Natural Horsemanship Class (students)

[Anastasie Chevalier]

OOC: To start off with, Natural Horsemanship is written just like that, there is no space between horse and manship. I am using two books for this lesson (thread); 101 Horsemanship Exercises, by Rio Barret and 100 Ways to a Perfect Equine Partnership, by Susan McBane

Anastasie Chevalier led her chestnut Gypsy Cob toward her classroom - ok, so it was a large field that she had claimed for use during her practical classes - and rubbed the young gelding's nose as she asked him to come to a stand-still in the middle of the field. When the students had arrived, she would take him further back, so that everyone could see her.

Leaving the gelding to graze contentedly, she placed the bag that was over her shoulder on the ground and carefully removed the wireless hands-free microphone from it's little pouch and clipped the transmitter onto her belt and then pinned the microphone into place before her switched the transmitter on. "Testing." She said and smiled as her voice bounced back at her. However, she bit her lip as she saw Goldie shy at the noise, his head high as he looked around with wide eyes. She tweaked the volume control. "Better?" She asked and nodded when the youngster went back to grazing.

For her previous lessons she had just used her own voice to project the instructions, and this way she wouldn't have to shout. She turned the transmitter off for now, as she wouldn't need it as she greeted the students as they arrived. She pressed her lips together at this though and wondered if Cara-Jean would show up. She couldn't understand why the student took her class, but she wasn't going to turn the girl away either.

She saw Goldie look up toward the gate and followed the gelding's gaze, chuckling as the student herself appeared at the gate leading a smokey black Welsh pony.

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara headed into White Oak Barn. SHe was dressed in a pair of beige jodhpurs - ones that she had taken in the leg seams once again - and a pair of black jodhpur boots with an offwhite buttoned longsleeved shirt - regardless of the stiflingly hot weather outside. She was pleased that the field that Miss Chevalier used as a classroom was well shaded by trees on all sides.

Walking down the aisle, she stopped at Bunny's stall - due to the heat she was now keeping the mare indoors during the day and letting her graze at night, as the flies bugged her to no end when she was outside and she was horrible allergic to insect bites and the girl had yet to find out which insect it was - and she found that rather than coat the mare in repellent, it was nicer on her coat to keep her inside the coolness of the barn during the day.

Her attention was caught by the sound of a hoof meeting a wall,and she walked down toward the noise and found a very irritated looking Welsh pony who would pace his stall a couple of times and then kick out - catching the wall with his hooves if her was close enough. "Would you like to come out, Chance?" She asked the pony. A smile touched her lips as the gelding looked up with a look of adoration, his ears pricked forward as he looked at the girl.

Taking his orange nylon halter off the wall outside his stall, she entered the box and slipped it over his head. Clipping the black lead into place, she led him out of the stall and into a grooming stall. After grabbing his kit, she gave him a good brushing, making sure to clean his hooves and brush out his glossy black mane and tail before she returned the kit and led him out to the area that the natural horsemanship students called a classroom.

Walking up to the gate, the first thing the girl noticed was the new installation of half a dozen speakers spaced out around the field. She nodded her head, they were a good idea and it would save the teacher's voice. After waiting for a nod from the woman, the student gave a formal bow and entered the field with the pony at her side.

They quickly found their own little space in the large arena and she turned her attention to keeping the Welshy calm while they waited for the rest of the students to arrive. She ran her hands down the gelding's neck and across his back, paying particular attention to places that he seemed to enjoy her touching more than others.

[bubbles2]

A wave of nerve had hit Bethany."What happens if something goes wrong, girl? Please don't make a fool out of me please". Bethany said as she petted the dark bay mare's forelock, laughing humorously at the hairstyles she had created for the pony. Morgan suddenly nuzzled the girl's jean's pocket, looking for some polo mints."Ha ha, nice try, but you need to do harder to get a polo from me..tell you what, I'll give you a mint if you be a good girl." she said as she hugged the animal, squeezing affectionately while whispering. "I don't know what I would do without you, Morgan". Suddenly, the mare stumbled back, ears flat on her head and had attempted to bite Bethany, though the girl had shoved away her nose. "Very kind..." She had said sarcastically.

" Oh, I had nearly forgot that I had that Horsemanship class with you." Bethany quickly took her hoodie off that revealed a black and white striped, long-sleeved top, that went well with her jodhpurs. She walked up to a humongous field with a woman around her twenties, that had a amazing flaxen chestnut horse, which looked like a one year-old gypsy. Then, she glanced at the girl who looked familiar, yes, she was that girl with that nuisance if a pony, and she was there when Bethany was temporarily banned from her own horse.

"Hello Miss, is this the Natural Horsemanship class?" Bethany simply asked.

[Sara Jane Lyena]

Sara grabbed Balian's halter and grooming kit out of the tack room. As she made her way back towards the gelding's stall, she dodged a few other students who were heading off to horse classes, or perhaps some off to make the most of a free period. She herself had a class, so she didn't linger over brushing her horse, but she still took the time to make it a thorough job. She could feel her malamute's eyes upon her every moment, but didn't turn to look. She trusted the dog to stay where she was. Finally finishing up brushing the dappled grey horse, she hurried to put away the grooming kit, then slipped on Balian's nylon halter. She clipped the somewhat matching green lead onto it, then led the gelding out of the stall, bumping the door closed with her hip, "Cedo, Nunya." She came to the field where Natural Horsemanship was being held, as usual, and stopped at the gate. With her free hand, she pointed to the closest tree, "Perge, lapsus." The malamute that had shadowed her moved off and lay under the tree, an already established position. After making sure that Nunya had really settled down, Sara entered the field, smiling at the teacher and the two other students, "Hello!" She stood a bit away from the other students, leaving them their room, and looked around at the new additions of speakers.

[Nina Joel Dobrev]

Nina jogged over to White Oaks Barn. Ratio heard footsteps walking over to her stall. She lifted her head and nickered glad to see it was her owner. Nina petted the mare's nose and then unlatched the stall door and slipped the the blue halter over the mare and clipped the rope lead. She left the mare there and went to get the grooming kit. As always the mare stayed and knew her owner would come back. The mare shook her mane wildly. Nina held the grooming kit in one hand and opened it and started to groom Ratio while in her stall. The mare didn't seem to mind.

Nina took a while to brush her down but she was in no rush. Besides taking the time to groom your horse was part of natural horsemanship. When she finished she went to put the kit away and walked back to Ratio's stall and got a good grip on her lead. She smiled and petted her neck "Ready for today's class of Natural Horsemanship?" The mare snorted and pawed the ground in reply. Nina smiled and then lead her off to the field where the class was held.
With a free hand she opened the gate. As she entered she smiled at everyone. She looked at the three students that were there and then the instructor she then said in a kind voice "Hello, everyone." She gave another smile and then went over and stood next to Sara.

[Anastasie Chevalier]

Ana nodded as a question was asked from the gate. "That it is." She said with a smile. "Come on in and find yourself a spot."

She then waited patiently as she waited for any others to arrive. "Thanks, Sara." She said as the small student entered the field after asking her canine to remain on the outside of the fence. She respected the girl for the fact that she didn't have to remind her that the large dog needed to remain outside.

After the arrival of a fourth student, and Ana had been bunted in the shoulder by her almost two year old gelding, which was his way of saying that he was getting bored and she wasn't paying enough attention to him. "Soon, little one." She said as she rubbed his face.

After another five minutes, she decided that it was time to get started. With a flick of her finger, she turned the transmitter on. "Good morning and welcome to my classroom." She said as she looked around at each of the students with a smile. "We are here to learn how to become better partners with our equine friends, and in the long run, to get them to see us as someone they can rely on when the times get tough." She rubbed Goldie's forehead again. "For those of you who don't know me, I am Miss Chevalier and this handsome boy here, is Goldie."

She made a kissing noise and pointed toward the fence at the back of the field and nodded her head as the gelding dropped his and walked backward. Clicking her fingers, she asked him to stop walking and she turned to face the students once again. "Okay, today you may not be doing a lot of work with your horses, so feel free to just let them loose if you are sure they aren't going to attack anyone else." She waited to let the students remove lead ropes if they felt inclined to do so. "Okay, let's talk about the truth behind training. What is a horseman? To me, a horseman is someone who understands the innate characteristics and behaviour of the horse and can work with a horse to cause him to think and act in certain ways. This is a person who can bring out the potential of a horse without taking away his dignity through force or mechanical means." She fell silent and allowed her words to sink in. "In training, there are essentially two objectives we need to achieve with our horses - desensitise them to the things they find scary and sensitise them to respond to our command/stimuli.

"Horses are quick to form associations (good or bad) to actions and events, so how we time our communication through the application of pressure or release is critical for developing the response we desire.

"You will sometimes come across scientific terms that make the process seem more complicated then it actually is (and it doesn't help that such terms are quite commonly used inaccurately). However, understanding some of the language used in learning theory is useful because it can help to explain, demystify and simplify training techniques."

She looked around the group of girls. "Are we all taking this in?" She asked. "I know it sounds really, really boring, but it's good to know the whole of things before you start with bits of it."

• Ana
  
• Cara
  
• Bethany
  
• Sara
  
• Nina
  
• James
  

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara concentrated on the gelding she had with her as they waited for the class to begin, She looked up when she heard the voice of another girl and ducked it again when she recognised the girl as the one who had been in the arena with a dapple grey gelding on the day she had been trying to introduce Galaxy to mounted games. She knew that she wouldn't be on the girl's good side due to her being banned from her own horse, but Cara had been having issues with the little gelding since that day as he had gone back to leaning on the bit and just running.

When the teacher began speaking, Cara turned her attention to Miss Chevalier. She raised her eyebrows at the invitation to let their equines loose and taking advantage of the offer, she unclipped the lead from the Welshy's halter and allowed him to wonder off a couple of steps and begin grazing.

The girl listened to the woman as she spoke. This was all information that she already knew, but it was always good to hear what people had to say on the topic. She nodded her head about horses being quick to associate an emotion to different events. Starved horses often became nasty at feed time as they would always remember that they had once wanted food and not had it. While others horses associated a horse trailer or truck as being a bad place to be as they were never introduced to them properly or had had bad experiences in them.

[bubbles2]

Bethany walked Morgan on from the gate and took the dark bay mare next to the girl who had a small, Welsh pony. Bethany didn't want to really say anything, so she just nodded once. Bethany knew Morgan's stable manners were terrible."I suppose you'll be fine, girl." She quietly said to just her pony and let the animal loose. Bethany turned her head to the woman. She tried to take in all these words to her mind, but Bethany feared humorously about having a mind explosion, the girl only really understud when the woman said about 'Horses are quick to form associations (good or bad) to actions and events, so how we time our communication through the application of pressure or release is critical for developing the response we desire.' Bethany said in her head, trying to remember every last single word, though it was in a way impossible for Bethany. There were smart people an not so smart people, Bethany knew she was one of the not so smart. Morgan nudged, the girl, still looking for a polo mint, that interrupted the girl's thinking. 'Not right now girl!' She thought, but never said a thing, cause the girl thought it would in interrupt the class.

[Sara Jane Lyena]

I know I took a while, but please, remember the posting order. 24 hours of someone being gone -after- the previous post allows you to post before them. 16 with an excused absence does not, since you knew I'd be on... Cara, sorry about stealing your OOC method. :- P

Sara nodded once at the teacher's thanks, "Of course." She knew why the teacher had suggested that she keep Nunya outside, and she didn't mind. The dog had to stay by her, but Sara wouldn't let that interfere with her classes. She smiled at Nina as the girl came over to stand by her, "Hello!" She hadn't known that the girl would be in her class, but it wasn't too surprising, either. She seemed to have a class with most people in the academy, or at least, it felt that way sometimes. She smiled to see Ratio, then twitched the lead rope, "This is Balian, my other boy." She payed attention to Mrs. Chevalier as the woman began speaking. The speakers made it easier to hear the woman, without her having to resort to shouting. As the teacher told them that they wouldn't be working with the horses today, Sara unclipped Balian's lead and hung it over her shoulders like a scarf, leaving the dappled gelding to graze. His head went down immediately, and Sara smiled, then turned her attention back to the teacher. Most of what she was saying made sense, although Sara would never have put it into phrases that long. She nodded as the woman asked whether they had understood everything, showing her consent. It was simple enough, in her mind.

[Nina Joel Dobrev]

Nina knew Ratio would be ok being off without her. She smiled when Sara intoduced her to her other horse. "Nice to meet you Balian." She said to the horse with a soothing tone. She unclipped the lead and pat Ratio's withers whispering in her ear "Remeber, be good." The mare nickered quietly and nudged her shoulder as she trotted off a couple feet away and started to graze next to a horse. Nina smiled and focused her attention back to the teacher, Miss Chevalier.

Most of the things Miss Chevalier talked about, she already knew. She obviously couldn't remember it all yet she could if she wanted to. She pretty much remebers the things that were more important. Such as 'Horses are quick to form associations (good or bad) to actions and events, so how we time our communication through the application of pressure or release is critical for developing the response we desire.' It seems important to her since she remembers it so well. She can remember things very well, if she does say so herself, but that sometimes depends on her if she wants to remember all the things she has done. Mostly she doesn't want her brain to stress from remembering everything so she just remembers the most important things there are in each class she's in.

[Anastasie Chevalier]

Just to add on to Stern's comment, I would actually like everyone to give others in class threads to give the others with an 30 hour (that's a day and a half since the last person has posted) grace period before jumping the posting cue. And not a problem for using this OOC style, I find it makes it easy to work out what's out of and in character.

Ana smiled as she got the affirmative from the others. "As I said, it was boring stuff that you all already know about in one way or another, but still important nonetheless and is important to reaffirm in your minds." She looked around at the animals, her gaze landing on Bethany and her mare. "Ok, watching you and Morgan lets me know what to talk about next. Protecting our personal space. Imagine you have a bubble all the way around you at about an arm's length from your body. Learn to think of this space as off-limits to your horse unless he is invited in by you. Once you start taking notice of your bubble, you will be surprised how much your horse comes into your space uninvited.

Stand with your arms outstretched and turn in a circle until you get the feel of the extent of your bubble. If your horse is already standing in your bubble, get him, or her, to move backwards until they are not standing in your space any more rather than moving your feet.

Block their entry by defending the wall of your bubble. You may do this with your hand, arm, rope of stick, please note I do not mention using a whip, on the edge of your bubble. If you move your arm like a windscreen wiper at the edge of your bubble and the horse walks into it, they will receive a bump on the nose and think twice about doing it another time. To your horse this is very different from you stepping out of your bubble and hitting him on the nose. The consequences of his actions will be clear to him and because he understands it, this process does not result in him becoming fearful around his head." As she spoke, she demonstrated what she was saying as she asked Goldie to come up to her and with a wiggle of her fingers, she got him to back out of her personal space. "As you can see, Goldie knows well when to back away.

• Do not perform this action with anger, be firm but fair. Keep it Unemotional and the horse will see you in a positive light rather than a negative one.
• Make sure your horse stays outside your bubble once you've moved him. You need to set clear boundaries and be consistent.
• If you move your feet, your horse may thing you are showing submission; if you cause your horse to move his feet, you are showing you are in charge.
• Match your horse's velocity - in other words, if he comes into your space gently, you don't need to respond violently, just firmly enough to keep him out. However, if he is going to trample on you, you should defend your space as strongly as you can as your life may depend on it!
• The more threatening you find your horse's behaviour, the bigger your bubble should become. He is only allowed in when you feel you can trust him to be respectful.
  

Understanding this principle alone could save you from injury around horses every day." She nodded her head toward her gelding once again and he stepped forward, pressing his nose against her and she rubbed his ears. "If you horse still comes into your space - you weren't negative enough, you might need to repeat the exercise several times until they understand where your boundaries are and that they must respect your space. If your horse becomes defensive and looks worried - you probably did too much. Just smile and rub them at arm's length."

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara gave a tiny smile at Miss Chevalier's words. She liked teachers who knew that they were telling their students something they already knew, but Cara also knew that the woman was just giving a background to what she was leading up to.

The girl's head lifted as the teacher went on, using the girl and her pony as an example for what she was going to talk about next. However, when the woman began to explain about personal space, the student was tempted to tune her out. Protecting her personal space around horses was something Cara taught herself - she was tiny, they were huge, she had to do something to make sure she didn't get trampled into the ground - but it was interesting listening to how the woman explained the idea. It was exactly like how Cara would have it explained it to someone else.

She glanced over at Chance, and the smokey black pony was standing with his head up, ears pricked toward the speaker that was only a few feet away from him. The girl's lips twitched with a smile as the pony stretched out to sniff the unusual object just as the woman spoke. "Hush little one." She whispered as the pony squealed and jumped backward, his ears now flat as he glared at the speaker-monster.

Removing the black rope from around her waist, Cara stepped toward the pony. Whistling softly, she caught his attention and rubbing her thumb across her fingers she asked him to walk up to her and clipped the rope onto the silver ring that was under the Welshy's chin. "I'll keep you safe, tough-guy." She said as she took a couple of steps away from the speaker - which was enough to settle the pony down - and allowed the gelding to graze at the end of the rope, outside the girl's bubble. She guessed that she was lucky that she had the advantage of having trained the gelding.

[bubbles2]

Bethany stretched out her arms to get a rough idea on where her circle was, suddenly, Morgan walked quietly up too her, just crossing the boundaries of the circle, the girl shoved the pony back by her nose, not rough but firmly. The dark bay mare didn't take to kindly to this, while the girl pushed the animal back, the mare had bit her hard, but the long sleeved top had been great protection. "Ouch!" Bethany said, still feeling some pain and was irritated that the horse made her look so foolish. She sighed lightly, and took a deep breath. Bethany felt an uneasy feeling about her pony today. Maybe it was all to soon; moving, leaving Morgan's life as a school pony. Bethany tried countless times and this this wasn't Morgan's strongest point.

[jamesalexanderaust]

The air lightly carried the scent of mulled leaves and bark. The breeze pulled at Alex’s short blonde hair, lifting his bangs away from his pale brow. He pumped his arms efficiently along with the rhythm of his feet slapping the path, his legs moving in perfect running form. Every couple of strides his left arm tugging against Eureka’s lead as she trotted anxiously ahead of him, sweat already moistening her shimmering bay coat. Years of sports had taught him how to move, and his muscles flexed and extended fluidly beneath his black T-shirt and faded blue jeans. The writing on his shirt proclaimed Darkwolf Industries in short, choppy lettering. He didn’t know exactly what this meant, or what sort of company Darkwolf was. In fact, he couldn’t remember for sure where he had gotten the shirt. His eyes, the color of fresh denim, were glassy and far off.
Alex slowed to a stop when he reached the large pasture where the Natural Horsemanship class was already in full swing. For a second he wanted to turn back, he couldn’t believe he was late for his first class, just his luck. After a moment’s consideration though he decided it was better to be tardy then absent so he pulled the anxious mare to the gate and called out to the teacher, “Excuse me Ms...” he racked his brain for the name, “Chevalier am I too late to join?”

[Anastasie Chevalier]

Ana glanced away from the students when she heard a voice from the gate. She saw that one of the girl's, Bethany, was having issues with her horse, but the woman was quite content to see if the girl would take control of the situation before she stepped in. After all, this class was all about helping to improve the bond the students had with their horses, not for her to place herself as alpha mare over the horses.

She placed her hand on Goldie's nose, telling him to stand, as she turned off the mic and headed over to the gate so that she could talk to the boy without having to yell. Opening the gate, she gestured for him to enter. "Find a space for the two of you." She said warmly. "Right now everyone is protecting their personal space." She looked at the boy's horse. "Once she has settled, I want you to imagine you have a bubble all the way around you at about an arm's length from your body. Learn to think of this space as off-limits to your horse unless he is invited in by you. Once you start taking notice of your bubble, you will be surprised how much your horse comes into your space uninvited.

"Stand with your arms outstretched and turn in a circle until you get the feel of the extent of your bubble. If your horse is already standing in your bubble, get him, or her, to move backwards until they are not standing in your space any more rather than moving your feet.

Block their entry by defending the wall of your bubble..." She smiled again before she headed back over to where Goldie stood, patiently cropping at the grass as he waited until he was needed again. The woman turned her attention back to the students who were working with their horses.