Ally Rose Santoro | F | HD Hollywood | S | TB

Ally stiffled a yawn over her morning coffee. It was steaming hot with silvery strands billowing up into her ice-cold face. The clock read 07:15am.

The plan was to be by the stable in half an hour to tack up for a forest hack on her Thoroughbred Hollywood.

Ally brought the coffee to her lips, relishing the stark contrast of the heat against her frozen lips.

She loved the way it stung in her throat and set every inch of her being on fire.

Ally had already pulled her jods and riding shirt on, she wore black jods with deep pockets and a red longsleave with a black pufferjacket.

The coffee had been downed within seconds, swallowed by Ally's obsession for hot drinks.

She quietly rose from the wooden chair, moving as slowly as possible as to not have any creaks.

Despite her effort it creaked and groaned unrelelentlesly as she stood up. Ally winced at the loud noise, praying it hadn't woken any of her roommates up.

She carefully headed for the door, trying her absolute best to be as silent as possible.

Ally opened the wooden door, never more grateful that it didnt creak.

It was freezing outside and the air bit into her skin and burnt it. Her breath stuck out in the dark early morning air.

She walked down a windy, sandy path that led to the stableblocks which was lighed by small lanterns.

Her phone started vibrating near her head with the daily alarm at 7:20. Fortunately she was used to the wake up call and was ready to seize the day. Flora groaned quietly as she adjusted from her sleep state and shut off her alarm. It took a few blinks before her eyeballs were ready to function. First Actual Day of Academy! Her brain shouted as realization hit in. She’d been alright with the first month of hanging out; her horse had to be in quarantine as they had traveled overseas. She was pleased they could do it here at the facility, but obviously she’d been practically champing at the bit to get in gear for the training. Flora had high hopes for competing this year, and she couldn’t do that without getting in some solid training. While they’d been able to do some distanced hacking and conditioning rides, it just wasn’t the same as having a coach yell at you to drill.

Bare feet hit the carpet floor and she looked around for clothes. She grabbed yesterday’s charcoal breeches from the pile on the floor and a clean dark maroon sun shirt out of the clean hamper. While it wasn’t fun sharing a dorm just like college, it was nice to have her own room in the suite. She quickly got ready; was in and out of the bathroom, and heading out the door for the common room. In the kitchenette area, she filled up her water bottle and grabbed a granola bar for later. Flora looked at her watch and noted it was 7:35. She wasn’t used to the strict timeline of the Academy but figured she had enough time to visit Peregrine for a bit.

Flora finally made it to the barn and relished the break from the wind. She hadn’t prepared for the gusts when she’d gotten dressed. It was supposed to be sunny and warm (for England), so that’s what she expected from the day. She loved being in the barn - from the way things smelled to the sounds of horses in stalls, to even the chores. Life was just better with horses in it. Peregrine lifted his head up when he noticed someone coming close and recognized his owner. She slid open the stall door and immediately got nosy. Was he bright and alert, his water clean, how much did he drink over the night, and was he eating his hay? Satisfied with his well being, Flora set off for the feedroom to begin preparing his morning grain.

She was happy to hear that someone else was in the barn and not just her.