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Post by Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω on Sept 23, 2010 11:48:17 GMT -6
Katherine led the liver chestnut Welsh pony down the barn aisle and into his stall. The pony had recently been gelded and he didn't seem particularly happy about the fact with the way he flicked his tail and flattened his ears as he looked around. "You will thank me one day." She told the pony with a laugh as he gave an indignant toss of his head as she removed the halter and exited the stall.
She looked over the door as the pony explored his stall, something he did every time he came into it. And when happy that it was indeed the same stall, curled his legs up and dropped to the floor. "What are you going to think of a saddle?" Being halter trained and already shown, she didn't think it would be hard to introduce him to the saddle and was going to ask Lee to take on that part. She knew that the academy had a couple of horse trainers, but she got the feeling he didn't need training persay, he just needed to have the saddle placed on his back and a small rider who would be able to remain in the on his back if he objected to having a rider.
She gave a small frown, as the first person who came to mind was Cara, but the girl didn't frequent the barn as she used to since her horses had been taken away. The woman had tried to stop the men who came into her barn and forcefully took the beautiful animals, but the threat of a law suit for standing in their way - and a really big man standing in front of her - had caused the woman to back down. She did however get the name on the side of the horse truck and the license plate - neither of which were local, as it was a California plate.
Bringing herself out of her depressing thoughts, she then thought about the growing number of ponies that the academy was acquiring and thought about also taking to Jessica Brown if she wanted to help excercise the calmer of the ponies. She knew that she could ask her barnhands if they would take the ponies out on a lead when they rode the horses, but the ponies also needed working and more than what could be done on just the lunge.
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Post by sepia on Sept 23, 2010 19:25:30 GMT -6
A clip-clopping of hooves announced the arrival of Pel and Grit into the area in front of the stables, pony and rider both sweaty, as despite the generally cooling temperatures, today was sunny and so rather warm. Despite that, the pair looked pleased with themselves, Pel grinning and Grit stepping along smartly and confidently. Drawing Grit to a halt, Pel swung herself down from the saddle, landing on the ground with a bounce and a pat for her pony. "Thanks for the ride, boy," she said as she ran her stirrups up and ducked under the saddle flap to loosen the girth off a hole, "Even if you did try to scrape me off against a tree."
Unrepentant of his antics on the trail-ride they'd just come back from, Grit decided he'd had enough of standing still, and began to walk forward, intent clear: wasn't it time for him to get some food in his stable? Pel initially yanked off her feet, the stocky girl soon regained her balance and jabbed her elbow forcefully into Grit's chest, adding a forceful, "Stop!" as she did so. The Dales Pony ground to a halt, eying his determined little rider and coming to the conclusion that it wasn't worth fighting about right now.
"You go when I tell you too, hmm?" Pel murmered as she sternly stared at her pony. After a moment, she relented, flipped the reins over his head, and said, "C'mon then," breaking into a walk and leading Grit into the stable, the pony following at her heels even on the loose rein she had him on. Equally stubborn, the pair understood each other well, and the little moments they had of 'who is the dominant one here?' were usually resolved in Pel's favour. And if they weren't, the girl only persisted until they were.
As she swung open the door to Grit's stall, Grit eagerly barging past her shoulder into his stable, Pel's attention was caught by the figure of the barn manager leaning against a door only a few stalls down where, if Pel remembered correctly, a handsome little chestnut was housed. Hmm, wonder what that was all about. She wondered if she should go an investigate, but then she hadn't had that much to do with Miss. Carr previously... not that that usually stopped her.Removing Grit's tack and placing it, a little haphazardly, it outside the stall where he couldn't get at it to chew, she shot another look Miss Carr's way.
"Hi, Miss Carr," she said, with a wave and a smile, wondering at the both slightly sad and very thoughtful look on the woman's face. Problems with horses, maybe? She'd heard that one student's horse had been really ill, recently, and was currently off with the vet, so maybe that was it. A few grunts from inside Grit's stall attracted her attention, and she peered in to see the black pony indulging in his usual post-ride routine - giving himself a good roll.
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Post by Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω on Sept 23, 2010 23:25:43 GMT -6
Katherine looked over when she heard the sound of a horse walking into the barn - and was pleased to see that the Dale's pony was being led by his owner. She gave a laugh as she turned back to the pony who's stall she was in front of, as she looked at the Welsh gelding who was still sitting on is bedding, legs curled up like a dog and her mind returned to the topic she was thinking of earlier.
She looked over as the girl spoke. "Hello Pel." She returned, remembering what was written on the pony's sheet about preferred name for his human. "It looks the two of you enjoyed yourselves out on the trail. How is Grit settling in?"
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Post by sepia on Sept 24, 2010 5:19:36 GMT -6
Leaving Grit to finish his roll in peace, Pel walked down the aisle to where Miss Carr was, feeling that being asked a question was enough of an excuse to give in to her curiousity and see what was going on. "Good! I think he likes the buzz of the stables, here," she said, cheerfully as she came to a halt and looked in over the door, grin widening as she saw the curled up gelding. "And he's still trying to drag me through bushes so I think his state of mind is just fine."
Ah, to be able to judge your pony's mental health by how many minor little tussles you got into. Truthfully, though, Pel and her pony were very much on the same wavelength, and their little struggles for dominance were good-natured, the pair understanding each other's need to struggle and rebel very well. "What's up with this handsome little guy, then? I'm guessing you're not staring into his stall just to admire him." Though she could understand if she was: whatever else one could say about Cadfael, he held himself with a pride that made his natural good looks even more striking. She wondered what he'd be like to ride: bold and outgoing, probably.
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Post by Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω on Sept 24, 2010 5:28:19 GMT -6
Katherine laughed as Pel explained how well the ride went. "My gelding, Percy still does that to me when he thinks I'm asleep in the saddle." She confessed as she looked down the aisle and say the bay gelding looking over his stall door in their direction.
She looked back at the pony in the stall as her attention was drawn back to him again. "I'm actually trying to think of a small confident rider to pair him with when he is introduced to the saddle." She confessed as she watched the chestnut stand up and shake himself from nose to tail. She lifted her eyebrows toward Pel, wondering what the girl was going to say.
She looked down the other direction toward the stall that now housed a Rocky Mountian mare. Merle would also need to be introduced to the saddle as well as the rest of her training done. The thing was, the mare now occupied the stall that Cara's mare used to live in.
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Post by sepia on Sept 24, 2010 5:37:58 GMT -6
That sounded like a challenge, Pel decided, and true to form, she rose to it. Surely people didn't actually expect to say things like that in front of other people and not expect to get a response, did they? Well, she wasn't the type to let something like that slide past, and so she fixed Miss Carr with a pointed look, and said, "I think I probably fit those two criteria." Her tone was as confident as ever, helpfully doing a good job of proving her point, and it couldn't be denied that she was small, if stocky.
"Though I'd understand if you actually wanted to see me ride, first," she acknowledged, a moment later, wondering if perhaps she'd been a trifle too forward. Confidence was all well and good, but she didn't want to put Miss Carr off by making her think she was arrogant. Because, she told herself, it wasn't really arrogance, just... confidence in her own abilities. Yeah. That was it.
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Post by Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω on Sept 24, 2010 6:09:23 GMT -6
Katherine laughed at the girl's forwardness. "It's good to see you have such confidence in your riding abilities." She said with a warm smile to show that she wasn't being condescending. "However, yes I really would like to see you ride first and on a pony of my choosing." The school owned a couple of smaller equines that were good at showing off their defiant-pony-act and she would like to see Pel handle herself on a trained pony that was known for throwing their riders rather than put her on a pony who would more than likely start bucking and throw her off and learn a really bad habit from it - not that she was saying she didn't think the girl could hold her own in the saddle. She opened her mouth to continue but held back any words as she heard a couple of the horses nicker a greeting to someone who had just entered the barn.
The barn manager looked down toward the barn entrance and smiled warmly when she saw Cara walking towards them. She frowned slightly as the girl seemed to be dragging her feet, as though she didn't want to be in here. "How may I help you, Miss Kitchi?"
Cara stopped once she had got close enough to the barn manager and the girl to be heard, but not close enough that she seemed to be intruding in their conversation. "I am sorry for the intrusion. Titania has heat in her leg and I would rather not do any jumping..." Her words broke off as she swallowed hard. "May I please use another mount for my riding classes?"
Katherine grinned. "Of course, Cara!" She exclaimed, a little surprised that the girl had asked. "Why don't you give Zeus a go? The little Dartmoor could do with a good ride."
Cara nodded. "Thank you, Ma'am." She said as she dipped a quick by graceful curtsy before she left.
Katherine wore a puzzled expression as she watched the girl leave the barn before she turned back to Pel. "I would like to see you handle Cosmo when you have a spare moment." The skewbald American Shetland was known for snapping at any given moment with no warning, bucking and rearing, and this would give her an idea of how well the girl rode.
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Post by sepia on Sept 24, 2010 6:52:03 GMT -6
Pleased that her confidence wasn't coming across as arrogance, Pel nodded, eagerly, about to agree to riding another one of the ponies, when her focus was also attracted by the arrival of another student. Smiling at the girl - rather pleased that there were apparently other people around here who were just as short as she was; it was nice to not feel utterly tiny around absolutely everyone - Pel had to wonder why she looked quite so miserable about asking to ride another horse.
Sneaking a look at Miss Carr, she noted that she too seemed rather confused about Cara's behaviour, which suggested that it wasn't normal... Pel wondered if she should maybe try to get to know the girl. It didn't particularly bother her that she'd been dumped into a new school knowing utterly no-one, but it would be nice to make a few friends. Even if she was mostly content forging her own course, a few close friends - Pel wasn't really the sort to go for huge friendship circles, mainly because she was too upfront, blunt and frequently rather rude to hold down more than a few people who could handle her - wouldn't go amiss. Though she wasn't sure if she'd like to get to know someone who looked quite so unhappy about riding.
Bringing her mind back to the present and Miss Carr, Pel thought for only a moment before speaking. "Well, I can go wash Grit down and be ready to tack up and ride Cosmo pretty soon. Shouldn't take me too long." Fifteen minutes to wash down, say, another fifteen-ish to find the other pony and get him tacked up, and then... wait, she'd better check that Miss Carr didn't actually have something else to do, which - upon reflection - she might well do. Maybe she should've checked that first.
"I mean," she amended, only mildly sheepishly, "If you're not doing anything else. Wouldn't want to mess up your schedule, or anything." Well, she didn't mind messing it up a bit, but it probably wasn't polite to say so, and, really, it was better to be on good terms with your stable manager - and Pel quite liked Miss Carr anyway.
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Post by Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω on Sept 25, 2010 2:04:46 GMT -6
Katherine laughed at the girl's enthusiasm. "As much as I would love to watch you ride, I have to go and make a phone call about some ponies that at supposed to be turning up at some point." She looked at her watch, knowing that she had ten minutes before she needed to make the call. She normally wasn't one to worry about making calls at a precise time, but the woman who was selling her the ponies had informed the manager that she was on a tight schedule and gave her the time she was to call.
She gave Pel a warm smile. "How about first thing tomorrow afternoon? After lunch and right before the equestrian classes start?" She hoped that the young teen would agree as she thought that Pel would be the perfect match for the halter trained gelding.
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Post by sepia on Sept 27, 2010 21:09:11 GMT -6
"That sounds great," Pel agreed with an enthusiastic nod. "Gives me more time to give Grit a bit of love and attention, anyway." Which he did deserve: well, usually, anyway, and whatever hard exterior Pel occasionally projected, she really did adore her pony, pushy and obstinate as he was. In fact, that was probably why she adored him - she liked the mirror that he was for her own personality.
"So, would you want me to get Cosmo ready tomorrow? He doesn't have any really weird stable habits, does he?" One pony she'd ridden for a few months had had this bizarre routine of attempting to roll every time you put her bridle on, and it was almost impossible to stop her. Not too much of a problem as long as you remembered to twist the reins up... and hadn't put the saddle on beforehand, as Pel had learnt the first time she'd been told to ride the little mare.
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Post by Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω on Sept 27, 2010 23:24:35 GMT -6
Katherine pondered on the thought and finally nodded her head. "Yes please." She replied. "He's as sweet as a button and you'll have a chance to get to know each other while your getting him ready. Don't stress too much about stable stains as you aren't getting marked on turnout, I just want to see how well you handle him, if he decides to play up." She held up one finger. "However, please don't approach him as though you are expecting him to play up, Cosmo is a beautifully trained pony who learned a few not very good habits. And these habits are random so there's no knowing if he's actually going to do anything."
She had been around horses long enough, and it was surprising how one rider could turn a good horse bad just because they had heard that their assigned pony had "bucked someone off", once. The student would then go this pony, apprehensive and tense, this would then rub off on the pony who would be on the alert and fidgety because they knew there was something freaking out their rider and they didn't know what it was.
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Post by sepia on Sept 30, 2010 23:53:58 GMT -6
Pel nodded, then frowned as Miss Carr continued. "Of course! People who approach horses that they know nothing about thinking that they're going to get bucked off, or whatever, almost deserve it, really. If you're expecting something to happen, then chances are it will. Especially with ponies. They're not stupid, after all, and they do know when you're nervous of them." She shrugged. "Forewarned is forearmed, I guess, but there's something to be said for not knowing anything about who you're riding." So please don't tell me anything more was her unspoken little addendum, but even Pel wasn't quite blunt enough to stick that on when she was talking to a teacher. She could do propriety... sometimes.
Seeing Grit stick his head out over his door - mane a-tangle and covered in shavings - Pel decided she'd best be tending to her own pony. "Well, Grit's looking like he needs some serious grooming, so I'll see you tomorrow, then, after lunch." About to trot off back to Grit, she paused for a moment, politeness reasserting itself briefly, and added, "And... thanks for the offer, I do appreciate it, and I'll do my best to not be a disappointment," before vanishing off up the aisle to give her pony a good groom.
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