Western Clinic #2

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Outlaw stood in the cross ties as Drew groomed her. Brushing down her legs, the mare stood quietly like she always did. Standing up he patted the horse on the leg and then went to pick out her hooves. It didn’t take long as the Appaloosa lifted her hooves with a tap of a finger. After that the grooming was done and Drew took the grooming kit back to the tack room and replaced it with tack.

Bringing the saddle, saddle pad, girth, and bitless bridle out Outlaw’s ear flicked forward. ”You ready to get going girl?’ Drew chuckled and went on tacking her up. Once her bridle was on, the man brought the reins over her head and walked her out of the barn. He mounted up because he was feeling a little lazy and walked the mare to the Trail Class field.

Hopping off Outlaw, he tied her reins up so they wouldn’t fly up over her head. Drew trusted the mare and she was very well trained. The man needed to set up the course yet, it wasn’t incredibly hard and so he set to work with the mare walking with him nipping at blades of grass. Once the course was set up Drew walked over to the gate seeing the students were slowly showing up, "Please mount up and warm up. We won't be doing a lot of canter work today, but we will be doing some."

Course;


Calling;
Amelia DeFoe
@running7
@sierra

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Caroline hurried to the White Oak barn to get Lucy ready for their clinic. ”Hi baby.” The sixteen year old gave the Thoroughbred a quick pat on the shoulder and went to the tack room to gather the groom kit. Lucy whinnied after her, but soon enough Caroline returned and moved the mare to a set of cross ties. Getting to work, the redhead started with currying and brought all the dirt up to the surface.

Taking a brush through the chestnut’s mane was a bit difficult as it hadn’t been brushed in a while. Lucy pinned her ears to her skill and looked back at Caroline. ”I know I’m sorry girl.” Once that was done all the grooming was finished and she returned the kit to tack room and got out the mare’s tack. Walking back out Lucy was pacing as she always did, because she was always impatient. ”Would you stop that.”

Tacking the mare up they were ready for the clinic. Caroline walked out of the barn and on foot to the trail class field. She saw she was the first student there. As she entered the field the instructor announced to warm up their mounts, but they wouldn’t be doing a whole lot of cantering just trotting and walking. Taking that into consideration, she mounted up, walked around and began warming up.

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Natalia lifted the western saddle off the saddle rack and carried it to Karmen's stall. She had emailed her mother about signing up for some western clinics because she though that it'd help Karmen. No matter what the discipline was every discipline could help a horse. Her mother had managed to get an old western saddle, bridle, and saddle pad for the western clinics. Of course the tack had needed cleaning which Natalia had done after her mother had dropped the tack off at BRRA a few days ago.

Natalia put the grooming box outside of the stall and quickly tacked the mare up. It took her a few tries to get the latigo correct but she managed to get it correct on her fourth try. Natalia undid the mare's halter and hung it on the stall door. Natalia adjusted the head stall after she had put the mare's ear through the ear piece. She put her helmet on and left the stall latching the stall door she started walking to the Trail Class field.

When she entered the field the instructor said to mount up and start warming up. He also said that they wouldn't be doing a lot of canter work but they would be doing some. Natalia tightened the girth before mounting up. The western saddle felt awkward to Natalia even though she had ridden western once or twice at Katerina's back in Russia. Once she had sorted out her reins she started warming up Karmen. The split reins were held in her right hand and her left hand was resting against her jeans. Her hand held the reins loosely and her right hand was low but it didn't touch the saddle horn of the western saddle. 

[Amelia DeFoe]

Amy finished running a cloth over Tommy's white spots, making sure that they shone. That was the one issue with both of her horses, she mused. The white spots looked terrible if they weren't anything but pure white. At least Tommy's were placed well enough that he rarely stained them, although Amur managed it with surprising regularity.

After tacking the gelding up in his trail saddle and headstall, she took the long split reins in one hand and grabbed Wolf's lead in the other, leading both out of the barn and towards the Trail field. As she entered, she saw that there were already obstacles set up, and she eyed them as she entered, dropping Tommy's reins to ground tie him as she opened the gate and let them in.

Hearing the instructions, she nodded without saying anything, then waited before leading Tommy over to the mounting block. After Wolf had assumed his regular position on the block, she asked Tommy to walk away, starting with a walk, then transitioning to a jog. After a few rounds, she let him canter for a short bit, letting the paint get out some energy, before slowing him to a jog again, sitting to the gait as she waited for further instructions.

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Once the students started showing up he tied Outlaw up so she wouldn’t be wandering around in the way. He thought about how a trail course can separate the great from the good, whether the discipline is English or Western. A trail course could showcase the beautiful bond between rider and mount or mock the fact that there is not. The course that he had set up wasn’t fast paced at all; the riders would only canter for about five to seven strides, depending upon their horses’ sizes.

Once enough time was given to warm up their mounts, Drew started. ”Welcome to Trail Class Clinic, I’m Andrew Rhodes; you may call me what you like, Mr. Rhodes or Drew.” He didn’t know whether all three girls were experienced in trail or western riding for that matter. So he asked, ”Just so I can get a feel for what levels of riders I’m working with, could you three go through and tell me and the others your name, how long you’ve been riding and if you have any experience in trail class and how much if you do.”

Once the three girls went through the questions he smiled and nodded. ”So I’ve set up a course as you can see. It is on the easier side of most trail courses. Please continue walking your mounts on the rail as I explain.“ Drew walked the course as he explained it. ”To start the course you will halt your mount at the blue cone, when I say go I want you to walk over the bridge and over the two ground poles, pick up the trot and weave in and out of the cones. There is one pole you'll have to trot over when weaving. After which you will pick up the right lead canter and canter over the two ground poles. There is a “box”,”

With this instruction he made air quotations, ”There are four cones set up. I would like you to bring your mount back down to the trot and simply ride through the cones this way,” He walked through the cones the way he had set it up to be and then made a loop around and came back through. ”And then like this. You will trot to the chute; you may come to the walk half way through the chute. Come to a complete halt at the end of the chute and back up your mount.

He took a breath, realizing this course was easier done than said, for once in a lifetime. ”You will back up all the way to this orange cone, then pick up the trot and go over these four cavalettis. They are at the middle height, so make sure you pick either sitting or posting for this. I myself would post as your mounts will most likely take high steps.” He got to the gate, glad this was the last obstacle. ”This is the last obstacle, a gate. You should use your left hand, you don’t have to latch the gate, but if you feel like you can, confidently go right ahead.” Drew looked for the reactions of the girls and smiled, ”Any questions?”

OOC: Here is my permission to powerplay Drew a little bit, you may go through the course, and if you want you can say that Drew said for them to go.

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After she was done warming up, Caroline looked at the course that was set up briefly, she knew that Mr. Rhodes would explain it soon. When the man called the three girls she turned Lucy and jogged over to him. After listening to him she went first, ”I’m Caroline Thompson and this is Lucy, I’ve been riding for about ten or eleven years, and we’ve done a few trail courses, but nothing too serious.” The other two girls went through the questions as well and then she asked Lucy to walk again.

Caroline listened to Mr. Rhodes go through the whole course. Although it sounded long when he explained it, she knew that it wouldn’t that long when they rode it. Once he was done explaining Caroline again stepped up to go first. She stood at the blue cone and halted the Thoroughbred. Once the man said go, Caroline gave the mare some leg and leaned forward slightly as Lucy stepped up on the bridge and sat back to where she originally was and back when she stepped off.

After Lucy walked over the two ground poles Caroline asked for the trot and weaved in and around the cones and over the poles. Sitting deep in her saddle and moving her inside leg in front of the girth and her outside behind it she asked for the right lead canter. They traveled over the poles easily, Lucy being the devious little thing that she was she carried on the canter, even with her riding sitting as deep as she could in the saddle and pulling on the reins a little.

Caroline thought, trot, trot, trot which oddly enough worked, regulating the trot quickly was the easy part. Going through the box like Mr. Rhodes showed them was also quite easy. Trotting into the chute was a bit of a joke for her as Lucy was trained to do a sliding halt from a full gallop. The girl let her horse trot until the last possible second and then asked for a halt. Backing up to the orange she pushed with her left leg to have the mare turn that way. Asking her to pick up the trot once more, Caroline took Mr. Rhodes advice and posted while Lucy trotted highly over the cavalettis. Leg yielding helped the redhead to get her mare gate and then turned around leg yielding again, she reclipped the gate so it’d be ready for the next rider.

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Once the mare was warmed up on both sides Natalia moved her leg back behind the cinch and applied the slightest of leg pressure to get the mare to lope. Karmen took off with a lovely canter transition. The canter was a little fast starting off so Natalia asked the mare to slow down her lope. The mare responded instantly. Natalia knew she had to be gentle with the shank bit. Even though the shank was short the bit was still harsher then what Karmen was used to. Luckily it wasn't to harsh and Karmen responded well to it without any head tossing.

If Karmen was ridden harshly with a bit, like the people who owned her before Natalia got her, she tossed her head back or picked up the wrong lead. Nothing that wasn't to major but just enough to show that something was wrong that she didn't like. All of that had gone away once Karmen had a bit that wasn't harsh and she wasn't being ridden ith heavy hands anymore. Natalia asked the mare to down transition into a trot and then a walk before doing a small bit of lope the other direction. Mr. Rhodes called to Natalia and the others. Turning Karmen, who seemed to be doing well with the reining, she walked over to him and the others. "I'm Natalia Pavlovna and this is Karmen. I've been riding for about seven years though I've never done trail courses." Natalia said after the other girl had gone. Caroline was the other girl's name. Natalia noticed that the other rider was Amy. It was nice to see someone she knew. Natalia listened with rapt attention as Mr. Rhodes explained the trail course. She put Karmen back on the rail and asked her to walk again. Though the course seemed long when the instructor had told them the course it would be shorter when they rode the trail course. 

Once Caroline went through the course Natalia walked Karmen up to the blue cone and halted the mare. The instructor told her that she could start the course. Signaling the mare to begin walking Natalia walked the mare up to the bridge. Karmen stepped on the bridge and walked over it with ease not even looking at the bridge. Karmen walked over the poles not touching or clipping a single ground pole. Natalia asked the mare to pick up a trot though the trot was slow which was exactly what Natalia wanted for this clinic. They jogged through the cones in a serpentine and over another pole. Once the serpentine was over Natalia moved her leg back a little and asked for the canter on the right lead. The mare picked up the lead immediately. The mare's canter was fast for what they were doing. "Legko." (Easy) She whispered softly to the mare. The buckskin flickered her ears back at the sound of Natka's voice and the canter became slower and was a lope after a few strides. Once they went over a few more ground poles Natalia pulled slightly on the reins after sitting in a trot seat to get the mare to jog. They went through a box and into a chute. Backing out of the chute was easy and the mare backed up straight. Natalia asked the mare to pivot 90 degrees though it was a bit hard with split reins. After a few seconds of hesitation the mare executed a lovely pivot.

Karmen walked over the elevated poles with no hesitation and the pair walked to a gate. Natalia grabbed the rope with her left hand as Karmen was standing next to it. Holding the rope Natalia asked to mare to pivot once more to get on tho their side of the gate and then asked the mare to walk forward. Halting again Natalia leaned out of the saddle to put the rope back so the next rider could do the gate. Once the gate was reclipped Natalia signaled for the mare to walk so they were out of the way of the next rider. 

[Amelia DeFoe]

When the teacher began speaking, Amy asked Tommy to move off of the track and stopped him, looking at the teacher as she listened to him. Mr. Rhodes. The name was familiar, of course. While she hadn't had him as a teacher yet, she knew that he would be teaching Trail during the year as well, and was looking forward to the class actually being taught. However much she didn't like his next idea, though, she listened to the other girls, then spoke, her voice just loud enough to be audible, “My name is Amelia DeFoe, and this is Tommy. I've been riding for about two years, and we've been competing in Trail for a year and a half of that.” It was her favorite discipline, although she enjoyed Western Pleasure as well, and looked forward to possibly showing with Amur later as well.

When he asked that they continue walking their horses, Amy realized that she shouldn't have stopped, then pointed Tommy back to the rail, allowing him to walk on a loose rein. She listened to the long-winded explanation of the course, biting her lip as she looked at the obstacles, hoping that she wouldn't forget anything. Usually, they would be given a paper a few days in advance of the competition, if that late, and she was used to studying the route more than just once, but she knew it was a matter of time for the clinic.

However, at least the course was shorter and easier than what they were used to, which made it easier. Remembering a longer course would have been harder, or the complicated steps people sometimes included. Amy shook her head when asked about questions, then halted Tommy out of the way, so that she wouldn't get into the course's way, and could watch the others to help remember the course.

Once Natalia had gone, Amy asked Tommy to step up to the blue cone, where she halted him, waiting for the sound of the word. Once it came, she put some pressure on Tommy's barrel and had him walk straight, approaching the bridge easily. The ground poles were no issue for the paint gelding, who was an old hand at the discipline, and who responded eagerly as Amy asked for a jog, weaving through the poles with the grace of an agility hound, before stepping over the ground pole.

The lope was easy, although the gelding picked up the wrong lead at first, before allowing himself to be corrected to a right lead, before they reached the poles. After they'd crossed the duo, Amy reined Tommy in slightly before having him pass through the box, turning around the cone and once again through the box, before they jogged into the chute, coming to a stop from the jog, rather than slowing to a walk.

After allowing the gelding to stand for a short breath, to emphasize the stop, she asked him to back up, waiting until she could see the orange cone and had him pivot before asking him to jog once more, sitting as he crossed them, used to the motion as he lifted his legs more than normal. After having him stop once more at the gate, she bent down, undoing the latch before having the gelding walk through, turning to redo the latch.

Having finished the course without major errors, apart from the lead in the lope, she smiled, rubbing Tommy's shoulder, bending down to whisper to him that she'd make him think more later, before she asked him for a walk and moved to join the other two girls.