Blue Ridge is a fictional town located deep in the heart of Kentucky. It is home to one of the most well known equestrian academies in the United States. Students and staff from all over the world join the academy for what it has to offer. Do you have what it takes to join us and learn from the Academy?
Smilys were made by Sapphire Heaven of LiveJournal.
The mini-profile hover follows a tutorial by Kagney of Adoxography.
Photos in the skin used under CC from Flickr.
* Lucy Woodhaven - Darkest Raven * Andrea Valentine - Flash of Onyx * Cara-Jean Kitchi - Night Mystique * Finn Paquet - Père Temps * Kall Rolleston - Mr. Nice Guy * Victoria Greco - Cosa Nostra * Ben Ayers - MSR Águia * Tara Macmillan - Genevieve's Saint * Katherine Lorelia - McGinty's Pride of Place
Last Edit: Sept 8, 2017 19:50:04 GMT -8 by CaraGenie
Post by Lucy Woodhaven on Sept 6, 2017 7:26:59 GMT -8
Lucy pulled the light blanket off the mare. It had done its job and kept her mostly clean, adding to Lucy’s happiness was the fact the braids where still in. Lucy ran the brush over the mare quickly. She had a little time since she had already walked the course through. Then she went and grabbed her jumping tack set. She tacked the mare up in everything but her bridle. Lucy then went into the bathroom and changed into everything but her coat that she left hanging on the mare’s stall. She pulled her hoodie back on over top her clothes to keep then clean. Lucy led the mare outside and found a place to warm her up. She mounted the mare. Raven pranced a little as they stepped off. Lucy started with a brisk walk then moved the mare through her paces. A little bit of that and the mare was ready for a warm up fence. They popped over that a few times before Lucy walked her out. Lucy swung down and led her back to the barn. She changed out her hoodie for the coat and headed to the ring. When she heard her number called she entered the ring. Lucy nodded and took off. The fences weren’t the hard part it was the turns on the massive warm blood. Lucy took a little too wide of a turn coming into the second fence and one rail hit the ground with a thud. Lucy just looked up and kept riding. Lucy kept her face set in stone by the time they where dancing over the last fence Lucy was smiling through. Lucy rode out of the ring. She walked the mare around to cool off before jumping off to led her back to the barn.
Post by Katherine Lorelia on Sept 6, 2017 8:57:25 GMT -8
Kitty took a deep breath as she fastened the chinstrap of her hat and looked over her horse one final time. This was the big one. The last chance saloon. The final frontier. And, of course, it just so happened to be her favourite discipline. So... no pressure, then.
The blonde examined her reflection as well as she was able to in the makeshift mirror provided by a polished stirrup, and was more or less satisfied with what she saw. Her silver sequinned jacket gleamed in the sun, and her white shirt and jodhpurs were pristine against her black boots. She was, Kitty decided, as ready as she was ever going to get, and so she led Pride out towards the show ring. Deliberately not attempting to look at those already participating in case it made her nervous, the girl slipped nimbly into the saddle and began the warmup process. By the time that she'd been over the fence two or three times, Kitty was satisfied, which was lucky since her number was quickly called after that. She smiled to the girl coming out, then took a deep breath as she entered the ring. Three... two... one...
And then they were off, coming towards the first jump in a canter which was too fast for Kitty's tastes, and she firmly half halted the gelding as they approached, resulting in a far more controlled flight. As soon as they hit the ground again on the other side, the blonde was reining her mount around in a curved line on the approach to the second jump, which was too tight in her opinion. She had to drop to a trot briefly as she passed the number 7 jump, but as they landed for the second time, Pride slipped back into a canter, and Kitty simply sat back and sailed over the third and fourth fences. The line was less tight between the fourth and fifth, and the sporthorse stayed at canter all the way through, though Kitty nearly had a heart attack when he attempted to jump the number 3 fence again instead of turning right towards the seventh. She maintained control, however, and the fences whipped by faster and faster until she was finally slowing to a brisk trot after the final fence and wondering where the time had gone.
Post by Tara Macmillan on Sept 6, 2017 9:09:55 GMT -8
Tara grinned to herself as she finished grooming Jenny's body and turned to take the saddle from where it rested over the door, slipping it with practised ease over the mare's body and bending to fasten the girth. She loved showjumping. It was her passion; while she did love dressage too, there was a fun, risky element to showjumping which was entirely missing from the more decorous discipline- which Tara found far more stressful. Nimble fingers fastened the numerous buckles of the horse's bridle, and then Tara considered both herself and her mare to be ready.
The warm up arena was deserted as she arrived, which suited the blonde just fine. She started off by quickly working on the mare's responsiveness and her transitions, which would be important in the ring, and then put her over the fence several times, having to remind the mare exactly what she was supposed to be doing at times as Jenny tried to simply trot over the pole. She didn't particularly feel ready as her number was called, but there was nothing that she could do about it.
To begin with, everything was fine. First, second, third, fourth... It was at the fifth jump that it all went wrong. Coming around too tightly, Jenny stumbled as she went to take off, and ended up walking straight through the jump. Not only did the pole clatter to the ground, but so did her rider; the blonde had been preparing to rise out of the saddle, and had ended up rising much further than she had intended. Tara remounted and carried on, of course, but her spirit was gone, and the rest of her round was distinctly lacking in her usual spark and fire.
Post by Victoria Greco on Sept 8, 2017 1:05:11 GMT -8
Tori was so psyched for the last day of the show, though it was going to be her busiest, as after show jumping on Stella, she had two classes with Poe, so it was going to be busy. She cringed as she heard the gelding kick at the stall wall, not happy that he was being cooped up.
She had been awake since the week hours of the morning, making sure that not only her outfit was clean and ready, that her mare's tack was all but shining. She guessed it was the one good thing of each event being on different days, so that she had the chance to clean tack in between events.
Once the mare was tacked up and looking like a million dollars, she shrugged into her jacket and clipped her helmet in place. With a nod, she led the mare outside and swung into the saddle, riding her down to the jumping arena where the class was being held. She grinned from ear to ear as she warmed the mare up and they patiently waited for their number.
The call came much sooner than she would have liked, but she was sure they were ready as she trotted into the arena and she circle the mare, coming out of it in a canter and they crossed the start line and headed toward the first of the jumps. "Easy." She breathed gently as she used her legs to guide the mare around the course as much as her hands.
The jumps just seemed to vanish as the mare flew over them, a couple of them a closer call than she would like, but her instructors in the past had told her to never look back, even if she heard a rail hit the ground, and to be honest, she was so focused on the next fence, that nothing else mattered. The first combination gave the mare some issues, as she took off too late after the first jump and then only just managed to jump the second, she could hear the rail rattle in the cups, but the next fence was right there for her to give it anymore thought.
Not wanting to go over time, from taking the course too cautiously, she gave Stella her head as they took the last two fences at a gallop, and she circled the mare once they had crossed the finish line, bringing her back to a trot and then a walk as they exited the arena, the grin on her face growing. She didn't car how they had placed, she knew the mare had done well and she had had a blast directing the mare around the course. "And that's all she wrote." She told the mare with a hug as they headed back to the barn.
Post by Kallistos Rolleston on Sept 8, 2017 2:01:43 GMT -8
Kall brushed down his show clothes, knowing that his gelding looked picture perfect down in his stall, happily resting in the cross-ties, and once he clipped the helmet below his chin he went to get the Hanoverian and led him outside.
It didn't take him long to fix the girth and then swing into the saddle and he walked down to the ring for their show jumping class. "Are you as psyched for this as I am?" He asked the horse as he rubbed the black's neck and began to warm him up, remembering how quickly he could stop from the dressage test and then how fast the horse go could from the day before, today would be a test of wills, both going fast, but also using the smooth cadence of the dressage arena.
He shook his head in amusement as the gelding pranced his way into the arena when their number was called, and he shook his head with laughter as he asked the horse to circle and came out at a canter, passing over the start line and flying over the first jump.
The course passed in a blur of fence standards and rails in front of them, he was sure that they were going to go for a completely clear round, as the gelding seemed to get faster and faster as they went around. However, hopes of a clear round ended rather swiftly as they approached the final fence. Kall had no idea what happened, as there was nothing that he could see, but just as Jet was about to take off, something went amiss and the gelding swerved. Momentum carried Kall on over the jump though and his hit the ground with a grunt as the gelding caught the fences with his hindquarters. Rolling away from the falling fence, Kall bounced to his feet, raising an arm to show that he was fine, and he limped over to where his horse was standing, not even sure what had gone wrong. "You're alright." He told the black horse as he placed his hand on Jet's nose, taking the reins gently. "Let's try and make this exit with a little more grace than that last jump." He smiled and shook his head as he led the horse from the arena, limping, dipping his head to the judges.
Post by Fionn Paquet on Sept 8, 2017 2:33:21 GMT -8
Finn finished getting ready for the final day of the show,he could think of a million other things he could be doing right now, but he knew that this is what his father would want of him, and another good day with Enfant would give the gelding a few more points under his girth that would go toward selling the horse.
Walking back to the horse, he straightened the gelding's browband and led the horse outside. The chestnut was already being a complete brat, and Finn was close to scratching the horse and calling it a day, however, he knew that the Selle Français was just feeding off the excitement that seemed to fill the air during competitions, and he rode toward the arena where the show jumping was to be held, and he could try and get the horse's head in the game.
Riding into the arena, Finn patted the chestnut on the neck and asked for a canter as they rode to the first jump. If nothing else, Finn knew that Enfant could jump big and clean, the only issue was going to be that first combination as he would need to ask the horse to jump early so that they had enough room for the bounce stride, but that came with it's own problems, as he could jump too early and flatten the first jump.
He smiled and rubbed the gelding neck as they rode out of the arena, they had jumped a clear course, but he wasn't sure if they had run over the time, as he'd held the horse back over a few of the jumps to stop the chestnut from rushing.
Post by Cara-Jean Kitchi on Sept 8, 2017 2:55:51 GMT -8
Cara bounced on the balls of her feet as she fitted the stock pin. Nerves ran through her, but she wanted to think of anything else other than that, so she worked her way through the Fibonacci sequence. Numbers always seemed to be a way of calming her mind, even something as simple as counting.
Pyre was waiting in her stall, her mane and tail both tightly plaited, her black coat all but glowed under the lights of the barn, and the red lined black numnah under the jumping saddle gave the mare a little colour while still coming off as professional. Her black and red all=purpose boots were in place and the red and silver browband brought just enough attention to the mare's face. Clipping her helmet under her chin, she led the mare outside.
After warming up, she felt as cool as a cucumber as their name was called and she rode the mare into the arena, her face was completely blank as she turned her attention to the first fence and she cued the mare into their opening circle and they approached the first fence. Unlike Tex, the Merens Pony didn't get over excited when jumping, so asking her to ride passed a fence didn't upset her and she was good at being able to keep her head as they popped over each jump as it came, her ears flickering at a few of the fillers, but nothing too much to overwhelm the mare, and the fact that she was over a hand bigger than Tex helped too.
Cara asked for speed when they had a good distance between fences and she cut as many corners as she could. She half halted the mare before the first part of jump nine and asked the mare to jump a stride early and she held her breath, eyes locked on the next fence as the pony arced over the first jump, gave a bounce stride and jumped over the second. Releasing her breath, Cara blinked back the spots dancing in her vision and they took the last fence in the combination before she asked for the mare to do a quick turn and they took the next fence on a tight angle before straightening out for the next combination.
Cara rubbed the mare's neck as they rode out of the arena, after clearing the final fence, more than pleased with their round. "C'était génial, petit.(That was great, little one)" She softly praised the mare as they headed back to the barn, where she needed to get Tex ready for his class.
Ben was very nervous as he finished putting in the braids on Rowen's mane. He hadn't been to a big show in a while, and while this wasn't big, his competition was still stiff. Rowen, normally placid, was affected by the boy's nerves, more than he'd ever been, and Ben briefly considered scratching instead of showing up and disgracing themselves.
But his pride wouldn't let him do that, so he tacked up his gelding and then donned his show coat and his helmet. Once they were out of the barn, he mounted and walked over to the warm up arena. After a thorough warmup, it was getting close to their turn, and Ben brought the gelding over to the ring.
When he was up, he entered the ring and started with his opening circle, then pointed the gelding at the first jump. The course was a blur as it passed, and before too long Ben had to slow the gelding. He didn't even dare glancing back at the jumps, to see how many he'd dropped, and instead let the gelding head back to the arena - They had to get ready for trail.
Post by Andrea Valentine on Sept 8, 2017 19:45:31 GMT -8
Andrea watched as Chase finished braiding Felix's mane. He'd helped her with the gelding's tail the night before. She thanked him again and tacked up in a hurry. "Stop fidgeting. We'll be late for our go." she said as Felix tried to keep his leg out of the splint boot. She ran a hand over his purple saddle pad and lowered the stirrups.
She put her helmet on and swung up into the saddle. He flicked his tail and they walked to the warm up ring. After a good extended walk to get him stretched out, she moved him up into a trot, and finally a canter. By the time they were finished he was soft on the bit and responsive to cues, but she could tell he was having one of those bad days. "Good boy." she said. It was just about their turn.
On their way to the ring, she took a shaky breath and felt Felix's lungs fill as well. It was their turn to go before they were remotely ready.
The first jump seemed far too close, but Felix took it with ease. In fact, he was doing very well. Andrea was beginning to think her premonition was wrong. No, she had been right. When they turned toward the eighth jump, skidded to a stop. Andrea narrowly avoided breaking her nose on the back of his neck, and only because he moved to go around the jump. She turned him back, fighting back embarrassment, and tried it again. The rest of the course was completed without any more trouble. They were both glad to leave the arena.