Mounted Games 3.1

[Bruce Ropata]

Bruce finished leading the last group of Mounted Games ponies out to their yards by the Games arena. The yards we're named specially for each animal, but he always ended up putting them in the same yard each time so they had just become that pony's yard. "Good girl, Glory." He told the small paint pony, as she was the last to go into her yard. He then went through each animal's gear, to make sure that he hadn't left anything in the tack rooms. He was going to tell his students that from now on, they would be responsible for collecting their assigned mount's gear; he would still bring the ponies out, as he could then know what kind of health they were in and that they were sound enough to be used for the class.

Once he was happy that everything was where it needed to be, he walked into the arena and cleared the area of all of the props that had been left out: barrels, some cones, and a line of bending poles, so that the arena was empty. He knew that the students would wonder what was up, as he always had the arena set up for at least one game, but today he wasn't going to teach them to play any of the games. Instead, he was going to get them to work on mounting and dismounting a moving horse. He knew that the task would cause concern in his younger students, but it was something that they needed to learn how to do confidently before he entered them in group competitions - which he wanted to do within the next month or so - and he needed them to look as though they had been doing it all their life.

As the first of his students arrived, he gave them a warm smile. "Please get your mount ready to be ridden and begin warming-up in the arena."

Tagging:
@rory - Yoko
Becca Walsh - Chris
Cara-Jean Kitchi - Bonnie
@sync4 - Ish
@john - Rocky
@michealg - Grace
@owl - Pop (though she will need to talk to Mr Ropata and be "assigned" the pony)
@william - Glory

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara tucked her polo shirt into her jodhpurs as she hurried out of the White Oak Barn and headed toward the Mounted Games arena. She slipped her arms into her vest and zipped it up - the reason for tucking her shirt in - and then placed the Charles Owen helmet on her head and fastened it beneath her chin.

She bowed her head to Mr Ropata's words. "Yes, Sir." She said softly as she walked up to the yard that held the flaxen chestnut mare that she rode. "Hi Bonnie." She greeted the mare softly as she scooped up the mare's grooming bucket and slipped under the rope that worked as the gate to the mare's yard. She then spent the next ten minutes thoroughly grooming the mare. It was obvious that Bonnie had been out in the pastures as she had seemed to have found a good puddle of mud and bathed in it, so the girl was taking her time to remove all of the mud from the mare's copper coat so that there was no chance of there being any hint of mud under the saddle blanket or girth. That, and she also knew that the mare would have a complete fit if she wasn't completely spotless.

As soon as she was happy with the mare's appearance, Cara tacked the mare up - making sure that each item was impeccably clean before she even thought of putting it on the mare - before leading her out of the yard, she looked around to see if anyone needed any help.

Leading the mare toward the arena, the girl pulled the stirrups down, tightened the girth and the vaulted into the saddle. She sat deep as the mare danced under her and waited until Bonnie settled before she slipped her feet into the stirrups and squeezed the mare forward, working her through her antics before the lesson started.

As they made their way around the arena, Cara filed away the fact that there was nothing in the arena so they could use all of the area without having to weave around things.

[Monique Chambers]

Rory closed her homeschool workbook and pushed herself back from the desk in her mother's apartment in Red Ribbon House. She gave her mom an angelic smile. "Anyone would think you didn't trust me to do the work in my own room." She said as she carried the book over to the woman and grabbed the riding clothes that she had left on her mom's bed and quickly changed. "I'll get onto my maths after MG."

Leaving the House, she headed across campus to the barn where she grabbed her helmet and then jogged to the mounted games arena, which she had already walked passed. She made a mental note to take her helmet home with her the evening before the next lesson. "Hey Mr R." She greeted the teacher and nodded at his instructions as she walked over to Yoko's yard. "Hello my beautiful girl." She greeted the mare with a grin as she grabbed the grooming kit and entered the yard.

It didn't take her too long to get the round grey groomed and ready to be ridden. She then led the mare into the arena, and mounted up. She then picked up the reins and gave the mare a small nudge with her heels. "Hey, there's nothing in the arena, girl." She told the horse as she looked around themselves. "Well, other than Cara and Little Miss Prissy." The older girl's mare was known for throwing a fit if she wasn't as clean as she liked it.

[Deleted]

Titus walked to the mounted games arena. It was her first class with a horse today. She wished she could ride Zero though for games. He was good at games and she could easily hop on him off the ground. Though she heard that she was assigned a pony to ride. Maybe it was a good thing, learning to ride another horse besides Zero. She was so used to him. Titus wondered which horse she would have.

She walked into the arena carefully avoiding the two other students who had already gotten their horses ready and were already on and ready to go. She walked over to who she thought was the teacher. She had gotten a bit confused already today and still felt a little blonde. Though it was good because she hadn't made one flaw today yet. So she was doing pretty good for when she has her blonde moments. She cleared her throat. "Umm, are you Mr. Ropata?" She asked the man. She had no clue and she didn't want to get embarrassed even though there were only two people in the arena. But hey, at her old school, even the silliest secret that someone let out got spread around the whole school.

[Deleted]

John approached the mounted games arena, his helmet under his arm. He had just come from the barn, where he had collected the vital piece of equipment, and now he was ready to go work with Rocky some more. His more-crumpled-than-usual grey shirt fluttered in the slight breeze, as he had shed his jacket earlier in the day under the sun's gentle persuasion and had left it in Lilja's tack locker. As he neared the arena, he was just in time to hear Mr. Ropata's instructions. Raising a hand to signal that he had heard, he took the straight path towards Rocky's yard, as he could see that the girl that he had met yesterday was approaching him, probably waiting for her pony assignment.

As soon as he had reached the gate to Rocky's yard, the gelding was there, his neck stretched out, nickering a greeting. The act never failed to put a smile on John's face, and it was successful as always. He rubbed the dappled buckskin's nose for a moment before picking up the pony's reddish-brown coloured grooming kit. He let himself into the yard and started grooming the Connemara.

It wasn't much after that that Rocky stood, tacked and ready. John buckled on his helmet, then led the gelding into the strangely-empty arena. He mounted, forcing himself to forget everything else, because he knew Rocky might just go for his name-sake impression any second. As the gelding seemed to prepare himself to act up, John asked him for a trot, distracting the gelding for the moment.

[Deleted]

Ria slipped out of the White Ribbon House, her helmet under her arm. Will was taking a nap, after having patrolled the school grounds for the entire night, so Ria had left a crude drawing of Glory, complete with scarlet tack, which made her look as though she had a big bleeding sore on her back, but to her, it was a masterpiece of a note. Without a break, she skipped towards the arena, helmet bouncing at her side, dangling from a single strap.

When she arrived, Ria saw Cara and Rory already leading their mounts towards the arena, the boy that she vaguely remembered but didn't know his name was in Rocky's yard, and there was a girl talking to Mr. Ropata. Following the other three students' examples, she let herself into Glory's yard, slipping the mare a small carrot that Will had turned a blind eye to her not eating, but not before she called out, "Hi Mr. Ropata!"

After grooming and tacking up the mare, she led her into the arena and mounted up, struggling slightly with the lifting herself into the saddle part, but managing it after a moment. Smiling at her triumph, she gathered up her reins and squeezed Glory forward, towards the inside track, her eyes briefly roving over the other three equines as she slotted in.

[Bruce Ropata]

Admin note: I know that there are still others left to post, but I don't want Owl to get left behind so Bruce is replying to her and then she can post again so that she can keep up with everyone else(otherwise she'll be one post behind for the rest of the thread).

Bruce smiled as a girl approached him. He knew that he had a new student and always thought it was unfair that he knew who she was and she didn't know who he was. "Tēnā koe, Owl." He said warmly. "Welcome to Mounted Games. I am Mr Ropata."

His gaze swept over the students who had already arrived, and those just arriving, to make sure no one needed him just then, and then turned back to face the girl beside him. "If you follow me, I'll introduce you to your new friend." With a warm smile he led the way over to the yards and after petting a Ragdoll cat who curled her way around the yard post belonging to flaxen chestnut Welsh pony, he continued until he came to the yard of a buckskin tobiano gelding. "This is Copper Gold, Pop. He is an Arabian Pony." He rubbed the pony's nose. "You will find all his things on the ground right here." He gestured to the grooming bucket, saddle, bridle and saddle pad on the ground in front of the yard, a sheet of blue tarp was nailed to the ground so that the tack didn't get wet. "Once you have groomed and saddle him. Take him into the arena, mount up and start warming up." He gave her a confident smile. "If you need any help, I won't be too far away, and your class mates will be happy to help."

[Becca Walsh]

Becca made her way down to the yards for the Mounted Games ponies by the arena. Her helmet was already on her head and she met the other students by Mr. Ropata, smiling in greeting. After listening to his simple instructions, she moved over to Chris's yard, greeting the pony with a pat on the neck and bringing his brushes into the yard with her.

She groomed the gelding carefully, making sure that his white patches glowed. Once in a while, the gelding would turn around to nose at her in search of treats, making Becca laugh and push his nose gently away. Once he was spotless, she got his tack and tacked him up carefully, making sure that everything was right. Once happy, she led him out to the arena, pulling down her stirrups and easily mounting from the ground. The gelding's height was pleasant to her as far as mounting went, especially in comparison to Frye.

Once ready, she began to warm him up thoroughly, excited to get going. Her eyes moved over the other riders, but she mainly stayed focused on Chris. His gait always surprised her, and it took her a moment to get used to the change from Frye to him.

[Bruce Ropata]

Bruce watched as his students readied their mounts and then worked on warming them up. Once he was happy that the ponies were listening to their riders nicely, and even though he knew that they were still lacking a few students - including a new one - he wanted to get things moving along. Those whom arrived late would just have to suffer the consequences of their actions and deal with punishment.

Walking into the middle of the arena, he put thumb and index finger to the corners of his mouth and gave a whistle to gain their attention. Years of herding sheep off the Cadrona Valley had come in handy after all. He watched as the riders reined their mounts in and turned to face him. "Welcome to the class." He greeted them all warmly. "There is a competition coming up in a couple of weeks and I have entered our team in to compete in the games." He gave an encouraging smile. "Don't stress too much, I'll explain more at the end of class." His eyes swept over each of the students. "We will spend the next few lessons working on the games. Today however, we are going to focus on mounting and dismounting a moving horse. Yes, you are going to learn how to vault onto your mount."

He left the arena and entered again after saddling Grace. "Vaulting may sound scary if you've never done it before, but it's easier than it sounds." He checked the mare's girth before clicking his tongue and breaking into a jog, picking up speed as he moved down the arena, so that he was running and the mare was at an almost canter. The next minute, the man was ahead of the mare's movement, bent his knees and jumped. The motion of the moving mare gave him the momentum to swing his legs up and over the mare's back. He landed lightly in the saddle and pushed his feet into the flapping stirrups and guided the mare around, back toward the other horses as he slowed her down. "The important things to remember, the faster you're going, the easier it is. You need to be in front of your mount's movement or you won't have the momentum needed to swing up. Grab the middle of the mane and the pommel. Don't stand too close to your mount or you will end up catching your leg on his or her belly as you swing your leg over. And lastly, this is supposed to be fun. If you lose momentum, just let go. This animals are trained enough not to get mental if they get loose." He led Grace back to her yard, removed the saddle, put a light rug over her back so that she didn't catch a chill and then returned to the arena. "Okay, when you're ready, space yourselves out across the arena and have a go at vaulting on."

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara liked the way that she had the small agile mare moving beneath her as they finished their warm up, that by the time the arena was filled was a high-pitched whistle - one that was almost too shrill even for the outside space - that she happily reined the mare from a trot to a walk and then a halt as they turned to face their instructor.

The news of a competition was a little exciting, as it would be her swan song for the academy, as graduation was fast approaching, and she would be happy to finish with a good competition. She listened as the man explained what they were going to do that day - something Cara was already confident in doing.

When they were instructed to space themselves out across the arena, she guided Bonnie over to the arena fence. She wasn't at all worried about getting tangled between the mare and the fence, so she knew that she would be fine, she just hoped that the mare would play the game.  After tightening the girth another couple of holes, she dropped her stirrups and dismounted. Walking up to the mare's shoulder, she curled her hand around the reins under Bonnie's chin and clicked her tongue as she broke into a jog, quickly picking up speed. Everything was going well, right until the girl pulled her stride ahead of the mare and prepared to mount. At this point - as soon as she had released the reins - the New Forest Pony ground to a halt. "Bonnie! That's naughty!"

After repeating the task another three times - with the same result each time - the mare finally decided to ball ball. As repeating it over and over again had worked as a form of punishment for the pony and she worked out that the more she stopped, the more she would be made to run. Cara sprang into the air, swinging her leg up and over the mare's back, putting all her weight on her hands as she seemed to hover in midair for a moment as she lowered herself gently into the saddle and easily found her stirrups. "Good girl." She praised the mare as they reached the other end of the arena and they turned around, walking back to their starting spot.

[Deleted]

Rory had yoko moving through her paces. She rubbed the Highland Pony's neck as they made their way around the arena. "Let's work our hardest today, girl." She said softly. "I'm going to be a student at the Academy when the new year starts, an actual student!! I'm nervous and excited at the same time!!" Her words came to an abrupt halt as Mr Ropata whistled for attention. "Oops. Better pay more attention." She knew that she had done a good job warming the mare up, so she didn't need to worry about that. She had just had her fourteenth birthday, but her mother refused to let her start school so close to the end of the school year.

Her eyes widened as she listened and then watched the man as he showed them how to vault onto a moving horse. She chewed on her bottom lip as fear ripped through her. She dropped the reins, as she could feel her hands shaking and she didn't want to jingle the bit on the poor mare's teeth from shaking hands.

Once they were told to spread out and have a go at it, she knew that other than singling herself out, she had no choice but to join in, or sit out like a loser. She kept the mare in the middle line of the arena and dismounted. "Please be nice to me." She begged the mare as she began to jog down the arena with the mare at her side. It all seemed to happen at once, once minute she was running alongside Yoko, then she was slightly ahead of the mare and the next minute, she was flying over the mare's back. However, she had too much momentum and ended up on the ground on the other side of where the mare should have been.

Getting to her feet and dusting herself off, she jogged down the arena to collected Yoko, who looked a little confused that she didn't have a rider on her back. "Sorry girl." She whispered with a giggle as she took hold of the reins and led Yoko back.

As they repeated the exercise again, she made sure to keep hold of the mare at all times and pumped both arms into the air when she was sitting astride the mare.

[Cortney Smit]

Cortney knew she was late for class as she sprinted across the campus from the White Oak Barn. In her defence, she had been in a conference with Ms Carr. She skidded to a halt as she approached the arena and walked quickly up to the arena fence where Mr Ropata stood. "I am so sorry I am late, Mr Ropata." She told the man.

She listened as he told her which pony she was to be riding, and bowed her head at the punishment he dealt out to her. She had a note in her pocket from the barn manager to excuse her lateness, but she felt that the tardiness had been her own fault as she hadn't been more aware of the time.

Heading over to the flaxen chestnut Welsh Pony that she had been assigned, she couldn't help but laugh at the fact that the pony had a Ragdoll cat curled up on his back. "Off you get, kitty." She told the feline as she gently lifted the cat up and placed her on the ground.

It didn't take long to get the gelding ready to ride and removed the stirrups from the saddle - her punishment - before she led Mo out of the yard and down to the arena. She used the mounting block to get onto the gelding's back and began to warm him up so that she could go on with what the rest of the class were doing.

After a quick warm-up, and allowing herself to get a feel for the gelding, she finally reined him in, tightened the girth and swung out of the saddle. Her punishment had been to ride without stirrups, but it was actually a blessing in disguise, as she now didn't have the stirrups to move around while she was vaulting on.

Clicking her tongue, she jogged forward and moved into a run as they headed down the arena and before too long, she was swinging onto the pony's back, patting his neck heartily as they trotted on before she reined him in and they returned to their starting point.