the horse. The sixteen year old tried to picture the saddle English saddle on the large, almost Draft horse sized, gelding. Nodding at the information Ms. Carr was giving him, the boy tried to take it all in. ”Yea, I will defiantly need some help to make sure I have it on right.” Thinking to himself It really couldn’t be that much different from the Western saddle. Shrugging the thought off, he listened to the last few words the Ms. Carr said and then she was off. ”Alright and thank you Ms. Carr.” Turning his attention back to Donovan he was extremely excited to ride the horse.