Equestrian Team Practice

[Katherine Carr]

Calling the following riders:
@luka
Cara-Jean Kitchi
@daretodream
Becca Walsh
Rose Hoff
@harley
@samanthal
Nevaeh Lincoln

---

Katherine walked into Benedict's arena. They way she was dressed today, she could be a poster-girl for Ariat women's clothing, as everything she had on was an Ariat label, right down to her slightly humours boot socks - a birthday present from her son, which was a nice surprise as the boy often displayed the fact that he didn't have a sense of humour.

She had called a practice to the students on the equestrian team, those who had returned after the winter break. She had made a few adjustments with the roster of students and - on the suggestion of his past instructor - had offered a spot to Blue Ridge's newest male student, so she hoped that he would also turn up. She had asked the students to arrive dressed to ride; in beige breeches, a tidy shirt, long boots and gloves (she didn't bother asking them to come with helmets as they were all mature enough to know to bring their helmets when they were going to ride). She also asked them to bring their reserve mount, so they could do some basic flat work with them and then she would split the riders into two groups. One half would use the arena to continue working on their flatwork and the others would ride their horses over a simple grid that she would set up when the riders began working.

She looked down at the clipboard she was holding and made a note down beside a couple of the names that were on the list. She looked up with a welcoming smile as the first horse and handler arrived.

---

Clothes

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Stood in the barn with Mouse in a set of cross ties. The mare dozed happily as the girl massaged the lavender oil that was on her hands into the mare's coat. The small girl smiled as the mare let out a contented sigh as she dropped her head as far as the cross-ties would allow her.

As soon as the lavender oil was gone from her hands, Cara set to getting the mare tacked up in her Bates Caprilli Close Contact Saddle over her blue-violet saddle pad. She made a kissing noise as she picked the bridle up and carried it to the mare's head, waiting until the mare lifted her head before she held the bit up and smiled when the mare accepted in instantly.

When mare was ready, Cara slipped into the tackroom where she put the mare's grooming kit away, shed the tracksuit she was wearing, slid her feet into her field boots and zipped them up, before collecting her gloves and black Charles Owen helmet. She then removed the cross-ties from either side of the mare's halter. Before heading out of the warmth of the barn though, the girl picked up the mare's fleece rug and threw it over the Holstiner's back so that the mare wouldn't catch a chill before she was warmed up in the indoor arena.

Walking out of the barn, she headed across to the arena. Opening the door to give her and the mare access, she bowed her head in greeting.

((WiP))

[Rose Hoff]

Rose found Eleanor in her stall, eager to bring her mare to the horse's first equestrian team practice. Frankly she was worried, but she thought it best to go in with a positive attitude and hope that nothing happened to change it. The ring would probably be a bit crowded, with all the riders competitive, but if she was able to keep Eleanor in their own little zone, she thought the mare could handle it. She thought that her choice to change Eleanor to her reserve mount for the team was the right one, but hopefully that would become clear after this lesson. She eventually would like to get to the point where Eleanor could be her primary mount for the team, but they had a bit of work to do before that.

Removing the mare's blanket, she groomed her and tacked her up in her close contact saddle, putting on the mare's leather and sheepskin jumping boots as well. She used her baby blue quilted pad as well as a sheepskin half pad over it. After tightening the girth, she put on her new field boots she'd gotten for her birthday, her gloves, and her helmet. She wore beige breeches and a navy long sleeved polo, with her hair tied back in a neat braid with a thin navy ribbon at the bottom. Bridling Eleanor, she led the mare into the indoor arena, calling out when she entered and closing the gate behind her. She talked to the mare the whole time, wanting to keep her attention on her.

Upon entering she greeted Ms. Carr with a smile and small nod, "Hello Ms. Carr." She gave Eleanor a moment to get used to her surroundings before continuing to the center. She had worked with Eleanor in Benedict's Arena more than any of the other rings on campus, so the mare was more comfortable there than she would have been anywhere else.

clothes

[Becca Walsh]

Becca had been more than a bit surprised to hear that she was being offered a spot on the equestrian team, especially after trying out and not making it earlier in the year. Now she was on her way to her first practice, and ready to make an impression. She'd talked to Ms. Carr about horses she'd be using. Naturally, Frye would be her primary horse, but she'd also need a reserve horse. She'd been assigned Fallon, who she was now tacking up in her stall. The mare was quite a bit smaller than Frye, so she would be an interesting ride, and she was excited to try her out.

After tacking Fallon up in her blue-violet saddle pad and her close contact saddle, she changed out of the sweatpants she'd had over her breeches and took off her fleece, knowing that she'd quickly get sweaty once they started working, and she could deal with the chill for now. Her oxford was tucked neatly into her breeches, and she put on her field boots. Pulling on her gloves and helmet on the way back to the stall, she bridled Fallon and led her to the indoor arena.

She called out "Gate!" upon entering and greeted Ms. Carr, closing the gate behind her.

clothes

[Deleted]

Luka hurried out to the pastures, lead rope and halter in hand. He had gotten the message about the equestrian team, and was glad to be able to get back to practice, although he did wonder about the instruction to use their reserve mounts for the session. However, the direction had been clear, so instead of Nebuchadnezzar's silver set, he held Quiz's mahogany-colored gear. As he approached the pasture where he had left his geldings, he whistled, smiling as he saw both of the horses lift their heads. Neb was the first to leave his grazing spot, trotting easily towards the fence, although Quiz soon followed, and reached the divider before his larger, lighter counterpart.

After haltering the Gypsy gelding, he led the blue roan towards the barn. Clipping him into the cross-ties, next to a few students he smiled at, he stripped Quiz of the gelding's turnout blanket, before starting to groom the gelding. After finishing tacking up the gelding with his all-purpose saddle, as he didn't have a close contact saddle, he tossed the gelding's blanket back over the saddle, then unclipped the cross-ties.

He tucked his gloves into his jodhpurs' pocket, then headed towards the indoor arena, his helmet on his head. As he entered the arena, he called out, "Gate!", even though no one was riding yet. He nodded at the other team members that he knew, then at Ms. Carr, "Good morning(?)." As Quiz butted him, Luka stepped forward to maintain his balance, then tugged the gelding's reins, "Benim dich." He had been trying to train the gelding to recognize his strength, but it hadn't taken well enough yet when the gelding was excited.

[Deleted]

The gray breathed a soft blow of pure warmth into the brunette’s face as she stroked down face with a certain tenderness. Henri couldn’t express her love for horses enough – simply put, loving any animal given to her was inevitable. The sixteen year old got attatched easily, and as time went on, her bond with things grew even stronger. Roxy, being a horse that Henri had rode since she was a little girl caused the brunette to love the horse immensely. Of course, she loved Hutch equally, but she’d nearly lost Roxy a few weeks before and that fact had spooked her a tidbit.

Still, now all was well – all because a particular blue eyed, curly locked boy and Henri was using the mare as her reserve mount for the equestrian team. Today was their first meeting since winter break and the girl was rather eager to see how Roxy would fair. Being a lesson horse her whole life, Henri was pretty sure the mare would be perfectly fine, if not a model horse behavioral wise. She gave the mare a few more pats before beginning to pay more attention to her grooming and getting the mare as shiny as a coin. Henri, herself was much more dressed than her usual jeans and thermals, into a pair of breeches and a nice suited shirt with her hair placed accordingly in a neat bun. Her riding boots had been polished and she felt more than prepared.

The gray’s light coat shone brightly against her soft pink saddle pad and Henri made sure everything was in its proper place before pulling on the girth and throwing on her helmet on. After slipping the bridle, the brunette led the horse toward the indoor arena. She reached the arena quickly and shouted a warning “Gate!” before letting herself and her horse in and greeting everyone with a happy smile.

[Deleted]

Nina had tied her mare in cross ties and was just finishing up grooming Hope for the equestrian team practice. Since she has gotten the information about the team's first practice, she was interested in why they had to use their reserved mounts. Though not wanting to argue with the instructor, Ms. Carr's, teachings, she knew that women had a reason. Humming a tune while working, she closed up the grooming kit and started up with tacking up the mare.

The dark brown mare shook her mane and gave an annoyed whinny while still being tied up, the girl could tell the Quarter horse was getting impatient at just standing while she was doing all the work for the horse. The seventeen year old sighed, teasingly, as she patted Hope's shoulder for just a few more minutes. She started off placing on the saddle pad, as she smoothed it out nicely before adding on a close contact saddle. Tightening the girth to the correct notch, she gave a grin towards the eagerly waiting mount. The horse bobbed her head as the bit to the bridle was coming near. Nina made a short kissing noise until the mare accepted the bit before sliding on the rest of the bridle over the horse's head.

She shed out of her jacket she was wearing that covered up her outfit, complete with her beige breeches, a neat shirt, and gloves. Switching her old riding boots with her long boots, she started zipping up the shoes and went to grab her helmet. After hearing the click of the strip under her chin, she went over and untied Hope from her crossties and grabbed hold on the reins before the mare had any ideas. Luckily, today, Hope was calm and obedient. Unlike those other stubborn days, maybe the mare woke up on a good feeling. Not wanting to mess up the horse's personality, she just went with it, happily, as she lead her horse out of the barn to the arena.

Upon her arrival, she looked around to see if any riders were to come towards them to the entrance of the Benedict's arena. "Gate!" She warned before entering into the area and closing the gate behind the pair. The mare beside her tugged on the reins a bit, spotting all the other riders present. She whispered a hush to her mount before leading her over with the others. Giving a greeting to Ms.Carr and others she knew before focusing her attention back on the instructor.