Over the Moon

[Deleted]

    Over the course of the summer, Cora had planned courses for her show jumping class when she’d had the time, filling a binder with sketches and jump ideas for her students. Now, she set one up, dragging poles and standards around the ring to prepare for her first show jumping class. The course she’d chosen involved a lot of jumps, but none of the turns were terribly difficult, and she wouldn’t be timing them today. She just wanted to see how her students thought on course, which was a huge part of show jumping.

    Having finished setting up the course, Cora returned to the barn to tack up Fin. She’d decided that she’d bring her horse to this first class to demonstrate the course, all while explaining to her students what she was doing and why. She tacked up the horse in his normal jumping gear, put on her helmet, and grabbed her clipboard before leading him out to the arena. She’d given herself enough time to warm up Fin before her students began to arrive, and she took this time to do so, and stopped him in the center when she’d finished to greet her students when they arrived. She’d set up the P.A. system so that her students could hear her talk while she rode, and tested it, to made sure that it was working properly.

    As each student arrived, Cora greeted them and asked them to warm their horse up properly for jumping. She’d requested that all of her students conform to a dress code: a polo shirt tucked into neutral breeches with a belt and black or brown field boots or paddock boots and half chaps. She was dressed respectfully, and she expected her students to do the same.

Course

Calling:

Athena Achilles
@jeanneclaire
@maeve
Rose Hoff
Serenity Oliver
Stefan Eder

[Rose Hoff]

    Rose was pleased to be back at Blue Ridge with her mares, back in their normal routine. She'd still trained with Vintage and Eleanor throughout the summer, so she'd had little relaxation on that front, but it was nice to be back in a structured training program. Her first equine class back was Show Jumping, and she was rather excited to attend. She'd done lots of work with Eleanor over the summer, and the mare continued to improve in leaps and bounds.

    After her lunch, Rose found Eleanor in her stall and groomed the mare before tacking her up in her jumping saddle, running martingale, white square pad, sheepskin half pad, jumping boots, and bridle. Once the mare was set, Rose found that she had a bit of extra time, having finished her lunch early, and braided a quick, tight running braid that ran neatly over Eleanor's crest, since her mane was pulled and short. Putting on her own helmet and gloves, Rose led Eleanor out to the ring and greeted Ms. Addison with a smile.

    After mounting, she began to warm Eleanor up, trying to get her engaged and on the bit so that they would be successful once they started jumping. The mare was becoming a tad slow when they began, but before long, she got worked up, and needed to be held back.     

[Deleted]

    Maeve was nervous, to say the least, about starting her equine classes. A new trainer was a big step, and frankly, it was terrifying. Besides, up until now, she'd only been riding Ella on her own, and she didn't know how the mare was in a group lesson, or the standards of the lesson itself. Trying to calm herself down, Maeve just told herself that if she'd made the transition from her first lesson barn to Fox Meadows, she'd definitely be able to make it from Fox Meadows to here (even if here was a world-renowned academy specializing in equestrian training).

    Maeve got to Ella's stall early so that she'd be able to groom the mare thoroughly. It was only after she managed to cover herself in dust and hair that she realized that she'd gone a bit overboard. Stress working. At least Ella was clean. Dusting herself off to the best of her ability, Maeve tacked the mare up and then put on her helmet before leading Ella to the jumping ring where her first show jumping lesson would be held.

    Walking to the arena, Maeve prayed that Ella wouldn't act up entering. Please not today. Just not today. At the gate, Ella paused, thinking, and Maeve gave her a worried pat and walked on firmly. Ella stood, but after a few moments, walked in as if she'd never given it a second thought. Heaving a sigh of relief, Maeve entered, greeted her new instructor, and began to warm Ella up.    

[Deleted]

    Upon receiving the dress code message from Ms. Addison, Jeanne-Claire had been rather offended. As if she would wear anything but that. Who would? Apparently Blue Ridge was a little different than Fox Meadows. She'd quickly shrugged it off, however, and was just glad that it was now a rule in her two mounted classes.

    Her first mounted class of the year was show jumping, so with Jack. Frankly, she was just excited to strut her stuff in the arena, and Jack was exactly the horse to do so on. She made sure that he was sparkling before she tacked him up in his normal jumping tack. Once he was tacked up, she tucked all of her hair into her GPA and pulled on her gloves.

    After walking Jack out to the ring and entering, Jeanne-Claire greeted Ms. Addison with a saccharine smile and mounted Jack in the center of the ring from the ground - quite the feat. It wasn't until she was on that she noticed a familiar rider. She hadn't seen Maeve ride since Fox Meadows, presumable because the girl was working while Jeanne-Claire was riding. Maeve's style hadn't changed - it was effective, but not particularly pretty. 

She tightened her girth, adjusted her posture, and walked Jack out to the rail where she warmed him up, walking, trotting, and cantering him in both directions, and doing a couple of circles as well.    

[Stefan Eder]

Stefan approached the bay horse, holding out the carrot as a peace offering, “Well, my little Lupi?” In spending the past three days getting to know the mare, he'd already chosen her nickname, and by the way the mare's ears flicked forward, it appeared that she liked it, or at least accepted it.

Grooming the mare still wasn't a relaxing activity, and Kai had the slightest incline that it never would. While he managed to barely avoid the mare's feet as she danced, he knew it was a close thing. While he reprimanded the mare every time, he knew he would have to just pay more attention than he was used to.

After he'd finished, he walked towards the tack room and took out the worn tack that his parents had told him to use until he could decide on what he wanted for her shows, then set to work tacking up Lupus, still reprimanding her whenever she got too antsy, although he managed to get the girth done finally and bridled her, the mare finally standing more calmly.

After swapping out his paddock boots for his polished field boots, he clipped on his helmet, then led Lupus out into the sunlight, towards the show jumping ring. He smiled at the teacher and inclined his head, checking the girth before vaulting into the saddle and asking Lupus to walk forward.

[Serenity Oliver]

After lunch, Serenity hurried up to her room to get changed for her equestrian classes, more so the show jumping class, and throwing the clothes for the other classes into her backpack, which would get stashed in her locker until needed. She then pulled a tracksuit over the top to keep herself clean while she brought Plot in from the pasture.

"Come on, skinny." She said to the Selle Français mare as she slid the halter over her nose and led her toward the barns. It got easier each time, as the mare didn't start panicking as soon as they came within sight of the barn now, and she would happily stand at the hitching posts while Reni went and collected the things she needed.

Once the mare was tacked up and ready to go, Reni went back to the tack room where she shed the tracksuit, put her paddock boots back on and fitted her black half chaps into place. Sure, her field boots would be easier, but she liked to save them for shows when she had a choice. She then placed the helmet on her head and fastened it as she headed back out to Plot.

It didn't take them long to get to the arena and she quickly mounted up and got plot settled under her, with a few high-spirited bucks, and got her thinking about what they were doing as she waited for Ms Addison to start the lesson.

[Athena Achilles]

After lunch, Athena changed into the clothes she had picked out for show jumping class - and threw some extras into a duffle bag to leave in her locker, and then headed down to the pastures to bring Bear in, as she had taken the gelding out to the pastures before classes started that morning.

Once the dunskin was groomed and saddled, Athena swapped her paddock boots for the field boots in her locker and snapped the helmet under her chin. Walking back out to where she had left Bear, she removed the cross-ties and led him out to the jumping arena where the rest of the class had gathered. She knew she was the last to arrive, but she also knew she wasn't late.

Quickly mounting up, she rode into the arena and put the gelding through the show jumping warm-up that the two of them had perfected over the last year. She had worked the warm-up so that the gelding was supple and relaxed, but not in such a rush that he couldn't be trusted in a jumping arena. She rubbed his neck as he lowered his head, seeking out the contact. It was then, that she knew he was ready to tackle anything that was put in front of them.

[Deleted]

    All of her students arrived on time, and Cora was happy to promptly begin the lesson. She gave her students another couple minutes to continue warming up their horses and used this time to work Fin a little bit more. She didn't want him to get cool from standing, so she warmed him up with the rest of her students before pushing on her microphone and stopping in the center. "Hello, and welcome to Show Jumping. You may continue to work your horse while a talk, just let me know if you can't hear me. For the couple of you who haven't met me yet, my name is Ms. Addison, and I  teach Show Jumping and Hunter Jumping here at Blue Ridge. This is Finegal, my jumper, who will be helping me demonstrate today, a bit later on. As long as you're all warmed up, we're going to begin. If you have any concerns about jumping any of the jumps in the ring, please let me know now.

    Since you're all currently tracking right, I'd like for you to follow each other over the in and out (4a anad 4b), and then reverse direction over the vertical (6), through the center, following Rose. Then take the vertical on the other long side (1). Make sure to keep enough space between yourself and the horse in front of you. You can canter through the exercise and return to the trot after the last jump." None of the jumps were too high, and she just wanted to see how all the students handled themselves over fences, to make sure that she could throw them into the whole course. It shouldn't pose a problem for any of them, hopefully. In the past, she'd had all of her students introduce themselves and their horses, but she knew most of these students already, and she wanted to get right to work. She'd meet them formally after the class, but she already knew who they all were based on her attendance records. The only students she hadn't met were Stefan and Maeve, and it was easy to tell them apart.  

[Rose Hoff]

    After a few laps around the arena, Eleanor was working nicely in front of Rose's leg. The thing about Eleanor was that the mare would jump anything she was asked to (so long as it wasn't too scary) and put her heart into it, even from a stop, if necessary, so her rider had to make sure that she was ready to jump to keep them both out of trouble. When Ms. Addison began to speak, her voice coming from the speakers placed around the ring, Eleanor startled, skittering aside into the center, and almost unseating Rose, who wasn't expecting it either. Gathering the mare back under her, Rose pushed her on, keeping the pressure on until Eleanor relaxed and realized that the mysterious voice wasn't going to hurt her. The speakers hadn't been too loud, but Eleanor was just hypersensitive.

    After listening to the instructor's instructions, Rose guided Eleanor off of the outside track to set her up for the in and out, which was set just inside of the track around which they'd been warming up. She kept the mare at the trot approaching the first vertical, setting her up to pick up the canter over the jump. Eleanor leaped into the canter, fitting in a neat stride before taking the oxer after it. Rose cantered her off, keeping the canter as she cantered around the ring on the inside track, calling out "Inside." if she passed another rider on the rail. When she reached where K would be in a dressage arena, she turned in on the diagonal to M and asked Eleanor for a long spot over the vertical down the diagonal. The mare obligingly got a lead change over it, and Rose cantered her around the ring, again on the inside track, to the final vertical. She stayed on the inside track until it was clear of her classmates following her, and she then moved into the outside track, now tracking left.
    

[Deleted]

    Ella was a dream during her warm up, responding actively to anything Maeve asked of her. Maeve had found that the best way to ride Ella was with minimal contact, just enough to keep the mare secure and listening. She was happiest when Maeve's hands were light, and Maeve had been adjusting her riding to accommodate for Ella's desires, giving her head space over jumps, and allowing just enough pressure on her mouth to keep the least bit of contact.

    Maeve's nerves started to act up again when Ms. Addison began speaking, and she made a note to properly introduce herself to the woman after class. She'd seen her around, but hadn't known who she was, so she'd kept her distance. Looking over the jumps in the ring, Maeve felt rather confident that she and Ella could manage all of them, as she'd been trying the mare over a variety of jumps all summer, and none of these seemed as if they would cause any issues.

    As she was right behind the girl she supposed was Rose, Maeve and Ella followed them over the series of jumps that Ms. Addison had explained, keeping a lot of distance between them so that Ella wasn't simply following the other mare. They made it through nicely, though Ella was getting more powerful as they took each jump, and Maeve had to collect more, sitting a bit deeper in the saddle. After the jumps, they returned to the trot.

[Deleted]

    Jeanne-Claire, who had settled into her warm up behind Maeve (okay, maybe so she could critique the other girl's riding), brought Jack back to the trot as Ms. Addison began to speak so that she could listen more actively. She rolled her eyes when they were asked whether they had problems with the jumps. They were cake, and if any of her classmates did have an issue with them, Jeanne-Claire would have some complaints about her class placement.

    When it came time to run through their first exercise, Jeanne-Claire collected Jack a bit so that they would have lots of room in front of them, knowing that once they started jumping, he'd start to close the distance between himself and Maeve's mare, simply because of his long strides. She asked him for the canter a stride before, and had to hold him back in the in and out so that he didn't turn it into a bounce. She worked to keep his stride even, as Jack clearly wanted to extend and get faster. Keeping him steady and easy as best she could, they popped over the jumps with ease, and returned to his long, elevated trot on the rail once they had completed the tiny course.    

[Stefan Eder]

Stefan felt Lupus start as the PA system came on, and rubbed her shoulder as he asked her to continue trotting, posting to the motion as he listened, although he kept his eyes up front to make sure that the leggy mare didn't catch up to anyone. As she asked about jumps in the ring, the boy looked around, but he didn't know what Lupus would be willing to do with him, as they hadn't jumped together yet.

The names for the jumps seemed strange, but they looked familiar. At least he wouldn't have to go first and identify them, he thought. He was unsure of whom he was supposed to be following, but guessed that the bay ahead of him, with the girl that had shown up in quite a few of his classes, would be a good place to start.

As they began the round, Stefan held Lupus back more than he might have with a mount that he knew, leaving the tall-ish mare enough room to move once they began, although not enough to lose the girl they were supposed to be tailing. It was a difficult task keeping her at a trot as they let the other horse get ahead of them, but he managed, barely, until he judged it as enough space, and loosened his reins, asking her to surge forward.

She jumped over the first part easily, although he could feel that his control over her stride was lacking at the second part of the jump. However, after she'd landed, he found her responding more eagerly as he directed her to the next fence they were to take, and after that, it was far more simple to control her, although getting her to slow after the last jump they were to take was a chore, and they had burned up almost all of the leeway he'd left himself to the horse in front of him.

[Athena Achilles]

Athena had never thought that she would grow so attached to a horse that didn't belong to her, but after the past year she really felt like Bear was hers, and she knew she would be heartbroken when she was moved onto another horse, which was inevitable when one rode a school horse. She rubbed the gelding's as he flicked an ear as the sound system crackled slightly as it was turned on, but he gave no more reaction than that. 

She slowed him from a canter to a trot as Ms Addison began the lesson and she split her concentration between the horse beneath her and the woman in the centre of the arena. Her eyes moved to each of the jumps that were mentioned and she could easily follow, and remember, it in her mind.

Bringing up the rear of the ride as asked for a canter again. Athena made sure she kept a good distance between Bear and the mare in front of them. She knew that Bear had a tendency to  over-jump at times and she didn't want there to be any chance that Kai's horse suddenly found another horse right on top of her heels.

The small course passed beneath them in a blur before she was once again cuing the gelding for a trot, and she then took the time to go over the course. Things had gone well, until they had headed toward the final jump and Bear had forgotten that they were show jumping and wanted to gallop toward the last fence, though Athena had quickly brought the gelding back under her and collected him before he almost stag-jumped the vertical.

[Deleted]

Dorothée walked to the barn where Rançon was stabled. She was dressed in beige breeches, black field boots, and a dark brown belt. Her polo shirt was a dark forest green-the same color as Rançon's stable color and his saddle pad. She was about an hour and a half early but it would give her time to groom Rançon, braid his mane, and tack the gelding up.

She grabbed her grooming box and Rançon's halter and lead. She walked to the Selle Français's stall and took him out to the cross ties. It'd be easier to braid out in the open then stuck in the stall. Clipping the gelding to the cross ties she started grooming him. Once she finished grooming him she ran her hand down his front legs to check for any heat but was pleased to notice no heat in his legs. 

Once she was finished grooming she started braiding his mane doing tight hunter braids. Though this wasn't a hunter jumper class she didn't want to do button braids seeing as it wasn't a dressage class either. Dorothée had heard of what was called a running braid but she'd never done one before or even seen what a running braid looks like. She grabbed his tack: a brown jumping saddle, his forest green pad, and a brown bridle that was a spare in case one of her bridles ever broke or she needed to use it as a practice bridle. She didn't want to use her show bridles for every class incase the gelding started getting used to them and ignoring her. She started riding Rançon with the show bridles a few weeks before the show or shows. She grabbed her helmet and clipped it securely on. Going to the cross tie where the gelding was she quickly tacked him up. Putting the bridle on she walked to her class pausing to put his halter and lead by his stall so she could easily get it once the class was over.  

Walking to the class she quickly mounted up after tightening the girth and began to warm the dark bay gelding up. Once everyone in the class was warming up the instructor said go over the in and out, over the vertical reverse and then over another vertical. Easy enough. She asked the gelding for a canter following a girl with a dunskin horse. The course was a blur. Rançon went over every jump as if it was nothing. He could've trotted over them but the instructor said to canter so they did.

She signaled for the gelding to trot after they went over the last vertical. Rançon came down within a stride of her asking the dark bay to trot and she began to post to his forward trot. The gelding was always forward when it came to jumping. Every transition from the gelding was forward and filled with impulsion. That was just how he was when it came to jumping. 

[Serenity Oliver]

Serenity was pleased with the way Plot was moving and the Selle Français had her hindquarters under nicely as she moved from behind, each step powered forward. She kept the mare moving while their instructor greeted the class and told them what they would be doing each day. She eyed each of fences up, preferring to have walking the course first just so she knew the striding; but she knew that wasn't possible during a class and she had been riding long enough to be able to judge her striding and knew that Plot would get them out of any trouble.

Finding a spot behind the horse in front of her, she asked the mare for a canter, and shook her heads when Plot moved forward in a counter canter. "Other lead, silly." She said as she asked for a flying change and rubbed the mare's neck when she made the change without even a flicker of her ears. "It's going to be one of those days, huh?" She knew that it was the mare's way of testing her.

Plot seemed to float over each of the fences as though they weren't even there and before too long, Reni was sitting back and asking the bay mare to transition down to trot.

OOC: It seems that when I posted Athena I was having a blonde moment, so next posting round I'll pop Reni back where she's supposed to go, after Kai.