A New World [Katherine]

[Deleted]

Katherine Carr

Mucking out the stall of his two mares he tried to get as much out of the way as possible before the meeting with the White Barn manger or the beginner English teacher. Even though Chris had been Western, heart and soul he wanted to get Mia into something that she could enjoy. When the thought of his small and delicate daughter riding in a big Western saddle with the rough and tough rodeo people he really didn't like it. Putting the equipment away he went back to the apartment and collected his daughter. "Are you ready to go?" Even Mia herself agreed to riding in an English saddle or at least giving it a try.


Making their way back down to the White Oak barn and to the office. Chris knew that Katherine was not the type of person to want to sit in her office all day and so she might have not been in the office when they got there. Knocking on the door the twenty-two year old looked around to see if he could see Ms. Carr anywhere near them. "Are you sure you still want to do this?" The man questioned his daughter. With her big brown eyes she looked up at her father and nodded.

[Katherine Carr]

Katherine swung out of the saddle and patted the neck of the Zorse as she ran her stirrup and loosened the girth. She then walked around to the other side of the saddle and ran the other stirrup up. "Good girl, Cassie." She praised the mare as she led her into the barn and down to the grooming stall.

As she passed her office, she saw Chris and his daughter standing at the door. "I'll be with you in a moment, please go in and make yourselves comfortable." She continued down to the grooming stall and began to untack the mare. She would leave her grooming to one of the barn hands, but she wanted to give the mare a little attention, and relief from the saddle and bridle.

Not a lot of the hands in the barn had been happy about how grumpy the mare was, and Cara had suggested introducing the young mare to some jumps and funnily enough, she had taken to them like a fish to water, and for once a training session hadn't turned into a fight as the mare flew over the tiny jumps as though they were twice their height.

Leaving the mare to Paul's capable hands, she returned the take to the tack room, returned her riding gloves, helmet and jacket to her locker and then headed back to her office. "What can I help the two of you with?" She asked as she walked in, undid her boots and slipped her feet out of them, leaving the tall black boots by the door that she pushed closed.

[Deleted]

Mia had walked across the aisle to give her mare a pat on the head before finding her way back to her father. In that time Katherine had entered the barn with the academy's only Zorse, if he wasn't mistaken. In passing the barn manger told the two to go in and take a seat, which they did with pleasure. The twenty-two year old pushed open the door and took a seat. Mia swung her legs back and forth as she waited for Ms. Carr to come in. She was very excited about the fact that she might get to ride a new horse, and in an English saddle was even better.

As the woman came in she proposed a question. "Well Mia here would like to take a crack at the English ways of riding." Mia nodded as her father explained why they were sitting in the office. The six year old trying not to bounce as much as she would have liked to, she could feel the energy moving around inside her and couldn’t wait to do anything, but sit. Waiting for Katherine to take a seat, Chris sat forward in his chair and placed his elbows on his knees. Taking a deep breath the man looked over at his daughter and gave her a look as she needed to sit still and behave.

[Katherine Carr]

Katherine crossed her office to the coffee machine and filled her mug with the hot black liquid, emptied two packets of slenda into the mug and then stirred it with a spoon. Dropping the spoon onto the tea-towel on the bench and walked over to her desk.

Sitting down, she swivelled the desk chair around to face the man and his small daughter. "English ways?" She repeated before she took a sip of her drink, letting out a small sigh as the hot liquid instantly warmed her body. "I am guessing that you mean English riding?" She turned her attention to Mia. "Why the change in heart of riding styles, Mia?" She asked softly. "From what I've seen, you can handle yourself in a western saddle quite well. I want you to realise that changing riding styles will change everything about the way you ride. It will mean changing the way you get your pony ready to be ridden, the way you mount and dismount. The way you sit in the saddle. Everything you think you have learned now will all get thrown out of the window." She wanted the six year old to realise the commitment she would need to take to relearn how to ride. Teaching young children to change their riding style was both harder and easier than teaching teenagers, because the youngster just didn't have the intellectual understanding of the differences that the Academy students did.

She sat back in her chair as she waited for the girl to digest everything that had been said and she sipped her drink that was beginning to turn bitter as it cooled down.

[Deleted]

Chris nodded as Katherine repeated what he had said about English ways. ”Yes ma’am.” The twenty-two year old knew that his daughter was very intelligent and knew that she would catch on quickly. Turning his attention back to Ms. Carr he listened to all what she had to say about changing the type of riding that she would be doing. Nodding his head slowly he, himself, was trying to soak up the information that Katherine was giving them. Thinking about it, it really would be different, he saw how differently the English riders dressed, how they saddle, how their horses moved. It was different.

The six year old let her eyes trace the line that Ms. Carr walked in to get her coffee and smiled. Mia looked up at the woman and shrugged. ”I don’t know it looks fun.” Being the most honest, that was really what she thought. Riding and jumping like that looked really fun to her. Mia starred wide eyed at Ms. Carr as she talked about English riding. A smile spread across her face as the lady complimented on her riding abilities. Replying the same way as her face had only a few seconds ago she nodded, ”Yes ma’am.” All she could keep thinking about was riding.

[Katherine Carr]

Katherine raised an eyebrow at the girl's answer. "All forms of riding are riding, Mia." She said. "It's the hours of hard work you put into it is what makes it fun, not the type of saddle you ride in." She had no interest in teaching a girl on one of her ponies if the only reason the girl wanted to change was because it looks fun. However, she wasn't about to turn away a potential student either.

She rose to her feet and went to fill the mug up again. Chris had been at the Academy long enough to know that he could help himself to the coffee, so she didn't offer the man a drink, she only did that to new arrivals. She headed back to her chair and sat down again. "Ok, Mia." She said, pausing to take a sip of the hot black liquid. "I have a few rules that I expect all of my students to obey. The pony I am going to assign you for you lessons, you are to only ride while being observed by myself. The first time you ride the pony will be when you attend my lesson in the indoor arena tomorrow after lunch." She took another sip of the drink. "You will be required to turn up wearing jodhpurs, a top of your choice and an approved helmet, and of course boots. If you need to borrow, talk to Rory, as I know she has a few spares. Another thing, I would suggest that you also wear a pair of riding gloves, English reins can be a little hard on the skin." She had the perfect pony in mind, but she wasn't going to tell the girl who the pony was until she arrived for the lesson tomorrow. "I will have the pony brought to the arena, so you just need to turn up."

[Deleted]

Chris could hear the slight doubt in Katherine's voice. Mia was only six and the answer that it looked fun was all he really expected from her. An adult or teenager answer might have elaborated a bit more, but for now that was where it was with his daughter, the fact that it looked fun. A smile crept back onto his face when the barn manager began to set some ground rules for the six year old. They all sounded very reasonable, now the fact that he would probably have to go out and buy Mia most of the things that Katherine listed didn't exactly settle with him. Of course if this was really what Mia wanted than he shouldn't protest. "Thank you Katherine, she will be there."

Mia stared at the lady behind the desk and swung her feet back and forth. Not putting any thought into what Ms. Carr had just said. Although the next part she paid a lot of attention to, only ride when with Ms. Carr...attend lesson...indoor arena....after lunch. The little girl nodded and a smile a mile wide appeared on her face. Even though she hadn't been riding for a very long time, it was only due to her age, but she did enjoy riding in jeans and western boots. Now she would actually have to care about how she looked. Nodding when the woman ended her sentence. Excited for the next day, she couldn't wait to meet the pony. "Thank you."