Start how you mean to finish

[Bruce Ropata]

Since he didn't have any new students, as of yet, Bruce left the students to get their own ponies ready and bring them to the arena, though he had Bonnie, Joe Chris and Ripple in their yards, along with Monty, and his cat. The huge Standardbred looked so out of place, but he wanted to know what the horse would be like while watching the ponies in the arena racing around.

It didn't take him long to get the arena set up. Deciding to have them work individually that day, he set up four rows of poles and then a cone each end of the lanes in between, and he brought out a stack of buckets for later. Since they were all students who knew what they were doing, he intended to start straight into games without too much preamble.

He stood at the gate and opened it as his riders arrived. "Start warming up and we'll get started once the ponies are ready." The extra ponies were in their yards in case Bruce felt that any of his riders needed a new challenge.

Gladys Madoc
Kekona Hanson
Stefano Rice
Sina Aleardi

[Stefano Rice]

There was something quite comical about going from Hoot to getting Pixie ready for a ride, the pony was positively tiny, and Seth was a little worried that he may have had a growth spurt over the summer - or at least he was hopeful.

With the pony ready to work, he led her out of the barn, mounted up and they made their way down to the arena, smiling as Mr Ropata held the gate open for them and he nodded at the instructions, and he got to work getting Pixie settled and ready to focus on what they needed to do... which was a bit easier than it was with Hoot, as long as he remembered that he needed to give the mare clear instructions.

[Sina Aleardi]

Mo was groomed, and now it was time to saddle him up - But Sina was faced with a minor problem. Namely, a little ragdoll cat, who just looked too comfortable. With a brief apology to the cat, Sina picked her up and draped Dolly over her own shoulder, then continued tacking up Mo. Once she was done, she replaced Dolly in her position and then picked up Derecho's leash.

Yes, she felt like she had quite the menagerie when she arrived at the mounted games yards - But that was just part and parcel of working with Mo. She left Dolly and Derecho in a dog bed that had been set up in the mounted games shed, for the pair, and then buckled on her helmet and mounted.

At Mr. Ropata's instructions, she nodded, and then began the process of getting Mo limber.

[Kekona Hanson]

Once Casper had been groomed and released out into the pasture, Kona headed back to the barn to find Pop. She smiled at the little gelding and offered him a black jellybean before she grabbed his halter, "Ready to do this, Pop?" She led him out into the sunshine and tied him to the hitching post there to groom, and then saddle. Grabbing her helmet, she vaulted into the saddle and walked over to the arena.

She greeted Mr. Ropata and had Pop walk through the gate, then turned left and started getting the Arabian cross ready for racing!

[Gladys Madoc]

Gladys greeted Ish with enthusiasm, grooming and tacking up being interrupted by a lot of patting, but the two of them were eventually ready to make their way down to the arena, and so the Welsh girl hopped up into the saddle before walking the grey down to the Mounted Games arena. It had been way too long since her last lesson here, in her humble opinion, and she couldn't wait to get started again! She nodded to the teacher who held the gate as she made her way in, flexing her shoulders and turning away from Kona to give herself more room to warm up.

[Bruce Ropata]

Bruce watched as the teenagers got their mounts warmed up and when he saw they were ready, he released a whistle. "Haere mai, tamariki ma!" His smile deepened as they gathered. "Welcome to class. Since we all know each other, and our mounts, let's get started. We're going to start the class with a fun game of Speed Weavers. Since there's only the four of you, you can work as individuals, so can everyone take up a starting spot." He moved to stand in the middle of the game area. "Normal rules, weave your way down through the pole, spin around the final one and then weave your way back to the start. If you knock a pole over, you have to pick it up." He paused for a moment as he allowed them to get themselves sorted. "Ready, set, go!"

[Stefano Rice]

Pixie was happy, as long as he stuck to the warm-up that she was used to, and she wasn't afraid to let him know when he deviated from the routine. He also spent this time getting himself warmed up and reached forward and backward and then down to touch his toes, all the normal exercises - he didn't want to chance straining anything either.

By now, he didn't even wonder what the man was saying, and new that the greeting was to call them in... he was sure that Mr Ropata had told him in his first lesson, but that was a while ago now. He grinned when they were told that they would be competing against each other, rather than being paired up and he wiggled his eyebrows in a challenge toward Sina. "Let's do this." He whispered to Pixie as he nudged her forward and they rode up to the startline of the first lane.

On the word go, he released his hold on the pony and let her shoot forward. He did his best to remain as still as possible in the saddle, leaving her mouth alone as he used his legs to guide the mare around the poles. He held his breath as his toe caught the last pole as they were spinning around it, and he released it in a rush as the pole remained standing and he was off again, weaving back through the poles and to where they had started. "That was awesome!" He praised the Welsh as he reined her in and rubbed her neck as they headed back to the start, waiting to hear who had crossed the line first.

[Sina Aleardi]

Sina turned Mo towards Mr. Ropata when they were called in, and listened to the plan for that day. She caught Seth's expression and grinned back at him, "Eat our dust." She trotted Mo into position, lining him up in the lane next to Seth and, once in position, leaned forward to pat Mo's shoulder, "We can do this, boy."

She sat lightly in the saddle, poised to release Mo as soon as the word was given. It came quickly enough, and she loosened her grip on the gelding's reins, letting him rush forward and pointing him towards the poles. They whipped through them, carefully hitting the spot between 'close' and 'too close'. They whirled around the last pole and repeated the line, before passing over the finish line.

After she slowed Mo down, and had patted the gelding's neck, she grinned over at Seth, "Nicely done."

[Kekona Hanson]

Kona was happy with how Pop was moving - She'd gotten permission to take the gelding on a few trail rides over the summer, but he was just as happy as she was to be back in the arena, it seemed. He was attentive, but she could feel his energy, and how he was eying the poles.

When their time for warming up had elapsed, she brought Pop back to where Mr. Ropata was standing and listened to the plan. Simple enough, and without a teammate to worry about - Or to cheer on, though. She and Pop lined up on the third line and then, at the signal, started racing through the poles. On the last one, she had to slow Pop to a walk to make sure they didn't go too far, but after that she urged the gelding back up to a canter, and they managed not to knock any poles before crossing the finish line.

Altogether pleased with their run, Kona patted Pop's neck, grinning at the gelding's ears, which were pointing back at her, "I owe you a few jellybeans when we get back, huh?"