Turnout Counts

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    Cora’s favorite classes to teach were her hunter/jumper classes, and so she was very pleased to start her new year. She’d decided to start the year with a very simple course, to gauge her students’ skills. She’d set up the ring with eight jumps: two lines on each side of the ring, and two diagonal lines, each line with two jumps: either cross rails or verticals.

    About an hour before the class was scheduled to begin, Cora got to work tacking up Remi, who she was bringing to her first class to use as her model of a good hunter. She’d wanted to bring Sophie, but the young mare still acted up on occasion, and she may not be the best model hunter yet. She tacked the gelding up and hooked the microphone for the P.A. system in the arena onto her polo collar before leading him out to the arena.

    She warmed him up carefully over a few jumps before stopping him in the center to wait for her students. As each student arrived, she greeted them, and asked them to warm up their horses for jumping. She’d asked each to dress properly for each class in a polo shirt tucked into neutral breeches with a belt, and black or brown field boots or paddock boots and half chaps. She liked for her students to be dressed respectfully for riding. While schooling, they could wear what they wanted to, but this was a hunter/jumper class, and turnout was important.

Calling:
@neigh
@anna
@kate
@lacy
Thomas Oliver

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    Kate knew that Poet wasn't going to be a proper hunter today. She'd ridden him once since she got back, and he'd been a bit naughty, and she was sure that he may throw a fit again since he hadn't been ridden by her all summer.  Luckily, his fits were small and hissy, and Kate just hoped that he'd been fairly good for his riders over the summer. In preparation for their hunter class, Kate gathered the horse's tack and brushes, and found him in the stall, snuffling happily at his shavings.

    After brushing and tacking him up, she led him out to the ring where their hunter class was being held. She greeted Ms. Addison with a grin and mounted Poet. The gelding seemed fine, but she knew that when she asked him to actually work he'd protest. Sure enough, he was fine through her warm up at the walk and the trot, a perfect gentleman. However, when she asked him for the canter, he resisted, just extending his trot until he looked rather like a hippo charging around the ring. Bringing the horse back to a walk, Kate asked again, this time making him pick up the canter. After a few baby bucks, Poet was cantering around, though not happily, and he still tried to break in the corners.

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    Anna's summer at home in Cape Cod had been amazing, and she was back to missing it, though she had missed Blue Ridge when she was there. Her barn friends had all been envious of the stories she'd told of the extensive facilities and variety of cross country jumps. They'd taken their horses to the beach to gallop, and Essie had seemed to enjoy the trip too, even if she'd had to travel. 

    Now, however, they were back. Gathering Essie's tack, Anna found the pony in her stall and groomed her thoroughly before tacking her up in her normal jumping tack. Putting on her helmet, Anna led the pony out to the jumping ring and smiled at Ms. Addison. She tightened the girth and pulled down her stirrups before easily mounting from the ground and guiding Essie to the rail.

    The mare was sweet while warming up, and Anna was glad that she wasn't affected by the antics of the other gelding in the ring who was putting on a bit of a fuss. Through it all, Essie was cool and collected, doing her job (so long as no one came near her with a crop or spurs). Anna knew that she was lucky that Essie was such a peach and would really put up with anything she threw at her. 

[Thomas Oliver]

Tommy felt like a bit of a fool as he walked down to the barns, he felt like was dressed to go to a show rather than heading to class, but after three months off, of course it was going feel strange wearing the equivalent of a uniform again. Currently the only thing he was missing was his field boots, as paddock boots were so much easier to walk around in.

It didn't take him long to get his Dragan ready for class and before too long the paddock boots came off to be replaced with the longer boots. Sure, he could have put half chaps on, but then he could also have to have buffed the boots he had been wearing around the barn, and it was easier just to change boots, because in buffing the boots, he may have scuffed his beige jodhpurs and that would have meant clean jods and he didn't want to go there.

He led the flaxen bay down to the arena, where he greeted their instructor, fixed the girth another hole and sprang into the saddle before squeezing the gelding forward. They had walked a couple of laps before he put his feet into the stirrups, slid his left leg forward and tightened the girth another two holes and then went into their warm-up.

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After making sure that she was ready and properly dressed for class, Amber went down to the stables to get her horse ready.  As she groomed Rapunzel, she wondered if hunter/jumper class would be anything like the clinics, and she wasn't' sure if she wanted it to be or not.  She tacked Rapunzel up and then she led her out to the arena and saw that some other students and horses were already there.  She cast a smile in Tommy direction, glad to see someone who she at least sort of knew.  Ms. Addison told her to warm up, so she checked her girth and mounted at the mounting block.  

She asked Rapunzel for a walk and they walked around the arena.  Amber made sure to watch out for the other horses, something that they were still getting used to.  Fortunately Rapunzel was being very good today.  Amber was a little worried because some of the horses weren't, but Rapunzel didn't tend to be affected by the behavior of strange horses whom she had never met.  After walking around the arena she asked her horse for a trot, and she obeyed.  She was still being good but Amber could tell that she was nervous. 

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    Cora greeted each of her students as they entered, and was pleased when most arrived on time. After marking down her one late students, she let them warm up for a few more minutes, working Remi a bit more during this time as well. After a bit, she walked to the center and turned on her microphone, making sure that it wasn't too loud. She'd turn it up a bit after she first spoke so that the horses could all get used to it.

    "Hello, and welcome to your hunter/jumper class. Most of you know me by now, but I'll introduce myself anyways. I'm Ms. Addison, the hunter/jumper and show jumping instructor here. This is Remi, my hunter, and he'll be helping me demonstrate some points today. We're going to start right away now that you've warmed up. Following Kate, please pick up the canter at C and canter once around before continuing down the diagonal over the line and reversing direction. Please keep the canter once more around the ring until you reach A again. I'd like for you to try to get your lead change over one of the jumps, or a flying change in the center."

    It was a simple enough exercise, and the jumps were small, so she expected that her riders would be able to handle it. As they executed the exercise, Cora watched and gave suggestions, noting what each rider would need to work on in their following classes.