Basics of Reining||Reining Clinic

[Sarah Worthington]

Sarah tied her blonde hair back in a ponytail. The Aussie who laid on the floor, gave a small bark to her. "Sorry bud. You can't see the horses." She spoke to the Australian Shepherd. The Aussie was well-behaved around horses, having been on a ranch for a few years, though Sarah knew some horses were frightened by dogs, not to mention that dogs couldn't be in the barn for obvious reasons. Blaze simply looked at her. "I'll see you later." She said, giving him a pat on the head and checking his water and food bowl. The dog had already been out a few minutes before. She'd have to take him for a run later. The Aussie was very rambunctious.

She pulled on her boots, and left the apartment. She was surprised to see that it wasn't that hot out, though it was somewhat humid. Sarah put it off to being from Texas which was hotter than Kentucky. 

Arriving at the reining arena, she knew what they would work on the first day. The basics of reining, including pivots and spins along with other reining moves, if they got the pivots and spins down well enough, that is. They wouldn't get into the hard stuff, such as what most people thought of when reining was mentioned. "Welcome to the reining clinic. For those of you who don't who I am, my name is Sarah Worthington, though you may call me Sarah or Ms. Worthington. We will start off with easy stuff today, though you may warm-up right now." She stated, standing in the middle of the arena looking out at the students and horses.

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At first, Julius thought that the Basic of Reining Clinic might be a bit too basic for him but then he decided that a review of even basic skill could be beneficial and could do no harm.  He did practice with Solo by himself sometimes, but it was better with an instructor and more interesting in a group.

Before the clinic, Julius changed into his riding clothes and headed down to the barn to tack up Solo.  Solo had been in the paddock earlier but Julius had brought him in a little while ago, so that he could preserve his energy and not be too tired from running around in the paddock.  He had also groomed him then so all he had to do now, once he checked to make sure that he was still well groomed, was tack him up in his western gear.  Once he was done with that, Julius led Solo out to the arena. 

"Hi Ms. Worthington," Julius greeted.  He waited for everyone to arrive and she introduced herself to those who did not know her.  Once she gave them permission to warm up, Julius mounted Solo and started to ride around.  They mostly walked, but they trotted a little.

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Jenna wasn't all that excited in reining, but it was an important and neccasary tool used with the horses. Jenna put on a short-sleeved loose black shirt and a pair of black riding pants. She did some basic makeup, eyeline, eyeshade, lipstick, and skintone blush. Once she was presentable, Jenna zipped up a comfortable pair of old, worn out riding boots and headed out into public. She ate a quick breakfist and headed over to where the reining clinic would be.

Jenna headed over to the stables and jnto the tack room. She grabbed a saddle and her equiptment. Jenna headed out and got Undying Sunlight Steps, or Sunday. She cleaned her thick fur and mounted onto her back. Jenna directed Sunday towards the reining clinic location, but after steering, let Sunday lead the way. They arrived at the arena just in time.

"Good morning Ms. Sarah" Jenna said smiling. The instructor told them they could go ahead and warm up. Jenna put her stuff down and then remounted her mare. Jenna started Sunday off slow and then picked up pace until they were racing faster than Sundays record. Jenna pulled a treat from her bag and gave it to her horse as a reward.

[Sina Aleardi]

Sina grinned as she pulled on her riding jeans, followed closely by her boots. She tied her hair back so that it would be out of the way, and then grabbed Derecho's collar and leash, "Here, Der." After she'd gotten the dog settled, they were headed for the barn. After stopping by the tack room to collect Rolo's grooming box, Sina headed back to the gelding's stall and dropped Derecho's leash after asking him to sit in the corner. After turning her attention to Rolo, she made quick work of grooming the gelding, even his white spots. Leaving both horse and dog in the stall, she made a couple of trips back to the tack room, and soon, Rolo was ready for the clinic.

After clipping the laminated sign to the front of Rolo's stall, along with Derecho's blue leash draped over the door, Sina checked the saddle bag that she had attached behind Rolo's saddle. Not quite reining-appropriate, but necessary, as was the watch on her wrist. Once outside of the barn, Sina checked Rolo's cinch and then vaulted into the saddle before turning the paint towards the reining arena. Upon approaching, Sina realized that she was the only one mounted, and slipped back out of the saddle before she entered the arena.

Before class, Sina considered approaching the teacher and greeting her, giving her own name, but decided against it. She knew who the woman was, since she would be taking her class when the year began... And as such, the woman already knew about her. Would probably be good enough. After the teacher had started the class by introducing herself, Sina nodded, then mounted again, rubbing Rolo's neck briefly before she asked the gelding to walk and trot around the arena. As she saw a girl galloping her mount around the arena, she pulled Rolo to the side and frowned, hoping that the teacher would say something about the reckless behavior. Sure, it was reining, but there was no need for the speed during a warm up.

[Sarah Worthington]

"Hello Julius. It's nice to see you again." She said, giving the boy a smile as he came into the reining arena. "Hello." She greeted the girl, glancing at the list of students who had signed up for her clinic. There was a Jenna and a Sina. Chances were that this was Jenna Arcord, but she didn't want to be wrong and accidentally call the girl by the wrong name, so she refrained from greeting the girl with her name. She nodded to another girl who entered the arena.

The saddle bag on the saddle wouldn't prove too problematic, though hopefully Julius' horse and the other girl's horse wouldn't be frightened or scared of it. The girl, Sina, obviously had a very good reason to having it, if the comment by her name was anything to go by. 

A horse cantered by fast,very fast for a warm up and the fact that this was only the basics of reining, and one of the other riders pulled off to the side. It was not Julius, and the horse pulled off to the side had a saddle bag. "Miss Jenna!" She stated, sharply.  "Please come in for a second." She said. "While I appreciate that this is reining, and as such, is faster paced than western eq there is no reason to go galloping your horse around the arena before she is properly warmed up. Your mare should warm up properly, and if this was not the basics of reining, she could be injured by some of the moves most reining patterns include if not warmed up well." She continued, finishing her statement quietly. "Please try and keep your mare slower, so as to not risk an injury to you, your horse, or someone else." She hoped that she had not been too harsh on the girl, but someone could have been injured, most likely the horse or the girl, herself. She was a bit disapproving that the girl had rewarded her mare for such a thing, especially in an arena with two other horses, and three people. Though she didn't say anything, as she had already given the girl a reprimand. There was no such need for the speed that the girl had already shown.

She watched the rest of the group warm up keeping an eye out for any more behavior like she had previously just seen.

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Julius watched as the two girls and horses entered the arena, after him and Solo.  He did not know either of the girls, but he had seen them both before.  Once of the girls had a saddle bag, which he thought was inappropriate for a reining clinic but he had seen this girl with a service dog before, although the dog was not with her now, so he suspected that whatever was in her saddle bag had something to do with whatever disability she had that she needed the service dog for.

Julius and Solo were trotting around the arena when, shockingly, the other girl and her horse started galloping around the arena.  He carefully steered Solo out of her way, but he did not stop or change pace, not wanting to admit that it was kind of scaring him.  He was glad when Ms. Worthington scolded her reckless behavior.  Julius and Solo sometimes liked to gallop like that on the trails but not in an arena with other people.  Still, he felt kind of bad for her and he wondered if she had somehow not known not to do that.  She did appear to be a new student and she had to have had riding experience somewhere else but he knew that all riding experiences were different. 

[Sina Aleardi]

Sina was glad not to get any comments about the saddle bag that she'd thrown on behind Rolo's saddle. She knew it wasn't really an appropriate choice for reining, but a backpack would have been even worse, and this way at least it was small and relatively streamlined.

After Ms. Worthington had called the girl who was racing her mount around the arena out and gotten her off of the track, for the time being at least, Sina poked Rolo back into motion. As she fell back into a trot, she tried her best to look like she wasn't listening to the woman's voice, although in all reality, she was next to craning her neck to catch as much as possible. It was never too early to get to know the teacher's personality, even in stupid things that Sina definitely hoped she knew better than to do.

Finally, after she felt that Rolo had stretched out enough at the trot, Sina glanced around before she nudged him forward into a controlled canter, looping around the arena before they switched leads, and then eventually dropped back into a trot. There was no reason to tire out the gelding, after all, although some cantering never hurt.

[Sarah Worthington]

Sarah could only hope that the girl took her words to heart, because if Sarah saw that behavior again without warming up, the girl wouldn't be riding in her clinic. It was reckless behavior and she hoped she wouldn't see it again-from any of her students. 

Once Jenna was out on the rail again she gave them a few more minutes to warm up, mostly for Jenna to warm up her mare. "Alright. Once you've warmed up both directions, please canter both leads if you have not done so already." She announced to the group. 

After watching them canter, she asked them to stop their horses on the rail. "We are going to be working on lead changes today. Lead changes are some of the basics of reining, and are seen in every reining pattern at least once." She said. "One at a time, you are going to canter clockwise on the left lead. Once you hit the middle of the arena, turn your horse across the center of it and at the middle of the line, bring your horse down to a trot. Ask your horse to pick up the right lead by taking your right leg off and putting your left leg on your horse's side just behind the cinch. Once you all get it from starting clockwise, you'll start trying it counter-clockwise if we have enough time today." She explained how to ask for a lead change, not wanting a flying change right now. The flying changes would be later in the clinic, if they got to them.

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OOC: Please PM me if you don't understand my explanation for crossing changes.

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After a quick canter, Julius asked Solo to halt and he did.  He saw that him and Solo had ended up in front of the girls.  He and Solo had arrived first so it made sense that they would go first.  Julius had never liked going first to do something in a class, since he had found that seeing other people do it first was a good reminded of what to do and what not to do.  He wasn't going to admit that, since it was not something that he needed to happen but it just made it a little easier for him to do things in the best way that he could.

Julius asked Solo for a canter, and he responded instantly.  They headed to the middle of the arena and slowed down to a trot.  He asked Solo for the lead change t took a moment for Solo to respond but he soon switched to the right lead. 

When they were done Julius reached out gave his horse a pat on the neck.  It may not have been an absolutely perfect but it almost was and he knew that his command had been a little light at first.  He was glad that this was not a competition but just a little reining clinic, although he would have put a bit more effort into a completion.

[Sina Aleardi]

When they were asked to canter, Sina shrugged and had Rolo repeat the rounds, switching leads in between. It did him no harm to repeat the process, and it would prevent her from being in the way doing something else than the rest of the group. Once the only boy in the group had stopped, Sina slowed Rolo, then stopped him a horselength behind the boy's mount.

When they got their instructions, Sina listened to the woman's voice, knowing the use of changing leads in reining patterns. Her father had spent hours working on his, getting them exactly in the center of the arena, or wherever they needed to be. After holding Rolo back for a moment to let the boy get enough space ahead of them, Sina loosened her grip on the paint's reins and asked him forward, cuing him into a canter after they'd started moving.

She was glad that she had Julius to follow, even if the instructions had been clear. It gave her more time to focus on Rolo, and not focus on the markers around the arena. It didn't help much, though, when she was slightly slow to ask for a slow to the trot, but they recovered and started on the right lead without an issue. After they had made it back onto the track, Sina smiled, patting Rolo's neck briefly before looking back up to the teacher.

[Sarah Worthington]

Sarah watched her students do the changes. Though Julius was little slow to get the right lead canter, and Sina a little slow to get the transition down to trot, she would rather see that when doing a crossing change than struggling to get a trot transition for even one stride before going back into the canter. "Very good Julius, and Sina." She said. "Though you both had a little trouble, the changes were done very nicely and working on transitions will help." She added in, just in case they wanted to improve on their changes while not in class or in the clinic. 

Glancing at her watch, she grabbed two more cones and paced them a few lengths away from the first set of cones. "Let's try doing two crossing changes this time, going counter clockwise. The premise of asking for changes will stay the same, except what lead you're asking for will change. Since you're going counter clockwise, the lead you'll start off on is the left lead. You'll come to first set of cones going counter clockwise and go the center of the arena, drop to a trot, and pick up the right lead. Turning for the next set of cones, get a trot in the center of the arena, and ask for the left lead again." She said, walking the pattern as well so Julius and Sina understood what she meant, in case they didn't understand the way she had explained it. 

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OOC: PM me if you don't understand what I meant when discussing how to do the two crossing changes.