The B-Team

[Kate Richardson-Hall]

Kate waved as the last members of her previous class dismounted and led their horses from the arena, then let out a long sigh- but she didn't have time for a sit down and a cup of tea, much as she would have liked one- there was another class coming in at any moment, and she had to be ready for them. Briskly, she walked around the arena, lowering the jumps to the levels at which they had started, and then returned to the fence line- just in time to greet the first arrivals, although she held off on her speech until the arena had filled up a little.

"Good morning! My name is Ms. Richardson-Hall, as some of you may already know. I shall be teaching showjumping, at least for the time being. I did not take this class last year, so allow me a moment or two to establish some expectations and then we can begin."

"Firstly, this should be obvious, but please do your best to turn up on time, and with your horse in an acceptable condition. I don't expect show-standard grooming, but please don't arrive with a horse who looks like he's been bathing in mud for the past week. Secondly, communication. With the horse, obviously, with me, and with your fellow students. If you're not happy doing something, tell me. If you want some extra challenges, tell me. And for the love of whatever deity you believe in, please tell the person behind you if they're too close. Right; any questions? If not, we'll warm up. First one to the track takes lead file- ready, set..."

Ivan Theodore Mallon, Kekona Hanson, Luke Brown, Mikala Palakiko, Stefano Rice, Tara Macmillan

[Mikala Palakiko]

Mika whistled as he led O'Malley into the barn after the natural horsemanship class and after a good groom, he tacked the gelding up for show jumping. He whistled as he worked, and once his helmet was clipped under his chin he led the horse out of the barn and swung into the saddle.

Entering the arena, he flashed the teacher a smile, his eyes moving around the jumps that had been set up. He scratched the gelding's neck as they listened to the intro and nodded his head at the instructions. When she mentioned warming up, he squeezed the gelding forward and they headed to the track, he had no issues with taking lead, he knew that he was a good rider.

[Stefano Rice]

Seth smirked as he followed Mika into the barn, leading Bear, and swapped the rope halter for the nylon head collar and snapped the cross-ties onto the rings on the side before he went to get the things the gelding would need, and got him ready for jumping class. There were times when he was getting ready to ride that he wondered if he should be taking more mounted classes, but riding was much more fun without having his every move critiqued.

Leaving the barn, he followed Mika's style and swung into the saddle too. He wasn't fast enough when the instructor stopped speaking, and he once again found himself following Mika. Not wanting to get too close to the bay, he half halted his dunskin to give them and the horse in front of them a little more room.

[Kate Richardson-Hall]

"Remembering to keep your distances- half a horse's length between you, please. Excellent. And we'll take rising trot at the letter A, please; going sitting at C and rising again at E..." Kate directed. She preferred to structure a warm-up, she couldn't stand having people wandering around doing their own thing; it meant that everything took longer and she never knew what anyone had or hadn't done; quite apart from the fact that everything suddenly became that bit more dangerous.

[Kekona Hanson]

Kona grinned as she led Casper back to the barn after Natural Horsemanship. She was enjoying the classes here! She had groomed the gelding before the other class, but took the time to run a brush over him again before saddling him for show jumping. She smiled as she saw Ms. Richardson-Hall, waving a small greeting, then found a space to mount, since th two boys were already up in the saddles. From there, she listened to the introduction, and then fell in behind Seth to start the warmup.

[Ivan Theodore Mallon]

Teddy finished putting a sheen on Avisé. He'd ridden Spice in his earlier lesson, but didn't want to overtax either horse, so now he was hurrying to get the ISH groomed and saddled. After grabbing his helmet, he led the mare out of the barn and towards the arena where the class would be held, smiling as he entered at noone in particular. Seeing that everyone else was mounted, he vaulted into the saddle, and then joined the line, patting Avisé's neck as the mare stood calmly.

After he'd listened to the instructions and standards for the class - nothing out of the ordinary, and honestly,all common sense to him - he pushed Avisé into a walk and fell in behind the black-haired girl whom he'd been standing next to.

[Kate Richardson-Hall]

"Excellent." Kate pronounced cheerily. "Nice rhythm. Let's try and wake them up a little more, though, shall we? Change of rein then please; perhaps you'd like to suggest one, Ivan?" As she waited for a response, the blonde began to walk around on the inside of the track, keeping pace with the group of riders moving around on the outside. Standing still for hours at a time was not only hard on her legs but also impractical.

Ivan Theodore Mallon

[Luke Brown]

Luke led Ace down the track towards the jumping school, nodding a general greeting to more or less everyone assembled within before hauling himself up into the saddle, adjusting his reins and generally preparing himself for what he hoped would be a fun lesson. He nodded along almost unconsciously with the teacher's instructions, glad to hear that she didn't expect anything out of the ordinary, and when directed, made his way out onto the track, behind a boy on a gleaming mare. Ace was a little sluggish on going into the trot, but by the time that they'd passed F, he was a little happier with her movement, and gave her a gentle pat on the neck in praise.

[Tara Macmillan]

Tara scowled disdainfully at a girl who crossed her path as she led Jenny out of her stall, and the poor student, who only looked about twelve, muttered a hasty apology and scuttled out of the way, but the damage was done. Tara was now officially In A Bad Mood. And it lasted all the way down to the jumping school, it lasted as she vaulted onto the horse's back, it lasted as she suffered in silence through Ms. Richardson-Hall's introduction, and she scowled at the back of the rider in front of her as she was forced to ride at the back. God, this was going to be an awful lesson.

[Ivan Theodore Mallon]

Teddy considered for a moment when his name was called, then he called out, "M to E." Why not? He waited for further instructions, keeping an eye on the bay gelding in front of him, and working to make sure that Avise didn't rear-end the horse - She seemed to have a slight issue with personal space!

[Kate Richardson-Hall]

Kate nodded with a bright smile. "Yes, that works!" she responded briskly. "That's M to E then, please, Mikala." The blonde took a few steps to one side since she had previously been positioned directly in the centre of the line that Ivan proposed to take- which was not a position that any riding instructor with an ounce of sense wanted to occupy.

Mikala Palakiko

[Mikala Palakiko]

Mika nodded his head as he encouraged the gelding into a trot, pleased that he didn't need much convincing, and then sat to the trot at C and back to posting at E.

He nodded as the idea and cringed as the instructor spoke to him. "It's just Mika." He said with a smile, the last thing he needed was for other students to try and call him Mikala, and put too much emphasis on the first a and giving it the ay sound not the ah that it was supposed to be. A couple a strides from M, he let O'Malley know that they were about to do something different and they turned down the short diagonal, coming back to the track at E and changing the direction they had been originally travelling, making sure to sit to the trot to change diagonal.

[Stefano Rice]

Seth raised an eyebrow, half a horse length? The horse in front of him would cover that distance should he decide to slow and give a good kick, however, he didn't question it and shortened the space a little.

Following Mika's lead, he went from rising to sitting and rising trot again, pleased that he wasn't leading the line. That thought was confirmed when their instructor spoke again and he followed the bay horse on front of them across the diagonal and changed rein, though he forgot to sit and change the diagonal he was rising to.

[Kekona Hanson]

Kona chuckled to herself at Mika's reaction to the teacher using his full name - That was a lesson one learned quickly with her brother. And that, in itself, was laughable - Her brother. What a joke of life. She focused back on the lesson, though, leaving the philosophy for later, and followed Seth, leaving the requested space between them, although she hoped his horse wasn't fussy.

[Kate Richardson-Hall]

"Excellent, well done!" Kate called out briskly. "That will do, I think. Back to walk at letter A, then, please, and halt at letter B, Mika." Kate was not so stupid as to set everyone off around the course at once, or even to set one person off straight over the course. The jumps would be rising over the course of the lesson, no doubt, but that was neither here nor there. "Right, then. If you're all happy with the length of your stirrups, then we shall commence. Mika, perhaps you would oblige me by trying this jump in trot." She indicated a low cross pole.

Mikala Palakiko