Onsite Training (Miranda, Cara, Open)

[Miranda Florin]

Miranda nodded and walked over to the sheet. She pulled a random pen out of her pocket and marked down in the bottom right corner, ‘Slight Rain Rot’. She was back at her mentor’s side while the woman pulled out some gloves and hand sanitizer. Miranda took both, stuck the gloves in her pocket while she sanitized her hands, then reversed the positions as she pulled the gloves on. She weighed the bottle of sanitizer in her hand, “Is it alright if I keep this and give it back to you later?” She might want to sanitize her hands again after, just to be sure. She nodded as Dr. Carr told her to make sure to scrub afterward, “Of course, I wouldn’t want to give it to others.” She smiled, then nodded at the vet’s warning, “I will, don’t worry.” It would be better to catch it early, if it did happen.

She checked her gloves, then took the bottle of povidone-iodine. She had used the same stuff on Aros, once he had figured out that the spray bottle wasn’t some monster that was going to attack him. She grinned, “No, perish the thought! Yellow hands, the horses may think they’re oddly formed treats.” She smiled, then nodded solemnly to show that she did understand the gravity of the situation.

She looked over at the other girl from Blue Ridge and smiled, then walked up to the gelding’s head, “Hey, big boy. I’m going to spray you now.” Once he had sniffed the bottle, Miranda started at his withers and worked her way down both sides, spraying everything that even slightly resembled a patch of rain rot. She didn’t want to leave one untreated because she had overlooked it. She finished one side, then moved to the other. When she had finished, she looked at Dr. Carr and held out the bottle in quiet inquiry, whether she should keep it or the vet wanted it back.

[William//Adrianna Gibbson]

Ria listened to what Cara was saying. The name didn’t mean anything to her, but the quote made sense, in a way. She nodded happily, “If he finds me, I’ll ask him to find you too, though.” She smiled broadly, “You care about horses too.” She didn’t really know, but Cara seemed like she did. She just seemed a ‘horse girl’, to Ria.

Ria listened as Cara explained what she was doing with wide eyes, “Oh, okay.” She looked askance as Cara mentioned shoes, “Shoes? Like tennis shoes? Why would she need shoes? I haven’t seen any horses with shoes around.” She really didn’t understand anything about horses, but she couldn’t imagine a horse walking around with shoes. Wouldn’t they get tripped up if the shoes came undone, since they couldn’t tie them?

At Cara’s tone, she laughed, “Yes, Moo. She’s a cow pony, so she’d be happiest named Moo. She told me.” She tapped her ear, as if the pony had really talked to her, “And she thinks light purple would be nice.” Ria grinned. At the question of her uncle, she looked around, “He might be back at the car.” She lowered her voice dramatically, “He doesn’t really like horses.” Just then, she looked up and saw the tall auctioneer standing over them. She swallowed, but stayed quiet, intimidated by his gruff manner. As he shouted at Cara, Adrianna shrank back, then looked at Cara, “Why was he so mean to you? You’re old enough to know about horses.” In her eyes, anyone at the academy was old enough to be treated almost like an adult.

[Demeter Carr]

Demeter worked out who the other student that had been talking to her was, her name was Bethany - her mother had asked if the girl had been to see her about the aforementioned mare. "It's Doctor, not Miss." She said gently and nodded her head. "If you bring Silver Birch to the clinic I'd be happy to."

She returned her attention to Miranda and nodded her head. "Of course! And keep it" She laughed. "I have like a million of them in my bag!" She had been known as the sanitizer queen in vet school, as she didn't go anywhere without at least two bottles.

The vet stood back, out of the way, and supervised the girl as she administered the ointment to the gelding's coat. She took the bottle back, only because the other girl wouldn't have anywhere to put it, so she made a mental note to equip the girls with their own vet bags the next time they did something like this.

She smiled at Miranda. "Continue trusting your instincts, as they were spot on for this guy. And give me a buzz if you need me again." She gave a small wave as she headed out of the yard and toward the next horse who looked like she needed some love, a beautiful splash white mare and foal.

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara shrugged her shoulders. "I care about anyone who can't stand up for themselves." She replied softly.

She laughed good naturedly at the girl's comments about horses and shoes. "Remind me to show you a couple of books I have in my room at the Academy." She said, she had a book on working horses and ponies and it had a double page on guide-ponies who wore what looked like tennis shoes so they didn't mark tiled floors. "But no. Some horses have metal shoes hammered into their feet." She explained as she looked around and noticed that the Thoroughbred pony in the next yard was shod. She ducked under the railing and after saying hello to the mare, she picked up one leg. "See? There are a lot of reasons for shoeing a horse or pony, but I'm not sold on them. None of my mounts have shoes." She was quite proud of the fact that Bunny and Galaxy were both barefoot.

As she was being reprimanded by the auctioneer, she stepped over and put her right hand behind her in case Ria wanted to hold it. She stood her ground until the man walked away and then her shoulders dropped, but she remained composed as the small girl spoke to her. She turned around and gave a tiny smile. "I don't look like I'm almost sixteen." She explained. "And people are really good at judging people by what they see rather than spending time to ask." She pressed her lips together and gave a tight smile. "I'm used to it though. It's just easier to take what people throw at me, dust myself off and get on with it." She shook her head, suddenly feeling inadequate. "I'm sorry Ria, Dr Carr should have been the one to show you around." At least that way, the woman would have a phone to contact the girl's uncle, knowing that if the man didn't show up before the auctioneer came back, the two girls were going to find themselves being escorted out of the auction grounds.

[Miranda Florin]

Miranda smiled and pocketed the sanitizer, "I should probably have packed some myself, I'm sorry. I wasn't really sure what to expect today." After she had taken care of the gelding and Dr. Carr had taken back the spray bottle, she pulled one of the gloves off of her hand, then balled it up and held it in her gloved fist. She pulled the other glove off so that it inverted, wi the first glove inside of it. She grinned as Dr. Carr said she had been right, "Okay, I will." She didn't have any supplies, so if she found anything, she would have to call Dr. Carr anyway. She ducked under the rail and tossed the gloves into a trash bin before heading over to the restrooms and scrubbing her hands. After she had done that, she rubbed some hand sanitizer on them, just in case. She put the bottle back in her pocket and started walking toward the next horse that was in the row, passing by Cara and Ria in the process. She smiled and waved, then continued on back to the row that she had started with.

[William//Adrianna Gibbson]

Ria nodded happily at the prospect of books on horses with shoes. Metal shoes hammered onto their feet? She shuddered. That sounded painful, she knew she wouldn't like to have it done to her. Having a rock poke the bottom of your foot was bad enough. "Doesn't it hurt them?" She watched as Cara slipped over int the next pen and picked up the pony's foot, revealing the metal horseshoe, "Why do people put shoes on their horses?" She looked at the pony, "Would Moo need to get shoes?"

She took Cara's hand as the man walked away and listened to Cara's explanation. "Didn't he hear not to judge a book by it's front?" Misremembered, but her version of judging a book by it's cover. She hugged Cara, "Thay should be nicer." She shook her head as Cara suggested that the veterinarian should have shown her around instead, enjoying the girl's tour and thoughtfulness. She didn't know how to say it, though, "Should we go find Will and show him Moo?" She didn't want the mean man coming back and yelling at them some more.

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara shook her head. "If they are put on properly, putting shoes on a horse doesn't hurt." She explained as she asked Moo to lift her foot up again. "Their hooves are made the same way as your nails, they are attached to the horse, but no blood runs through the ends of it." She ran her finger over the mare's frog. "This part, the frog, is full of feelings though, it's what tells her what type of ground she's walking on and how much weight she should use." She gently placed the hoof back on the ground and patted the mare's shoulder. "No, she won't need shoes." She replied, even though it was easy to see from the way the Cob's hooves were trimmed that she'd recently had shoes pulled off her feet. "None of mine wear them and I compete Bunny in jumpers."

She waved at Miranda as the girl walked passed, thankful that she hadn't arrived while Cara was being yelled at. The girl smiled at Ria. "Adults quite often forget not to take things at face value." She said as she returned the girl's hug. "Yes, we should go and find your Uncle." She said with a nod.

[Annabelle Archer]

Hearing about the new horses that had just come in, Belle drove to the auction yard with her truck and trailer in tow. She stopped and hopped out. Neighing and whinning of the horses caught her attention almost immediately. She saw Ria and Will Gibbson, along with Cara Kitchi, Miranda Florin and Dr. Carr. She knew all of them because she lived in the same house as Ria and Will and Miranda and Cara were in the rescue class that Dr. Carr taught. She walked over, not right to the group but she stood close looking at the horses. A gelding here and there, a mare with a foal. Sticking her hand in she attempted to pet the foal but it ran back to its mother. Belle kept walking, she saw a thin horse that looked like it needed feed. Belle looked down at its information, the gelding had been left in a barn stall for an estimated 2 months. Belle's heart sank as she read over it once more to see if she was reading this correctly. The hooves looked over grown and the gelding's ribs were very apparent. "Oh my, that is horrible"

[Demeter Carr]

This auction is being held a couple of towns over, not at the Blue Ridge Lot.

From a distance, the mare and foal looked like a picture of health, it was only when she got closer that she saw the truth. "Hey, beautiful." She whispered as she got closer. It didn't surprise her that the bay mare with the white face flattened her ears. "It's okay, sweetie." She whispered. "It's you I want to look at."

Ducking into the yard on the side of the mare opposite to her baby, she patted the horse's neck before walking further down her side. She shook her head with what she saw now that she was right beside the horse. The poor mare was not only underweight, but also had a severe case of worms.

She picked up the mare's chart. "Vet checked before she came here, and perfect health? Right, whatever you want to believe. This didn't happen over night." She clamped her mouth closed as she realised that she was fuming out loud. She continued the mare's check in silence and after come coaxing, she convinced the cautious dam to let her also check the foal over.

After some serious talking with the auctioneer, and a bit of language that would infuriate her mother, the female vet had purchased the mare with foal at foot and would come and collect them before they left to return to Blue Ridge.

[Annabelle Archer]

Noticing that she said that out loud she kept walking. Most of the horses stood in the back of their pens seemingly waiting for someone to come and take them. She wished that she could give them all a home at Blue Ridge but that was unlikely to happen. With Penny and Sun, she wanted at least one more horse that she could call her own. Belle looked up at the words of Dr. Carr talking to herself. Looking back to a bay Morgan looking healthy but Belle knew it was very unlikely that it was that simple. She looked down at the hooves to seen that they were so over grown that that hooves round up. The eighteen year old looked to the horses large brown eyes. It seemed as if the horse was in an enormous amount of pain.

The smile that had been on her face from the comment that Dr. Carr had said aloud disappeared at the sight of the poor horse. With her heart feeling heavy she moved on. A large black Friesian mare stood in the front of her pen. The Friesian usually had a black shiny coat, but this mare's coat was more of a grayish color, from the dust and dirt that had collected on this horse for the time that she had been tied to a post. How could people be so heartless as to do this to a poor animal? She thought to herself. Belle raised her hand slowly to the mare's nose. The mare shyed away but came back quickly to the same place she had been before. Belle slowly moved her hand to the forehead of the mare. It was very obvivious that this mare had been handled and loved by humans, and that wasn't her problem. Her body was thicker than most of the horses that were here, Belle looked at that as a good thing.