*AN* Yes, I started another story, no I didnt forget about the one in progress. I uploaded probably 5 chapters in a 24 hour span, I think I deserve a break! lol. Normally I dont start new stories while in the middle of others, just because I dont want to forget what track I was on or forget about it all together. This story and another one I had in my head but didnt write down, this one has actually been in my head for a while now. They shouldnt be too long, no more than 3-4 chapters 5 at the most. I'll try to refrain from being long winded/detailed. This is just supposed to be a laid back kind of thing, no drama or what not but we'll see how it goes.
*AN* It has been a long time since I rode horses, so please dont call me out on my choices/style of riding in this story. this story will be western style based. *
They arrived at the campus in what seemed like a few minutes. They chatted and caught up the entire time, passing the time. She pulled into the short dirt drive-way and flashed a card that allowed the gate to open. Rolling down the dirt driveway, they could see a bunch of changes in the used to be thick and barren woods. Now piles of lumber, dirt and all sorts of equipment lined one side.
"What's going on?" Carlos asked
"I'm doing a little expanding. The campus sits on over 500 acres, so I have lots of room to expand on." she replied
"Why expand up here? What about vandals?" James asked, remembering a story she told him about drag racers.
"Well, I did like the look of the unused forest but I needed to expand and this was the better place to do it for what I wanted." she explained
"So what's this new place going to be?" Logan wondered
"Two large dorm suites, I'm running out of room in the dorms I have and I'll be able to fit more students in plus charge a little extra like other colleges. I'm also building another kennel. I'm changing things up around here. This school is only getting bigger and I need to expand to accommodate everyone. I'm trying only to build on one side for now but as more buildings are needed I'll have to see if I should keep it equal on both sides or not." she explained. She pulled into the unloading area where a crew was waiting to take Shadow and the donated dog, Jed, out of her truck plus the supplies. The guys got out and grabbed their bags and Katie drove off to drop off the trailer before parking in her garage.
They walked to the office building, where Katie was greeted by all her staff as she walked through the halls to her office, Shadow already waiting and drinking water. She dropped off her things and took them to the Dorm office to give them their keys. Although Katie was running out of rooms, she had a few extra available for the time being and the guys would stay here, free of charge. This wasn't the first time the guys were here but it was the first time they would be staying. She brought them over to the guys' dorm, it was pretty quiet for a guys dorm.
"Don't be fooled, this place usually isn't this quiet. I have a strict policy on quiet hours so during the day it may be loud at times depending on who has what class but by 9pm it should be fairly quiet and at midnight, everything should be quiet until 9am the next morning. I managed to dig out some sheets for you guys, they are mine so don't be surprised."
"I'm not sleeping on sheets with my face on them." Kendall said.
"Me neither." Logan seconded.
"I don't use my BTR sheets! They stay wrapped up safe and sound." she smiled.
"Care Bears! Really?" James called out of his room.
"Its all I had!" She defended. The others couldn't help but laugh. "I am a girl you know! Asses."
"Sweet! I got Pokemon!" Carlos cheered. Logan and Kendall wanted to know what they got so they unlocked their doors to find out.
"Network TV homeage!" Logan called out, noticing the sponge bob sheets.
"What the hell?" Kendall said noticing his sheets. He got what was leftover, Clifford, Rugrats, Diego, and Scooby Doo, mix-matched bedding. "Nice set, Katie." he teased.
"Hey it was all that I could find. It still serves its purpose." she said
"Katie!" a familiar voice called out. She turned to see Matt, the dorm RA walking to her.
"Hey Matt, I have your new advisees. They'll only be staying a few days, try to keep a watch over them though, I don't need word getting out that BTR is here. They wont need to be baby sat or anything just make sure no one goes crazy. They arent above the rules but they do tend to get wild. For tonight only, let up on the rules a little bit."
"Ok, no problem." he said. He looked past her to see the guys talking with each other as they investigated each other's room before walking down the hall, tapping Katie on the shoulder to tell her to follow.
"Great, I'm taking them for a tour of the new parts of the facility, then having some lunch. Don't know when we'll be back." she said.
"Sure. Have fun." he said waving as she followed the guys out.
-
Once outside, she led them to a utility garage where she had them pile in a motorized cart to lessen the walking distance. She showed them the new buildings first, they were open just yet to the public but since she had been inside plenty of times, she had pictures that she took stored in a glass case next to the announcements board. It was pretty fancy, all of the rooms had their own kitchen, living room and bathroom. The bedrooms ranged from 1 person to 4 person making the suites hold anywhere from 4-16 people. The kennel wasn't much different and held only a bigger number of dogs. The next stop were all the remodeled buildings. Fresh coat of paint, repairs and other things made the buildings look brand new and state of the art. Heading further down to the outdoor arenas, Logan spotted a building in the distance before Katie could go into detail.
"What's that over there?" he pointed.
"Looks like…a barn?" Kendall squinted.
"You have farm animals now?" Carlos asked.
"Not quite. It's a stable, for Horses. I graduated college and earned my degree for horsemanship so I opened a small Horse facility. Its not much and just in a testing phase, if it doesn't work out then I wont continue, but I will keep the horses I have, the students bring their own horses to house so I get some extra money from that, plus students that wish to ride can pay to do so. it's a win/win." she explained
"You have your own horses?" Carlos asked
"A few. One is mine the others belong to the school even though I own them. I have 6 horses."
"Can we go for a trail ride or something?" James asked
"You want to?" she asked
"Sue!" Kendall said.
"Yeah let's go!" Logan agreed
"To the barn!" Carlos shouted.
Katie turned the cart and headed down to the barn. As she got closer, the horses began to whinny at her arrival.
Knowing the dangers of horses and just common sense, they waited for Katie to lead the way. Inside was neat and clean although it wasn't a special barn. Horses had freedom to come and go as they pleased during the day in private runs. The barn was quite large, holding 26 horses but only had 10 horses. The barn was well laid out and easy to access to students but not to the general public. Two horses came in as Katie passed their stalls, she doubled back to greet them and introduced them to the guys.
"This is Artemis. He is the friendliest horse I've ever seen. He acts like a dog in some ways. He rarely spooks or shys away from anything or anyone, of course that isn't a good thing. He could get into a lot of trouble by approaching the wrong person." she said opening the stall. Artemis waited patiently until the door opened all the way and stepped out slowly without a lead. He nudged Katie and she gave him a hug before he turned to the others for more attention. "Go ahead, he's waiting for pets."
"You don't worry about him running away?" Logan questioned.
"I do but he doesn't. I usually always have him on a lead but occasionally I don't. The doors are open and everything but he just likes to be with people." she walked down the aisle to show them the next waiting horse, a curious but unruly mare, Isis. "This girl seems friendly but she's not fond of new people at all and takes a while to get used you. She's a great horse, fast learner and does what she knows very well, she's just not a people person." Kendall put his hand to the bars and she backed away and reared landing with a thump and a loud whinny. She kicked the stall and pinned her ears, snorting. Artemis walked to the door and bared his teeth quieting Isis for the moment. She stuck to the back of the stall, in a bad mood but stayed quiet, watching everyone closely. Artemis followed down the walk way as she talked with the guys.
"So he really does just follow you?" James said, looking back at the sound of Artemis following them.
"Yep, I really have no idea why. I've tried ignoring him and distracting him but he just clings to me. He's not a low horse in the herd either; as you saw with Isis, he sort of runs the place. He's tried following me out of the barn and he succeeded once. It didn't phase him at all with all the noises and dogs but I prefer to leave him here with the other horses.
"Where are the other horses, outside?" Kendall asked.
"Probably. I know my other 4 are, whether or not the 4 boarders are I don't know. I make a visit to the barn once a day to check on things but I have a barn manager to monitor things all day long since I'm needed elsewhere. The students are responsible for their own horses though and if things fall under standards they get warnings and fines. " she explained. She lead them into the tack room and pointed out the equipment for each guy to use. She walked them all back out to another aisle where tack up shelves were standing. They had all ridden horses but only Kendall knew how to tack up a horse. He helped them get set up while Katie called in the rest of her horses. She only used her voice and a whistle to get their attention and the horses galloped in. Artemis was getting jumpy knowing what was going on and he trot in a circle in anticipation. He eventually made his way to the tack up area and chose Logan to be his rider.
*AN* Remember most of this story is fiction! While I am an equine student and canine science teacher I dont own horses or an elaborate business. Nor do I personally know BTR.