Once Upon a Logbook [Open to Staff of FCS]

[RILEY LARA HADDEN]

Riley shuffled through the papers that sat on her desk, at least six inches thick in most places. There were job applications, stud books, catalogs of horse gear, pictures and the lords only knew what else. The red head sighed softly and leaned back in her rolling chair, taking a short break before her staff were to arrive. There were several new arrivals on the farm that she had of course met in interview, but she had wanted to go over her plan for the barns with them, and how they together were going to bring Foxtail Creek back to it's former glory. The thought always weighed heavily on her mind, that was for sure.

Through the window of her office she could see the small specks of horses grazing in the pastures in the distance. There were children and adults riding in the rings for lessons and race horses tearing up the track in the south. There was so much life on her farm that Riley almost didn't know what to do with it all, but as the time approached for her staff together, the owner gathered her thoughts once more and re-tied her hair up away from her face. Business needed to be conducted.

[STELLA MARIE CARTER]

Her borrowed pickup truck buzzed along the gravel road as Stella made her way to the main barn. She had just finished checking up on Midnight and fussing over Cherry and planned to train with Fuego after her meeting with her new employer. Though she had worked on a large farm before, she was extremely excited to be working as one of the heads of breeding at Foxtail. Ruffling her hair in the rear view mirror, she hoped she didn't look to rumpled from her work settling in her horses this morning.

As soon as she opened her door, Archer, her three year old Borde Collie pup, bounded across her lap and onto the grass. Not yet, Arch, when I'm done we'll play. He whined, but she ignored him. Up! she told him, pointing to the cab.

Strolling up to the antiquated gatehouse's main door, Stella knocked lightly while knocking off the excess dirt from her riding boots. Hopefully, Miss Hadden had big plans set in mind for her farm as she was eager to start and even more eager for a challenge.

[CHRISTOPHER THOMAS ROSSI]

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[atrb=background,http://i43.tinypic.com/2i46tx.png,true] Christopher Rossi | 26 | FCS Main Barn Instructor Humming a Metallica song to calm his nerves, Chris walked into the old building, his stomach in knots. He'd worked as an instructor in quite a few barns, including his parent's, but the nerves never left him. But, he told himself, the worst is over. You passed the interview, and you got the job. He'd just finished settling both Taffy and Fifi in their new stalls, which helped soothed his frayed nerves. Taffy was as sweet as ever, and had nuzzled him lovingly for treats as he led her into her the new stall. The main barn was clean and modern, and a few other horses gazed at him thoughtfully as he'd led his grulla mare down the isle. Fifi however had been a different story. She was always a different story, Chris reminded himself ruefully. Taffy's impeccable ground manners had spoiled him, so when Fifi half dragged him out of the trailer, he hadn't been ready for it. High strong and curious, she had danced in circles around him, taking her new surroundings in true Fifi fashion. When he'd finally gotten her into to settle down, he was already late. Running his fingers through his hair, Chris stopped outside the door to Riley Hadden's office, and knocked quietly. Hopefully she wouldn't be too angry with him for being a few minutes late. She really didn't seem like that type of person whose bad side you wanted to be on.

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[RILEY LARA HADDEN]

There was a knock at the door and Riley looked up fro the paperwork that she was now looking over. They were registration papers of horses from the upcoming competitions that would run later on that week. She too would be riding in the Cross Country event. While her mare Windy would be sitting this one out, she had high hops for Max and Caramel (Vivid Night and Lost my Socks respectively) and the three of them had been training endlessly through the past few weeks, but they were not the only ones who would compete. There was much new blood on the farm and Riley would bet they would give her and her horses a run for her money.

Putting down the papers into a stack on the left hand side of her desk, she smiled. Come in. she said to those standing outside of the door, expecting some of her staff. As soon as she had a majority of those she had called together, they would begin heir meeting.

[STELLA MARIE CARTER]

Stella's eyes focused for a moment on the approaching figuree reflected in a nearby window. Tall and tan, she figured he too must also be a new employee. As he reached her, she stuck out her hand, Stella Carter, Broodmare and Foal Manager... Before she could go on, a voice beckoned them from inside the office. Better go inside, don't want to leave the boss waiting, she joked lightly in her lilting British accent.

The office they entered was quaint and a bit disorganized, but seemed to match in looks the mood of its owner. Miss Hadden was up to her elbows in paperwork scattered across her whole desk. Stella smiled knowingly. Busy day, Miss Hadden? Stepping aside as to not block tall, brown, and handsome, Stella momentarily let her eyes wander down the vintage furnishings scattered throughout the room. Beautiful in here, I must say. I have a soft spot for antiques. Several framed clippings scattered the walls, dating back decades ago, telling of Foxtail's former fame. We ought to get her back in the papers again, or at least it's my hope, she added softly.

[CHRISTOPHER THOMAS ROSSI]

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[atrb=background,http://i43.tinypic.com/2i46tx.png,true] Christopher Rossi | 26 | FCS Main Barn Instructor His humming stopped immediately as he heard a soft introduction. He'd been so nervous he hadn't even seen the petite woman waiting at the door as well. Chris felt his face heat up as a blush crept up his neck. He never had been smooth when it came to women, especially attractive ones. He smiled bashfully and took her offered hand, acutely aware of how sweaty his palms had suddenly become. "It's a pleasure, Ms. Carter," Chris answered in his soft southern accent, "Christopher Rossi, one of the new instructors for the main barn. Call me Chris." He followed the British manager into the office and stood quietly at the back of the room as she spoke to their boss. He smiled politely at Miss Hadden, "Nice to see you again ma'am." He'd heard good things about Foxtail, which was one of the many reasons he'd decided to apply for a position here. He supposed he could have potentially been a barn manager like his counterpart Stella, but he didn't need any of the extra responsibility. Training was what he excelled at, and he enjoyed it. He could hardly wait to meet his new students and their respective mounts. Perhaps he could even find someone to show Taffy, since he doubted he'd have time while training Fifi. Taffy deserved better than that, she was born and bred to compete, and it showed. Chris turned his attention to the two women in the room, wondering how he'd cope with the two of them; both beautiful and successful. He just wasn't cut out for this sort of thing. Shifting awkwardly, he turned his green gaze back to Miss Hadden, waiting for her to speak.

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[RILEY LARA HADDEN]

THIS IS THE STORY OF A GIRL

Riley's smile was wide as two of her newest staff members enter the room. Her eyes were as pale as a cloud thinking it wanted to storm on a pale, clear day when there wasn't another cloud in the sky. Most people were intimated by her gaze as they said it felt as if she were looking right through them, though that was not the case today. She was excited and there was warmth in her bright eyes and an unspoken intelligence of many hours of meticulous planning.

"Welcome to my office, Chris and Stella. I'm so glad that you could make our meeting. I've been looking forward to speaking to both of you since out last meeting."

[/i] she stood up, offering her hand to both of them in turn, her speech a little blurred and quick in her apparent happiness, though she never lacked professionalism. No, that air never left her. "Please, have a seat and we shall begin. The rest can catch up if they manage to find a break in their work."[/i] she spoke again, gesturing to some seats the had been arranged a bit haphazardly in front and to the side of her desk. She scooted her own rolling chair from behind her desk to be more with the other chairs, taking a few folders with her in her lap. To the eye, the area and the woman may have seemed disorganized but she always knew where everything was, at all time. [/blockquote]
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WORDS
249

TAGGED
FCS Staff

RIDING
None

NOTES
GO!

TEMPLATE BY WE WERE INFINITE ! OF CAUTIO 2.0

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[STELLA MARIE CARTER]

Shaking her boss's hand cordially, Stella quickly took a seat near the disheveled desk and its owner, tearing her eyes away from the treasures around the room. If all went well, she would have plenty of time in the future to see them, anyways. Glancing momentarily at her fellow worker, her eyes twinkled mischievously at his apparent discomfort. Well, he would get over it eventually, she thought with a smile; he'd have to if they were to work together. Turning her attention back to Miss Hadden, she eyed the folders piled on her lap with obvious interest, then focused back on the strawberry blonde framed face. I'm glad we could meet as well, I've been looking forward to seeing what you have in mind for the farm. Leaning back in the weathered chair, she folded her hands in her lap expectantly, ready to hear what Foxtail's new owner had planned.

[Katherine Alison Hazeltine]

Kate walked over to the main office. She brought along her dog, Sophie along. She's obiedent so Kate doesn't thing she would be any trouble. As she walked up to the door. She knocked on it softly but enough for Ms. Hadden to hear. Hopefully.

She looked around at the main office, it was pretty neat and nice. She heard two voices as she waited to be invited in. 'Maybe there are two staff members already there..' She thought to herself as she continue to wait to be invited.

[CHRISTOPHER THOMAS ROSSI]

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[atrb=background,http://i43.tinypic.com/2i46tx.png,true] Chris shifted from foot to foot. She knows, he thought glumly as Stella looked back at him, She knows how uncomfortable I am. They both do, most likely. But neither of the women seemed inclined to make him feel even more uncomfortable, so he offered them both tentative smiles. "My pleasure, ma'am," Chris said as he shook his boss' hand, "I look forward to working with you, and Ms. Carter as well." He felt the familiar faint heat of another blush creep up his neck again as he thought about what he'd just said. It sounded a lot more flirtatious than he'd meant. He glanced at Stella out of the corner of his eye, hoping she'd ignore his misstep. Chris sat down heavily on the nearest chair and sighed. Business meetings were not his forte. Actually, social interaction in general wasn't his forte. "Oh," he'd almost forgotten, "Ms. Hadden, Emma Michaels was having some trouble with her settling her horse in, she told me to tell you that she apologized, and she probably isn't going to make the meeting. I saw her at the yearling barn while I was putting my yearling Fifi away." He hoped for Emma's sake that Riley would be okay with that. It wasn't necessarily the best impression to give your boss on your first day, but he knew more than most that horses could be unpredictable in new settings. A soft noise behind him made Chris pivot in his chair to catch a glimpse of a young blonde girl waiting patiently at the office door. It's official, I'm surrounded, he thought as he turned back to Riley and Stella. OOC | I also play Emma, who is a staff member as well and I thought it'd be kinda weird to have two characters in the same thread, so I played it like Emma and Chris already know each other in passing. let me know if I should edit that part for any reason :]

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[RILEY LARA HADDEN]

THIS IS THE STORY OF A GIRL

Another soft knock came from the door as Riley went to begin talking to her employees. She chuckled to herself and spoke aloud. "Come on in and make yourself comfortable. You're just in time, we were about to start."[b/] and with that she turned to cast her eyes on Christopher as her spoke and her gaze was understanding. "That's completely understandable. All horses, particularly the yearlings are going to be skittish on move in day. I'll swing by that end of the center later on today and catch her up on what's going on. With that being said, I do have some reading material for each of you fo ryour particular barns."

[/i] she said handing them a few of the folders from her lap. The folders for the stallion barn were blue, the broodmare barn were pink, the main barn were a royal purple and the yearling barn folder that remained in her lap was a spring green.

"First off, there is the new of what's going on around the barns in the next few weeks. While we have had a few horses for the past few weeks, the next few weeks there are going to be a lot of horses and their owners milling around the barns. They're going to be lost and their horses are going to be on the edge. It's all of your jobs to keep the atmosphere as calm as you can and direct the lost to where they need to go, particularly with the weekends competition. Inside of your folders there are several copies of the maps. Please put one on the door of your office and there are some you can hand out."[/i] she looked around to make sure they were all following her as she knew she was speaking quickly. She didn't want to keep them too long for the reasons she had just said. They were all extremely busy and even she would be going out into the barns to help out, despite the mountains of paperwork she really needed to see to. "On the subject of maps, I had one of my groundsmen come around this morning and bring you all big white boards. i suggest using them for stable arrangements and notices in the barn. If you want it hung up somewhere, just contact the groundsmen and they'll come hang it up where you want it. It can go in the tack rooms of your barn, your office, anywhere really. For now they should be leaned up against a wall in your office."[/i] she added on, looking at them all and giving them an opportunity to ask questions if they needed to. [/blockquote]
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WORDS
445

TAGGED
FCS Staff

RIDING
None

NOTES
Don't worry about Emma. I understand ^^

Also, sorry for so much talking xD

TEMPLATE BY WE WERE INFINITE ! OF CAUTIO 2.0

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[STELLA MARIE CARTER]

Stella's eyes lifted away from the group as a soft knock reverberated across the old wooden office door. A tall, blonde stunner entered the room tentatively and Stella lightly pushed her chair away from the group to give the girl room. Riley continued to speak, emphasizing the busyness that limited introductions. Stella took the pink folder offered to her and opened it up to view its contents. A thick stack of maps rested on top, and she mentally noted that the map on her office door would have to be marked with a "you are here" bubble, to help with any confusion. She moved the stack to the bottom of the papers and briefly leafed through them, eyes on their contents and ears on Miss Hadden. A brief summary of the broodmare barn's older history, breeding records, new boarders information, feed sheets, veterinary information, along with plans for future breedings and management, among other things. She would have to start going through it in much greater depth sometime this afternoon. Stella closed the folder and looked back up at her boss, who was going on about their bulletin boards in their respective barns. The broodmare manager simply nodded understanding, and remained quiet, devoid of any questions at this point. She mused over having to deal with new boarders, which shouldn't be too big of a hassle, considering Foxtail seemed to emphasize competition over breeding, and she only had two mares, one of them her own, in the barn at the moment anyway. She broke away from her thoughts to pose a newly found question. Is there any stablehands currently employed for the broodmare barn? As neither of the mares were pregnant, she wasn't too worried about any resident veterinarians, and though she wouldn't mind tending to Cherry and her boss's mare, Wind, having help would clear up her schedule dramatically.

[CHRISTOPHER THOMAS ROSSI]

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[atrb=background,http://i43.tinypic.com/2i46tx.png,true] Chris admired the way Riley commanded the room. She was soft spoken, but the power behind her voice was clear. He nodded at her reply about Emma, and made a mental note to let her know if he saw her before Riley. As far as he knew, he was the only person who owned a yearling at Foxtail at the moment, so he was sure he'd see a lot of Emma Michaels. He was growing more confidant by the second, now that he felt at place in the meeting. Chris glanced curiously back at the blonde girl, since she still hadn't said a word since entering the room. He shrugged the thought aside as Riley handed him a purple folder, and he stood up to accept it. When he'd sat back down, he glanced again at Stella, who was studiously going over her pink folder. She was the broodmare and foaling barn manager, but he wasn't the main barn manager. Maybe he was just a stand in until they found a manager for the biggest barn on the farm. Chris assumed Riley knew what she was doing, so he didn't say anything, instead, he started going over the folder in his lap. Inside was an extensive list of boarders, feeding schedules, and turn out times. The second page was a list of the people who took lessons, their ages, and a brief summation of where each of them were at, and what skills they needed to improve upon. He smiled, rifling through a few more pages as his boss spoke about newcomers and bulletin boards. "I'll do my best to keep everything under control," Chris told her, glancing back down at the folder. All of the information in it (especially the map) was going to be extremely helpful to him, and the other staff members. When Stella spoke up in her soft British accent, it stirred a few questions in his mind. "Going off of what Stella asked, who do I report to? I don't think I've met the main barn manager..." Chris asked curiously. "And do I schedule lessons with everyone, or is there already a schedule worked out?" He shifted to a more comfortable position in his chair, and awaited his boss' reply. OOC | ugh, I apologize for the shitty post >.<

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[Katherine Alison Hazeltine]

Kate walked in and took a seat next to the women who scooted over for Kate to have some room to sit. She then smiled towards Ms. Hadden and listened to her speak as she took the folder she offered out to them and opened it up. Some of the contents for maps of Foxtail Creek. She studied them each carefully as she still listened to what Ms. Hadden was talking about. When she paused she nodded to show that she understood and continued to look through the contents of the folder. She didn't have much since she was just a stable hand, but she looked through them anyways so that she would understand that she's actually more than just a stable hand. She didn't have any questions really so she continued to keep quiet as she listened to the others ask their questions.

[RILEY LARA HADDEN]

THIS IS THE STORY OF A GIRL

RIley smiled as the young blond woman came into the office and took a seat. She listened to the various questions as they came rolling in and she mentally took note of each one of them. There was a lot going on and she had expected these kinds of questions. "Almost all of the staff are housed in the staff housing on the grounds. If you haven't met your stable hands or managers by the end of the day, they ma not have arrived yet or your paths just didn't cross though all of the barns have a manager and at least one hand. In your folders I have included the various people who work in the barns and on the grounds along with contact info." she said looking at them, trying to wrack her brain for anything else to go over, though nothing else had come to mind. "So unless you have any questions, you guys are free to go."[b/] Riley said with a smile.

WORDS
too lazy to count

TAGGED
FCS Staff

RIDING
None

NOTES
Don't worry about Emma. I understand ^^

Also, sorry for so much talking xD

TEMPLATE BY WE WERE INFINITE ! OF CAUTIO 2.0