Trail Class

[Deleted]

Tagged: @michealg
@boldandbrave
@oli
Westin Bryer

His very first class of teaching, no doubt Chris was nervous. He didn’t have a large class at all. Which was perfectly fine for now, he hoped that it would grow. With Freedom and Cowboy gone there were only two horses left to choose from to take to class. Dreamer would be his mount for today and with that decision Chris made his way to the Red Oak Barn. His mare stuck her head out of the stall and greeted him with a nicker. ”Hi girl, ready to work?”. The mare of course had no say in what she would or wouldn’t be doing today, but it was just something Chris did.

Taking Dreamer out of her stall, the man hooked her in the cross ties. Removing her blanket the twenty-two year old folded it up and put it in the tack room in the correct box. While in there he grabbed her groom kit and returned to the mare. Taking the curry comb across her a few times to make sure all the dirt was loose, Chris then took a soft brush over her to take all the dirt out of her coat. Picking out her hooves he was done with the grooming portion of the ‘getting ready’ check-list. Putting the kit back where he got it, Chris gathered the equine’s tack.

The large saddle hung on his arm, his shoulder was taken up by the bridle and in his hand was the breastplate and cinch. Quickly tacking up Dreamer he led her out to the Trail Class Field. Rechecking his tack they were ready for class to begin.

[Deleted]

Mike marched his way to the pastures to go get Ike, seeing that he was better fit for a trail class than Saff. Both horses seemed to enjoy their roles, Ike for trails and Saff for the cross country courses. As usual the gelding had immediately expected to rub and this time Mike gave the gelding his shoulder to rub on. Even as the halter had begun to slide over his head Ike was rubbing on the sides of his halter. "Poor boy. Itchy face huh?" Mike rubbed the grey Arabian's face as they walked to the stables to ready themselves for their class.

The red and white blanket slipped off easily, sitting  softly over edge of the stall while Mike groomed his mount. When the time came to get his saddle the eighteen year old grabbed his western saddle, seeing no need for his endurance saddle today. Ike tried to get a hold of the horn, never fully succeeding, obviously the horse was full of it today. The gelding was even trying to chomp on his bit before he led them out. "Ready big boy?" Mike smiled as he lead his gelding out to the trail class field, praying for the best today.

[Deleted]

Oliver blew out a sharp breath as he headed down White Oak barn to his horse's stalls. He stood between the two stalls and looked from Ollie to Cas and back again, a frown creasing his forehead as he tried to work out which of the mounts would be best for the class he had just been transferred into. After a lesson in the jumping arena, even with his horse being a great teacher, he had decided that he was completely out of his depth, so after speaking with Ms Carr about his options, he had two choices; He could either return to the novice English class - which Ms Carr didn't want him to do - or join the trail class. The answer? Pretty obvious now, isn't it?

He finally stepped to the left as he settled on Ollie. Even though the young Appaloosa could be a handful at the best of times, he knew that this was one class where there shouldn't be a chance of the spotted horse getting bored and needing a reason to play up. He grabbed the gelding's indigo halter - yes, purple was a strange colour for his horse, but his elder sister helped him pick the gear out and the colour did look great with the gelding's white coat with its black spots.

As soon as the gelding was groomed and ready in his western saddle, the boy clipped his helmet on and led the tall horse out to the trail class field. He knew that it was a small class, but his eyebrows rose to see only the instructor and one student in the field. He entered and walked up to the teacher. "Excuse me, Mr Reed." He said, asking the gelding to halt so that he could walk forward to the end of the plaited split reins. "My name is Oliver and this is Ollie. We have transferred to your class."

Running, it been over a week, move the lesson on

[Deleted]

Standing by his horse, Chris watched to see if any of his students were on their way. Now it was a small class only made up of four boys, but that was perfectly fine for the instructor. He was very glad that he had at least that many. Seeing his first student making his way to the field. Thankfully his mount was tacked up in the correct style. He knew that some people had no problem riding the trails in English tack but this class was based solely on the Western portion of it. "Hello there." Seeing soon enough a second pair enter his sight. The boy had a lovely spotted mount, an Appaloosa from what Chris had guessed.

Hearing that the newest addition to the field said his name, Chris gave him his attention. "Nice to meet you Oliver. And fantastic, it's always nice to have more in the class." Dreamer nudged the twenty-two year old and he patted her neck reassuring that they would start soon. "Well it looks as if you two are the only ones for now, but I would like you both to introduce yourself, your mount, and uh...your experience in the Western saddle, if you will please." Thinking about it, it would probably be best if his students knew his name as well. "And by the way I'm Mr. Reed and this is Dreamer." Holding his hand out as a gesture for the boys to start.

[Cortney Smit]

Cortney's fingers trembled as she fastened the throatlatch on the mare's snaffle bridle. She'd actually been a quivering mess since she had walked out of Ms Carr's office. After the first ride on the mare a couple of days earlier, the girl had decided that she didn't just want to ride the mare, she also wanted to take part in the mounted classes, so she had just spent the past hour - her entire lunch period - sitting with the other barn's manager and worked through the options of classes she could do. It had taken some time, but she had finally settled on dressage 101 and trail. Sure, the mare was English trained, but she knew that horses didn't have to be in western gear to do trail classes in shows. Now, she stood in Red Willow barn getting the mare she had been assigned ready for class. In her jacket pocket was a note from Ms Carr, excusing her tardiness.

As soon as the mare was ready, and the girl's Toxel helmet was secured under her chin, she removed the cross ties, pulled her gloves on and led the mare out of the barn. Knowing she was late, she couldn't decide whether to mount up before arriving at the field of to remain on foot. Clicking her tongue, she power-walked toward the field - not quite making the mare trot, but not dawdling either.

She arrived at the field just as the teacher. Mr Reed. She told herself, was talking to the students, introducing himself and asking them to do the same. She bit her lip as she entered the field, pleased that she hadn't mounted up after all, and walked over to where the students were standing near the teacher. "I'm sorry I'm late, Mr Reed." She said softly once the boys had introduced themselves, a mixture of embarrassment for being late and nervousness causing a slight tremor in her voice. "I'm Cortney Smit, and this is Remi." She took the note out of her pocket and held it out to the man. "This is from Ms Carr, explaining my lateness. Once again, I am sorry to have arrived late." She stepped up to the mare's side and tightened the girth of her Collegiate Alumni (close contact) saddle.

OOC: I'm posting as though I have posted after everyone else, as Cortney's place in the posting order will be after Jacob (who I'm assuming Joel is going to post as though he's been there all along).

[Deleted]

Jacob ran a brush throuh Queen's coat, taking his time to get the horse ready for their next equine class. Trail Class. He didn't know if he should be excited or nervous, since he is continuing his knowledge in the western saddle. He was glad to have chosen to exceed in the learning of the discipline. As he finished off with a soft brush, he closed the grooming kit and started on tacking up Queen and start heading to class.

After smoothing out the saddle pad and placing on the saddle. The boy fiddled with the notches of the girth. Once satisfied with the correct one, he has finished tacking the mare for class. He made a quick check of the equipment before grabbing the reins while he untied the cross ties. The mare whipped her head up in the air, ready for a good ride. "Excited for class, aren't you?" He comented with a pat on the horse's shoulder before leading her out of the barn and towards the trail class field.

He noticed two boys already arriving while another girl arrived in a bit late. He didn't really know Mr. Reed too well, so he didn't know if he would be sincere about tardiness. Though overheading that the student, introduced as Cortney, had a note. He noticed it was a small class as he started to greet the instructor. "Hi, I'm Jacob, and this is Queen." He gestured over to the horse beside him.

OOC: Sorry I haven't posted, been busy. x.X