Equine First Aid

[Demeter Carr]

I felt that it made more sense to split the students into two clinics, because I don't think that a big group would get as much hands on as they would in smaller groups.

Group A:
@rory
@cmr
Cortney Smit
Miranda Florin
@olivia
Othello Buskirk

The number of students who had signed up for the vet clinic had surprised Demeter, to say the least, and rather than having a single clinic that took up one day, she decided to split the students into two groups and spread the course over two days, one group the first day the second group the next. The woman gathered the boxes that contained the thing she had got for the students - her way of rewarding their interest in learning how to take care of their horses - and then headed out to the yards. After putting the boxes on the ground by the semi-circle of barrel seats, she headed back into the barn to collect the mock first aid kits she had put together for the students and an actual kit for them to look through before they got started. She also brought out the items that she had collected from Monique earlier. A bit of stage make-up and tubes of fake blood that they could use to create wounds, lacerations and the sort. The woman then brought out Beauty, and the Academy horses she had borrowed for the clinics; Belarus and Guardian, all three horses were perfect for what she wanted as she knew that none of them would be fazed with students being artistic on them or mummifying them.

It wasn't much longer before the students started arriving and she smiled and greeted each of them, gesturing toward the barrels. "Find yourself a seat and we'll get started when everyone is here." She told each of them. Once the majority of the group had arrived, she decided to get started. "Welcome to my clinic." She said warmly. "For those of you who haven't meet me yet, I'm Dr Carr." She opened the boxes. "This is my way of saying thank you for showing initiative to be more knowledgeable about helping your horses." She handed each of the students a pen with horse on the top, a notebook and two vet books; Dr. Kellon's Guide to First Aid for Horses and Horse Owner's Veterinary Handbook.

Once the things were handed out, she decided to get down to business and held up the first aid kit. "Your equine first aid kit should contain the following items: Thermometer. Stethoscope - To monitor heart rate. Your horse's heartbeat can be heard most clearly just behind the left elbow. It is also useful for listening for gut sounds. Flashlight. Electrolytes,powder and paste for dehydration. Neosporin - This should be applied twice daily to minor abrasions and in wounds that are superficial wounds (the skin edges cannot be moved separately). Diluted iodine solution - To flush out any full thickness wounds (the skin edges can be moved separately). Any wound that will be seen by a veterinarian within 4 hours of injury (8 hours for head injuries) should not have any other medications applied, but should simply be flushed with clear water or dilute iodine solution and covered to prevent drying. And Nolvasan, Furacin, Corona, Wound Powder - These antiseptic ointments or powders are to be applied to full thickness wounds (the skin edges can be moved separately) that will not be seen by a veterinarian within the first 4 to 8 hours. Hydrogen peroxide - Avoid use of peroxide in wounds as it will kill healthy tissue. The one exception would be contaminated sole wounds. Peroxide can be used to clean these out initially. It should not be placed into any other type of wound. A Knife for making splints, cutting bandaging materials, cutting your horse free from a tangled rope, etc. Use extreme care when using a knife around your horse. Wire cutters - In the event a horse has gotten tangled up in fence or wire. A Twitch  - This tool can help calm and restrain your horse during painful procedures. Hoof pick To clean out the bottom of the foot to search for punctures, bruising, or other foot problems. Fly lotion - This can be used to keep flies and other insects from irritating and contaminating open wounds that cannot be bandaged. Apply the lotion directly around but not inside the wound. Ophthalmic Polysporin - For eye injuries. Bandaging Materials Cotton Padding, Telfas (non-stick gauze) Vetrap. Some Duct Tape. Elastoplast ,1-inch and 2 inch White Adhesive Tape, Saran Wrap, Cotton Leg Wraps
6-inch brown roll gauze, and Med-Rip bandage tape

Some additional items that always come in handy are: Latex gloves, 4-5 1 1/2"x18 ga needles, Irrigating syringe, Antibiotic spray, Safety pins, Zip Lock Bags, Epsom Salt, Betadine Solution, Catheter tip syringe, Betadine Scrub, Physiological Saline, Petroleum Jelly, and Blunt-nosed scissors.

And in the fridge of any barn, you will find the following items, which I obviously don't have out here:
Tetanus Antitoxin, Tetanus Toxoid booster and Epinephrine. Be sure to check expiration date before you use them though. It is also good to keep on hand, frozen cooling packs, ice cubes and Styrofoam cups filled with water and frozen. These work great for applying cold therapy to areas which cannot easily be bandaged." The veterinarian pulled out each item as she spoke about it. "The kits that you will use today however, only have the bandages, vetwrap and tape in them." She handed out the kits to each of the students. "I want you to please split up into pairs and then we'll go and meet our patients."

When the students were paired up, she led them over to the yards where the mare and two geldings were waiting for them. "Our three equine assistants are; Beauty, a Thoroughbred who has become a permanent resident here. Belarus, a Drum Horse who belongs to the academy, and Guardian, a Percheron mix who refuses to go into retirement." The three horses had their halters on, but the lead ropes were lying on the ground on the other side of their gate. "I would each team to choose a horse that you want to spend your time with today and then we'll get started."

[Cortney Smit]

After making a stop off at the cafeteria to grab sandwiches, snacks, fruit and a couple of drinks, Cortney made her way to the equine clinic. When she had first signed up for the first aid course, she thought that she would feel funny heading toward an equine clinic, but since the veterinarian had paired her with Olé, the clinic had almost become her second home.

Walking through the gate, she hurried over to the yard where Olé and Zaia were happily grazing. "Hi baby girl." She greeted the chestnut filly who trotted over to see her. "I'll come and see you later." She promised as she left the horses and headed over to the meeting area. "Hi Dr Carr." She said as she put her bag down in the shade at the side of the barn and then sat down on one of the upturned barrels.

She listened as Dr Carr started speaking to them, her eyebrows raising as the woman said she had gifts for them. She smiled as she accepted a pink pen along with the notebook and two vet books, knowing that she would be reading both of them before she turned the light out tonight. She listened attentively as the woman talked about what should be in an equine first aid kit, taking note of everything as it was held up and jotting down the names of everything, to the best of her spelling ability, in her notebook.

When they were asked to pair up, she looked at the youngest member of their group and raised her eyebrows. "Wanna work with me?" She then followed the woman over to the yards and looked at the horses that were introduced to them. "We'll work with Belarus." She said as she stepped up to the yard where the large Drum Horse seemed to be half asleep. She knew how patient the big horse was as she had been offered him when she first took up riding again, but she had turned the offer down to work with Remi. "Hey big guy." She greeted him as she offered the gelding her hand.

[Deleted]

Aurora laughed as she walked into the Red House and headed down to her mother's apartment. Even though she had a dorm room upstairs, she took full liberty of using the apartment when she could and she headed into the bathroom and shed her dripping clothes. She had decided to ride Beau down to the pastures and since there were no other horses in the pasture she had chosen for the mare so she decided to ride the mare into the pasture. It had all been going well until the mare decided that she wanted a drink and as she had lowered her head to the water, gravity had taken over and Rory had fallen head first into the stream. She hadn't been hurt, but she was very wet.

After she'd taken a shower and put on clean clothes, she was towel drying her hair as she walked out of the bathroom and came face to face with her mother. "Hi mom." She said. "I hope you don't mind me using your shower. Beau decided I needed a bath. Oh, I was riding in the pasture and didn't centre myself when she went to have a drink." She dropped the towel she was using on her hair on the floor and pulled her hair into a scrunchy so that it was in a tidy high pony tail. She then took the towel back to the bathroom and when she came out again she grinned at her mother, who was holding out a brown paper bag and a couple of bottles of soda. "Thanks mom, you're the best!"

Arriving at the clinic, she saw she wasn't the first to arrive, which made her feel better, and she headed over to the meeting area. She took the items offered to her, tucking the vet books into her backpack and leaving the notebook and purple pen on her knee. She listened to the woman, writing like crazy to try and remember the names of everything while she was watching each item being held up. She sat up a little straighter when they were told to pair up and her eyebrows flew up as the junior cheerleader spoke to her. "Uh, sure." She said, not able to think of anything else more intelligent to say.

Following the group over to the horses, she wasn't too surprised when her partner took charge over which horse they would be working with and she stepped up to the bay horse and offered him her hand. "Hey big guy." She knew that she was repeating the older girl's words, but she didn't think there was anything else to say.

[Othello Buskirk]

Othello walked into the cafeteria and selected the food that he wanted for lunch, making sure to add a couple of chocolate bars, knowing that he already had two bags of Jelly Belly beans in his bag, and a couple of bottles of Gatorade; Lemon Lime and Fruit Punch. With these all tucked away in his bag, he headed over to the equine clinic.

When he had signed up for the clinic, he wouldn't have been surprised if he was the only male who had signed up and as there were currently only two girls present, his thoughts were slightly confirmed. He found himself a seat and waited for things to get started.

After things had been handed out, he listened to the veterinarian as she spoke about equine first aid kits. When they were asked to pair up, he walked over to Miranda, who he knew was a vet student from when he'd met her on his first visit to the vet clinic. "Would you like to work with me?" He asked, giving her a hopeful smile.

As they headed over to the horses, he listened as they were introduced and arched his eyebrows at Miranda, as he didn't know the grey gelding or the bay mare and hope that she would have a preference of who she would rather work with.

[Miranda Florin]

Miranda paused by the cafeteria and grabbed a sandwich and a bottle of juice, knowing that she wouldn't want to leave the clinic for lunch. After stuffing them into her backpack, which already held a number of carrots that she had grabbed for the motley crew, she left the cafeteria, following the path that was so common to her by now, down to the equine clinic.

As she approached, she paused by Dynamite's stall, looking in at the gelding, who halfheartedly pinned his ears as he saw her, but didn't flip out. After leaving a carrot in his feed bucket for him, she moved on to check on Fingal, who was still outside, giving him his carrot and a scratch behind his ear before she joined the group that had gathered by Dr. Carr, by the barrels that were set up for just that reason. She gave her mentor a smile and a wave, then sat near Cortney, subconsciously picking the same barrel that she usually picked when the Rehab class was meeting.

As Dr. Carr passed out the pens, notebooks, and books, Miranda picked out a purple pen, which she rested on top of the notebook. As she glanced at the books, she smiled, recognizing the comb-bound Dr. Kellon's Guide as one that she had often borrowed from the library, but had never bought for her own collection. She slipped the two books into her backpack, and listened to Dr. Carr as she went over what should be in every first aid kit, nodding. As the vet finished her talk, Miranda was about to find a buddy as she heard Othello's voice. She smiled at the tall male and hopped off of her barrel, "Sure!"

She followed Dr. Carr over to the horses, smiling as she listened to the familiar equines being introduced. Between the two of them that were left after Cortney had her pick, she had the hardest time deciding, before she finally stepped over to Guardian, "Let's work with him." She loved both of the animals to pieces, since she had worked with both of them, but she couldn't imagine watching Guardian, her 'assigned' mount, with another group.

[Deleted]

Chase exited his room and walked with a purpose down the stairs and out towards the equine rehab centre. Today was the day that the equine first aid clinic started and the fourteen year old was actually excited to be going. Since there were no classes he didn't carry anything around with him and he had eaten something before he came that would hold him over. Seeing where everyone was sitting, there were five other students seated in a semi-circle.

Taking a seat Chase looked around to see if he could recognize any faces from around, but none really were registering. Once he took a seat he could see that the clinic was dominated by females, which he was perfectly okay with. He received the things that Dr. Carr was handing out with a smile and flipped through the books.

Listening intently Chase’s elbows rested on his knees as Dr. Carr went over all the things that should be in an equine first aid kit, his eyes got a bit wide. Once Dr. Carr told them to split up into pairs he looked around as everyone got together. He looked at the single female that had yet to pair up with someone. Walking over to her he asked, ”Do you want to work together?” Seeing as the two other pairs chose a horse there was the bay mare, Beauty, left. Even though he had a gelding himself, Chase always had a soft spot for mares.

[Deleted]

Olivia hurried into the equine clinic area, taking care not to run, or even appear as if she was running. Despite her haste, she was probably the last to arrive, as Dr. Carr started shortly after her arrival, with no one else arriving after her. She took the books and pen that Dr. Carr handed out, slipping both of the books into her pack after glancing at the titles, and then flipped open the notebook and started writing down what Dr. Carr listed should be in their equine first aid kits, knowing that she might have misspelled some of the words, since she wrote from phonetics to keep up, but she would be able to figure out the correct spelling as she went to look for them.

As everyone started pairing up, she started looking around for a partner, but was headed off by a guy asking her to work together. She shrugged, seeing that they were the last two, and replied, "Sure." Leaving her backpack by the barrel that she had been sitting on, she took her 'first aid kit' over to the bay mare that hadn't been claimed yet, smiling as the mare turned her attention to the pair, obviously slightly curious in what was going on.

[Demeter Carr]

Demeter was pleased with how attentive the students were and noted the ones who were writing furiously as she spoke.

Once they had chosen their horses, something she knew would be harder for Miranda than the others, as she knew that the girl rode Guardian and she also spent a lot of time with Beauty. "A few things that are important to remember when you are around horses, their vitals. The normal body temperature of a mature horse at rest is 99 to 101 degrees F. The heart and pulse rate of a normal mature horses is 28 to 40 beats per minute. For newborn foals it will be 80 to 120.beats per minute, weanlings are at 60 to 80 beats per minute and yearlings, 40 to 60 beats per minute. Your horse should be calm, rested and relaxed to obtain an accurate heart rate. To find their pulse, press your fingers against an artery. There are several locations where an artery can be felt: the back edge of lower jaw, the inner surface of the groove under the jaw, the inside the elbow, up and forward against the chest wall, under the tail, close to the body and the inside or outside pastern.

To check skin pliability for dehydration. Pinch a fold of skin on the neck and release it. It should quickly return to its original position. If the horse is dehydrated, the skin returns slowly and tends to stay in a fold. Their mucous membranes:
Gums, inside lips of a mare's vulva and nostrils should be pink. A fire engine red colour usually denotes illness. Anaemia causes a pale colour. Lack of circulation causes a bluish-purple colour.

And lastly the quantity and condition of circulating blood: Rate of capillary refill (the rate blood returns to an area) indicates the quantity and condition of the circulating blood. Capillary refill can suggest anemia, colic, congestion and shock. You can determine capillary refill time by pressing your thumb on the horse's gum and releasing it. It should take about two seconds for the blood and normal color to return to the area. Longer capillary refill times can be indicators of dehydration or a circulatory problem." She smiled, knowing that it was a lot of information to remember in such a short time, but as they didn't have any actual life and death situations on hand she wasn't too worried if they couldn't remember it all, it wasn't like she was going to make then take and exam at the end of the day.

"Now we get to talk about the fun stuff, wounds!" She walked to the yard where her Black Tobiano gelding was dozing. "In the bucket that's on this side of your patient's yard, you will find some stage make-up and tubes of blood, not real blood but stage blood." She picked up the bucket that was on the outside of Tau's yard. She had spent the last couple of weeks prepping gelding for this. "The first wound that we will talk about are LACERATIONS: This is Deep Cut in Skin Versus a Full Skin Thickness Cut. Cuts which do not penetrate the skin all the way cannot have the edges of the wound separated. You cannot pull the edges of the wound apart because the skin is still connected at the base of the wound. How deep can a partial thickness be? If the skin is thick it may be 1/4 to 3/8's inch deep. In areas where the skin is thin it may be less. All this kind of would would need, it to be cleaned out and covered in wound powder. The horse's stall would need to be thoroughly cleaned out, but you wouldn't need to bandage the wound.

Next we have; NON-PENETRATING CUTS: Like lacerations you will need to clean the wound with soap and water and apply a nitrofurazone based spray twice a day. Ointments are okay but will not last as long. A bandage may be applied to areas like the leg where the wound would be subjected to dirt. These wounds do not require suturing, but should be examined carefully to be sure there are no punctures." She opened her hand to offer Tau some treats as the gelding nosed her hand. "Then, you have; FULL SKIN THICKNESS WOUNDS: Suturing of this type of wound depends on several factors. Age of the wound, location, contamination, blunt trauma. Contaminated or blunt trauma wounds are often safer left open and cared for properly than when sutured. Open wounds which will not receive medical attention for several hours should be flushed out with clean water and bandaged using an antibacterial cream such as Neosporin. If suturing is required flushing and bandaging the wound will help minimize infection.

Then PUNCTURES: Puncture wounds can be deceiving. Frequently they appear to be minor wounds. Depending on the depth and contamination they can rapidly become infected. Pain and swelling within the first 24 to 72 hours after the accident are good indicators that there is a problem. Punctures seal up rapidly so the infection has no place to go and spreads to surrounding tissue. Have your Vet examine the wound if you have any doubt as to how deep the puncture is or if it is draining well.

And lastly, BRUISING and CONTUSIONS: A hard blow that does not break the skin can be treated with ice compresses for a minimum of 30 minutes and oral bute (consult your Vet before using) to limit swelling and pain."

Rubbing the gelding's forehead, she pulled a bandage out of the mock kit that she was holding. "Now, this is how you apply a bandage on a horse. Make sure the wound has been properly cleaned, rinsed and dressed according to your veterinarian’s recommendations. Use a thickness of an inch or more of soft, clean padding to protect the leg beneath the bandage. Apply padding so it lies flat and wrinkle-free against the skin. Start the wrap at the inside of the cannon bone above the fetlock joint. Do not begin or end over joints - as movement will tend to loosen the bandage and cause it to come unwrapped. Wrap the leg from front to back, outside to inside (counterclockwise in left legs, clockwise in right legs). Wrap in a spiral pattern, working down the leg and up again, overlapping the preceding layer by 50 percent. Use smooth, uniform pressure on the support bandage to compress the padding. Make sure no lumps or ridges form beneath the bandage. Be careful not to wrap the legs too tightly, creating pressure points. Avoid applying bandages too loosely. If loose bandages slip, they will not provide proper support and may endanger the horse." She swiftly bandaged Tau's leg as she spoke, demonstrating her words, though she didn't bother to use padding under the bandage, as she just didn't have the time. She unwound the bandage and rolled it up as she turned to face the teenagers and wiggled her eyebrows. "You can decide between yourselves what kind of wounds you want to do, or you can do all of them. Feel free to test each other by one of you drawing on the horse and the other trying to work out what kind of wound it is and the best way of treating it."

[Cortney Smit]

Cortney was glad that the younger girl hadn't complained about the horse she wanted to work with, she has expected at least a little argument since the gelding's size could be a little intimidating on young people.

She turned to Dr Carr, still tickling the large bay under his chin, as the woman began speaking. Giving the gelding a kiss on the muzzle, she opened her note book and began scribbling down the vital signs as the woman rattled them off. The girl was amazed about how much the woman had in her head, the information was mind-blowing, and to be able to just spurt it all off astounded her.

She jotted down basic information about the wounds, but didn't try and copy down everything that the veterinarian said. She looked over at the bucket she had noticed before entering the yard and couldn't wait to get started drawing on the bay.

She watched carefully as the woman explained how to bandage a horse's leg, which really wasn't too different from when Cortney and Myriam bandaged their mares for exercise - bit of course exercise bandages were only on for a short amount of time.

When they were told to use the make-up and pretty much just have fun, she leaned over the fence, grabbed the bucket and then looked at Rory. "How about we just work on a side each and practise our bandaging skills and then we can test each other?"

[Deleted]

Aurora was getting to know Belarus a bit better. Even though he had been at the academy as long as she had, but she had never really had much to do with the large gelding as she'd only ever ridden Academy ponies and then Globe and now Beau.

When the veterinarian began talking again, she wished that she had brought the notebook with her, rather than leaving it on her barrel seat and when she saw that Cortney was talking notes she made plans to ask the Junior if she could copy her notes when they stopped for lunch. When the vet continued speaking, Rory was glad that she wasn't trying to take notes as well as she didn't think she'd be able to keep up, with all the different vitals, how to check them and then the wounds on top of that. Rory was suddenly very worried about being a student here at the Academy in a couple of months. What if, after nine years of home-schooling, she couldn't keep up with being in a classroom environment?

She watched the woman as she wrapped a bandage around her gorgeous piebald's leg, explaining as she went, and the girl knew that she would need to ask Cortney to go over it again at least a couple more times before she got it. However, before she got a chance to say anything to her partner, the Junior took charge of their partnership and all Rory could do was nod as she took up her first-aid kit, duck under the gelding's neck and look at his very long right leg. "My, what long legs you have." She commented as she rubbed his shoulder.

Putting her kit onto the ground, she crouched down and looked through the items in the bag until she found the bandage roll like what she had seen the veterinarian use as well as the padding that the equine doctor had spoken about. Straightening up again, she rubbed the gelding's shoulder once more before she crouched down by his leg and began the process. She struggled to start with as she wasn't sure how to hold the bandage in place, as well as the padding and roll it around without getting all tangled up, and she had tears in her eyes, ready to throw the hole thing away when it finally all seemed to click into place and she wound the bandage up and down the gelding's leg.

[Othello Buskirk]

Othello released a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding when Miranda agreed to work with him.

He nodded at her choice of horses and rubbed the nose of the solid grey gelding that they were working with, who actually reminded him a little of his own horse, but that was due to the size and solidness of the animal rather than the breed. "Hey Guardian." He said quietly as he shared scents with the horse, like his grandmother had shown him, and liked the horse instantly.

He listened carefully and took notes as the woman spoke, he already knew about a horse's vitals, as he checked Harry's every time before exercise, so rather than writing everything down, he just took notes. He had watched the vet his grandparents used bandage a few horses, but it was good for the woman to explain as she went made so much more sense than when he was just watching a man who would rather a kid wasn't peering over his shoulder.

When they were told that they could decide how they wanted to approach working with the horse they had chosen. "How about while he's calm we check his heart and pulse rate?" He suggested. "And since Dr Carr mentioned it, I also wouldn't mind doing the dehydration test too." He knew that there was no chance that the gelding would be dehydrated, so he would be perfect to check how quickly the skin and the gum colour returned to normal.

[Miranda Florin]

Miranda smiled slightly as Othello nodded at her decision, running a hand along the gelding's neck as she watched the male exchanging scents with the horse. When Dr. Carr started speaking, she stayed by Guardian's shoulder, listening to her mentor speaking without actually taking down anything that she was saying. Since she had been at the academy for nearly two years, and working under the woman for almost the entirety of that, she had picked up on the different terms already, although she didn't mind the refresher course.

After the veterinarian had stopped speaking, she moved to grab the bucket and lifted it into the yard, leaving it at the fenceline as she heard Othello's suggestion, "That sounds good." She nodded and stepped back over to where the two were still, "He's really good about everything." She smiled, as it was probably the reason that Dr. Carr had chosen to bring the gelding over to be worked with, instead of using another clinic patient. She stepped back up to the gelding's side and gently pressed her fingers to Guardian's jaw, glancing down at her watch and then counting silently for a minute, before she stepped back and grinned at Othello, "Your turn, and then we could compare results?"

[Deleted]

Jumping Chase to put my charries after each other.

Olivia boosted herself onto the rail of Beauty's yard and put her notebook onto her legs as she jotted down a few notes on what Dr. Carr was talking about, already itching to try and draw wounds on the bay mare. She had already bandaged Blue's legs a few times, for minor wounds, but as she watched Dr. Carr doing it, she realized that she had always done it quite wrong, so that would have to be something that she would correct from now on. For a moment, she felt bad about getting it wrong, but decided that, since Blue hadn't shown any discomfort, the mare hadn't felt anything too annoying.

As Dr. Carr released them to get to work, Olivia dropped her notebook and pen outside of the yard and grabbed the bucket that had been sitting outside of the gate, as well as her first aid kit, before she let herself into the mare's yard, "Hey girl." She held out the bucket to the mare, "We're going to make you into the prettiest wounded horse." She glanced over at the boy, whose name she still didn't know, but didn't want to ask, either. Did it matter? "Do you want to start with bandaging wounds?"

[Deleted]

Taking his first-aid kit, pen, and notebook with him, Chase followed the girl to Beauty's yard without a word. After scribbling down notes about what Dr. Carr had talked about he turned to the girl, whose name was still unknown to him, and introduced himself. "Hi I'm Chase Rivers." It seemed like he was the one to be introducing himself first, but he didn't mind and shoved the thought out of his head. The line that he had just spoken was one that he had rehearsed before even setting foot on campus and one that he had been using his whole life.

Dropping the notebook and pen he followed his partner into the paddock with his first-aid seeing as she had already grabbed the bucket. He smiled as the girl talked to the mare. "Sure.” In all honesty he really didn’t care what they started with. Although it wasn’t for any major injuries Chase had wrapped his gelding’s legs and hooves before when he had thrush. He didn’t really mind it but it wasn’t his favorite thing to do. Chase really didn’t have anything to say, his partner seemed as if she was the no small talk type of person, which was okay with him so he just stood there and waited. It also looked as if she was one to take charge; again he was okay with that, he wasn’t much of a leader to begin with.

[Demeter Carr]

Demeter walked along the fences of the three yards (not paddocks), watching the students as they worked. She arched her eyebrow when she saw one standing idle. "Horses have four legs, Mr Rivers." She said. "There is no need for anyone to just be standing around. If you don't want to bandage at the same time as Miss Kwinn, then you could at least be checking the mare's pulse rate or something else that I have talked about." She arched her eyebrows at him and then continued her travel.

She ducked into the yards to help any of her students who seemed to be having issues with the bandaging, but she remained hands-off as much as possible, as the clinic was to teach the students how to help their horses and not to rely on her for everything. She was impressed with what she saw, pleased that the teenagers seemed to have taken in everything that she had been talking about.

She finally walked over to Tau's yard and pulled a small hand bell out of his bucket - she had placed it in there before the clinic started - and shook the bell to get the attention of her students, smiling when Beauty's ears pricked up and the woman wondered if the mare had competed in dressage at some point of her life. "As much as it pains me to interrupt your work." She said with a smile. "But it's now time to break for lunch. I ask that you please remove the bandages from your equine friend, bring them with you to roll them back up again, and we can get back to it in thirty minutes." She felt that a short break for lunch would be more than enough, and this way they could get away a little earlier at the end of the day.