Five Stages of Jumping

[Kate Richardson-Hall]

Kate was in a good mood, and it showed in her springy step as she made her way across the arena which she had appropriated for the afternoon. She loved her job to a degree which was slightly embarrassing, and so she was never happier than when she was doing it. Fully rested and recovered after the long summer holiday, she'd had plenty of time to think about what she wanted to do this year, and she had the kind of plans which would have severely worried one or two of her students if they'd seen them.

Today was the first lesson, though, so she was going to take it slow. Of course she'd taught most, if not all, of these students before, and, with one or two exceptions, they were by no means beginners, but even so, they'd had a long break, which was plenty of time for them to forget everything that they'd ever known about how to jump. And so she'd planned a bit of a recap, to which end she had sneakily purloined the dressage arena, which gave her more room to work without inconvenient other jumps getting in the way or exciting the horses. A set of three poles lay on the ground between their respective jump wings, well spaced down one side of the arena and just inside the track, and Kate stood against the fence on the other side, by the gate, waiting for her students as they filed in one by one.

Once all were assembled, she stepped away from the fence and into the centre of the arena. "Afternoon, everyone!" Kate greeted the class brightly. "Good to see you again, and I hope you've all enjoyed your holidays. Back to work today, though, and I thought that we'd have a bit of a recap to kick things off with. Just start walking them round while I talk- Seth, if you take lead file... everyone else, sort yourselves out as you get there. So, most of you will have noticed by now that this isn't a jumping arena. Today, I want to go back to basics a little, refresh your memories, work on some technique, get you all back into the right state of mind, and then next time I see you, we can go into the jumping arena, jump a course and we can see what you all need to work on. Questions, anyone?"

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Ben Ayers, Katherine Lorelia, Mikala Palakiko, Stefano Rice, Tara Macmillan

[Stefano Rice]

Seth was excited about getting back to riding lessons, and, to be honest, was a little worried about getting Hoot to focus on the fact that they had to follow someone else's suggestions. He didn't worry about it too much though as he groomed the Sporthorse and tacked him up in his snaffle bridle and close contact saddle.

Heading out the arena they were asked to meet at he smiled toward the teacher as he mounted up and they entered the arena. "Wonder if they know she's got jumps in the dressage arena?" He softly asked the horse as he busied himself with tightening the girth. "I'm sure that someone would see it as a cardinal sin." Straightening up, he urged the gelding forward and halted in the middle as he waited for instructions.

He snorted at the mention of holiday, as he'd been on campus the entire time, but it had been nice to have a break from classes. His eyebrows shot up at the mention of returning to basics, but now was not the time for sarcasm, he'd wait a couple of weeks for that, and nodded as he was asked to take the lead and squeezed the gelding forward, laughing as Hoot's head shot up into the air as he was woken up, as they ambled forward toward the track.

[Mikala Palakiko]

Mika hummed softly as he got Butch ready for their jumping lesson, he smiled as the gelding's head seemed to bob i time to his tune. Once the horse was ready, he led him out of the barn, tightened the girth and mounted up - feeling that it was easier to do it here than to get to the arena and have the gelding not want to stand around while his rider mounted - and they made their way to the arena.

His eyebrow arched at the fact that it was the dressage arena, he had honestly been hoping it was a typo, but he leaned down and opened the gate easily, had the gelding side pass in and then turn on his forehand so he could secure the gate behind them. He rode over to where Seth was waiting, making sure to keep room between his Warmblood and the Sporthorse, just because Butch's manners weren't always the best.

He groaned when the lesson was started and with a heavy sigh, filed in behind Seth, asking for a half halt as his horse seemed to be walking faster than the other horse and started to get too close. "Are we going to be riding like novice riders for long?" He asked, his smile a little strained, as he might need to find another class to replace this one, and there was no one in this class that hadn't been at the Academy the year before.

[Ben Ayers]

Ben was quiet as he groomed Rowen, thinking over the classes he'd had in the morning, and then changing track to the class they had ahead of them. After saddling up the gelding, he grabbed his helmet and led him out of the barn. He mounted once they were outside and walked the gelding over to the dressage arena.

He entered the arena and parked Rowen some distance away from Mika and his warmblood, waiting for class to start. He wasn't too excited about the plan for the day, and offered a wry smile at Mika's comment, as the boy said what he'd been thinking. However, he fell into line behind the other two riders and focused on doing the task at hand well.

[Kate Richardson-Hall]

"And hello to you too, Mika," the blonde returned with a smile, hooking her thumbs through the loops at the top of her jodhpurs. "Had you been listening, you might have known the answer to your question. In brief, then, for a couple of days, although the longer answer is that I don't expect you to be riding like novices at all since I would hope that your abilities have been advanced since then. Just because the activity is simpler does not mean that your standard of riding should deteriorate. Right, then. Take working trot, everyone... Use your common sense; if you're getting a little close to the person in front, feel free to adjust your order. Just make sure to look out for one another."

[Stefano Rice]

Seth, while not disagreeing with what Mika had said, groaned at the other boy's words. "Can you shut up before you get all of us in trouble?" He muttered.

He chuckled at the comment about their riding having not deteriorated. "Just our attention span, so it seems." He said as he shortened his reins slightly, warning Hoot that something was about to happen, and squeezed with his lower legs. "'Atta boy." He praised softly as the gelding changed his gait, his hooves seeming to flat over the ground as they trotted. At least leading the ride, he didn't have to worry about running into anyone.

[Mikala Palakiko]

Mika gave the woman a charming smile. Yes, he had been listening, and she hadn't mentioned how long they would be working on walking their horses around without falling off. And, truth be told, Mika would never ride like a novice, just because they were doing novice level stuff, because he would disrespect his horse like that - and Butch would most likely throw him if he even thought about it. "Mahalo nui loa, Kumu." He shook his head quickly. "Thank you very much." He corrected.

Squeezing the gelding forward, he had to ask twice before Butch stopped being annoying and moved forward into a trot, though he dragged his back legs. Mika half halted the horse and asked for the tort again, which the gelding gave him this time, engaging his hindquarters this time and powering forward.

[Ben Ayers]

Ben stayed quiet, not engaging in the banter of the other two boys. As Ms. Richardson-Hall gave them their instructions, he nodded and squeezed Rowen into the requested gait. However, it seemed that Mika had issues with his gelding, and Ben turned slightly in, calling out "Passing" before he did just that - falling into line behind Seth instead. Let Mika deal with his horse, there was no reason to be stuck behind them trying to anticipate what was going on.

[Kate Richardson-Hall]

"Excellent. Extended trot, now, please... and yes, Mika, I know this isn't a dressage lesson," the blonde called out across the arena. "Your horse still needs to be responsive and listening to you, and lots of transitions are the best way to achieve that. Walking. And now trotting again. Collected, and once you're all quite ready, change the rein across the school." Kate walked across to stand in a corner, not considering her current position to be a particularly sensible one.

[Stefano Rice]

Seth chuckled, though didn't comment. Flat work was just as important as going over fences when training a jumper, and having full control of every movement your horse made, at all times on the course, was always important - and there was nothing wrong with have a jumping lesson on the flat.

He nodded at the instructions; repeating each to himself as they were spoken, and he brought the gelding back to a walk and then asked for a trot once more, making sure the horse was nicely collected. He could tell that Hoot's previous owner had done a lot of work with the horse, as he was very responsive. He shifted his position in the saddle slightly and they turned across the school to change rein - the gelding's less favourite direction - and continued around the arena until asked to do otherwise.

[Mikala Palakiko]

Mika wasn't too surprised as they were over-taken, and half halted Butch as the gelding decided that now would be a great time to show that he could indeed do the speed required of him.

He gave the instructor a look of wide-eyed innocence at her comment as he asked for extension on the trot. "Did I say anything?" He asked his horse quietly with a perturbed look. Making sure to keep the gelding between his legs, he followed the ride as he went through the change of gaits and then moved across the arena to change rein.

[Ben Ayers]

Ben smiled as the woman called out instructions, glad that he hadn't neglected these exercises over the summer. Yes, they werne't his favorites. But his mom would never let him live it down if he couldn't get Rowen to extend or collect his gaits, and the gelding seemed to be enjoying it too.

He brought the gelding down into a walk, then back up into a nice collected trot. He turned the gelding to change reins, following Seth, and briefly questioned yet again why some people called the arena a school. It just made things more confusing!