Hunters A

[Abigail Sorenson-Faulkner]

Cara-Jean Kitchi
Danielle A. St George
Kallistos Rolleston
Marguerite Girardeau
Noah Sorley
Thomas Oliver

For as much as Gail loved the adrenaline from the jumpers, the hunters always had a special place in her heart. She liked to think of Livorno as her first real horse, and thanks to him, her debut in Florida was a success. It was nice to have hunters and jumpers on different days, so she could put herself in the right mindset for each class. SHe recognized a few names from her jumper class and looked forward to the new faces. The day was fairly overcast and drab, but at least the wind wasn't bad. She pulled a warm, blue fleece jacket over her polo shirt. Breeches and field boots were surprisingly comfortable despite the inability to run.

Gail had a simple course set up and double checked her mic to make sure it was working before the students started arriving. Maybe the jumping rings weren't super close to the barns, but it only took her a couple minutes walking. Just like with her jumper class, Gail waited an extra minute before starting the class in case anyone was running late.

"Good afternoon. Please continue warming up tracking left. Some of you I recognize from yesterday's jumper class. My name is Mrs. Sorenson-Faulkner, and I'll be your hunter instructor. I also teach show jumping. I know the course title says Hunter-Jumper, but here, I'll mostly be focusing on hunt seat and equitation. I'm going to assume everyone is comfortable jumping at least two feet. I expect everyone to come to class prepared. That means have a groomed horse, clean and functioning tack, and bring any extra aids you may need whether a stick, spurs, or both. If you or your horse cannot participate in the lesson, please let me know before class, and I will allow you to observe. Watch the other riders and don't do other homework or play on your phone. As a fore-warning, February is No-Stirrup Month, and this year, February has twenty-nine days. You're all so lucky to have an extra day without stirrups."

Everyone could benefit from more no-stirrup work. And it wasn't like she had a month of torture planned. She was quite happy to play the dollar-bill game, though the students very rarely came away with any money. Any money won from no-stirrup month was practically worth framing.

"Okay, now that everyone is warmed up, please make a line by me."

She stood next to the out of a line set off of the rail and across from the gate. The course was standard fare for a hunter trip--two outside lines and two angle lines.

"For introductions, I want you to say your name, your horse's name, and one goal or fear you have for this term. For example, my name is Mrs. Sorenson-Faulkner, I ride Rabbit, and my goal for this term is to have you all jumping at least a consistent seventy."

Gail made note of each student in her roster and wrote down the horse's name and any preferred nicknames. Introductions could be a little tedious and dull, but they were important.

"Today you'll be jumping a fairly typical hunter course. We'll start tracking left, so this line will be first. The two outside lines are four strides, and the angle lines are five. After your trip, I want you to come back and say one thing that was difficult for you. Everyone else, I want you to watch and give the rider a score out of one hundred. Eighty is a technically perfect trip, seventy is average. After each trip, I want one of you to give your score and why. What was good about the trip, and what could your classmate have done to get a better score? Any volunteers?"

Hunter scores were regarded as some great mystery by many riders. The actual scoresheets were full of strange acronyms and chicken scratch that meant nothing to anyone but the judge. She hoped that by having the students score one another, they would not only learn from each other, but also learn that hunter judging wasn't nearly so mysterious as it seemed.

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara was feeling quite proud of herself, as she got changed from her academic clothes and into an equestrian outfit. For lunch she'd had a bowl of broccoli and chicken salad, which had all of her food groups in one huge bowl and she had managed to eat most of it.

Heading down to the barn, she led Tex from his stall, down to the grooming stall and attached the cross-ties to his head collar. She then slipped into the tackroom for the gelding's plum grooming kit, her step and braiding bag. She then spent the next half hour quickly putting his silver mane into hunter buttons. Probably going a little overboard, but the first class of the year was always the one that set the tone for the rest of the year and, even on a pony, she wanted to be taken seriously.

When they were both ready; the gelding in his black tack and plum saddle blanket - the shade of purple looked nice against his almost liver colouring, and her with her long boots, helmet and gloves; they left the barn where she tightened the girth, vaulted into the saddle and headed toward the jumping arena.

The lesson intro was almost verbatim from the show jumping class, but she wasn't surprised, and the thought of riding two classes without stirrups for the following month almost brought a smile to her lips... almost, and she went back to warming the gelding up. Unlike the lesson from the day before, Tex took a lot more work to ride as the prospect of jumping always riled him up and he wanted to start jumping, yesterday!

As they were called into line up; though she asked the gelding to back up as he tried to go and say a friendly hello to their instructor, and were asked to introduce themselves, though the second part of the intro differed from the day before. Rather than waiting, she spoke up first, wanting to get this over and done with, without the chance of over-thinking the second part. "I am called Cara-Jean Kitchi and this is Tex." She said as she patted the gelding on the shoulder as he pawed the ground, his ears pricked forward. She pressed her lips together as she thought of what next to say, she wasn't the biggest self-promoter, and speaking about her fears just wasn't a done thing. "I'm afraid I'm not a good enough rider for Tex." Every time she thought of a hunter course, she could see Kit sliding to a halt before the final fence and her sailing over the jump without the pony.

Cara took the course first, just because she knew that once Tex had taken the fences, he'd settle down, at least a little, and it would be easier to concentrate on the others if she didn't have to keep checking her mount. Riding a circle in the canter, she tracked left and headed toward the first of the jumps.

Her shoulders were slightly slumped as they rode back to the group, the pony had rushed the last fence and knocked the top rail down and she concentrated on the pony's withers as she asked him to halt. She had done reasonably well, though she felt like she'd had to ask for a half-halt every other stride and still the pony wanted to go faster. "I had a few issues with my timings there, sorry." She said as her head lowered even more.

[Danielle A. St George]

The day following their show-jumping class, Dani had Aladdin ready for their hunter class. She had no other classes before the lesson, but did have swimming after the riding lesson. She was already stiff from the previous day, but she knew she would be. Only way to get over it, was to get back on Aladdin and ride to their best ability during the lesson. With Aladdin saddled up, she led him to the arena and mounted outside before riding in. Asking for a trot, she focused on rising to the correct leg, and keeping Aladdin in a forward, working trot. She felt the gelding was also stiff from the previous day, but it became less as they kept warming up.

Lining up again, Dani listened to the other introductions, I am Dani and this is Aladdin. My goal for this year is to have Aladdin and myself consistent in hunter classes. Not to maybe place, but to have a consistent score every time.

Dani went second, keeping her seat consistent and Aladdin in a smooth rhythm. They managed to clear the fences with ease, despite Dani not having any stirrups, and once they slowed to a walk, she made her way back to the line. Aladdin did feel as if his front feet were going to drop a few times, as if he was tucking in correctly. Aladdin is still stiff from yesterday, I think, so I should maybe have warmed him up longer.

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

[Kallistos Rolleston]

Kall curled his nose as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. Would he always feel more comfortable wearing his cheer uniform than his riding clothes? He had no real idea but he guessed there was nothing to do about it, as he could hardly turn up to his riding lessons wearing jeans.

Heading to the barn, he had a bounce in his step as he walked down to Cue's stall and led the horse out to get him ready. Leaving the saddle until very last, he decided to quickly plait the gelding's mane, as it needed to be pulled and was looking slightly untidy, but after quickly putting it into a running braid, he was happier with the look and finally fitted the saddle into place.

Arriving at the arena, he swung into the saddle, entered the arena and joined the others in warming up, he knew that it was important to keep the gelding moving and would be more than happy if the woman in the arena would give her instructions while they were on the move for the whole time. However, that wasn't to be so and he bit back a sigh as he turned Cue toward the woman and asked him to halt.

He rubbed the Quarab's neck as he shifted from foot to foot, wanting to move again. "I'm Kall." He introduced himself. "Or as your notes will say, Kallistos. And this is Cue. This year I hope to improve a more secure seat over the jumps."

After the two girls before him had taken their turns, he knew that Cue wasn't going to want to stand still for much longer so he raised his hand to signal that he'd go next and he easily squeezed the gelding into a trot and then a canter. As the flaxen horse was pretty close to being a school-master he took everything in his stride and when Kall forgot to do something, like ask for a lead change, the gelding did it on auto-pilot.

When they joined the others again, Kall leaned forward and rubbed the gelding's neck. "I think I was just there for the ride for a lot of that." He admitted with a laugh, he'd be the first to laugh at himself. "I probably need to be a little more assertive in directing him."

[Thomas Oliver]

While his gelding's mane annoyed him at the best of times, the shortness of it made grooming easy, and once Dragan was ready they were on their way out to the arena. He was looking forward to this class and knew that he wouldn't have to worry about the gelding trying to walk under something and knock him off - like he did on the odd occasion in trail class.

After the warm up, he lined up with the others and listened patiently until it was his turn to do his introductions. "I'm Tommy and this is Dragan." He rubbed the horse's neck as he watched the gelding's ears flick around and Tommy just knew the horse was looking for something to act up with. "Outside of rising and working in the barn I like to do Toso Kune Do and working with my bo staff."

When it was their turn, things started out great, as Dragan refused to transition into a canter, so Tommy rode toward the first fence at a trot and nodded when the gelding arched over it and landed in the canter. The rest of the fences passed in a flash and he joined the others. "I guess I need to work on my transitions." He said with a grin as he stood in the stirrup and scratched the gelding between his ears.

[Marguerite Girardeau]

"Come on Normy! We're gonna be late!" Meg urged, nudging the chestnut on as hard as she could. The big gelding hardly twitched an ear in response, and continued to plod towards the arena at the same slow, steady tempo he always did. Meg sighed exasperatedly, she did love Normy but sometimes she wished the old horse could move just a little bit faster.

Finally they arrived at the arena, though they were one of the last to show up. She nudged Normy's sides again, hoping to get him moving into a trot so they could warm up properly. It looked like they would be jumping a course, and Meg already knew if he wasn't warmed up the pair of them would knock down every single rail. She turned to look as their teacher began introducing herself, and listened attentively to what would be expected of them. Also no stirrups? Though Meg knew she had the leg strength to ride without stirrups she doubted she had mastered the balance yet. It was going to be a tough class for her to say the least, but she was prepared for the challenge.

Warmed up, at least as warmed up as Normy was going to be, she lined up in the middle with all the other students. When it was her turn to introduce herself she said, "Hello, my name is Meg, this is Normy, and I hope we will be able to jump a full course without knocking any rails down." That seemed reasonable enough, didn't it?

Patiently, she watched everyone else take the small sets of jumps. Each of them said a problem they'd had but Meg could hardly see what they were talking about. They all seemed so good, especially compared to herself! She suddenly felt nervous as her turn came, and she asked Normy to move into a trot and then into a canter. She directed him towards the first jump, finding she had to push him even more than usual towards the first line. He hefted himself over the first jump, albeit ungracefully, and didn't approach the second jump with much enthusiasm. Meg did her best to stay off his back and out of his mouth, pressing her heels down and trying her hardest to encourage him forward. His strides were always the correct distance, and he did his lead changes automatically, she just couldn't understand why they didn't jump clean.

They knocked down two rails in the entire course, which was the usual for Normy. As they slowed and returned to the center Meg patted his neck as she tried to catch her breath. She'd squeezed him with all her might and she still couldn't get the impulsion they needed. "I do not think this is a good sport for Normy, but I am still learning too. I think if we had more impulsion he could get over the jumps easier."

[Deleted]

Butterflies fluttered in Feralas's stomach as he rubbed down Hestia's stomach. Class wouldn't start for another hour or so, so he had contented himself by giving Hestia a good warm wash as soon as he woke around five AM. His body clock was fairly used to getting up so early, so Fer had made his way over to the barn and helped himself to washing supplies. Afterwards, he rubbed her down, gave her a good brush, and cleaned her hooves. After all, they wanted to make a good impression on their new.. uh.. classmates. To Fer that was.

After he cleaned her hooves, Feralas made sure to carefully clean the tack before they went on Hestia. After changing in the stall into a fresh pair of breeches, riding shirt, his boots, and his helmet, he hooked the plastic bag outside Hestia's dark blue stall. As he mounted Hestia, he noted the half hour until class started. In front of him, Hestia whickered happily, tossing her head. Feralas couldn't help but smile at her antics as he bent down to unlatch the stirr-ups and hook them up in front of the stall.

Afterwards, he clucked his tongue to the roof of his mouth and gently squeezed the sides of Hestia with his knees. As they rode to his first class of the afternoon, Feralas was getting more nervous to the point where he felt physically nauseous. As he entered the arena at a quick pace, he noted the few people already there. As the teacher began the lesson by introducing herself and listened to what would be expected of him, Fer reddened slightly. He had already given Hestia a good wash this morning, not to mention taking off her stirrups already. What could he say? He liked riding without stirrups.

When it came to his turn to introduce himself, Feralas spoke quietly, if not a bit hesitantly. " My name is Feralas Hemingway, and I'm new this year. My parents dropped me off yesterday. I prefer to be called Fer. " he gestured to the dark bay Morgan Thoroughbred beneath him. " And this is Hestia Hearthfire, also known as Hestia. " Feralas licked his suddenly dry lips. " I hope not to disappoint any of my new teachers after today. "

As he eyed the hunting course warily, Fer felt a little excitement bubble inside him. He loved hunting courses, though he and Hestia weren't that good at it yet. As he watched everyone else jump the course, he felt the excitement die away each time. Everyone was so good! Even though he certainly noted their mistakes, he thought they were much better than him. His heart in his throat as Meg finished the course and told them her mistakes, Feralas squeezed his knees against Hestia's sides and began to transition her into a smooth trot, then canter in quick succession.

As he eased into the hunter's position, he felt himself mold to his horse and they eased over the jumps. Albeit a little clumsily, but they managed it. With each jump, there was something a little different. Feralas was a little distracted at one moment, and had nearly lost grip on the reins. At another point, Hestia's hooves clicked over the poles. Thankfully, none of them fell. As they finished the course, Feralas added pressure to his left leg and gave a low, but sharp, whistle that Hestia knew to slow down. He could feel her strain slightly, but he ignored the softly whickering horse in turn to increase the pressure.

She slowed down as they circled, and Feralas took a deep breath. " As I am fairly new to the hunter's course, I noticed that Hestia's hooves clipped the top railings sometimes. Not to mention I was a little distracted at one point. "