Post by Catarina Taylor on Jul 26, 2012 16:36:34 GMT -8
CATARINA -- ISABEL -- TAYLOR !
BASICS...
Face Claim: Naya Rivera
Full Name: Catarina Isabel Taylor
Nicknames: Cat, Kit Kat, Kitten.
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Dark Brown
Height: 5'4
Age: 20
Gender: Female
Occupation: Student
Team: Polleo
Goal for HA: To public eye and ear Cat's goal is Olympic gold. Be it for eventing or for show jumping. No fence is too high, no ditch too deep. Privately, in a place even she can barely acknowledge, she really just wants to prove that she can. She can beat the kids on their six digit horses. She can care for her own mount as well as any barn hand. But most importantly; she can be somebody special, even if her father didn't stick around to see it.
Five Likes:
- horse racing
- jumping
- children (though she'd never admit it)
- speaking her mind
- catch rides
Five Dislikes:
- gambling
- cowards
- being judged (outside the show ring)
- handouts
- neglectful owners
HOME LIFE...
Parents: Giselle Santiago; mother; 41 - Lucas Taylor; father; 53
Siblings: Maria Santiago; half-sister; 4 - Dominic Santiago; half-brother; 2
Other: Rafael Perez; mentor; 30
Riding History: Catarina was introduced to horses at three years old, just six months after her father walked out on their family. Her mother had moved the pair of them down to a family friend's ranch in Mexico, and they had sat her up on the back of a rickety old carthorse. To Cat it had felt as if her shaken up world had been pieced back together again, good as new. She never wanted to get down.
As soon as she was old enough to ride alone, that was all she did. And because her mother's only rule was that she had to keep her grades up in order to be allowed anywhere near the horse, she kept an A- average all through school.
When she turned fourteen, around the same time she hit puberty, Cat discovered the racetrack ten miles down the road from her house. From that day on she would ride her horse down the road to the track every day, and try to race the jockeys from outside the fence as they warmed up in the morning. After about two weeks of this, the owner, one Rafael Perez, finally took pity on her. He told her she was 16 if anyone asked, and traded her aged gelding for a three year old mare. When he told her to cut the Thoroughbred loose Cat felt as though she was flying.
After that first day Rafael let her exercise everything from the green broke colts and fillies, to his more experienced stars. Once it was established that she could stick to nearly anything Rafe took to putting her on his problem horses. For three years Cat rode two to three horses a day before class during the school year, and five to six in the summer.
When she turned seventeen was when things started getting sticky. Cat's mother had gotten involved with a new man. A man who disapproved of riding, and Rafael, and of Cat in general. It was he who started the rumors of how Cat was doing Rafe 'favors' to be allowed to ride. Of how he was taking advantage of her. It was all lies, but word spreads fast in the racing community and pretty soon Rafe was getting a lot of flack about it from other trainers and jockeys.
It was then that the Rafe suggested she should try to cultivate her riding talent on new soil. After that last growth spurt she was too big to be a professional jockey, though she had the skill and the experience for it. So he contacted a friend who owned a hunter/jumper barn and got Cat one free lesson.
After that first jump there was no stopping her. Cat still put in her two or three rides at Rafe's every morning, but as soon as she was finished she headed over to the hunter/jumper barn and put in a couple hours of work in exchange for a jumping lesson. Around the same time her little brother was born, shortly after her eighteenth birthday, they started taking her to shows and letting her ride their greenies. Cat was in heaven.
The next two years passed in a blur of lessons, shows, catch rides, and the occasional dressage lesson with a friend's uncle's cousin. On her twentieth birthday that all ground to a halt. Because that was the day Rafe handed her the brochure for Hollow Aspen.
Rafael was the only one who believed she'd get in. He forced her to do the paperwork, promised to fund her plane ticket, and even went so far as to scout out some cheap eventing prospects for her in the country surrounding the school. When Cat told him it was too much, that she could never pay him back, he responded by telling that she could give him her gold medal when she got there, and he would call it even.
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ABOUT YOU...
Age: 17
Years RPing: 6ish
RL Horse Experience: Twelve years riding and two years working full time as a barn hand.
Example Post: minimum 200 words!Austin grinned at the man's reassurances, but Mosca merely gave him a disbelieving stare. Just to placate her dog Austin drew her hand away from Mei and laid it gently on top of Mosca's head. Happy, now that her owner was no longer giving another animal affection, the border collie let out an enormous yawn and slipped almost instantly into a doze.
As soon as she heard the names Austin was flipping through the pictures in search of the mares. Or mare, rather, since the next thing Peter told her was that the pony's information wasn't in there. As she slid the Tennessee Walker's picture out Austin whistled. What a gorgeous mare. She didn't generally like gaited horses, but this one was stunning nonetheless. After taking a moment to consider she looked up at Peter. "Have you considered Magics Golden FlashSTAFF POSITIONSNot only would you have the potential for color there, but his movement is phenomenal."
As for the pony, well Austin loved having an excuse to visit any barn. She grinned at Peter before continuing. "I'd love to come meet Papillon, whenever it's convenient." Or as soon as possible. "Until class starts I have nothing but time." Even as she spoke Austin was searching her internal database for pony stallions.
Peter's comment about the coloring sparked her memory, pushing her mind away from ponies and onto something slightly larger. "Oh! That reminds me; if you want some serious color you're welcome to Singer." The colt would be arriving soon and Austin couldn't wait to start working with him in earnest. "He is a registered Knabstrupper colt. I've gotten approval from the stud book to breed him before his certification, because of his scores in his yearling assessment." The pride in her voice was unmistakable; it was a rare thing for the offspring of non-certified stallions to have the opportunities for registration that Singer's would.
At his final comment she simply nodded. "Yeah, costly but effective. Even for the stallions on the farm my parents prefer AI to live cover. Easier on the mares, and less stressful for the owners." She paused, weighing whether to continue. "Less fun for the boys though..."
