Not Exactly Back in the Saddle

[Martijn van der Berg]

Tijn walked Sybren and Ritske over to the hay barn, where 'his' phaeton stood waiting. Obviously, it wasn't really his, but nobody else at the academy was putting it to use. It was certainly looking better than the first time he'd seen it, now back in regular use and maintenance. The air was brisk but the sky was clear, and Tijn had added a jacket to his riding wear of the day.

After he'd set up both horses in front of the phaeton, he grabbed his helmet and buckled it into place, then hopped up into the driver's seat. He picked up the whip, then called out to the horses, getting them into a walk and steering them towards the outdoors arena. He still hadn't picked up formally training for any sort of driving again, but the arena was large enough to give him some space to play around in anyway. No cones necessary!

He led the geldings into the arena and then shut the gate again before resuming his seat. Grinning, he asked the geldings to walk on, turning them left so they'd circle the arena clockwise for a start.

Kate Richardson-Hall

[Kate Richardson-Hall]

Kate shivered a little in the icy air as she made her way quickly across the open ground. Foolishly, she'd assumed that America would be warmer than it was back home, and while this might be the case at some times, it certainly wasn't noticeable in this weather. Kate was certainly regretting leaving her heaviest coats and gloves at home- she had a few pairs of gloves for riding and driving, but none that she could really get away with wearing in a non-horsey setting. Now, however, she was taking full advantage of her location and wore a pair of brown riding gloves with her tan-coloured coat.
The blonde paused for a moment as she passed the outdoor arena, and then she stepped forwards a little and leaned on the fence rail. A slight smile played over her lips as she watched the boy turning the horses. Not perfect by any mens, but not bad. Not bad at all. It was also the first student that she'd seen actually doing any driving, so she was inclined to be positive- even more so than usual. "Not bad!" she called with a grin; quietly, so as not to spook the horses.

[Martijn van der Berg]

Tijn was focused on the horses, enjoying the occasional creak from the cart - although he'd have to try to find the source later - and letting them just walk. He didn't notice the woman approaching the arena.

However, he did notice the call, and looked over, a wry grin on his face, "Ya think?" Only then did his brain catch up to his mouth, and he regretted the sardonic teacher as he realized that he was not, in fact, talking to a student. "Uh... Sorry about that, ma'am. Not many kids here drive, I get the occasional comment." He paused the horses along the fenceline near where the woman was standing, waiting for her reaction.

[Kate Richardson-Hall]

Kate chuckled at the boy's apology. "Don't worry about it." she responded. "I used to have the same problem. For some reason, everyone seems to dismiss driving altogether without so much as trying it." When she had gone from international showjumping to driving around the back lanes, she had had to admit to herself that it was a step down- but only because of the standard at which she was working, not due to what it was that she was actually doing. Everyone else seemed to think that she'd chosen driving as second best. That wasn't the case at all- she'd simply discovered driving because of her accident, and been doing it ever since.

[Martijn van der Berg]

Tijn smiled and relaxed a little bit as it turned out that the woman wasn't angry. That was still stupid of him, but at least this time, it didn't come to bite him in the butt.

He nodded at her description of how people thought about driving, "Very much so, it seems. Not everyone here, but a vocal subset." He thought of the people he'd heard from in the past year that he'd been open about driving in the academy, "That's their problem, though. They're just jealous that they can only ride one horse at a time." He grinned at the woman, "Anyway, I'm Tijn. Martijn van der Berg. May I ask your name?"

[Kate Richardson-Hall]

Kate nodded in agreement- what the boy was saying sounded extremely familiar to her. Too many people found it easier to disagree with what she did than to find out about it and give it a go. Secretly, she suspected that they were all too scared to relinquish the element of control and security that they felt when they had their legs around the horse. That feeling of control was largely an illusion anyway; she had found that out when she damaged her leg in that fall. One moment she was completely in control, the next she was flying through the air and the ground was approaching far too fast.
"Kate." she responded with a grin. "But if anyone asks, it's Ms Richardson-Hall."

[Martijn van der Berg]

Tijn nodded as he was given the woman's name, "Alright, Kate it is. Nice to meet you." He'd gotten a lot more used to the idea of speaking to the adults at this school informally in the time he'd spent here. Lots of them seemed to do that now.

He glanced at the horses, who'd been standing nicely, quietly, then back at the woman, "I'd like to continue chatting, but I should keep working them. Would you care to join me?" There was enough room on the bench of the phaeton, "You seem to know a fair bit about driving, if you'd like you could even have a hand at the reins." Even if she did only talk a good game, he was confident enough to teach someone the basics. They didn't have to start doing obstacles today, after all.

[Kate Richardson-Hall]

"Nice to meet you too, Tijn." Kate responded with a grin. She liked speaking to the students more informally, it made her feel on a closer, more friendly basis, which made it much easier to get on with them, which in turn meant that she would have more of a chance at knowing how best to teach them, when the time finally came.

The geldings were a good-looking pair, and had been behaving themselves well while the two spoke, but it seemed that their driver had a fairly good insight into their behaviour since he was preparing to move on. The blonde was about to leave the conversation when he extended a conversation, and she needed no second prompting. "Don't mind if I do!" she replied, climbing through the fence and hopping up nimbly onto the vehicle despite her stiff leg.

[Martijn van der Berg]

Tijn grinned as Kate climbed up, then shrugged and held out the reins for her to take, "So you have Sybren on your left, and Ritske on the right. They're used to being a pair."

Once his hands were free of the reins, Tijn shifted slightly to make sure Kate had enough space, "So, what did they hire you to do here at the Academy?"

[Kate Richardson-Hall]

Kate returned the boy's smile as she settled herself on the seat with her inconveniently long legs curled beneath her. "Thank you." she murmured as she took the reins. She spent a moment arranging them in her hands, then clicked gently to the horses and gave a practiced flick of the reins.
"Well, actually," Kate began with an apologetic smile. "I should probably have mentioned it earlier. I'm here to teach driving. That and horse judging. So, do I take it that I'll be seeing you in my class?"

[Martijn van der Berg]

Tijn smiled as she arranged the reins. She knew how to take them, so at least she could walk the walk, too. He sat back as she started the horses moving. The boys hadn't been driven by someone else in a while, but he wasn't really expecting them to cause trouble. Sybren might try something, but he usually did that more when he was alone.

As he heard what the woman did, he laughed, "Okay, no wonder. Guess I don't have to worry that you don't know what you're doing, then!" He inclined his head, "I will indeed be in your class. Always something to fine tune." He paused, "At least, in driving. I'm not taking Horse Judging this year."

[Kate Richardson-Hall]

Kate started by taking a wide, slow circle, so as to get a feel for the horses. They had a nice movement and a good rhythm; there wasn't much wrong with this pair so far. Not that she would want to start trying anything fancy today- call her paranoid (and many did; it was possibly because of her accident) but she didn't like to stretch a horse until she felt that she knew it inside and out. Which would take at least a few more weeks.

The blonde grinned as the boy laughed, and glanced across at him. "Nope. Been doing this for years. Although there was a time when I'd be more likely to be teaching showjumping." Turning the pair onto the other rein, she risked moving up into a gentle trot. "I'll look forward to seeing you there, then. Any idea how many there'll be?" She'd been given a list. Hadn't looked at it, though.

[Martijn van der Berg]

Tijn nodded as he heard that the woman had experience. That was nice - He was looking forward to the class already! As the woman asked him how many students were in the class, Tijn shook his head, "Since it's only an extracurricular class, it hasn't been meeting while there was no teacher. So I couldn't tell you, sorry."

He paused, then asked, "Do you have your own horse for the driving class?"

[Kate Richardson-Hall]

Kate nodded thoughtfully as Tijn spoke. So, she was still no further forward with her survey on numbers, and it seemed that the students themselves had little idea who else was taking part. That was a shame. Might make things a bit awkward to start with, as well.

"Well, you won't have to wait much longer." she assured him with a grin. "I do, yes. She's a Lipizzaner mare; Misty. Lovely temperament."

[Martijn van der Berg]

Tijn grinned as the woman said the class would start up soon, "I can't wait!" He sobered up for a moment, thinking about how funny it was. He'd come to the academy vowing never to drive again, and yet here he was, excited about it to start formally. Time really could heal most wounds.

He listened as the woman described her horse, "She sounds great. She's in the White Oak barn?" He hadn't set up a new stall for a Misty recently, so he was pretty sure, but knowing where someone's horse was could come across as slightly creepy, "I help out in the Red Willow barn, and I haven't seen a new face there."