Apres Moi

[Vincent Fiordalis]

Vincent walked around the arena, his head was a mess he wasn't focused. His horse was getting worse and his patience was slowly passing out of him. But he forced himself to stand up straight and be prepared, looking at his clipboard he noticed two of the names, Liana and Tara from previous lessons. He rolled his eyes and went to stand at the gate to greetthe students, he thought he would scrap the mounting rule. See how it went. He welcomed students as the came, opening the gate for them to enter. "Welcome! Welcome! We have a few little things to go through before we start so please get onto the center line. Then we can get started."

Once he thought everyone was in he shut the gate. Walking quickly to the front of his class and perching on the mounting block, looking at each horse and rider before speaking again. "I am Vincent Fiordalis, I am your hunter instructor. I have three rules, rule number one, no arguing, shouting or cutting up of any kind. Rule two, defiance or smart mouths will stand in the middle of the arena until i say you can rejoin the group, and rule three. My way or no way. You do as I say or you leave, no messing around." He then raisd his finger and went on. "I did have a no mounting rule but given that all of the students I have met so far mount outside the arena. That has been withdrawn, so mount wherever. As long as you stand on the center line first!"

Vincent then went on, looking at each in turn. He started to speak, not knowing where this was going he let his mind go wild. "Today, I want you to work with your horse, I want you to help yourselves. I want you all to work in open order and show me how you warm up, then I want you to do no stirrup work and/or one handed rein work, then we will change to something else." Vincent felt more relaxed now, he was calmer and ready to give pointers and helpful criticism. "Once you've made your tack checks and girth check you may start with the first section of todays lesson!" He was looking for wobbly/unstable riders, people relying on their lower leg to stay on and people that were not confident.

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Bridgette Iris Beaumont
Gladys Madoc
Kallistos Rolleston
Liana Mars
Tara Macmillan

[Kallistos Rolleston]

It was days like today, that Kall missed Cue and his easy-going nature. Jett was being... well, and ass; throwing his head around, refusing to stand still, just being a right pain in the backside. However, Kall persevered with the gelding's antics and tried his hardest to tack the horse up as though nothing were out of the ordinary.

He finally got the horse outside and it wasn't until the arrived at the arena that he saw that the saddle was in the wrong place and the saddle blanket it had slipped. "I take it you moved when I thought I had everything right?" With a tight smile toward the instructor and a quick, "if you will excuse us for a moment", he quickly undid the girth, pulled the close contact saddle off, straightened the blanket and the put the saddle in place again, of course, the horse didn't move a muscle this time, and he fastened the girth before entering the arena and lading the gelding to stand centre line.

He nodded as he listened to the rules, and after a quick tighten of the girth, and pulling his stirrups down, he mounted the Hanoverian and rubbed the horse's black neck. Part of him was tempted to cross the stirrups over the pommel now, but Mr Fiordalis had said that they were working without stirrups after the warm up. With a shrug, he squeezed the gelding forward and burst out laughing when Jett simply shifted his weight and stomped a hoof.

[Liana Mars]

Liana crooned to Leil as she groomed him, singing softly as she brushed even the smallest speck of dust off of his black coat. Once that was done, she grabbed the saddle pad and settled it cleanly over his back, before placing the black close contact saddle into place. The bridle had small rhinestones across the browband that matched the saddle pad, rose sapphire like the rest of the gelding's colored gear. Her own clothes were chosen with just as much thought - tan breeches with a black belt, recently cleaned black tall boots, and a white long-sleeved shirt. It was pretty much what she'd wear to a hunters class where jackets had been waived - For a school class, she saw no reason to pull out the full ensemble, but that was no reason not to be presentable and ready to ride. She clipped on her helmet and pulled on her black gloves, and then they were ready to go.

She led the gelding to the arena - She knew this teacher, now. This time he seemed more at ease, opening the gate for her, which she recognized with a smile and a "Thank you." She led Leil to the center line, then stood easily, patting the gelding's neck absently. He was at least more patient than Nasir, and she was glad to have both of them - They contrasted nicely but were both wonderful.

After listening to the introduction - It seemed Mr. Fiordalis was adjusting to how things went here - Liana checked Leil's girth and then hopped into the saddle. From there, she broke out from the group and asked Leil to trot on, planning on starting with some collection and extension in the trot and canter, before working on some lateral work briefly to get Leil ready to bend.