Starting at the Beginning

[Demeter Carr]

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CAN WE PRETEND THAT AIRPLANES IN THE
_{NIGHT SKY ARE LIKE SHOOTING STARS CAUSE I COULD REALLY USE A WISH RIGHT NOW}
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Demeter dropped a small flake of hay into each of the yards at the equine clinic. She smiled as some of the horses pushed forward to munch away on their food, while others held back and regarded the situation before cautiously stepped forward and nibbled away, always on full alert, and the four horses that were here for the rehabilitation clinic were the most cautious of all. This was a new place for them, even though they had all arrived a week earlier, and they were still learning to trust their surroundings.

The veterinarian walked over to the collection of upturned barrels that was as close to a classroom as she got when the sun was out. If the weather turned on them while they were discussing things, they would move to the hayloft in the barn, which was set up as a learning room for the students to use at their will. She opened the box that was beside her seat and looked at the notebooks that were nestled inside. She knew that she could have had the students supply their own notebooks, but these ones had worked so well with the last group that she didn't see the point in not repeating it.

She smiled warmly as the students arrived, and once they were sitting down she knew it was time to get started. "Welcome. For those who don't know me, I'm Dr Carr, the local large animal vet. Before we go over and meet your new friends, I'm going to be boring and make you all introduce yourselves and share a bit about why you choose to take part in this course."

Once they had gone through the niceties she pulled the box closer to herself. "While you are here, there are a few rules to remember; Firstly, I've got papers to prove that I know what is best for these animals. If I think that you are doing something that isn't helping them, you are to listen to me, though I will listen to your reasoning. Please don't change their feed without talking to me first. You will keep a notebook on your time with your assigned horse, if you can't keep the notebook, you may as well leave now." She pushed the box into the centre of the students' semi-circle and let them select the book they wanted, and with enough of each colour, there should be any issues. "Finally, don't ever enter these grounds if you are in a bad mood. Even if we are having an assigned get-together, if you are in a grump, send me a text, and you will be excused. If you arrive in a grump, I will be showing you the gate." She knew that the last bit would raise a few eyebrows, but the horses here didn't need negative energy around them. "Right, follow me."

She led the way over to the yards. "Karina , this stunning Lusitano is Flamecaster. Some could say that his name was a prophecy from what happened, he now needs a friend who will help him find his fire again." The students already knew who they were working with, as she had sent each of them a copy of the horse's file, what she had of one anyway.

"Tenaya, this little cutie is Rainbow. She is born to be a leader, but needs someone to guide her." She walked to the next yard.

"Maeve, this is Narcissus. He will be a good teacher, as long as he learns to trust." The horse didn't have the perfect pedigree like others, but she hoped the girl could overlook that, and she walked to the next yard.

"Jessa, this is Belladonna. She knows nothing, other than how to stand in one place for hours on end, she's in need of a friend who can teach her that life is fun." She looked at the Tennessee Walking Horse, and felt ever so slightly guilty that she had put Essie all the way down the other end from the mare, though she shook her head as she walked to the next yard.

"Paige, this beautiful girl is Willow. Scared of her own shadow, but wants to know about everything." She headed back to the first yard.

"Lastly; Cara, this is Esplanade. I trust you to handle her the way you do with the foals you have worked with in Tux's class." She had approached Cara to work with the filly, so she hoped she had made the right decision. "I'll be with Beauty, the bay Thoroughbred, if anyone needs me." She wasn't going to leave them unsupervised, but she also didn't want to seem like she was hovering while the students got to know the horses they would be working with.

The ink colour in the pen is black, even though the colour on the pen matches the notebook (if anyone was wondering)

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_{TAGGED: Karina Fuchs, Tenaya Hannah McDavid, Maeve McKenna, Jessamine Smith, Paige Wilson, Cara-Jean Kitchi
LYRICS: B.O.B. & Hayley Williams
NOTES:
CREDITS: Thanks to BUNNYA! at Caution 2.0}

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara had no idea why she was so nervous while she was getting her things ready to head down to the the equine clinic, especially when it had been the vet who had asked if she would help, rather than Cara signing up, but the nerves were there nonetheless.

Sure that she had everything she would need in her bag, including a snack, she pushed her feet into her paddock boots and made her way across campus and around the clinic to the rehabilitation yards where they were asked to meet. She did her best to keep her attention away from the filly she would be working with and sat down on one of the barrels.

She closed her eyes when they were asked to do introductions, and rather than stew on what she was going to say, she decided to take the bull by the horns - so to speak - and stood up. "I am, Cara. I am heading to Kentucky University in the fall, to study psychology." She pressed her lips together as she wondered how to answer the next part of what was asked. "I enjoy working with horses, and I believe that establishing a good foundation gives them a better sense of purpose and a great start for knowing how to create a partnership." It sounded good anyway, and even without knowing the equids they would be working with, they all knew they would be starting from the start with them.

Keeping a notebook wasn't going to be an issue, as she kept one on every single horse she wrote, even the school horses here that she worked with had their own. She left the one she had brought with her in her bag as she moved up to the box and after a quick look, she took out one with red on it, and sat back on her seat as the veterinarian finished going over the rules.

As the others got up one by one and approached their charges and she tucked the notebook in her bag and pulled out another, one she could make rough notes in and then when she had everything in order, she could put it into the filly's journal.

When her name was spoken, she rose to her feet and approached the yard where the filly was impatiently front-footing the bottom rail of her yard, she nodded her head to the woman's words. While Esplanade was a might taller than the foals she had worked with over the past four years, she knew the best way to teach this youngster right from wrong was to treat her as though she were as young as they had been.

[Maeve McKenna]

Maeve was so excited about working with a rescue horse that she was certain she was going to burst from excitement. However, she did her best to channel her zen, align her chi, center herself, and made her way down to the equine clinic. Though she ran back to her room when she was halfway there and grabbed the Hello Kitty messenger bag that she had forgotten in the first place.

Giving the vet a bright smile, she perched on a barrel, giving the girl already there a bright smile as well, and waited for things to start. She wasn't too surprised when they were asked to introduce themselves, and following the other girl's example, she stood up. "Hi, I'm Maeve. My parents are forest rangers. And I'm here 'cause I can't think of anything better than helping a horse learn to trust again." She just didn't mention her lack of experience around horses - though she had told the woman in charge.

She listened to the rules, wondering if she should be writing them down - her experience from the barn managers was evidence enough that her memory wasn't always her best quality - but they seemed easy enough to remember. She selected a notebook with blue on it, slightly depressed there were no pink ones, and returned to her seat.

She had read over the gelding's notes enough that she pretty much knew them bu heart, but actually standing in front of the gelding, her jaw dropped, he looked a-ma-zing! "Hey handsome." She said as she let herself into his yard, and stood by the gate as she allowed the gelding time to analyze her and work out what he was going to do.

[Tenaya Hannah McDavid]

Tenaya finished putting her blonde hair in a braid and wrapped a black elastic around the end of the braid. She checked herself in the mirror, tucking in the black polo shirt into her beige full seat breeches, making sure her belt was on tight enough before she left her dorm. Naya slid her feet into her barn shoes and swung her satchel bag, filled with snacks, a water bottle, her phone and some treats for the horses. Tenaya headed off to the rehabilitation area, making sure she was on time by glancing down at her watch as she made her way. She saw two other female students and headed over to the barrels, glad she wasn't too late for her first class. She listened to the instructions, nodding her head in response, signalling that she understood. "I'm Tenaya but I also go by Naya. I enrolled in this class to learn more about training horses and bonding with them when they are scared." she explained, when it was her turn to speak. She stood up and picked a notebook, choosing the orange one. She slid the book into her bag and sat back down on her barrel. If she could keep a diary - she could keep a notebook about the horse.

When her name was called, she stood up again and followed Dr. Carr to the mare she was going to be working with. She had read everything about Rainbow and was excited to work with the mare. "Hey Cutie." she said, watching the mare swish the flies away with her tail.

[Jessamine Smith]

Jessa left her room and headed down to the equine clinic. She had no doubt that these horses were appropriately vetted, but she'd still changed into a clean shirt and jeans, and a pair of muck boots she didn't usually wear - No sense in risking contamination upon their first meeting, just in case. She could always relax her standards later.

She found the 'classroom' pretty easily and joined the group, pulling out the folder that had a printout of Belladonna's meager file. As the class started, Jessa listened to her other classmates, and then spoke herself, "I'm Jessa, and I hope to learn to work with horses that may not have the best histories. I have Zohariel, my mustang, and I hope to be a farrier in the future, so every bit of learning about working with horses who may not trust me can only be good in my book!"

She listened to the rules - Nothing new, since Dr. Carr had come to her about working with Belle, and had touched on most of those. She grabbed an olive-green notebook and quickly folded Belle's papers, tucking them into the front and adding her name on the cover. Once that was done, she tucked it into her backpack and then left the bag there as she rose to follow Dr. Carr.

As she was introduced to the black Tennessee Walking Horse, Jessa smiled, then leaned on the fence, watching the mare out of the corner of her eye. They would be spending a lot of time pretending to ignore each other, Jessa had the feeling, before Belle decided to allow a two-legger too close to her willingly.

[Karina Fuchs]

Karina kissed Ella on the nose and then left the mare in her stall. The pinto was already turning towards her haynet as Kari walked down the aisle of the barn, swinging her bag from her fingers.

She made her way to the veterinary clinic - She'd found the quickest way there as soon as she'd gotten word about being accepted to the rehabilitation class. Now, she entered the yard and glanced around, her eyes immediately landing on the palomino horse standing in his run, his head up as he surveyed the new visitors.

She tore her eyes away from the horse, glancing over the others, but then headed towards the barrels where the rest of the students were sitting. She picked a barrel and set down her backpack. She didn't really need it right now. She listened to Dr. Carr, still not quite believing that she'd been selected for this course - It had been a long shot.

She listened to the basic introduction of the veterinarian, then considered how to introduce herself. When her turn came, she decided on, "My name is Karina, and I hope to learn from the horse I'm working with, and the other horses and their challenges. I think they all have something to teach us and I'm hoping this class will give me the time and space to listen."

She listened to the rules, which were all simple enough. The notebook was a good idea - She'd have to remember to write in it, though. That would be tough, she'd never thought about doing that before. She picked a blue one, and set it on the ground under her feet. Everything else was reasonable. Finally, though, it was time to meet their horses.

She followed Dr. Carr to the yards, and was surprised that her name was called first. She stepped forward and nodded, taking in the information, which wasn't very different from the file she'd received. But now she had a face to put with the name. She stood outside of the pen and regarded the gelding, who was looking at her defiantly from the middle of the yard - Not fearful, but definitely not affectionate either. He had no reason to trust or like her, and her first job would be to change that.

[Paige Wilson]

Paige took a deep breath and rubbed her hands slowly over her face. God, but she was nervous. It was stupid, really; these were all the people who she was going to have to see for her classes in the fall in any case, so she might as well get to know some of them now, and then going into a classroom full of strangers later on wouldn't be so intimidating. Right? Wrong. The brunette sighed again. God... What was it about new people that set the butterflies flapping frantically in her stomach? They would be just the same as the old people, only different. And Paige wasn't hugely fond of things being different, she would have to confess.

But what if she got things wrong? That was something else that was making her nervous, and it was doing a far better job of it than the prospect of meeting a group of strangers, the girl was almost surprised to realise. That would be bad enough- she'd look like an idiot in front of everyone- but it would be even worse to get things wrong without anyone noticing, because then she could quite easily ruin a horse's whole life, and that was a big responsibility to take on. For a moment, Paige almost regretted signing up in the first place, but she couldn't pull out now.

Figuring that she might as well get out and face her fears as sit here making herself sick, the brunette got to her feet and changed quickly into a pair of tan jodhpurs and what she was at least fairly sure was her sister's shirt before pulling on a pair of boots and making her way down to the clinic.

Slipping quietly into a seat and doing her best not to attract any attention to herself, Paige did at least offer a vague smile to the brunette who she'd met in the paddocks the other day before focusing her field of vision solely on her fingernails until after what felt like an age, the vet started to speak. Introductions? Oh, sweet Lord above, what had she done to deserve this? "Hi," she greeted the group softly. "I'm Paige. I'm here because... because I know how hard life can be without confidence, and I want to help a horse to overcome that."

Taking notes, she could manage. It was hardly rocket science, after all, and while Paige couldn't promise anyone that her notes would actually be any good, she would do her best. That was all that she could manage. Standing, she followed Dr. Carr across to the horses, and waited patiently as the horses were assigned, though her eyes kept on drifting towards the beautiful mare which she was at least fairly sure was Willow. Of course Paige had read the file- she'd read nothing else for days. And she was proved correct as the vet introduced her to the horse that she was going to be working with. "Hey, gorgeous," the brunette breathed, standing a respectful distance away from the mare's head.

[Demeter Carr]

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CAN WE PRETEND THAT AIRPLANES IN THE
_{NIGHT SKY ARE LIKE SHOOTING STARS CAUSE I COULD REALLY USE A WISH RIGHT NOW}
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Demeter listened to each of the girls, knowing that what she had asked was harder for some than it was for others, but the girls needed to know who the others were.

She groomed Beauty as she observed what the teenagers were doing, not wanting to get in the way of the first part of bonding. "While you will be the only one working with your horse, along with myself and Talia, the farrier, the six of you are a team, in a way." She spoke loud enough to be heard by all, but didn't shout and kept her tone light and friendly. "Feel free to bounce ideas of one another. You each have your own particular set of skills, and what you have might be beneficial to the training of another horse."

She scratched Beauty behind her chin, laughing as the mare curled her upper lip back in happiness. "And don't expect to have a breakthrough over night. All I ask, is that every time you seem to hit a brick wall, step back, have another look at what seems to be creating it, and try again."

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_{TAGGED: Cara-Jean Kitchi, Jessamine Smith, Karina Fuchs,
Maeve McKenna, Paige Wilson, Tenaya Hannah McDavid
LYRICS: B.O.B. & Hayley Williams
NOTES: Rescue Horses
CREDITS: Thanks to BUNNYA! at Caution 2.0}

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara leaned on the top rail of the yard, just watching the filly, who was more interested in the mares a couple of yards away, than she was in Cara, but for now the girl didn't care about that, as this gave her the time to get a read on the youngster.

Pushing away from fence, she walked to the gate and let herself into the yard, securing it behind her, as the last thing she needed was for Esplanade to get out of the yard - great way to lose friends and make enemies. "Ah, so you have noticed me?" She said with a smile, her stance relaxed and calm as the Gypsy cross turned to face her, ears pricked forward. "No." She said, her stance changing slightly, moving her feet shoulder-width apart, standing up taller, to become more authoritative as the filly approached her, entering her personal space without a thought in the world.

The filly skittered back a couple of steps, and to reward her, Cara's stance relaxed again and she took a step back. The filly didn't come any closer, yet she didn't lower her head either, and Cara wondered if the youngster was trying to get as much a read of her as she was the filly. Cara put her hand in her pocket and pulled out a couple of wrapped mints. She unwrapped one and popped it in her mouth, curling her nose at the taste and holding back a shudder, and then unwrapped the other. Crinkling the wrappers in one hand, and stretching the one with the mint out toward the filly she smiled as Esplanade stretched her neck forward, her nostrils quivering as she catch the scent, and then she stepped forward, a little closer than Cara would have preferred, and took the treat.

Cara backed away from the filly and retreated from the yard, pleased that the filly had chosen to come up to her again, and she walked over to put the rubbish into her messenger bag and sat down on the barrel with her notebook, jotting down her thoughts on the flaxen chestnut sabino.

[Maeve McKenna]

Maeve frowned, a little disheartened, when the gelding on the other side of the yard made no move toward her, other than a flicker of an ear. She nodded to Dr Carr's words, which sounded a lot like something Enid would say about her lessons on working with nature, and she guessed that this was sort of the same thing, kinda, sorta. Though it was also completely different, as this horse had been around people in the past, he shouldn't be so standoffish, right?

It appeared that Maeve had hit her first brick wall, and she was wondering if this would be something better left to the older students, who had been working with horses for so much longer. Leaving the yard, she walked over to grab her notebook and pens and returned to the yard. Letting herself in again, she boosted herself up to sit on the top rail, keeping her movements careful, and opened the book. Balancing it on her knee, and her pens in her pocket, she wrote the gelding's name in the middle of the page, then using a new pen for each word, she wrote down anything that came to mind as she looked at the horse; lonely, shy, inquisitive, intuitive, introvert. She smiled in amusement as she looked at what she'd written down. "Lots of in words." She mused, though this didn't help her work out where to go from here.

[Jessamine Smith]

Jessa considered her options before she stepped into the yard, making a plan for the things she could see happening and how she would respond to those. In fact, Bella had not ignored her as she’d expected, but was looking at her rather imperiously - Jessa found herself glad that she’d brought the long cotton lead she’d been given in Natural Horsemanship class. She untied that from her waist now, carrying it lightly in one hand, as she unlatched the gate and stepped inside.

Bella immediately rushed forward, attempting to crowd her, but Jessa held her ground and swung the cotton line towards the mare, making the softest contact possible to halt her, while also raising her energy. The mare faltered, confused by the reaction which consisted of no yelling, no words at all. Once the mare had stopped, Jessa smiled and held out her hand, “We don’t rush at our friends, Bella. And you and I, we will be friends.” She held out a hand with a bit of carrot on it, towards the mare.

[Karina Fuchs]

Kari nodded at Dr. Carr’s words, listening without turning away from Cas, although she wasn’t looking directly at him. Rather, she watched him from the corner of her eye, her mind churning as she tried to make a plan of attack. Trust was a hard thing to earn, especially when a horse had no idea of how to trust anymore. The easiest way would probably be through the gelding’s stomach.

With that thought, she made her way over to where Dr, Carr was grooming a bay mare. When she’d been acknowledged, she spoke, “May I ask when you normally feed your patients? I would like to feed Cas, but I do not want him to feel deprived if I show up after the rest have been fed.” She would rather be early than late, but also not too early - Who knew how the vet clinic’s facility functioned, but she didn’t want to disturb the residents.

[Paige Wilson]

Blowing out her cheeks, the brunette folded her arms across her chest and surveyed the mare contemplatively. "Well then, sweetheart," she murmured, keeping her voice low and soft to make sure that she didn't startle the nervous horse. "What are we going to do with you, hmm?" Figuring that she might as well get started on her notes, Paige pulled out the journal and pen and leaned against the fence.

"Nervous," she murmured as she wrote. "Skittish, apprehensive... And then... Inquisitive." She paused to glance up at the mare, and smiled to herself. "And variations upon said theme." Paige nodded. Deciding that that would do for now, she slipped the book into a deep pocket and approached the gate slowly, giving the horse every opportunity to look at her before she opened it carefully, so as to limit the amount of noise that it made, and stepped just inside before closing it once more.

[Demeter Carr]

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CAN WE PRETEND THAT AIRPLANES IN THE
_{NIGHT SKY ARE LIKE SHOOTING STARS CAUSE I COULD REALLY USE A WISH RIGHT NOW}
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Demeter chuckled as Beauty's weight shifted as she was groomed, the mare didn't seem to care about what was happening around them, and the vet was sure that the other horse could take fright and this one wouldn't even bat an eyelid. Though Demeter's attention didn't waver too much from her group of teenagers - as they were her responsibility.

She looked over the mare's back as she was approached and smiled at the question asked. "In the evenings, I'm mean, and my barn get fed later than the others." She replied. "Normally a little before five, so that I know I'm not going to be in the middle of something, should the worst happen when the other barns are being fed." It also gave her the chance to give her barn her undivided attention during that time. "Morning feeds are around seven, and, unless on stall rest, they get turned out by eight." And for the likes of her other patients, she would bring them in and do what needed to be done throughout the day.

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_{TAGGED: Cara-Jean Kitchi, Jessamine Smith, Karina Fuchs,
Maeve McKenna, Paige Wilson, Tenaya Hannah McDavid
LYRICS: B.O.B. & Hayley Williams
NOTES: Rescue Horses
CREDITS: Thanks to BUNNYA! at Caution 2.0}