Horse Judging Class -- Open to all Students

[lorilie]

HORSE JUDGING

Classes to be Taught:
-Halter
-Western Pleasure
-Hunter Under Saddle
-Hunter Hack
-Western Horsemanship
-Hunt Seat Equitation
-Western Riding
-Reining
-Trail

You will need a pencil or pen and a notebook for this class.

_________________________________________________

Bythe stood back to admire her handiwork on the whiteboard, and gave a nod before going to her desk and gathering up the materials. she would go over her rules and then start teaching the class Halter right away. They may not like some of the basic stuff she would go over, but they could deal with it.

[Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω]

Cara walked into the large classroom that was used for the equestrian theory. She was wearing whiter than white jodhpurs, black Ariat Performer boots that looked as though they had only just come out of the box. On her top half she wore a light blue (the colour is known as Larkspur) cuffed polo top. In her hand she carried her black mock-leather satchel.

Crossing the room, she slipped into the chair of one of the front tables, she then got herself ready for the class to start. She pulled a folder labeled Horse Judging Class, her pencil case and the case that protected her glasses. Putting her glasses on, she opened the pencil case and took out her red, blue and black pens. She then copied down what the woman had written on the board. She didn't know how excited she was to learn about the Western events, but at least it would expand her own knowledge and some components in the Western classes she was sure she could swap over to English.

[jillaroo]

Samantha shrugged her shoulders. She hated the new shirts her mother had picked out for her at the mall. They made her feel like she was trying to be someone else, and she couldn’t wait until classes were done for the day. She’d failed the pop quiz in History, and she still had to finish an essay in English. Carrying her books under one arm, she dashed down the corridor to her classroom, trailing papers as she went.

The door was open, and Samantha skidded to a halt. She took a deep breath, and with a final self-conscious tug of her shirt, walked in. The classroom was nearly empty, and her gaze skipped from the teacher to a young girl sitting at one of the front tables. Samantha realised it was the girl from the library, and she felt the band around her chest ease. At least she wouldn’t have to sit by herself for the rest of the semester.

She slid into a chair near to Cara, offering the girl a friendly smile as she glanced quickly down at her work. Samantha grinned. The girl’s writing was neat compared to her spidery scribblings. Her own notebook was dog-eared; the pages rumpled where she’d dropped it in a sink full of water. A wobbly margin ran down one side of the page, and she lifted her pen with a flourish. Sitting up, she turned her attention to the teacher, hoping this would be one class she could manage to get decent grades in.

[sepia]

Poking her head cautiously into the classroom, Jessica checked the scene out before entering. Yep, looked like the right place, from the writing on the board, anyway, and there was even Cara to sit next to as someone friendly that she knew. Apparently, the third student in the room had come to that conclusion as well, so Jess sat herself in a desk the other side of Cara, and busied herself retrieving pens and a new notebook from her bag. She was the sort who liked to have each of her subject notes - be they equine subjects or ordinary academic ones - in separate books, and while this could make her bag a little heavy, it was a system that worked for her.

Following her usual routine of copying down everything on the board as soon as possible, she began to write, hoping that she wouldn't be hindered - much - by her lack of knowledge about Western disciplines. Still, it would be a chance to learn new things, and she always appreciated that.

***

"Hello!" An enthusiastic voice proceeded, as was fairly typical by now, Julian's entry into the classroom by only a few seconds, as the boy bounded in with his usual enthusiasm for life, the universe, and everything. Taking less than a moment to assess the room, he plopped himself behind a desk with absolutely no forethought whatsoever, smiling at everyone present, whether he knew them, or not.

Taking a moment to catch up on the fact that everyone else was writing down the words on the board with intense expressions, Julian fished around in his bag for a notebook, and began to dutifully follow suit. Halfway down the list of disciplines, however, his brain skipped off into being distracted and he began a doodle of a horse, leaping big over a cross-country log. Slightly stylised, it was surprisingly good given that Julian never seemed to give off the impression that he had any artistic talent at all, the lines flowing and clean and the horse really looking like it was in the midst of motion.

[lorilie]

The fourteen year old blond was, surprisingly, happy to be at school today. It meant that her head was doing well and that she had recovered enough from her sudden heart attack that she could go to class. The only realy danger was becoming so tired that she fell asleep - which she doubted would happen.

These thoughts carried her down to the classroom, where she searched the classroom then smiled at Samantha, sitting down next to her happily. Melissa doubted the older female recognised her, but there was no point in ignoring the fact that they had met and gotten off rather well, or that Sam might be willing to be friends with her, despite her odd nature.

--

Wes was the next to walk into the classroom. The Australian's reclusive nature meant that he currently knew no one at this school except for a handful of people, and since Fate hated him, naturally, that handful was not present in this classroom. The dark-haired fifteen year old gave a bot of a silent sigh and trooped off to a desk by himself, pulling out his notebook and begining to copy down the board, his eyes shifted downward.

--

Alyss stole silently down the hallway, her slight figure picking a path of that was obvious, but the way she moved seemed to draw in the slightest shadows, creating a nonexistant cover over her small body. She was on her way to horse-judging class.

School was difficult for the girl. There were many women here at the Academy, and she was in constant terror of a hand coming down to slap her cheek, or a heel drawing up to bruise her ribs.It wasn't uncommon for her to awaken at night, her mouth agape in a silent scream of fear as she relived her near death experiance, and her chest would ache all day.

She shifted her bag before entering the classroom. Alyss had had one of those very dreams last night. The youg thirteen year old reached up and rubbed the scar under her collarbone, but above her heart. Then she sliently pushed the door open.

She was relived that Julian's frame caught her attention immediately. She made her way to him like a ghost, pulling herself into the seat beside him in a heartbeat, her eyes watching the teacher like a rabbit watches a hawk. Her heart pounded against her ribs. She quivered silently, ready to bolt at any moment.

--

Blythe nodded to each student as they entered, a smiled staying current on her face. When the last had seated herself, and no more followed, she walked out to the front of the room.
"Good morning class. I am Ms. Rhydderch, although Ms. R will do just fine, since it's a long last name. I'll be teaching you how to judge certain classes of horses, and I hope you will find these skills to be useful in any career with horses that you have chosen."

She pulled out her attendance list, then began to speak again. "Now, if you'll just tell me your names, we'll be able to get started."

[Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω]

As the teacher began to speak, Cara looked up from doodling in the margin of her paper. She knew that doodling was frowned upon by a lot of the teachers, but her doodling was an ivy that trailed around the top left corner of the paper, each of the leaves delicately drawn and their shadows shaded under them.

A look of panic crossed the girl's face when she realised that she needed to speak and give the teacher her name. "It is an honour to be in your class, Ms. Rhydderch." She said softly, her clipped English accent strong. "I am called Cara-Jean Kitchi." It was funny that she quite often introduced herself this way, but in any other language when it was translated back to English, when you introduced yourself, it always translated back to I am called rather than my name is.

[jillaroo]

A group of students entered the classroom, and Samantha recognised one of the girls from her first day of school. Melissa sat down in the empty chair next to her, and Samantha pushed her books out of the way to make room. “Hey Melissa,” she whispered out of the corner of her mouth when the teacher turned her back for a minute. “Want to catch up in lunch break?”

The teacher walked to the front of the room, and Samantha sat up quickly in her chair. She folded her hands in her lap and looked down at her work. The last thing she needed was a detention. Her teachers had loaded her with two weeks of homework for the weekend, and she had to finish a whole chapter of class readings for English. Samantha sighed and chewed thoughtfully on the end of her pencil. If she got any more homework she’d be stuck inside until it was dark every night.

There was an uncomfortable silence, and Samantha glanced up to see the teacher staring expectantly at her. She removed the pencil from her mouth and gave the teacher her best smile. “Samantha Hale,” she said sweetly and reached for her book where she'd dumped it carelessly on the floor. I’d better not do anything else wrong this period, she thought with a groan. Otherwise I’m never going to get out of here.

[sepia]

"Hi," Julian said, as Alyss slipped into the seat next to him. Taking a second look at her as he took in how much she was trembling, he hid a worried frown, instead offering her an encouraging little smile. She looked terrified, and Julian had to restrain his initial reaction of giving her a hug. A) they were in a class and it probably wasn't the best thing to do, and B) she might not appreciate it anyway. It made sense, he realised, that she'd be so nervous out and about in school, given her history, especially in a class where they had a female teacher.

"I'm Julian Sanders," he said into the pause after Samantha's introduction, then took a glance at Alyss and decided to plunge ahead. "And this is Alyss Madigan. Nice to meet you!" Though it would be better if you were male, he couldn't help thinking. Even if it wasn't particularly practical, given that it was unlikely that Alyss was going to be able to live the rest of her life without ever contacting another older woman. Still, male teachers would be better, and would make Alyss' life so much easier. He wondered, as the other students introduced themselves, how best he could comfort her, or whether he'd be best not mentioning anything. Non-interference, though, generally wasn't his style, so after some deliberation he carefully scrawled something - in pencil - on the edge of his notebook page, and gently pushed it across to Alyss, keeping a careful eye on Ms Rhydderch. Her coming over to discipline him would not be a good idea.

His little note read: I'm sure she's not going to do anything horrible, but if she does, I'll do my best to help you. I can throw notebooks at her while you make good your escape. It bordered the line between melodramatic, soppy (because, even if he wasn't admitting it, Julian was developing quite the crush on the fragile girl) and an attempt at lightheartedness to make Alyss look less terrified, but he meant every word of it quite firmly.

"Jessica Brown," the girl added, as Julian stopped speaking, tone polite, not adding anything more beyond the required information. Not because she was rude, but because she didn't really get casual conversation between students and teachers, too full of respect for the position that they held.

[lottii]

Callum entered the room, his head low as usual. His quick glance at the class allowed him to see most of the seats were full, and he blushed, worried he was late. That look also revealed he was one of the only guys in the class, another thing to be worried about.
He choose an empty seat, near to a young-looking blonde, because she looked the least threatening of the class being his reasoning, rather than her looks. Settling quickly in his seat, Callum chanced another look around the room. He was getting a few looks, but no-one seemed malicious, so he tried hard - and failed - not to blush. Bending down to avoid the stares that a new person always gets, Callum quickly pulled out some lined paper and a biro. Suddenly this seemed inadequate, but he was determined not to be worried.
As he became aware of the teacher's look on him, he raised his head quickly, for just long enough to relay the necessary information. "Hello, I'm Callum, I'm new" . His head went back down again, studying the biro again. Callum worried his English accent would be noticed, and then questions would follow next, which he wouldn't want to answer.