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.

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

The stables smelt of hay and horse sweat, something Ally could never get enough of. Hollywood was stabled next to Greyson's mare Glee. She liked the pretty bay, with her distinctive star and impressive size.

Hollywood let out a small nicker as she aproached, popping his head over the stable door.

"Morning boy, you ready for breakfast?" The stallion knew exactly what time it was and was practicly dancing in his stall.

Ally smiled at her horse fondly, "Its coming! Relax." She laughed, giving him a stroke down his blaze.

She turned down the silver bricked path and headed towards the feed room door.

Since he had come down to Glucestershire Ally had gradually changed his feed, though she was careful to go slower as to avoid possible colic.

The Thoroughbred had been taking a large slice of Alfalfa, soaked beet pulp, joint support and a small bit of selenium.

So far it was working like a dream.

After he had been fed Ally switched the tack room light on and took out Hollywood's halter, a navy fleece halter.

She had heard movement on the other side of the stable, near Pera's stall.

Ally stopped and looked in that direction, trying to spot who she assumed was Flora.

Ally liked Flora, more than Greyson atleast, she could be a little too talkitive at times but then again Ally was really sensitive when it came to people.

She had always been an only child so now that she was at an academy with roomates and such she was struggling.

Flora hummed to herself quietly as she set about making Peregrine's grain. She pulled off the cover of the small bucket of beet pulp that had been soaking overnight. She emptied that bucket into a feed pan and mixed in some chaff (which was a totally new experience) as well as a couple scoops of performance feed that helped give him the energy he needed while working and helped build an maintain muscle. She added the last made-up container of supplements, noting she had to make more for the week. It included salt, a joint powder, hoof and coat mix, and a gut health supplement. When they were running cross country or long conditioning rides, Flora gives him some electrolyte paste to help his body recover. She added water and mixed it all together by hand, which she felt was easier than using a spoon.

Before leaving the feed room, she grabbed a carrot out of the fridge and broke it into bite size pieces, decorating the top of the mixed grain. Flora lugged the pan over to her gelding's stall, who of course greeted her with happy hungry nickers. He began devouring it as soon as she set it down and backed away. She had rules that he had to give her space before she would let him eat; it was a way to ensure her safety.

Back in the feed room, Flora set her phone up to play alt rock music quietly while she worked on resetting the supplement containers for the week.

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

Ally set the halter down on a hook on the stable door before setting back towards the tackroom.

Ally grabbed his saddle, which was a 16.5" Bates Advanta Monoflap black saddle. This saddle was her favorite of the two and she often used it for trail's as well.

Then she took her white sheepskin halfpad and black close contact saddlepad.

Right, her left arm was now full with tack.

Ally was one of those people who hated making two trips and so she somehow maneuvered Hollywood's black snaffle bridle over her shoulder.

Ally made her way out of the tackroom painfully slowly as to avoid dropping any of the tack.

She deposited the tack by the washrack and then walked back to Hollywood's stall where he had almost finished his breakfast. "Mr.Greedy." She smiled at him, giving the chestnut a pat on the neck.

Hollywood snorted grumpily and tossed some of his chaff in Ally's direction.

"Hey, watch it! That stuffs expensive."

Honestly horses act like they pay for everything themselves!

Ally turned her head to look at the feed room where she could just barely hear the sound of music.

She frowned and left Hollywood's side for a moment to go investigate.

Inside the feed room was Flora, fixing Pera's weekly supplements.

"Morning." Ally said quietly.

It was the monotonous movement of opening a supplement box, scooping out measured amounts into the seven waiting containers then repeating the motion multiple times that had Flora's mind wandering. Usually, the music kept her focused in the here-and-now, but she was so worried with the looming semester that was starting tomorrow. Anxiety brain was so fun. She was worried about the schedule and making sure she was where she had to be, when she had to be there; not making mistakes in front of the other riders and trainers (even though that was the whole point); would Peregrine and her have the chops to prove they deserved to be there.

It took her a moment to snap out of her reverie and back into reality. Out of the corner of her eye she caught movement. Whipping her head around with wide eyes and a 'I didn't do it' look, Flora was half relieved when she realized it was her roommate Ally.

"Ahh!" She exclaimed, shocked by the new arrival. Fortunately, she wasn't in the middle of scooping powder or else there would have been major cleanup to do.

"Haha, wow - I'm a wreck." Flora laughed at herself self-deprecatingly. "Hi. How are you? How's Hollywood?"

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

Ally grinned, "Jumpy, aren't you." She teased, leaning against the door frame of the feed room.

"Hollywood's doing really well thanks, he's just finishing up his breakfast."

Ally tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, unsure of what else to say. She dipped her head awkwardly, more hair shook loose.

"I'm taking Hollywood on a hack if you want to join." She offered, glad to have something to say. "I don't mind waiting." Ally added when she noticed that Flora was still doing the weekly supplements.

Ally usually did Hollywood's in the evening while Hollywood was having his dinner. She found it a relaxing thing to do in the evening before she went up for dinner.

She had always enjoyed mixing feeds and sorting out supplements. It was pretty much the only chore she had every had when she was younger.

Ally's parents had many grooms that did the mucking out, tack cleaning and a lot of the show prep (although that was something she refused to let anyone else do).

But they always made her do the sorting. Her father said it was to teach her every sort of grain, hay, and supplements there was but she belived it was just to keep her busy in the afternoons.