See Spot Jump!

[Jennifer Hart]

Jennifer grabbed the box that had arrived the previous day and dug through it, pulling out the new light green saddle pad that she'd ordered for Spot. A spot of color for the mare was fun. She left Jasper in her apartment and headed down to the barn. It was still early, and there was a slight chill to the air, but Jen was looking forward to riding before it got too warm - And then she could spend the day in the office without feeling bad for Spot.

After grooming and tacking up the mare, Jen grabbed her helmet and led her out to the show jumping arena. She glanced at the jumps that were set up and nodded, "Those will do for now." She patted the mare, then mounted once she was inside. She moved the mare along the track, ready to start warming up before they tackled the jumps.

[Anne McDermot]

Anne hummed to herself as she gave Captain's coat a thorough grooming. It was an old habit- one's horse was always in immaculate condition before one even left the stable. Certainly before any kind of heavy exercise. And while Captain had never been either a police horse or a military horse, despite what his name might imply, Anne had enough brushes and time to make damn sure that he looked like one. This pursuit had taken her a good half an hour before she was finally satisfied with the horse's coat, and tacked him up with the speed and dexterity of long practise before leading him out and up towards the showjumping rings. It had been far too long since she had been over a course, and from the way that Captain tugged her up the path, she could tell that he felt the same.

Finally, she reached the ring and swore softly to herself as she saw that it was occupied. She knew full well that there was no way Captain would go back to the stables before he'd had some exercise- he was a good boy, but once he had an idea in his head, it stayed there. "Good morning!" she called.

[Jennifer Hart]

Jennifer had just pushed Spot into a trot when she heard someone approaching the gate, and she looked over. She smiled as she saw her vice principal, "Good morning, Anne!" She kept Spot on the track as she worked, although she did keep an eye on the other woman, "I see I wasn't the only one with the idea of riding before work. That must be the famous Captain?"

[Anne McDermot]

"Indeed it is!" Anne called back brightly. She was immensely proud of her horse, and she didn't care who knew it; which meant that by now, her fellow staff members were probably getting a little tired of hearing about the horse. Still, she was who she was, and there was no way that she was going to apologise for it. Anne was a Scot through and through; hence, she knew her own mind, and anyone who tried to tell her differently was in for trouble. "Do you mind if I come in?"

[Jennifer Hart]

Jennifer grinned as she looked at the Frisian, so much more hair than her sleek Spot. Both had their virtues, of course. As Anne asked about joining her in the arena, Jennifer nodded, "Of course, come on in! The more the merrier." She circled to the other end of the arena to give Anne some space, "And you're welcome to rearrange the jumps as you see fit. I'm not too picky today about what we're doing."

[Anne McDermot]

Anne returned her superior's grin as she unbolted the gate and led Captain in at a brisk walk, ensuring that the gate closed behind them. "Thank you!" she called up to the far end of the arena as she briskly tightened the girth, ran her stirrups down and vaulted lightly into the saddle. Speed had always been a significant factor in her training, since when the police force called for mounted units they preferred them to arrive before the rioters did. "These will be fine.". The brunette moved out onto the track.

[Jennifer Hart]

Jennifer nodded as Anne said the jumps would be fine. She would have to take Spot over a good practice setup at some point, but not in the mornings. Today was just to get the mare back into the game, and to perhaps see if they could consider participating in the show that she was planning logistics for.

After she felt the mare was warmed up enough, Jennifer turned her away from the track and towards the jumps, pointing her at one of the lower ones to start. After a quick hop, they were over it, and turning to reach another jump, before Jennifer brought Spot back onto the track to think about which ones to take on next.

[Anne McDermot]

Anne worked Captain through a warm up schedule, moving from walk into a brisk trot for a few laps and then back down into an energetic walk. She took the Friesian onto the other rein and went through the manoeuvre again, this time going up into canter and allowing the horse to travel all the way around the arena, before noting than Jennifer was beginning to work over the jumps, and turning to circle at the far end of the school before dropping back into a trot. Finally, she decided that the horse was ready to start jumping, and she turned to follow Jennifer over the jumps. "Jumping!" she called; result of long years of practice.

[Jennifer Hart]

Jennifer smiled as she caught Anne and her horse jumping out of the corner of her eye, although she was chiding herself for forgetting basic manners. It had been a while since she'd shared an arena. Hopefully Anne wouldn't think too badly of her. After she kept Spot in a canter for a round, Jen had decided on the next few jumps and called out, "Jumping!" before taking on a row of three jumps with a handful of strides between each.

[Anne McDermot]

Satisfied with Captain's focus, Anne nudged him into a gentle canter and turned in a wide curve onto the left rein, before cutting across the centre of the school, taking care to avoid getting in Jen's way, and turning left again to come up towards a single straight pole which was not quite in line with that behind it. "And again!" she called cheerfully, settling into the rhythm as her beautiful horse approached the first pole and sailed over it as though it wasn't even there. She squeezed lightly on the right rein to take the Friesian into line with the second jump and counted three strides before Captain left the ground.

[Jennifer Hart]

Jennifer couldn't help but watch Anne and Captain out of the corner of her eye as they jumped, smiling at the Frisian, He certainly knew what he was doing! As did his rider, who was bringing him around admirably. After Anne had finished her row of jumps, Jen called out again, and then approached an oxer combination, smiling easily as Spot seemed to soar over them.

[Anne McDermot]

Anne dropped Captain into trot and turned him in a tight circle onto the other rein before moving up into canter once again and going around the outside edge for a few moments while she weighed up her options. Eventually, she decided upon a set of three which were arranged going along the centre line from C towards X, and turned the Friesian towards them. Nudging him on a little, she called out and sailed neatly over the first.

[Jennifer Hart]

Jennifer patted Spot's neck and asked her to collect her canter. She couldn't decide what row of jumps to take next, and could feel that the zorse's heart wasn't in taking a few jumps at a time either. With a grin, she waited for Anne to finish her next round of jumps, then asked, "Want to engage in a friendly wager? Whoever takes all of the jumps quicker doesn't have to do receptionist work for a week." She smiled, "All of the jumps, any order."

[Anne McDermot]

As Anne felt Captain drop to the ground for the last time, she steered him round in a wide curve and slowed as she noted that Jennifer wanted to converse. Dropping into a trot, she cut across the width of the arena in order to be close enough to her boss to hear what the woman said, since Anne's hearing was not exactly one hundred percent, which wasn't surprising given what she'd been through during her life. "Oh, I think I could agree to that." she responded with a grin. "After you."

[Jennifer Hart]

Jennifer laughed at Anne's acceptance, glad that she'd finally found something the uptight vice principal would relent on! They were opposites, which worked great in the office, but Anne could still be a stick in the mud sometimes.

With a grin, she considered the set of jumps. They weren't exactly set up to be a course, which was what made this interesting, but as she surveyed it, she figured out how she was going to attempt to jump it. She pushed Spot into a canter and gave it one circle before she pointed the mare at the first jump she'd chosen - The same set of three jumps she'd picked earlier. After that, a right turn brought her to a set of two jumps, and another turn. The rest of the course was a blur - She'd jumped one jump twice, she was pretty sure, which would have cost her time, but she was pretty sure she'd hit all of them. She slowed Spot and returned to where Anne was, "Your turn." She smiled, "Beat that." She hadn't been keeping exact time, but if Anne took the course more economically, it was likely that she'd win.