Outdoor Adventure Time!, part 2, Tuesday, period 1

[vdistinctive]

The class met at Portalocity again today. Eliot looked particularly thrilled this time around, which was a little bit odd; he was usually the calm, zen-like one in this class, not the one who looked like they were going to bounce out of their shoes.

Parker, on the other hand, looked a bit grumpy. “This is more Eliot’s thing. I’m staying at the petting zoo.” Pout.

"I promise it's still fun and exciting," Eliot said. He waved the class to follow and led them through the portal, into a large, sunny pasture. A barn stood at one end, with loads of little padlocks and pens arranged around it, filled with goats and sheep, rabbits, some piglets, a big shaggy cow, and even a llama. That'd be the petting zoo Parker was talking about. On the other end, the one Eliot was headed for, an older man was standing by the gate of a big outdoor riding ring, where several horses of various sizes and colors were tied. "This here is my friend Willie," Eliot introduced. "He trains race horses. And today, you're all gonna get to be jockeys."

“Horses aren’t as scary as I thought.” Parker’s expression was more like a mule’s. “But that isn’t saying much. I’ll be over here. Petting the crias. And feeding them stuff.” Yup. You’re not getting her any closer than that.

"Any of y'all feel the same as Parker, there's no shame. Go have fun with the goats and things." Willie smiled at the kids. "The rest of ya come on over and Eliot and I'll give you a run down on the horses. This is actually a general rescue farm, so we've got horses trained for racing, rodeo, dressage, and simple pleasure riding. Choose your poison."

"Not literally," Eliot promised, mostly talking to Parker. "Horses aren't poisonous."

“Just mean,” Parker said mutinously. “And huge. And sometimes they’ve been teased, and they’re even more mean.”

"This isn't a breeding facility," Willie said, giving her a confused look. "None of them've been teased."

"Just -- let her go pet the crias," Eliot said. "Everyone else, let's get riding!"

Comments

Sign in

[vdistinctive]

Horse-crazy

Re: Sign in

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy Li

Re: Sign in

[ldymacgyver]

Daphne Blake

Listen to the lecture/look around/talk amongst yourselves

[vdistinctive]

Rural Kentucky can be pretty gorgeous this time of year. If a little on the hot side.

Re: Listen to the lecture/look around/talk amongst yourselves

[ldymacgyver]

Daphne was practically bouncing in her feet. She loved riding.

Horseback riding!

[vdistinctive]

There are horses trained for English riding, which is good for show jumping and dressage, ones trained for Western riding, for you cowboys and rodeo types. And the race horses of course, for you speed demons. There's a ring for racing, and one for jumps, and lots of woods and trails around if anyone wants to go cross-country. (Eliot won't let you go cross-country until you prove you know at least the basics of what you're doing.)

At the end of class, Eliot'll take anyone willing out to a good big field to let you get a really good gallop in. There's no feeling like it in the world.

Re: Horseback riding!

[spin_kick_snap]

As excited as Kathy was to go riding, for the first few minutes all she could do was stare at the various types of horses and try to figure out which one she should ride.

She'd grown up wanting to wear the jodhpurs and helmets of English riding, but wasn't Western riding supposed to be easier? But racing horses were supposed to go so faaaaast.

Re: Horseback riding!

[justwantedfriends]

Kira had never actually been on a horse before, but she wanted to try. It wasn't nearly as scary to get up as she thought it would be.

Re: Horseback riding!

[not_a_moonie]

The woods and trails looked like fun, and -- while Alana hadn't done a lot of riding -- she'd done enough to be impatient to get off on her own for a bit. She picked out a friendly-looking shestnut mare and trotted her around the ring,getting used to the horse and letting the horse get used to her.

Re: Horseback riding!

[kenselvren.livejournal.com]

Jalian was a decent rider, but ken Selvren horses were bred for sturdiness rather than speed. And she had no idea what "English" or "Western" riding was. You put on a blanket and bridle and ropes, you got on the horse, you didn't fall off - how could there be more than one type?

So mostly she was looking very confused.

Petting zoo!

[vdistinctive]

Pat the bunny! Or the cria. Or feed the piglets. Or try to milk a cow.

Well, no, the cows don’t want that, but you can watch someone else do it.

Re: Petting zoo!

[doesnotkneel]

Edward stopped by the zoo first - and immediately found himself scowling at the sheep.

His mood now dampened, he turned around to go find those horses.

Re: Petting zoo!

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

"Why are you glaring at the lambs?" Parker wondered, reaching over to feed one.

Re: Petting zoo!

[that_oldsaying]

Horsies were like, the super coolest and all, but the petting zoo won for Alluka because she got to pet fuzzy animals.

So, she'd be here, all class, alternately petting the animals, babbling to them, and introducing her bunny to the... real bunny.

She laughed a lot when the real bunny nibbled on her stuffed bunny's feet.

Re: Petting zoo!

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

"Bunnies are awesome, aren't they." No question, really. "Don't let it bite your bunny, though."

Re: Petting zoo!

[notamascot]

Kaylin and horses... they didn't really get along. But she wasn't particularly sure about most of these other animals either.

Re: Petting zoo!

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

"You look confused." Parker tilted her head at Kaylin. "Do you guys not have farms where you're from?"

Talk to the teachers

[vdistinctive]

One is easier to catch than the other. And it's not the usual one.

Re: Talk to the teachers

[vdistinctive]

Eliot was totally making sure to stay on hand!

. . . the fact that this involved zipping back and forth between areas on horseback was just a bonus, really.

Re: Talk to the teachers

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

"You're not going to want a horse, are you?"

Because he'd gotten a puppy. Anything was possible!

Re: Talk to the teachers

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

Look, if Eliot was there, Parker would Maybe risk getting close to a horse. Maybe. Otherwise, no.

Nope nope nope!

Talk to the TA

[vdistinctive]

Who may or may not require catching up with

Re: Talk to the TA

[spin_kick_snap]

Horses! Horses horses horses horses horses!

...Like many a young girl, Kathy had gone through an extensive horse-crazy phase growing up. And, like many a city-girl, the closest she'd gotten to anything resembling horseback was reading about them. So, sorry Parker, but Kathy was firmly on Team Eliot today.

HORSES!

...So, you know, you could find her, but she'd be firmly on horseback today.

OOC

[vdistinctive]

I won three different second place ribbons in dressage when I was a kid, but the absolute greatest was when the pleasure riding skills class got to go for a real good gallop. . . .

[The only horse I ever rode wandered off to eat trees. -Parker-mun]

Re: OOC

[spin_kick_snap]

I learned how to ride during my trip to Costa Rica. It's the one sport I've ever been good at from the get-go! (...I could possibly have left it at 'ever been good at'.)

HORSES HORSES HORSES/