Vaulting Class (Students)

[Raenn Merced]

Raenn glanced at her watch and then put down the book she had been reading, a fictional account of the Iditarod. She stretched and then pulled on a windbreaker, knowing that, while the indoor arena would be insulated enough, the barn would be chilly with the cloudy sky. She grabbed her laptop bag, which she had packed earlier, then grabbed a few new ponytail holders from her desk. She rolled them onto her wrist, just in case someone forgot to bring one to class. She let herself out of her suite of rooms and locked the door behind her, then headed off towards the barn. Her horses were all stabled in the first barn, something to do with their show names, something that Rae didn't mind. It was easier to take care of them if they were in the same area.

As she entered the aisle of stalls and saw her three animals poking their heads over the stall doors, Ray smiled at them. She walked to the tack room and pulled out Elly's rosy-brown halter and Wyllo's pink one. She walked back and pulled the Percheron out of her stall, then set to work grooming the horse.

After almost an hour's work, her two chosen horses were both brushed and tacked up. Raenn checked the fit of Elly's surcingle, then nodded, satisfied. She left the horses standing there as she walked back into the tack room to grab everything she would need. A clipboard, first aid kit, lunge line, and lunge whip, along with her. She looked at the pile and sighed, thinking that it would be a lot to transport over. She left it sitting on a table in the tack room. She would grab it after she had brought the horses out. She walked back out and grabbed both lead lines before she headed towards the arena.

After she had entered the arena and latched the gate behind her, Raenn tied the horses' lead ropes to the rail. She glanced at both of them, "Be good," then walked towards the tack room. She came back laden with her equipment and started sorting it, putting the lunge whip against the fence, the lunge line on one of the rails, and the rest of the stuff onto the ground. She glanced at the two horses, then picked up the lunge line and exchanged it for the lead on Ellie's drop noseband bridle. She grabbed the whip, then walked out to the center of the arena, letting the lunge line out to fifteen meters. Once she was happy with the length, she held the lunge and flicked the whip at Ellie, "Walk on." The mare stepped forward happily, her ears flickering just a moment until she settled down.

OOC;: Like all of the other Extracurricular Classes, if your charrie has an open ECC spot, they can join in here... Also, if you just want to post with them, I won't stop you.

[Avery Jacobs]

Avery found herself actually rushing for this class. No matter how fed up she was getting with the whole tardy thing she had going on, the brunette actually was excited for this vaulting class. There was no way she was going to be late for this one today. She figured it would be something she would be quite good at, after dabbing into gymnastics throughout her life. Of course, her gymnastic days were long gone, but she doubted she had lost all her skills. The girl was still lithe and flexible, even after the rough course of sixteen years of life. She broke into a run out of the white ribbon house, nearly fuming in embarrassment at her fast pace.

Running most certainly didn't look classy, but Avery was so paranoid about being late after the day, she was going to do it. A blue leotard clung naturally to her body, shorts on top of it and sweatpants on top of that. Above the tank top part of the leotard, the girl wore a still classy looking sweatshirt; the whole outfit giving off an athletic look. Avery sighed at how long it had taken her to get ready however, until she finally made it to the Benedict’s arena.

Finally, the girl searched for the group her eyes were afraid to see. To her glee, she was the first student. Remembering the reputation she had to keep up, Avery quickly sobered up, turning her expression someone blunt and closed. The brunette walked up to the instructor and the beautiful large horse. Excitement coursed through her body as she watched and she turned her attention to the woman, giving her a nod. "Hello." her voice was curt, but obviously held a tiny bit of respect. She was going to be fair enough.

[Christopher Reed/ Mia Reed]

The afternoon sun was very much still in the sky and the cloudy haze drifted over it every now and again as the six year old made her way to the barn. After her 'meeting' with the vaulting instructor, her father decided that he would be okay with this one little class. With her bone straight brunette hair tied back in a tight ponytail, Mia made her way to the White Oak Barn to see Crystal before the class officially began. The splash white face of the mare was stuck out the stall door. Speeding up her pace a bit she arrived at the mare's box. "Hi, girl. How are you?" As if to reply the mare blew a short breathe of warm air from her nostrils. Mia reached up and patted the mare's neck. "I've gotta go girl, I'll be late for my very first vaulting class." The words felt funny on her lips and twirled in her head. She hadn't attended a class before as she was only six and would have been starting kindergarten this year if she was a normal child. Making her way quickly over to the indoor arena, where she had been instructed to come she saw the two large horses and Ms. Merced. With a slight flick of her hand she said 'hello'. "Hi Ms. Merced" The young girl watched the large horse circle the arena, it was very large and pretty. Seemed like all the horses Ms Merced had were beautiful and big. Looking around the arena once more she caught the sight of an older female student. Mia hadn't noticed her before and now she was quiet, waiting for the instuctions that the instructor would give.

[oakley]

Hannah Greene

It felt funny, going to the arena without a lead in her hand and a noisily clomping Donner on her heels. Hannah sighed and blew a piece of her bangs from in front of her eyes and treaded on. What also felt odd, was the black leotard clinging to every crevice of her body. Hannah had been in gymnastics and dance for the longest time, this leotard wasn't anything but worn out, though still in nice shape. But never had Hannah worn one in or around the barn. She wore a pair of loose Nike sweats and mid-thigh long shorts over it, but hadn't bothered to put a hoodie on over top. She had changed in the barn after attending her dressage horse, as she did every evening directly after school. She had made sure to memorize her schedule each day, so she was almost positive she wasn't late for her first vaulting class. After that first scare with her first official dressage class on campus, it was a beyond necessary precaution.

Hannah limbered her arms up while walking, careful not to be too quick about her movements and keeping everything slow and smooth. She wasn't exactly sure what she'd be expected to do, she had never vaulted before, always admiring the beauty of the sport from the sidelines at her old barn in Tennessee. But when given the option to start doing it herself when she transferred, Hannah had decided to give it a try.

The indoor arena opened before her as Hannah walked through the entrance. There was an older woman, the instructor by obvious standards, a brunette girl who Hannah guessed was a student, and a small girl about the age of six or seven, standing around, waiting on something it seemed. It took a lot to get herself to approach steadily, but she managed to keep her normal cool confidence and approached the gate. The draft mare was beautiful as she strode through a circle, animated but graceful in every step. She by far beat the older school drafts used at Hannah's old school, but she didn't bother thinking about that. New starts remember, Hannah? Sometimes the girl wandered if her optimistic thoughts were really her mother keeping her head up, or if she really was capable of them herself. She gazed hard at the arena dirt now. Of course not. Mom's dead. Has been since.... Her thoughts were cut off.

[ayla]

Kenzie had researched what to wear to vaulting practice number one for probably half an hour before she decided. Thankfully her Blue Ribbon dorm was a single, or else her roommate would be appalled by the various stretches she did in her black spandex and close-fitting tee shirt. It wouldn't do to be stiff. Kenzie almost went outside in just that and a pair of gymnastics slippers she had begged from the girl next door, but the wind bit through the thin fabric and she had to put on sweatpants and a sweater.

The walk down to the arena was still a chilly one, despite the extra layers, and Kenzie arrived with goosebumps under her sweater. There were three girls already there, although Kenzie hadn't really spoken with any of them. The presence of a small child, who couldn't have been more than eight, threw Kenzie off for a moment. Certainly there weren't little kids attending Blue Ridge? They belonged on small ponies, not competing against the best the country had to offer.

Kenzie pushed the issue from her mind. It wasn't her problem, hopefully; if she had to deal with the kid she'd just run away. The horse on the lunge line was exactly what Kenzie thought a vaulting horse should be: big, drafty, and totally chill with everything. As she kept watching, "big" was the most apparent thing. How were they going to get on without help? The mare couldn't have been any smaller than 17.2, and even Kenzie struggled to jump up from the ground to that height. While standing still. With a stirrup.

[daine2]

Bronwyn hummed to herself as she studied her closet, looking for something comfortable to wear in her vaulting class that was still warm enough and tight enough to not be a bother. In the end, she chose a simple pair of jeans that weren't super tight, but weren't so loose that they'd get in the way, and a fitted black long-sleeved shirt and a pair of simple riding boots with a small heel. She chose to forgo a jacket, as it wasn't -that- cold out yet, and left her room after giving her Maine Coon, Archie, a scratch along the back. "Be back later, Archimedes. Don't tear anything up."

The girl was excited for the vaulting class, though she did wish her mare was one of the horses used for the class. As Bronnie made her wat down to the arena, she thought about her previous vaulting lessons; the ones she'd taken before the idea of attending Blue ridge had even crossed her mind. She hoped the class was like her previous ones had been; fun, interesting, and, if she had to be honest, not packed with several students. five or ten was fine, but not twenty or more.

Bronwyn gave the other students a nod as she entered the arena, eyeballing the other girls and giving the smallest one a grin. She then turned her attention to the instructor and watched her lunge the huge horse in a circle, apparently waiting for everyone to show up before starting the lesson.

[Raenn Merced]

As Raenn heard the gate open behind her, she kept Ellie going for a moment, then flicked the whip in front of the mare, "Stop, girl." She gathered up the lead line and turned to smile at the girl who had entered, "Good afternoon." She smiled as she saw Mia enter the arena, "Hey Mia, are you excited?" She watched the rest of the students entered, all girls, and held Ellie's lead rope loosely as she examined her student's attire. She noted the boots on some feet, but knew she would address it before she let any of them onto any of her horses.

Smiling at the students, she launched into her lesson. They had waited long enough, in her opinion, and she could start with who was here, "Alright, guys, welcome to vaulting class. I'm Raenn, call me Rae, Coach Rae, Ms. Merced, anything respectful you can think of. This is Ellie, the sorrel is Choo, and they will be your main teachers in the art of vaulting." She had decided not to use Wyllo as much, as the mare was still learning, and she didn't want the new students misleading her training. She looked around the circle, "Why don't you all introduce yourself, both to me and your new classmates, and give us anything of interest you want to add. After that, we can get started, just with simple things today." She smiled at the group as a whole, waiting for them to do as she had asked.

After she had heard all of their names, she smiled, "Okay, let's jump right into it." Her gaze swept over her students, "I know that some of you do not have gymnastics or rubber-soled shoes on hand right now, like deck shoes, so there's something of a problem. Vaulting in hard-soled shoes is dangerous, both for you and for the horses." She nodded at the small bag in the corner of the arena, "I brought two pairs of vaulting shoes, a smaller pair and a larger pair. Those of you wearing boots, running shoes, anything you wouldn't like to have jumping around on your back, you can try them on now. Also, please tie your hair back or up, the bag has a few ponytail holders, should you need them." She glanced at them all, "Now, we're just going to work on the basic mount, riding with only the pad and surcingle, and the emergency dismount." She turned Ellie and tapped a palm on one of the handles of the surcingle, "For those of you new to vaulting, this is the surcingle. You can use it to help you with mounting, and later for the more advanced tricks."

Smiling, she stepped back, leaving Ellie standing as she unreeled the lunge line, still talking, "I know these guys are bigger than most of you are used to mounting, so for today, I'll stop them and you can just use the surcingle to pull yourself up. If you need a boost, just ask, there's no shame in that, it's the first time. After you're up, I'll have Ellie walk. I want you to sit up there for a lap, to get used to the gait, and then do an emergency dismount to the outside of the circle." She looked at their faces, "Any questions?"

OOC;: Classes are... interesting. Post with your character doing the exercise. :- ) You can powerplay Raenn a bit here, if they need a hand up or something.

[Avery Jacobs]

Avery listened intently, her dark eyes lighting up in show she was actually quite interested in what the coach was going on about. Vaulting certainly sounded quite exciting in comparison to her earlier gymnastics and the girl was eager to begin. She still attempted the same flat face she usually held, but it failed due to the fact her smile lit up her face when she looked at the horse they would be practicing on. She looked at the woman intently as she went on with what to call her. Avery decided with Coach Rae, due to the fact it had been a while, far too long since she had called anyone coach. It made her feel as if she was on a team again.

Avery gave the class a headstrong look, focused and calm as usual when she introduced myself. “I’m Avery.” she said simply, un wanting to go into details. She honestly didn’t believe in introductions, but decided she would actually pay respect to this class due to the fact she wanted to actually do well in it. Saying her last name sounded like a bad idea anyway since she shared it with Leo and she would’ve preferred to go and thrown up rather than talked about him.

Avery quirked her lips as Coach Rae began to detail on how they needed gymnastic shoes to vault. She noted to order those as soon as possible as she didn’t have any. The girl was about to start getting annoyed with the fact she hadn’t prepared properly when the teacher pointed out that she had pairs to fit her. Avery smiled slightly, already beginning to like this woman. At the mention of a ponytail, Avery flipped hers once as if to make a point and waited for the next instructions.

The brunette slipped on the pair of smaller vaulting shoes, figured those would fit her feet better than the particularly large pair. She didn’t have small feet, but she didn’t have big feet either. Avery walked up to Ellie on Coach Rae’s instruction, almost bouncing with eagerness. She gave the mare a pat, biting her lip a bit nervously as she looked at the rather high back. Thank goodness for the surcingle. Avery grabbed the handle of it and pulled herself up as she might’ve on the high bars. Landing a little less graceful than she would’ve liked, Avery straightened herself out on the mare’s back and balanced as the coach began to make her walk. A grin lit her features as they walked around the lap, doing an emergency dismount gracefully to the outside of the circle afterwards. She pulled off the shoes and walked over to the group of students.

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[Christopher Reed/ Mia Reed]

Although the smallest girl wanted to faded into black and retreat towards the back of the group she knew she wouldn't be able to see. When the other students came in she saw a couple of the older girls give her a look or two, probably wondering why there was a small child in this class. Mia's long hair was tied back into a pony tail as it was something she had always done when around horses. Looking down at her shoes she had done gymnastics not too long ago and the shoes still fit her. In the six year old's mind she was all set. Nodding her head excitedly as a reply to Ms. Merced. Watching the one of the girl's introduce herself as Avery, Mia continued to follow the girl with her eyes as she made her way to the bag grabbed a pair of shoes and then to the horse, that Ms. Merced had introduced as Ellie, mounted her and was off at a walking pace. Once she was done and had gotten herself back to the group, Mia saw no other voluenteers and so she really wasn't shy about performing, especially on horseback. Walking cautiously towards the big horse, the six year old spoke, "My name's Mia." Advancing the rest of the way, the six year old looked towards the woman, "Could you help me?" She said only loud enough for Ms. Merced to hear her. Once Coach helped her up onto the mare's back she was quite ready. Quickly the small girl settled into the mare's stride. The lap around seemed to go quicker than she had expected and placed her hands on the mare's withers, swung her short legs forward and then back. Forward again and the her inside leg came off the mare's side and Mia landed her knees bending absorbing the shock of the height she just jumped from. Nodding and smiling at Coach Merced and walked happily back to the group.

OoC: Sorry Stern, fixed it up.

[daine2]

Bronwyn hung back a little, watching as the other students did as was told by the instructor. She wondered briefly about the emergency dismount, as she'd been taught to tuck and roll when coming off a horse, but as she saw the other girls land in a standing position, she relaxed, glad that she didn't have to ask in front of the entire class. She didn't mind, but still…

When her turn came up, Bronwyn approached the large horse. Glad for her previous instruction in vaulting, she knew how to work her short stature to her advantage, and grabbed the surcingle, swinging up. She wasn't as clean as she'd liked to have been, but she was more used to shorter, stockier horses. She settled onto the broad back and slowly got used to the horses walk as they made their way across the arena. Bronwyn felt herself relax until she looked at the ground. She wasn't a big fan of tall horses, preferring shorter, stockier equines, and looking down from the animal's back caused her to tense ever so slightly.

When they made a single lap, Bronwyn gathered herself and swung her leg over the horses back, forgetting all about how this instructor wanted her to dismount. As she let go of the surcingle, the blonde girl tucked and rolled, gracefully standing as she finished the roll. Only then did she realize what she'd done and a small, embarrassed smile graced her face as she gave the instructor a silent apology.

[Kate Holden]

When Kate had heard that Blue Ridge offered vaulting, she'd known that she had to sign up. She used to take gymnastics, but had to stop in order to make more time for riding and dance, though she'd been very good at it, and hoped that she'd be able to apply what she'd learned to vaulting. Now that it was time for her first sessions, she was more excited that ever, but also a bit nervous. The last thing she wanted to do was humiliate herself in front of her classmates.

Now, standing with the rest of the class before her instructor, who she'd decided to call Ms. Merced, as she felt most comfortable with that, she was feeling a bit more confident. She watched the other girls introduce themselves, and when it came her turn, she spoke up clearly, "I'm Kate." She left it at that for now, wanting to start as soon as possible.

She wore an old long sleeved ballet leotard with thick leggings over it, and her old gymnastics shoes. She'd found online that those would be suitable, and was more pleased to hear it out of the mouth of Ms. Merced. She already had her hair pulled back into a bun, and was happy that so far she'd done everything correctly. She listened closely as she explained what they would be doing, as well as the equipment, and nodded to herself.

Watching the other girls complete the instructions that Ms. Merced had issued, Kate grew a little let worried. None seemed to have an issue with it, and the only girl that needed help was one who appeared to be younger than the rest of them. This made Kate less nervous, as she was used to such movements, and though she was rather short, she considered herself to be strong enough.

When it came her turn, Kate approached Ellie, studying the mare carefully. Once she reached her, she reached up to the surcingle and swung herself up, landing on Ellie's back a bit hard. She patted the mare's neck apologetically, and smiled as she began to walk with long strides. Ellie was quite larger than what Kate was used to, and she almost laughed imaging Ellie next to Madeline, her little Fjord back home. The walk around went quickly, and Kate was quite enjoying herself when it came time for the emergency dismount. She dismounted to the outside gracefully, grinning. It was already proving to be fun, even when they hadn't done much yet. She loved the big horses, and almost wished that she had more chances to work with horses Ellie's size. Walking back to the group, she waited eagerly to hear what would come next.