Show Jumping B

[Abigail Sorenson-Faulkner]

Alaina Marie Silverman
Athena Achilles
Danielle A. St George
Gretchen Holmes
Nevaeh Lincoln
Sebastian Michael West
Stefan Eder
Ingrid Skoglund

Course

Gail was looking forward to teaching show jumping and seeing what sort of talent she would be working with. Their first lesson would be fun so she could get a guage of their skills as a rider as well as the horses she would be dealing with. There was time in the rest of the semester to develop individual skills and hopefully instill good habits into their riding. The weather was agreeable, so the class could be held outside in one of the dedicated jumper rings. Gail kept her appearance professional with tan breeches, tall boots, and a plain polo under a warm jacket. Her students were riding and getting exercise while she was standing in the arena. The mild wind was enough to make her wish she had a hot mug of coffee.

She waited for the students to arrive and went through her lesson plan one more time. It was a big class, and there was no way Gail could devote as much attention to each student as she would have liked. Private lessons were great for the individual attention and being able to have lessons tailored specifically to the student's needs, but a group lesson offered peer support and critique. Besides, there was value in watching other people ride. Her previous trainer always encouraged her students to watch each other at shows and left an open invitation for any student no matter what level to get a feel for the show atmosphere. A minute before the class was to start, the young woman turned on her clip on microphone. It was easier on her voice to use a mic than to try shouting across the arena. She waited a minute after the class period was supposed to start in case there were any stragglers.

"Good afternoon, everyone. Please continue to warm up your horses tracking left. My name is Mrs. Sorenson-Faulkner, and I will be your jumping instructor. I also teach the hunter class. As this is an advanced class, I will assume all of you are comfortable jumping a minimum of two feet three inches. I expect all of you to come to class prepared. That means, I expect your mount and tack to be clean and in working order. If you need to use a stick or spurs, have them with you before you mount up. If for whatever reason you or your horse are unable to participate in the day's lesson, let me know before class starts. You will sit on the sidelines and observe, not doing other homework or playing on your phone. As a heads up, February is No-Stirrup month, and you're all in luck. This year is a leap year, so there's an extra day without stirrups."

No-Stirrup month was a tradition at her old barn and viewed with very strong mixed reactions. Her trainer loved it as it forced students to work on a more independent hand and seat. Leg muscules always got stronger, and regularly games and small competitions kept the students motivated. Students however usually dreaded no-stirrup month as it meant going home barely able to walk and very exhausting workouts. Like a good alumni of her old barn, Gail intended to keep up the tradition of no-stirrup month because its benefits far outweighed any student grumbling and moaning.

"Now that you're all warmed up, line up over here."

Gail was standing next to jump six down the long side from the gate. Once they started jumping, it was the one part of the arena she was sure would be clear.

"I want you all to introduce yourself, your horse, and another activity that you enjoy besides riding. I'll start. My name is Mrs. Sorenson-Faulkner, I ride Rabbit, and I enjoy cooking."

She marked off each student as they spoke and wrote down the name of their horse and any preferred nicknames.

"The course you'll be jumping is single angle away bending six to the oxer, roll-back to the bending eight, two-stride vertical oxer, roll-back to the angle away tracking right, the vertical by me, bending six to the oxer, roll-back to the oxer away, and back to the angle towards home."

She pointed to each jump in turn as she explained the course. In case anyone forgot or needed a second reminder, she pointed to each jump again and called out the numeric order and roughly indicated the lines.

"For now, focus on accuracy rather than speed. You'll do yourself no favors being fast and taking rails. When you finish the course, I want you to come back and say one thing that was challenging. The rest of you should be watching, and I want to hear one thing that was good or bad about the ride. And be specific. Any volunteers want to go first?"

Everyone would end up riding the course, and the exact order didn't really matter to her. For now, it was better to let those who wanted to go jump first. Some students just needed to watch a couple trips to have the best performance.

[Gretchen Holmes]

Gretchen had promised Bahir they would work on jumping, since the grey gelding was not content with his red ribbon, and she kept her promise. She wasn't as nervous to bring Bahir to show jumping class as she used to be, but he could still prove to be a handful. As she grabbed her helmet, she gave Pegasus an affectionate rub on the nose. She didn't spend nearly enough time with the dark bay thoroughbred, she would have to bring him to her next class and give Bahir a break. 

Ready to go, she and Bahir made their way to the show jumping arena, taking in the beautiful day. When the arena came into view she pulled herself into the saddle, knowing if she waited til the jumps came into view it would be next to impossible to keep Bahir still for mounting. They entered with everyone else, and began warming up on the outside of the arena. Bahir seemed calm despite the other jumps in the arena, and carried his head low and relaxed with a soft mouth. She was pleasantly surprised, but she wondered how long the change would last. He likely knew they were only warming up first, and once they were told it was time to jump he'd be ready to fly through the course. 

When she heard her teacher's voice she listened to her spiel while slowing Bahir to a walk on the rail. She internally groaned when she heard about no stirrup month. Wasn't November no stirrup month too? How many no stirrup months were there really? Or was it just something trainers made up randomly to torture their students. Gretchen tightened her grip on the reins, she'd have to bring Pegasus next time. There was no way she would be able to control Bahir with no stirrups. He'd take her over the moon! Once her teacher was done she lined up in the center with everyone else to listen to everyone's introductions. When it was her turn she smiled a little shyly, "My name is Gretchen, this is Bahir, and I like singing." 

After everyone had introduced themselves it was time to jump. Bahir immediately began prancing beneath her so the minute the course was set she volunteered to go first. Shortening her rein, she pressed her weight down into her heels to help give herself more leverage to slow him as well as a solid base for her two point. Approaching the first jump, Bahir held his head high, prancing in place. All she had to do was let him go, and so she did. Immediately he charged the fence, jumping the first vertical with ease. Gretchen did her best to stay with him, guiding him towards the next fence and allowing him to launch himself over it. There was no such thing as slow with Bahir, but despite her lack of control he was always accurate with him jumping. Two foot fence? It was a four foot fence to Bahir! 

As they finished the course Gretchen pulled Bahir down, giving him a pat on the neck as she caught her breath. He'd given his usual performance, and as she returned to her spot lined up with everyone else she wondered what her teacher thought of them. 

[Danielle A. St George]

Dani made her way down to the barn after her afternoon music lesson, already dressed in a pair of black breeches, a pale blue long sleeved shirt that was tucked in and hidden under her dark grey polar fleece pull over. There was a chill in the air, but it was pleasant enough not to wear another jacket over the fleece. Aladdin on the other hand, was  a shaggy, winter coated mess. His mane had grown out since the last time she had trimmed it, for the summer show, and his forelock covered his eyes. In other words, there was absolutely no time to make him look like a show pony and less like the BLM mustang that he was. Not that she cared though, he would probably carry her safely as he always did.

Putting him into the cross-ties, Dani brushed out the dust from his coat and then fetched his tack. The tack was polished as always, and in his tack box, was her helmet and gloves, as well as his tendon and overreach boots. However, Aladdin did choose today to bring in his old tricks of avoiding the saddle. Stepping one way and then the other, he successfully dodged the saddle until Dani managed to get a saddle flap over his back. He stood stock still after that.

Twenty minutes later, Dani rode into the arena that the show-jumping lesson was going to take place, and started putting Aladdin through his paces in the warm up. She joined the line up when called. I am Dani St. George, this is Aladdin and I like playing the violin.

Dani volunteered to go second and easily sat the little buck that Aladdin gave when she asked for the canter. The course went easily enough, except at the seventh fence when Aladdin put in an extra stride, which took Dani unexpectedly and made their take off late, causing Aladdin to take the poles down. Finishing the course, Dani took back her spot in the line up, patting Aladdin. Aladdin has a tendency to throw in an extra stride sometimes. In this case I couldn't rectify him in time, and we took the fence down.

<<Lyrics>> Flashlight - Jesse Jay
<<Lyric Banner>> Onzy
<<Image Credit>> Line @ Caution 2.0
<<Notes>>

[Athena Achilles]

Athena didn't think she'd ever stop feeling like she was on top of the world as she got Garçon ready to be ridden. She still felt the need to pinch herself that she was really riding the barn manager's horse. She missed Bear to pieces, but she knew that he was needed for another rider now, and she took it as a compliment that Ms Carr had asked her to ride the bay Appaloosa.

It didn't take him long to get him tacked up and his cadet blue sport boots in place, and before too long she was on his back, entering the arena and joining the others in the warm up. She listened carefully as the woman introduced herself - taking careful note of the hyphenated surname - and pulled a face at the thought of riding the entire next month with no stirrups, however, she would live.

She line the gelding up with the others upon instruction and smiled as she listened to the others introduce themselves. "I'm Athena Achilles and this is Garçon. I like to do crossstitch." She was proud of her hobby and while some may laugh at her choice of ways to spend her free time, she didn't care what they thought.

She listened as their instructor spoke about the course, wondering why she was telling them about striding as she was sure that each horse had a different stride, which was why people walked a jumping course at the beginning of the show, though she didn't say anything.

When it was their turn, she urged the gelding into a trot and then circled him at the canter. The course went by them smoothly, though she was left behind at a couple of the fences; the second jump of the combination and the second to last fence, but Garçon had jumped well, so she was happy. She rubbed his neck as they rejoined the others. "I need to keep myself in sync with Garçon's movements, so I don't get left behind." She critiqued herself with a shrug.

[Stefan Eder]

Kai glared at Lupus as he elbowed her in the ribs again, “Steh^Stand.” The mare, of course, refused to acknowledge that she'd done anything amiss, although the shifting back and forth did cease briefly, long enough for Kai to finish doing up the last straps on Lupus' boots. He really didn't enjoy the mare's shenanigans, although he could think of worse things that she could be bad for.

Finally, though, they were ready for their jumping class, and Kai grabbed his helmet before he took the mare's reins. He led the mare out of the barn, checking her as she attempted to surge ahead into the sunlight, but then they could continue. He walked her to the arena and entered on foot, walking the mare to the center of the arena before he checked the girth and mounted – habit was habit, and he didn't want to have to fumble the gate from horseback. Once he was in the saddle, he joined the rest of his already-present classmates in warming up.

And continued to do so as the woman started the class, at her request. He listened to the woman's introduction, not worried in the slightest about the heights that she mentioned. It wasn't even a meter, lower than the preliminary levels of competition back home. As he heard her requirements for the class, he nodded briefly, although nothing about his preparations would have to change. Sure, he didn't braid Lupus' mane for classes, but that wasn't a requirement. She was clean and healthy.

When bidden, he lined Lupus up where they were directed to, and then waited for his turn to speak, “My name is Kai,” he paused briefly, “Stefan on the rollsheet, and this is Lupus. I enjoy painting.” Although he hadn't done a lot of that recently, due to a lack of time and materials. He just couldn't seem to fit it in.

Finally, the course had been explained to them, and Kai nodded, holding Lupus back as he glanced over it. Sounded easy enough, as long as he kept the mare on track. He wasn't quick enough to volunteer, though, and so had to wait his turn, although he did watch everyone else's rounds, and spoke up after the first one, “Gretchen, it looks like Bahir is definitely capable of going over higher fences, at least.” He wanted to comment about the horse over-jumping slowing down times, but he couldn't recall the source on that, and so decided to keep it quiet for now. The teacher could weigh in on that.

Finally, it was his turn to go, and Kai brought Lupus into a canter as he approached the starting fence on the opposite side of the arena. They went over the first few with no issue, but in the middle of the combination, something, perhaps the shadow or something outside of the arena, caught Lupus' eye, and the mare skipped sideways rather than over the next jump. Kai remained in his seat and frowned, although he urged the mare up again and then pointed her at the combination again, starting at 4A, and this time keeping Lupus straight and her head in the game.

The rest of the course went without issues, and Kai slowed the mare again after they'd cleared the last fence, “Apparently we're having some trouble with shadows today. I should have been more on top of her and kept her going despite that.” He waited, eager to hear what other students may have caught about his ride.

[Ingrid Skoglund]

Tana was in one of her moods. Ingrid could tell right away by the way the mare pinned her ears when she approached and the few attempts at kicking while having her hooves cleaned out. It was quite the struggled to get the mare from her stall to the arena with everything in one piece. Hopefully a bit of jumping would cure that. The girl mounted up and started her warmup. The Fjord horse bucked into the canter and felt a bit dead to the reins. Fantastic. The lecture was dull at best. As soon as Ingrid brought her horse back to a walk to line up with the rest of the students, Tana turned around and tried to bite the girl's foot.

"I'm Ingrid Skoglund, and this is Tana. I also do biathlon." There was no need to actually explain her sport. If anyone was really interested, Ingrid figured they would have done the research. She followed the instructor's directions for the course and waited her turn. Tana had her ears pinned the entire time. The other riders all looked good, and she couldn't think that there was too much they needed to work on. Small details, sure, but the overall picture looked fine. "Kai, except for that one refusal, you and Lupus looked really good."

She turned Tana towards the first jump and pressed the mare into a canter. Given the pony's smaller stride, Ingrid added a stride in each line. The size wasn't an issue, but Tana still felt the need to try and buck over every single fence. She galloped through the bending line from six to seven and took a rail by jumping long. All the turns were more angular than soft on account of the mare's apparent bad mood. She walked back to the rest of the group. "We're not communicating really well, and Tana is doing a good job at ignoring my leg and hand."

[Sasha Robb]

Sasha felt a nerve of anxiety as she groomed Blitz in the cross ties. Every once in a while, though, he would snort to reassure her that everything would be fine. Even though jumping was what the pair was best at by far, she still wasn't quite sure how she and Blitz would compare to the other horses in the class. Sasha imagined pretty well, but she wasn't sure nonetheless. She got Blitz fully tacked up, put her helmet on, and led him out into the jumping arena. As they were walking, Sasha looked over at Blitz's new bit. This was his second ride in the Happy Mouth Full Cheek, and he was an angel with it yesterday. She hoped he would be the same way today. Sasha mounted him before they went into the arena, so she would save his excitement at least somewhat.

As soon as Blitz and Sasha walked into the arena they began warming up. From the first few strides Sasha could tell that Blitz was definitely on his game today, as he was light on the bit and was following her every command. To her, his mouth felt like butter. When the instructor came in, they began walking tracking left and she heard the instructor's speech about the policies about this jumping class. She then lined up in the middle with the rest of the horses and riders.

"My name is Sasha Robb, and," she made a hand motion towards Blitz," this is Blitz. I like to run sprints," she said, not very enthusiastically. Sasha then watched the other riders and noted how exceptional they were. Then it was their turn to go. "Lets kill 'em Blitz!" She almost silently whispered to the gelding. Blitz bobbed his head in agreement. Sasha trotted a circle before cueing him into a smooth, rocking canter. She pointed him towards the first jump, and he jumped over it easily. Blitz then tugged on the reins, wanting to go faster, but Sasha held him back to his smooth canter. Blitz handled the next few jumps rather easily, until the turn leading into the combination. His ears began to flick back and forth, and Sasha could feel that she was losing his attention. She nudged him forward a little bit, and neither the combination nor the next few jumps were much of a challenge. However, the long turns kept his attention span very short, and Sasha could feel that she was losing him over these turns. However, they still got over all of the jumps cleanly and fairly. Finally, though, she pointed him towards the final jump, and allowed him to speed up just a notch to power himself over it. Sasha slowed him to a walk, gave him a pet, and returned him back to the rest of the group. "Today I've learned that Blitz has a rather short attention span going around longer turns. It seemed to be a constant struggle every turn just to get enough energy instilled in him to jump over the jump," She said, staring far off into the distance and not really paying attention to what she was saying. Sasha then looked at the rest of the class, eager to know what they would say about her ride.