the trail course less traveled

[Deleted]

Adonya van Rutherford
@running5
Jon Atticus McCloud
@neighneigh
Sina Aleardi
Thomas Oliver

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Another school year another class to be had. Drew made the decision to leave his mounts back in their fan cooled stalls. Before leaving the barn he grabbed his clipboard and his headset before setting off towards the trail field. He wanted to get there early in order to set up the course. Yes, he should have set it up sooner than he was now, but better later than never. Taking a look at a copy of the course Drew got to work. After about fifteen minutes of making sure it was all right it was ready for the students.

Drew moved off to the side and waited for his pupils to show up and set up his headset. "Testing, Testing 1...2...3." It worked after three months of not being used. With his clipboard tucked under his arm, Drew waved at his arriving students. "Welcome back everyone! Please warm up your mounts as you see fit, we will be doing cantering or lopping in today's class so warm your mount up accordingly." He saw new faces and old ones, which was good because the course he set up today was to just give him an idea of what he was working with as a whole.

Once everyone got warmed up Drew started the class, "Alright everyone, we are going to get started. For those of you who don't know, I'm Mr. Rhodes and this is trail class. As you might have been trying to figure out the course we will be riding today I will tell you that it is simple but not beginner." He walked towards the first student and handed them a copy of the course. "Here is the course on paper if you choose to look over it is up to you, I will be vaguely explaining it." He walked back to the beginner of the course.

"Alright so you will start with the gate, end up on the other side turned around at a walk, then once you are done with that you will trot or jog up through the poles, stop, back up diagonally stop once again and take off in a right lead lope or canter around the ground poles, back to a jog to a walk, go inside the box turn around, leave the box at a jog, weave in and out of a cones while going over the ground poles. Finally get back to a walk, over the ground poles, in the box with your horse's back feet and turn while keeping the back feet in the box."

He took a breath and looked at his students. "Move off to the side, if you want to you may keep your horse moving to cool them down if you see fit. Any questions? If not then who wants to go first?" It was a lot of information to take in but he knew that his classes usually picked things up pretty quickly.

[Deleted]

Jackson was nervous about trail class this year. He had a new mount with a new saddle to use. Of course he had used an English saddle before with Fore, but he didn't use it aside from dressage, he always was in a western saddle when he was in trail class, but change was alright for him and he would have to get used to it. He had ridden Remi a little before the class and he felt confident enough that he wouldn't make a fool of himself while attempting to do whatever Mr. Rhodes had in store for them today.

He groomed the mare while she stood like a gem, from what he could tell she was a great horse and great for a novice rider such as himself. Once the saddling was done Jackson led Remi to the trail field to see that he was the only student there so far, which was alright with him. He checked the girth and hopped up into the saddle before he began walking her around the field.

Finally when Mr. Rhodes called the class in to begin he was confident but he was not going to volunteer to go first. He waited for someone else to step up and it didn't take long for someone to do so. Jackson said he would go next and so he walked to the gate and unlatched it, moved Remi through and relatched it. Giving some leg and asking for a trot the mare happily complied.

He sat deeper in the saddle and pulled slightly on the reins and she stopped, making sure her head was tucked to her chest Jackson maneuvered her backwards and stopped once again. He positioned his legs to ask for a right lead canter and rode her around the circle before asking for a trot again and then a halt in the box. With a leg to keep the mare moving in the right direction, the two were almost done.

More trotting led the pair over the ground poles and through the cones, asking for the walk once more Remi lifted her feet to missed clipping the poles, the box was nothing and the course was soon over. Jackson didn't know exactly what Mr. Rhodes was looking for but he completed the course without many mess ups and was happy with that.

[Thomas Oliver]

There was a bounce in Tommy's stride as he headed to the barn to get Dragan ready for trail class. There again though, it was Tommy, when didn't he have a bounce in his step? It didn't take him long to get the flaxen bay ready for class, making sure that every part of the gelding shone like a newly minted penny. As soon as the horse was tacked up in his close contact saddle and snaffle bridle and his all-purpose boots in place, Tommy was ready to go.

It didn't take them long to get to the arena for their class, and even as he was waved into the arena, he was already looking at the pattern that had been set up in the arena. He knew that he shouldn't try and work out what each piece was to be used for, and at what gait, but he couldn't help it as he slowly warmed Dragan up. Keeping him moving smoothly until they were called in.

He watched carefully as Jackson rode the pattern, cringing at how how got her to back up, and wondered if Mr Rhodes was going to pull him up on hyperflexing the mare, as a horse's chin should never touch their chest, even in backing up. He offered to go next and released a sigh, which Dragan happily echoed, before they made their way the gate.

They went through the pattern nicely, his work over the summer with the gelding seemed to be paying off as Dragan backed up easily at the smooching noise he made and then instantly bounced forward into a canter, the poles were no problem, as the gelding was a talented hunter - Tommy's real concern was to convince the gelding not to skip over them, and then they were at the end and he rubbed the gelding's neck as they walked back to join the others.

OOC: Running, can you please let me know what it says in that "hot spots" box, just cause I'm curious. Thanks

[Adonya van Rutherford]

Not having to groom her own mount made Blythe's preparations for class so much easier. She waltzed in from lunch and shooed the now-sophomore out of Kodak's stall, then glanced over his tack before nodding, "You'll do." She picked up her helmet, which the girl had set carefully prepared in Kodak's stall, and then led the gelding out of the box. Once out of the barn, she buckled the helmet onto her head and then boosted herself into the saddle.

They walked their way to the trail field, and Blythe nodded at the information they were given. She turned to warm Kodak up, waiting until nearer the end to have him move up into his smooth lope, before they were called in. She stood, where she could see the teacher, and waved off the offer of the paper. Watching the teacher was good enough for her.

Finally, the two students that had arrived before her had cleared the course, and Blythe pointed Kodak at the starting point. The course wasn't really a big problem for them, a simple one that really shouldn't have worried her. They had worked on the gelding's winding around the poles a little bit before they'd left for the summer, and then again after her return, so even those went smoothly, and before too long, Blythe and Kodak were back along the rail, walking around on a loose rein to keep the gelding loose.

[Sina Aleardi]

After Sina had finished tacking Rolo up, she took a moment to check her CGMS and then nodded, happy with the number that it gave her. Hopefully it would survive the next class, too, although she had her emergency kit in the saddle-bag behind Rolo's saddle. Just let the teacher say something about it, she was well-prepared to defend her need for it. It wasn't like it would bounce around too much or anything, either, so there was really no recourse except for appearances... And it was a class.

She waved goodbye to Derecho, who was remaining in the paint's stall, and then left the barn, falling onto the path that would lead her to the trail field. Sure, it was the first week of classes, but Blue Ridge was slowly starting to feel like her home, and the travel around campus more and more natural.

When she arrived at the field, Sina glanced around, starting to worry slightly. She'd heard of trail classes before, but she'd never participated... And all of the obstacles in the field were starting to look a little bit complicated. However, when the teacher invited her into the field and instructed her to start warming Rolo up, she nodded and then let herself into the field, falling onto the track where the other students were riding.

When they were called back into the center, Sina was all too happy to accept the piece of paper that was offered to her, hoping that it would help her follow along as the teacher spoke. As he went over what was expected of them in this particular course, Sina tried to follow along with her finger, and then matching the movements to the obstacles that she could see on the ground. When they were asked to start, Sina kept Rolo standing for a little bit, holding him of of the track but also out of the way of the course for the first two riders. Once she'd watched them, the instructions started to click slightly more, and she moved Rolo in a big circle around the field as Blythe went.

Well, it was now or never. When Blythe had finished the course, Sina nudged Rolo forward and started. Unlatching the gate from horseback was not as easy as it seemed, but she managed, although she fumbled with the latching and had to leave it, telling herself she'd dismount and right the gate after she was done. The poles went well enough, and at least reining gave them an advantage in starting on the right lead. At the very end of the course, they were to turn, something really easy for a horse trained to spin around one leg. After she'd finished the course, Sina nodded to the teacher and then rode back over to the gate, slipping out of the saddle briefly to return the gate to its normal form before remounting and joining her classmates on the rail.

[Deleted]

Tess got down to the White Oak barn quickly and found Wisp. She saddled and reined the mare up, and led her down to the trail course area. Tess was handed a paper of the course, and followed along as the teacher gave directions, nodding to say that she understood. The teacher asked for volunteers to go, and Tess watched as her classmates all got through nice and mostly easily. There were troubles in different areas for different horses and riders, but that was to be expected, as no one was perfect.

Tess watched as her last classmate finished and stepped up to go next. Tess mounted Wisp and got started. Tess got through the gate with very little fumbling, but the poles were her main source of failure. She bit her lip and countined on to the turn, following the steps where she needed to trot of walk. The turn went pretty smoothly, but not flawless, and soon Tess and Wisp were swerving in and out of cones. Finishing carefully, Tess rode Wisp back to where her classmates all were and nodded slowly.

Tess dismounted. She knew that she hadn't done the best, but the poles were kind of difficult. The easiest part for her had been the gate, then the turn, then the cones, then the poles. Tess hoped that she hadn't looked like a total idiot , and hoped that she had done alright. Tess studied the paper once more to quickly see if she had done it all right. She had, breathing a small sigh of releif, she stroked Wisp gently and gave a quick smile.

[Deleted]

Jenna was excited for one of the first times in her life about a class. She had trail class today! Jenna got right down to the barn to get her horse, Sunday. Greeting the mare, Jenna stroked Sunday on the back. She got all her equiptment on quickly and ajusted it to be more comfortable and more effective. Then, Jenna took Sunday down to the feild. She gave a warm smile to the course and grabbed her paper.

The paper showed her the details of the course. It didn't look too difficult, but it certainly wasn't for new riders. Jenna nodded quickly as her teacher spoke. Then, Jenna waited as her fellow classmates started riding through the trail. Jenna watched, eager to get on the saddle and ride like the wind. When the girl ahead of her finished, Jenna mounted her horse and got to the starting point.

Jenna triend her best with the gate, but fumbled a little bit. She got it opened with about 20,000 butterflies in her stomach. Then it was time for the poles. They wern't her best either, but Sunday and her managed to get through all right. The turn was Jenna's easied principle in the trail. The others before her had made the entire thing look easy, but it wasn't. Jenna had a little bit of trouble with the swerving through the cones, but thats not to say that they were perfect.

By the time she was finished, Jenna was tired, but happy. She had a lot of fun on the saddle. She dismounted and reached into her handbag for her water bottle. She had a few quick gulps and stood back up again.