Hunters B

[Abigail Sorenson-Faulkner]

Danielle Green
Elizabeth Phillips
Khalid Al-Kuwari
Liana Mars
Tinsley Elena Rutherford
Sapphire Madison

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.

[Liana Mars]

Liana finished putting the braids on Dyrim's mane into buttons and patted the horse on the neck, “There you go. All prettied up.” Depending on how the lessons went, perhaps she wouldn't braid him for class every day, but at least for first impressions, it was a good idea. It had taken her entire lunch period, though, with her grabbing bites from a sandwich while she worked.

Now it was done, though, and she just had to tack up. The barn was slowly filling again with students who were getting their horses ready for classes, but Liana wound through the people to grab all of her pony's tack before returning to the grooming stall where she'd left him. Dyrim had long since fallen asleep, which at least made grooming easier.

Once she'd done up the last buckle, Liana grabbed her gloves and things and pulled them on, buckling on her helmet, and then taking Dyrim's reins. She led him outside of the barn before she mounted, letting him walk over to the jumping rings, where she nodded to the teacher and then started working Dyrim around the arena, holding him back although he was itching to move faster.

When the class was started, she turned Dyrim to track left as they were bidden and listened to the woman while she worked on keeping the pony doing what she wanted, without running into anyone or getting into anyone's way. She grimaced at the mention of a no-stirrup month, but it was nothing new. Her trainer had done something similar, although he'd done it in November.

When they were called into the center, Liana slowed Dyrim and walked him until they were in the center, where she halted him, keeping a firm grip on the reins so that he didn't get any ideas about starting moving again. She'd heard who would be the new hunter teacher, and while excited, she kept her feelings in check now. There was time to speak to the woman later. “I'm Liana Mars, this is Dyrim, and my goal for this year is to work on Dyrim changing leads right before the jump.” It was something that had been an issue for a while, but Liana knew it was costing her points in the show ring. She just couldn't feel it half of the time, being so close to a jump, but having the teacher be aware that she was aware was a good thing.

Finally, it came time to start jumping again, and Liana shrugged as the class was asked for volunteers, “I'll go.” She nudged Dyrim awake and then circled him towards the jump in a canter before she set him up for the first jump. They popped over the first line with no difficulties, although their turn to the next went slightly wide. The course went by quickly, although Dyrim tried to make it even faster as they had approached the third line. He was always trying to go faster, another thing that they could work on, because it wasn't good to have to try and keep him slow while also directing him to the jumps.

Once they were done, Liana returned to the group and halted the gelding again, patting him on the neck briefly before she spoke, “We took the turns too wide to be optimal.” After that, she fell silent to listen to whichever student chose to score her run, waiting to hear what other thing she had missed or could work on.

[Khalid Al-Kuwari]

It was so much easier to keep grey horses looking grey in Qatar than in Kentucky. At least in Doha, his mare wasn't trying to hide as a bay or a liver chestnut. Sure, it probably wasn't the smartest thing to turn his horse out as much as he did, but Sarab was an Arabian with plenty of energy. He was curious to see how Sarab would get on with being a hunter. Nasr proved to be something of a wreck in the hunter arena with his jumper instincts worked against him. He spent the better part of the lunch period grooming his mare to a more presentable state. Tacking was the easy part as Sarab wasn't known to throw her head for the bridle or puff at the girth. He pulled on his helmet and double checked everything before mounting up outside the barn.

In the arena, Khalid asked Sarab for a working trot and relished in the familiar gait. As much as he loved Nasr, that gelding was like a luxury sports car. Fast, powerful, shiny, and perfect. But Sarab was more like the first car a kid ever owned. She wasn't the fanciest thing around, but she was always there, always reliable. He always looked forward to this class so that he could spend a little more time with Liana. The lecture was the same as yesterday, so the boy just tuned it all out. He slowed her to a walk to line up near the instructor. Introductions were boring, but necessary. Hopefully this was the last time he would have to do it.

"My name is Khalid Al-Kuwari, and this is Sarab. My goal is for Sarab to be a reliable hunter."

Hunters didn't exist in Qatar. So, this was a new discipline for both of them. The boy was practically praying that Sarab could make the transition. He watched as Liana rode first, reminding himself to count his strides, get deep in the corners, and maintain a steady rhythm. He didn't have an eye for the particulars yet, so he didn't notice the too-wide turns.

"I'd give an eighty. She made all the jumps without um...jumping long or short. The striding worked out fine, too. It could have looked prettier, but I didn't see anything wrong technically."

So maybe he wasn't the best person to talk, and he was just a little bit biased. Figuring it was his turn to go, Khalid rode Sarab to the rail and asked for a canter. He circled once before going to the first line. He pressed out of the first line and reminded himself to hold Sarab and keep her from trying to cut the corner. She felt hollow through the short end, but this was a bit new for her as well. The second line felt like a galloping five, and they missed the lead change until the corner. There was just so much to think about with his little Arabian. And this was their first lesson together in America. The boy sat up for the second outside line and chipped the out. Only one last shot to be perfect. He sat back in the saddle only releasing over the jumps, counted his strides, and got the lead change over the out. One last circle, trot, walk.

He walked back to where the rest of the class was waiting and gave Sarab her head. Not perfect, not even close. But it was better than how Nasr treated hunter courses. At least Sarab wasn't completely flying through them like a log with a rocket strapped to the back end.

"The last line was good, but Sarab still acts a lot like a jumper. I need to get her in better rhythm through the course."

Admittedly, he was dreading the score he would receive from a fellow student. It was almost agonizing the wait.

[Elizabeth Phillips]

Elba snapped on her helmet as she prepared for her next class. Annie was already tacked up, and the little pony pricked her ears attentively as Elba grabbed her reins and began leading her out of the barn. "We're going to have a good time silly girl, don't you worry about that! Our very first horse class together in America! Don't be nervous though, I'm sure they'll all be very nice!"

Pulling herself onto the pretty red roan, she rode towards the arena where class was being held. She smiled brightly at their teacher before tracking left to warm up. Elba glanced at the other riders in the arena curiously as they rode, admiring their horses. Sometimes she felt a little envious, mostly because of the height difference. Annie was very short compared to most horses she'd seen the other kids ride, but in the end Annie was her best friend and she wouldn't have traded the pony for anything, not even a giant warmblood. Besides, if she wanted to ride a big crazy horse she could always go home and ride her mother's OTTB mare.

When class began she turned to listen as their instructor began telling them what would be expected of them. Annie fell into autopilot, trotting patiently on the rail without having to be guided or asked too much. She groaned at hearing they might be having some classes with no stirrups, how she hated no stirrup months! Her legs still ached from the last no stirrup month in November, back in Ireland. She slowed Annie down to a walk and followed everyone to where their teacher was standing, lining up with the rest for their introductions. When her turn came she smiled cheerfully, "Hello! My name is Elba, and this is Annie. And one goal I have is to keep a consistent pace," she said.

Once everyone had given their names she looked out at the course they would be jumping. She watched two other students go first, not really having anything to critique them on in terms of their riding. They looked pretty good to her! After the second rider she volunteered to go next, and nudged Annie's sides to send her out onto the course. Annie picked up her canter automatically, and Elba circled her towards the first jump. The little pony took it easily, tucking her legs up like a good hunter was supposed to. Elba stayed with her, pressing into the two-point she actually felt pretty comfortable in.

Despite looking pretty however, their pace was wildly inconsistent. Annie tended to rush jumps, and Elba wasn't exactly sure why. They'd rush the jump, and when Elba pulled her to slow down she'd slow down to the extreme, with a short collected canter. Then Elba would give her some rein back, encouraging her to go a little faster, but she'd shoot forward again as the next jump came into view. Clearing the last jump she circled the pony around before patting her neck and rejoining the line. "Our pacing was really bad, like I said. We need to find one speed."

[Anna Jones]

Anna was very nervous as she scattered down the barn aisle to grab Sunstruck and put him in a grooming stall. When she approached the stall she found him napping in the back of his stall. "Heya Sunsrtuck," Anna said. She always greeted him before she walked into his stall; it was just tradition. Almost instantly the gelding woke up and let out a very loud nicker. Anna haltered him, brought him around to an empty grooming stall, and then threw his lead on the ground. The gelding didn't need to be cross-tied; he just stood there calmly and knew not to move. Anna continued to groom him and then tacked him up afterwards in a D-ring bridle, an all-purpose saddle, a saddle pad, and a martingale. She lunged him this morning to get all of the extra energy out of him, and he was very great during the lunging.

Anna led the gelding outside to the hunter ring, mounted him, and began his warm up. Just as she suspected, most of the extra energy was gone from him, and he was very willing to do what she asked. As soon as the class began Anna paid more attention to their instructor in the arena, and the Morab gelding dropped his head and began working on his own, basically going on autopilot. Then the instructor called them towards where she was standing, so Anna slowed Sunstruck to a walk and walked to where her instructor was standing. As for the no stirrups, she really couldn't care less; it didn't phase her one way or another whether or not they had stirrups. After people apparently named Liana, Khalid, and Elba introduced themselves, it was her turn.

"Heya! My name's Anna, and this is Sunstruck. My main goal that I have is to cease over-jumping hunter jumps," Anna said with a huge grin coming off of her face. After the other three riders had their turn at the hunter course, and after she critiqued Elba's ride about the pace, she brought Sunstruck to the rail and began cantering. Anna decided to complete a circle, because the gelding had been standing there for a while. The pair popped over the first two jumps without a problem, until Sunstruck began to speed up and over-jump the jumps. This only happened on two of the jumps, and the rest of the round was good, but it was still a problem that they needed to fix. Anna patted the gelding's neck and returned to the line of riders."Sunstruck over-jumped and rushed two jumps. Most of this is because of excitability, but it is still a problem nonetheless. We need to practice jumping smaller jumps to get used to them," Anna said, frowning.