Polo [students]

[Lexie Dixon]

Lexie Dixon stood in the center of the small, almost unused classroom. She wouldn’t regularly teach her classes in here, though there was a handful that she had to, but she’d decided with a new approach since arriving back at the academy. In her hands were a pile of fact files she’d complied for each of the polo horses. Glancing down at them, seeing Abba’s deceiving features staring back up at her, she grinned. She had decided that instead of having the horses all bunched up in the arena as the riders crowded them, or she pointed them out, and letting them get all hot and bothered, that she was going to put the fact files up on the board and let the students see who was going to be assigned to who. Only then would they start with the riding. That also meant that she wouldn’t have to bring out and tack up an unnecessary amount. She could also leave them for the student to do the tacking up then. Lexie decided that this was a much easier and organised way of doing it.

The femme set to work on setting up the board. In the center, she’d written in bold, blue writing; YOU CAN ONLY PLAY POLO CORRECTLY IF THE HORSE AND YOU MATCH. Around the words, which she’d surrounded in a neat bubble, were the seven fact files of each horse she'd assigned to her students. She’d also managed to put them into alphabetical order. Smiling in accomplishment, she stepped back to admire her handy work. Making a small noise of satisfaction, she then started putting out folders on the desk. These fact files were also going to serve a purpose. The students were expected to record a journal of their progress and relationship with their horse, the fact files acting as a cover page. At the end of the term, Lexie would take them in and mark them. They would account for 40% of the end of term grade, and the other 60% coming from practical observation.

On the left hand side of the board, Lexie finished writing up the small amount of rules as well as a few course basics. Such as the marking system.

1. You must address me as Miss Dixon at all times.
2. No electronics during these lessons, it’s dangerous and downright disrespectful.
3. You will be expected to fill in at least one page of your journal after each lesson. You will also be expected to fill it in if you spend extra time with the horse you are working with.
4. Most of your marks will come from the practical side of the course, but if you want a high grade you will have to complete your journal.
5. Absolutely no swearing in lessons, respect the other students and if someone is bothering you just ignore them or come to me.
6. Some of the horses we will be working with have some issues, I trust you all to remain calm and quiet around them and treat them with the respect they deserve.

As she put in the last full stop, she placed down the pen and went to her desk to find the attendance sheet. She still had a good five minutes until the students were due to arrive, but there were always a few who turned up early. Those students were her favourite; she did love to see the eager faces of her students. It was the sullen ones that obviously wanted to be anywhere but in the lesson that she had no tolerance for. Something she wasn’t afraid to show.

Fact Files
ABBA
ANDERSON
BASIL
CELEBRITY
PROMISE
SUNNY
TASHI

[William//Adrianna Gibbson]

Ria grabbed her helmet from where she had put it next to the mattress that served as her bed, then checked her clothing, making sure it was neat. She couldn't wait to see what Polo was all about, after they had made her acquaintance in the diner. She ran towards the door, smiling at her uncle, who was sitting at the kitchen table, "I'll be back later, it's time for Polo!" She slammed the door behind her, missing Will's exasperated sigh and grin.

The young girl ran towards the classroom wheres she had been told to meet her class. She opened the door and slipped inside, then smiled up at the pretty lady who was the Polo teacher, "Hi Miss Dixon!" She stood in front of the tables and slowly read her way through the rules. Well, she would have called her Miss Dixon regardless, she didn't get to have any electronics, and she knew better than to swear anywhere. The rest, she would have to work on, especially the page of writing. Her handwriting still wasn't the neatest, so perhaps Will would help her out some with that. She looked back at the teacher, "How's Splodge?" It was the only pony of the lady's that she remembered the name of, for no reason other than the mare was a paint, like her own pony.

[Luka Ingersleben]

Luka checked the food and water bowls that he had placed into the bathroom of his dorm, making sure that Jethro had enough to eat and drink while he was in classes. He grabbed a bottle of water from his desk, then stuffed it into a side pocket of his backpack before walking out of the door. Today his Polo class would be meeting for the first time. It was actually the first of his mounted classes that would be meeting, but not the first equine class. That had been Natural Horsemanship. Luka mused about firsts he had had at the school, and in the states in general, and suddenly pulled himself out of his reverie to find that he was already approaching the equine courses building. He walked in and strolled the halls, looking for the Polo classroom. Why they were meeting in a classroom, he wasn't sure, but he didn't doubt that everything would be explained in due course. He managed to find the Polo room and walked through the door. He was slightly surprised to see that he was still early, all things considered that he had expected to be late. He smiled at the teacher, then took a seat in the middle of the room and started reading over the list of rules on the board.

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara stood in the girl's toilets of the Red Willow barn, she bounced on the balls of her feet as she stole a quick glance at herself in the mirror. She had changed out of the clothes she had worn for the hunter-jumper class and was now dressed in a pair of crisp white jodhpurs and a cornflower blue polo shirt. Her raven black hair was in a tight french braid and then wound into a neat bun that was held into place by a hair net. Her black Ariat field boots were on the ground beside her.

She would normally be getting ready for dressage class, but she had spoken with Ms Carr and Mr Jameson and asked to be transferred out of the dressage class and today she was going to ask Miss Dixon if she could join the polo class.

After she put her boots on, grabbed her helmet and satchel, she headed out of the barn and down to the building where the theory equine courses were held, knowing that this was where the polo class was meeting for that day.

Pausing at the door, she raised her hand and knocked before opening it. She would normally walked straight into a classroom, but as this wasn't her classroom, she felt that it would have been rude to have just barged in. Walking across the room, she stopped a good distance away from the teacher. "Ma'am?" Her whisper soft voice shook a little as introducing herself to an adult wasn't a strong point of hers. Her strangely-coloured eyes were trained on the ground in front of her feet. "I am Cara-Jean Kitchi. If you have no objections, Ma'am, I would very much like to join your class."