Return to the Past (Miranda, Katherine)

[Cortney Smit]

Cortney stood in the Red Willow Barn, she chewed on her lower lip as she looked at the bay tobiano mare who was happily standing in the cross ties while the girl groomed her.

She had been watching the mare in the pastures over the past couple of months. Well, at first it was just watching Remi and then she started offering the mare treats and the pats and finally she had approached Ms Carr and asked if she could ride the mare. The manager of the other barn had been a little surprised at first, but she instantly agreed, so here she was, getting the horse ready for the first ride the girl had taken in the past eight years.

As she got the mare tacked up, she asked one of the barn hands if they could remain close in case she needed any help - after all, it had been half her life since she had last done this. When the mare was ready, and the barn hand had checked the mare's tack, Cort clipped her helmet closed under her chin and led the pretty mare out to the arena.

She gave Ms Katherine Carr a shy smile as she led the mare into the mostly deserted arena. The woman had arranged it so that she wouldn't have to ride in front of anyone she didn't want there. She looked around the arena and smiled warmly as her eyes landed on Miranda Florin. Since they had first met on the trails so many months ago, the other girl had become Cort's closest friend and she wanted the other girl here while she did this.

Leading the mare over to the mounting block, the girl tightened the girth, pulled the stirrups down, flicked the reins over the mare's head and stepped up onto the block. Now that she was here, her stomach twisted itself into a giant knot and she placed a gloved hand against it. Shaking her head to clear away any negative thoughts, she gathered the reins on her left hand, placed her left foot in the stirrup, put her right hand on the pommel of the saddle and then bounced up, swinging her right leg over the mare's back and lowered herself gently into the saddle. Finding the other stirrup was easy as everything seemed to be coming back to her and gathering the reins, she squeezed the mare forward. She smiled as Remi looked over her shoulder and nosed the girl's boot, as though she were asking the girl if she was sure. "I'm ready." She whispered as she squeezed again and smiled as the mare walked forward.

[Katherine Carr]

Katherine filled her travel mug with black coffee, emptied a Splenda packet into the liquid and stirred it before putting the lid on, she then walked over to the door, shrugged into her jacket and then pushed her feet into her black field boots. As she was pulling the zips up, she left the office, pulling the door closed behind her.

She would confess that she had been more than a little surprised when Cortney Smit turned up at her office door a few days earlier and asked about using an Academy mount. At first Katherine thought that maybe one of the unmounted class teachers had asked the girl to find a horse she could use, but it had come as an even bigger surprise when the girl mentioned that she wanted to start riding again.

The notes that Katherine had on her computer, eight years old as they were, boasted the girl being a natural in the saddle with loads of potential - if the child had been a horse up for sale, the barn manager wouldn't hesitate on purchasing her - and never one to turn anyone away from horses, Katherine listen with compassion as the girl spoke. The freshman's choice in mounts had been interesting, as she wanted to team up with one of the Academy's English pleasure mounts. The Curly Horse who could do a bit of everything but was just as happy to do nothing. A horse that Katherine would have expected a girl who hadn't been a previous rider to have picked, again though, she wasn't going to turn the girl away or knock down her request.

Walking over to Roscoe's Arena, she noted she was the first to arrive. Her eyebrow lifted as Miranda rode into the arena on Guardian, she was about to say something when movement caught her eye and she watched as Cortney led the bay tobiano toward the arena. She returned the child's smile with an encouraging one of her own. She held back any comments she was going to give Miranda as she saw the look that Cortney gave her. "Remember, you are here to ride, not for a lesson." She said. "I'm not going to tell you what to do. I'm just here to make sure that the two of you click." She'd seen it in the past when a rider had chosen their own mount and as soon as the person had mounted it was obvious that the pair didn't click.

She silently watched the girl and her horse, wondering how much time Cortney had already spent with the mare. It seemed that they already had a well formed bond and riding was just firming what they both already knew.

[Miranda Florin]

Miranda swiped a cloth over Guardian's face, gently removing the dust that had accumulated on the gelding. Looking at the grey's pelt, which was pretty clean, although he would require a bath later to get out some of his grass-stains, Miranda nodded, before heading towards the tack room. She grabbed the gelding's tack, then considered for a moment before grabbing a carrot from Cray's box. She headed back to the gelding, whistling quietly through the sounds of the barn, and dropped the tack onto a nearby bale of hay before holding the carrot out to the gelding, "Good boy." She rubbed his neck, right under his cheek, a sweet spot that she had found quite by accident, as he munched on the treat. After a few seconds, Miranda moved to grab the saddle blanket, snapping it to get off the hay before rising onto her toes to smooth it across the gelding's white back.

After putting on the rest of the gelding's tack, Miranda kissed his muzzle and buckled on her helmet before leading the large gelding out of the barn. Once outside, she used a fence rail to jump onto his back, then turned him towards the outdoor arena. As she approached, she saw Ms. Carr already inside. She bent down to unlatch the gate without dismounting, something she had perfected from the tall gelding's back during her short time as a trail class student, and moved the gelding inside. Once she had closed the gate again, she smiled at Ms. Carr and moved the gelding to the side of the arena, waiting for the real star of the show.

As Cortney arrived, leading the beautiful curly horse that the academy had acquired, Miranda smiled at her friend. She remembered the girl's story about why she had stopped riding, vividly recalling the day where she had met one of her best friends at the school, and she was glad of the way that the girl had managed to overcome her dislike of horses. As Cortney moved to mount, Miranda moved Guardian to the middle of the arena, so they wouldn't be in the way, and watched the pair with a grin on her face.