Blue Ridge is a fictional town located deep in the heart of Kentucky. It is home to one of the most well known equestrian academies in the United States. Students and staff from all over the world join the academy for what it has to offer. Do you have what it takes to join us and learn from the Academy?
Smilys were made by Sapphire Heaven of LiveJournal.
The mini-profile hover follows a tutorial by Kagney of Adoxography.
Photos in the skin used under CC from Flickr.
Post by Serenity Oliver on Feb 5, 2017 1:13:30 GMT -8
“My darling girl, when are you going to realize that being normal is not necessarily a virtue? It rather denotes a lack of courage." - Aunt Frances - From Alice Hoffman's, Practical Magic
While Serenity loved her candles, it wasn't always possible to work with them; someone walking into her room to find her staring intently into a candle flame... yeah, it just lifted too many questions. So, the girl went to her next favourite for of her craft, Tarot. And rather than using the common room, she decided that she wanted to get closer to nature so, wearing one of her many velvet medieval Renaissance dresses; this one a deep purple, laced up the bodice, and with soft slippers, she made her way out to the Memory Garden.
Arriving at the garden, she slipped the footwear off and crossed the grass barefoot and sat down near the garden. There was something magickal about this time of the year. Imbolc had just passed, marking the middle date between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox, and as though celebrating themselves, there was already the sign of Spring growth in the gardens; Daffodils were already beginning to poke their green heads above the ground, as were a few others.
Resting her hands on the knees of her crossed legs, she closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, just spending the the time to centre herself.
Light of eye and soft of touch, speak ye little, listen much. Merry Meet and Merry Part bright the cheeks and warm the heart.
Post by Kate Richardson-Hall on Mar 16, 2017 11:08:05 GMT -8
Kate smiled brightly to herself and on everyone who she met on her way as she wandered along, heading for nowhere in particular but just enjoying the sensation of walking. For no particular reason, the blonde found herself in a particularly good mood this beautiful morning. Maybe it was the improvement in weather since the cold days and dark night of winter, maybe it was just joie de vivre. Who could say? Life was funny like that. Some days were awful, others were brilliant. Kate had had her fair share of awful days over the years, but today it seemed that the Wheel of Fortune was decidedly in her favour, and Kate was particularly glad of it, because it would be a shame to be in a foul mood on one of the first fine days of the early spring- one of the best times of the year. Flowers were breaking through the dark brown of the earth everywhere that she looked; the skies were clear, the clouds were white and everything pointed towards a fine sunny day.
Kate found, somewhat to her surprise, that she was entering an area that she had never been into before, but she simply smiled to herself and carried on. The tides of life carried one in strange directions, and who was she to say-
Kate tripped over a girl who was seated on the ground and almost went flying. "Oh, Lord... sorry."
Post by Serenity Oliver on Mar 18, 2017 13:48:46 GMT -8
Serenity breathed deeply as she opened her eyes and she smiled to see that she was sitting on top of a boulder in the the middle of a forest, the only sound around her was that of wind rustling the leaves. Pushing against the granite rock, she jumped to the ground. She had always thought if this place as being similar to Tel'aran'rhiod, the World of Dreams from the book series that she had been reading for what seemed like forever, where she could make anything happen by nothing more than a mere thought. And, with a simple thought, the flowing silk gown she was wearing changed into a dress of simple white cotton with six bands of colour around the hem, she laughed as the dress changed back to the gown.
Something in the distance caught her attention and she began to walk toward it and then the ground seemed to vanish from under her and she flailed at the air as she felt herself falling, wondering what would happen when she reached the ground...
The teenager was bolted out of her meditation with a gasp, and the end of a woman's apology floated somewhere in the background. "It's not a problem." She said as she shook her head to try and clear it, wondering if it was possible to leave a part of yourself on the astral plane. "I'm sorry, are you alright?"
Post by Kate Richardson-Hall on Mar 19, 2017 10:48:46 GMT -8
Kate stood still and breathed deeply for a moment, still catching up with her temporary oxygen deprivation, caused by the shock of the fall. The blonde was not normally a clumsy person, and she quite honestly could not remember the last time that she had tripped, never mind fallen. Being clumsy was not a survival tactic in the world of international showjumping, or in the world of horses, full stop. Yes, her reflexes had taken a step down after the accident, but she'd spent months honing them again, and she had thought that they were back up to standard. But then, maybe she was reading too much into it. It had, after all, only been a stumble, and her mind had been fully occupied elsewhere. Even the most graceful of people could fall over every now and again, and Kate certainly did not count herself as being amongst those people.
Was it just her, or did the girl take a second or two longer than usual to react? But Kate shook it off- her imagination was going into overdrive today, and she really ought to get a grip on herself. She was supposed to be a calm, collected and responsible person- and every time that she thought about that, she had to stop herself from giggling. "I'm fine, thank you." she responded to the girl's question. "Sorry again to disturb you."
Post by Serenity Oliver on Mar 21, 2017 0:51:30 GMT -8
Serenity drew in a deep breath and exhaled, the world once again seeming complete, the planets aligned. She shook her head quickly and cursed herself when she realised she'd left her phone in her room, as whatever had just happened, she knew there was no way her twin wouldn't know about it, and he was going to be peeved to get voice mail.
She gave a bright smile and shook her head. "It's not a problem." She said. "I guess sitting on the ground, rather than the benches, presents itself with problems, but I like being closer to our Mother Earth, than not." Her smile slipped a little as she realised how crazy her words might seem, and this wouldn't be the first time she had said something a little cooky in front of a member of the faculty. "This is a glorious time of the year, when everything is beginning to wake up." And she wasn't making herself sound any less crazy, it was almost like she was being possessed by Tommy and his infernal habit of foot-in-mouth-itis!
Light of eye and soft of touch, speak ye little, listen much. Merry Meet and Merry Part bright the cheeks and warm the heart.
Post by Kate Richardson-Hall on Mar 22, 2017 10:32:41 GMT -8
The blonde replaced a few stray hairs which had been shaken out of place by her stumble and gave the girl on the floor a bright smile. At least it seemed that she hadn't unduly disrupted the girl, which was a relief. Truth be told, the girl seemed calmer now than Kate felt even on the best of days, lying in the sunshine with a good book and a glass of white wine. The blonde wished that she could achieve that level of tranquillity on a day to day basis; maybe then she might be able to enjoy herself a little more while she lived her life.
She chose to reply to the girl's comment about Mother Earth with a mere nod, not entirely comfortable with the subject of pagan worship or wherever that particular concept came from, but she felt a little more at home with the second. "I love the spring!" she agreed. "There's so much life and energy in the air."
Post by Serenity Oliver on Mar 24, 2017 20:44:41 GMT -8
Serenity was just glad that the woman stumbled upon her - literally in this case - while she had been meditating, rather than while in the middle of a Reading. She couldn't help but smile as she thought of trying to explain what she had been doing there, especially with the woman's reaction to her use of the term Mother Earth, and she tried to be as discrete as possible as she moved the fold of her dress over the fairy bag that held her beloved deck of cards - not that she was embarrassed of who she was, she just didn't want some closed-minded person to confiscate the deck and her having to call her parents to have a part of her returned to her person.
She sat up a little straighter at the mention of energy and smiled as she looked again. Yes, everything did seem to be filled with more, new and fresh, energy during the spring, as she had said, when everything was waking up from the long slumber of winter. "There's always something special about new life." She replied, her smile as serene as her name. "I'm Serenity." Seemed a good time to introduce herself. She had seen the woman around campus, but if she had a horse they were't stalled in Red Willow.
Light of eye and soft of touch, speak ye little, listen much. Merry Meet and Merry Part bright the cheeks and warm the heart.
Post by Kate Richardson-Hall on May 19, 2017 11:14:13 GMT -8
Kate wondered whether it was a habit of the students around here to sit on the floor when there were perfectly good benches available. She had observed that younger children often preferred to sit on the floor, though she had never quite understood why- possibly something to do with greater flexibility of position, or maybe they felt safer closer to the ground? Kate had never had children herself, although it had been something which she had always wanted to do. The opportunity was yet to present itself- she had been far too caught up in her professional career until the beginning of these last few years, and now she was out here in America, teaching, and she honestly wasn't sure what she would think of marrying an American, even if she had the chance. Which was doubtful in any case.
"Oh, yes. It's why foals and lambs and so on are so attractive." Kate agreed with the girl's comment with a warm smile. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Kate Richardson-Hall. I teach driving and horse judging at the Academy." Although she still wasn't entirely sure how she'd got there, she was nevertheless pleased that she had managed it, and she wasn't going anywhere any time soon.
Post by Serenity Oliver on May 20, 2017 1:49:37 GMT -8
Serenity absentmindedly ran her hands over the grass around her, not pulling at it, but seeming to caress the leaves, in her own way, thanking the earth for always being there to ground her, especially when she felt so lost without her brother. She was almost an adult and shouldn't need anyone else, but when you had been with someone since conception, they were a part of each other.
She smiled as she thought about her favourite story about the seasons; that of Demeter and her daughter Persephone, and that spring came about when Hades released the young woman for her six months on Earth, and Demeter's joy would bring the world back to life again, after six months of sorrow and darkness. She nodded. "Baby animals are a reminder that even after the darkest of winters, there will always be new beginnings."
She'd never had much to do with driving, as any horses trained in that field their parents saved, were generally turned out to retirement when they came home, and if anything were used as light mounts where no real work was expected from them. "It is a pleasure to meet you." She said. "If it wouldn't be a bother, could you please tell me what horse judging is all about?" Sure, she had read what it was about when they joined the academy, and it wasn't anything that had sparked her interest, but she liked to hear how teachers described their own classes,
Light of eye and soft of touch, speak ye little, listen much. Merry Meet and Merry Part bright the cheeks and warm the heart.
Post by Kate Richardson-Hall on May 22, 2017 11:38:06 GMT -8
Kate watched Serenity's hands as they danced across the ground, marvelling at their lightness and wondering how well that served her in riding. Lightness of touch was definitely to be desired, especially with young and/or well trained horses, although if one's touch was too light then one might as well forgo the reins altogether- an experience which Kate was not entirely unfamiliar with. Obviously, riding with the reins attached to the bridle was always preferable, but Kate had been in a situation where this was impossible at least once or twice, and she had found that actually, it wasn't as difficult as it seemed, so long as the horse was concentrating and being obedient.
She smiled at the girl's question. "But of course." she responded, always prepared to chat about her own subjects. "Basically, horse judging is about spotting the positive and negative characteristics of a horse in a certain discipline. The class consists mainly of practice at spotting those characteristics, and the points of the horse come into it as well. Judging horses competitively is a little different; generally, you have one horse and various people judging. They award points to the horse, and then they are awarded points for their points." She grinned. "It's a little convoluted."
Post by Serenity Oliver on May 25, 2017 1:25:34 GMT -8
She nodded as she listened to the woman talk about her class. To her it just sounded like another class that encouraged people to only care about how their horse looked in a showring, rather than worry about the horse's mental well-being... though she wasn't brash enough to actually say this, and she was glad she hadn't picked that class. "Sounds like something that would take some time to understand the ins and outs of it." She said, now wondering if it would help her cause if she had some further knowledge on how judges looked at horses in shows, rather than the often over-zealous riders and owners.
Light of eye and soft of touch, speak ye little, listen much. Merry Meet and Merry Part bright the cheeks and warm the heart.