Trail Class #1: open to everyone

[daine3]

Note: The Trail Class is open to any-and-everyone due to the fact that there are not many students signed up for the class. However, the three students who are required to be in this class are Jesse Jander, Micheal Guiliford, and Bronwyn McCord.

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The young man smiled in appreciation as he looked out over the field in which he was to teach the Trail and Obstacle Challenge classes. It was quite large and set up to his standards, and he had quite high standards. The field was covered in short grass and there were several obstacles set up throughout. From where he stood he could see every corner of the field, as it was mostly flat, and he studied the obstacles; both the ones that were in place permanently and the one’s he could move around. The man nodded to himself after gazing around for a few more minutes; he was extremely pleased.

The man left the field after glancing at the watch he wore on his left wrist. He only had half an hour until his first class started. He needed to get his gelding saddled and out there. It wouldn’t do for him to not be ready. As he walked towards the barn his gelding was stabled in, Lukas had to wonder just how many students were planning on checking out the Trail Classes. He only had three down that were required to be there, but he’d posted a notice on the bulletin board welcoming everyone, even if they weren’t in his class. He wanted everyone to at least experience it and decide then if they wanted to take it on.

Booted feet hit the cement on the stable and he quickly had his gelding cross-tied and was grooming the dirt off the blue roan. Not a word was spoken as he saddled and bridled the horse, western style of course. Though the instructor could ride English, and ride it very well, he preferred western. It only took a moment for him to locate his helmet and wrap the horses legs in SMB's, and then he unclipped the stunning, stocky Quarterhorse and started the short trek back to the field. As he led the gelding, Luke couldn’t help but think on what he would teach his students that day.

He would, of course, go over basic safety and what exactly trail and obstacle classes were… but after that… he supposed he could start the class off on an obstacle or two, depending on how many people showed up. “What do you think, Deuce?” He asked the horse he led, thinking about two things that most competitions always asked to be performed; the Offside Mount/Dismount and the Mailbox Obstacle.

The man knew they probably wouldn’t get much further than that during the first class, as horses who had never been desensitized to things like what he was going to be teaching often had to be taught and trained to stay calm and deal with these new things. “Start off with the basics, huh? It’s probably going to be boring for you, but you’ll just have to deal with it.” The man scratched the horse between the eyes before ground-tying him and standing beside the blue roan, waiting for his students to show up. He did wonder, though, how many of them, if any, were going to think he was also a student at first. The man knew quite well that he looked like he was eighteen or nineteen, at best, and he sincerely hoped that the students wouldn't be put off due to his young age.

[Miranda Florin]

Miranda looked up at the giant grey gelding she was going to be riding at the Trail Class, something she was hoping to just take a look at. She led the gentle Percheron out into cross ties and set about grooming him. A barn hand came along with his saddle and saddle pad as soon as she was done brushing him, and Miranda stepped back with a smile to let him put the English saddle onto the nearly eighteen hand gelding. She ducked under him to pull up the girth, then asked the gelding to lower his head. As he did so, she slipped the snaffle bit into his mouth, then pulled the bridle over his head.

Next, she took a pack of indigo polo wraps, indigo being Guardian's stable color, and carried them back to the gelding. She wrapped each of his legs, as they had been asked to bring their horses with lower leg coverings. After she finished, she grabbed her black helmet and buckled it onto her head. She unclipped Guardian from the cross-ties and led him out to the Trail Class field. She checked his girth again once he was outside, then used the mounting block to jump up, as she wasn't sure if the field would have a mounting block.

She walked Guardian down towards the field, bending to undo the gate and then closing it behind her. It was a bit of a struggle to reach down from Guardian's back, but she finally managed it. After latching the gate, she moved Guardian to where the teacher was. She glanced at him twice, making sure that he was the teacher, and not another student.

[daine2]

Bronwyn was super excited for the trail classes, and today, today they were starting! She could hardly contain herself during her day classes, and the second they ended, she bolted from the building, towards her dorm, where she quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a western-style button-down shirt and her cowboy boots before taking off towards the barn.

It took her no time brush and tack Sugar up, though she nearly forgot the SMB boots in her haste. Bronnie then tugged the horse out, towards the field, while buckling her helmet at the same time. She could barely keep a smile off her face. Ever since she'd seen the flier up on the bulletin board, she'd been excited. She knew the instructor, Lukas. She'd actually had the pleasure of competing against him in a trail competition before, several years ago. Of course, he'd beaten her, but instead of being upset by it, she'd been awed. He'd beaten her in the competition, she'd been riding Sugar, her steady, solid, older mare... and he'd been riding a three year old colt who, she'd heard through the grapevine, hadn't had many rides put on him before the competition... So yes, she was excited... just thinking of all the things she could learn from the man.

As she enterd the fiel, she saw the subject of her thoughts and another girl. Bronwyn gave the girl a large smile and a bright "Hello!" before turning to the instructor, giving him a wave, "Hello, Luka- Er, I mean... Mr. Ambrose!" She said cheerfully, mounting her fourteen-three hand mare. Sugar stood stock still, barely flicking an ear. Bronnie glanced around before realizing that their instructor was probably waiting to see if any other students arrived.

[daine3]

Lukas smiled slightly, nodding a greeting to the first girl to make her way into the field. He raised his eyebrows upon seeing that she rode a Perch, but didn’t make a comment; he’d never specified what breed or breeds of horse to ride because it didn’t matter. If she wanted to use a Perch, he was fine with it.

As the next girl entered the field, Lukas once again raised an eyebrow. Not because her horse was short or anything, but because he faintly recognized the girl from a competition a few years ago. He gave her a smile, though, when she greeted him and chuckled when she started to call him by his name. Apparently either he’d made quite an impression on her in the past or she was just excited and couldn’t wait to begin.

After waiting a few more minutes, Lukas clapped his hands together, looping Deuce’s lead over his arm and walking forwards slightly. “Good afternoon you two. you should already know who i am, but if you don't... Name's Lukas Ambrose, trail class instructor.” He said, speaking directly to the girls. “We’re still missing a few students, but I’m going to go ahead and start this lesson.” He motioned to the last girl who’d entered, “I know who you are. You’re supposed to be here, Miss McCord, thank you for showing up… but you, I don’t know.” He indicated the girl on the Percheron, silently asking for a name.

Lukas stepped back and studied the two girls for a few minutes before speaking again. “Do either of you actually know what trail classes and obstacle challenges are? What they’re about? Miss McCord, I know you’ve competed before… but have you?” He questioned the other girl, eyes studying her and her huge horse. “What do you think of when you hear the terms ‘trail class’ and ‘obstacle challenge’? Do you think it’s particularly easy? Do you think it’s a waste of time? Some people do.” He settled back, rocking back on his heels as he waited for their answers. “The first part of today’s class will be simply talking, learning what these classes and competitions are about. Rest assured, we will get to riding in a bit. For now, though, if you want, you can dismount and let the horses relax until we’re through with the discussion part of today.”

[Christopher Alexander Serraz]

It seemed crazy to go to a class you didn't have to, but Chris was up for the crazy adventure. And glancing over at the tacked and already napping Mustang assured him that he was ready as well. Although, Blaze would probably rather sleep, but he'd get over it. Chris had decided it would be far more practical to use his trust, sturdy little horse than to try using his prideful gelding, Shotgun. Besides, Blaze was his go to horse. If he wanted to learn something new, he'd never even think of using any other horse.

Finishing securing the helmet to his head, Chris grabbed the reins and led Blaze, to his displeasure, out of the barn and towards the Trail Class Arena. He glanced down at his cell phone, checking the time. They may be a smidge late, but nothing awful. Besides, he wasn't required to go to the class. He just wanted to check it out. Who knew, he may want to take it in the end. It sounded right up his alley, and Blaze would probably enjoy it, too.

He let himself and Blaze into the ring, swinging the gelding's chestnut butt around to latch the gate before leading him over to the other two girls standing with horses. He glanced over at the man quickly, brows furrowing as he wondered whether or not he was the teacher. But upon hearing him speaking to the girls, he smiled warmly in Mr. Ambrose's direction, not wanting to interrupt.

As he was leading Blaze over to stand with the other students, he spotted the familiar face of Miranda Florin. He grinned, bringing Blaze to stand next to her and a large horse he hadn't seen her with before. "Hey," he whispered, smiling over at her. With that, he turned his attention to the man up front.

[Miranda Florin]

As she entered, Miranda could see the teacher's raised eyebrow, although she didn't respond to it. While she had two healthy horses, and two sane ones, sadly, neither times did the categories overlap, and so she was riding Guardian, the school horse. If this man had a problem with the gelding's breed or size, well, that was a different matter. She saw another girl enter and smiled briefly at her, noticing the interplay between the two of them. Well, they seemed to know eachother already.

As the teacher began to speak to the 'class', all two of them, she listened to his introduction. As he asked for her name without technically asking, she jumped to supply it, "Miranda Florin." As he started questioning them about what they knew, she shook her head. She knew absolutely nothing about it. "I haven't competed before. I saw about it on the bulletin board and decided to come take a look, but this is all new to me, so I have no clue." She smiled, "I doubt it's a waste of time, though."

She saw movement as someone brought their horse alongside Guardian and glanced down, smiling as she saw a very familiar mustang, with a more familiar face. She grinned slightly, "Hey Chris." She didn't dismount, although the teacher said that they could, staying in the saddle. However, she did relax her reins, letting Guardian stretch out his neck as he wanted to.

[daine2]

Bronwyn waited patiently for the other girl to give her answer and gave her a small smile when she admitted that she didn't know much about trail classes. Bronnie herself knew only a little, as trail competitions weren't what she usually focused on. No, her major preference was barrel racing and pole bending, but she answered with what she did know when the instructor's gaze fell to her.

"Trail classes are competitions that focus more on things that a person might find when riding the trails… and obstacle challenges are more about how well the horse and rider are connected and, um… 'fancier' movements and stuff like that?" As she spoke, she swung off her mare to stand beside the horse. In her mind, now that she'd said what she had, she thought it sounded a bit dumb, but oh well, he'd asked and she'd replied.

Bronwyn petted Sugar's neck gently, eyeing the field and some of the permanent obstacles, such as the step-up/down and the water crossing. Bronnie wondered when they would ever get to those, but she knew that they'd get to the more challenging things when Mr. Ambrose felt they were ready, and not before. She waited patiently for the instructor to inform them of what the competitions really were all about, but she also figured that he would probably give the boy who came in a little late a chance to answer as well.

[Christopher Alexander Serraz]

Chris glanced over to Mir as she recognized him, grinning once more. It was great to see a familiar face in such an unfamiliar class. It was true that, although he went on trail rides often, he had almost no idea what trail classes were. The flyers in the main office had caught his attention, though, and he didn't have a class at this time, so he saw no harm in checking it out. He glanced over to the pretty blonde girl, smiling a hello to her as well but not wanting to call out a true hello in the middle of class.

His brows furrowed as he realized that the teacher was already asking questions. About what they knew about trail competitions? He seemed to think that everyone looked down on the sport, though Chris certainly didn't. "I'm Chris Serraz, sorry I got here a bit late," he said as he realized everyone was silent because they were waiting for him to speak. "I have no experience with trail competitions... I just saw the flyer and thought it sounded interesting. I figured I'd give it a go since you left it open to all of us."

Blaze nudged Chris's shoulder as he spoke, probably wanting him to be quiet so that he could finish his nap. Chris smiled at the chestnut before looking back to the teacher. "And, uh, I don't know a thing about trail competitions. But I think what she said sounded pretty good," he added with a grin as he nodded over towards the blonde girl once more.

[daine3]

Lukas nodded as the students mentioned their names and gave them all a small grin, nodding slightly to Miranda, Bronwyn’s, and Chris’s answers before giving them the answers himself. “A lot of people would tell you that a trail challenge and an obstacle challenge are the same thing, and in some cases they are, as sometimes you’ll find some of the same obstacles in each. However, a trail challenge usually takes place in an arena or enclosed area and an obstacle challenge usually takes place out in a field, like this one.” He waved his arm, indicating the huge field. “In a trail challenge, you’ll usually find things to navigate that you’d see or do out on a trail, such as a water crossing, an offside mount and dismount, bridge crossings, etcetera… You’re also asked to have your horse execute a variety of movements to get around certain obstacles, such as side-passing or sidestepping both ways and backing up. In essence, especially nowadays, trail challenges are much more basic than obstacle challenges and they are what tend to focus more on how well the horse and rider work together and how well-trained the horse is.” He paused for a moment, making sure they understood what he was saying.

Lukas knew he was in what could be called ‘lecture-mode’ but continued anyway. He knew this stuff was mostly boring, but it had to be said. “An obstacle challenge, on the other hand, is a bit more complex. Because it’s set up in large areas, such as a field or open pasture, the judges cannot see the horse and rider up close and therefore cannon properly judge on equitation. In an obstacle challenge, the horse is judged more than the rider, because the horse is the one required to go over the obstacle. If the horse refuses three times or doesn’t perform the task within a set time limit, usually three minutes, the horse and rider get little to no points for that obstacle and must continue on to the next one. Normally, they are marked with points ranging from zero-to-five, five being the best, meaning that the horse went over the obstacle without a fuss, quietly, and willingly… and zero being the worst, meaning that the horse either flat out refused or the rider fought with the horse over the obstacle and still didn’t get an attempt. If the horse refuses at first, but the rider attempts to school him over it within the timeframe and gets a partial attempt, points are given based on how much the horse and rider disagreed over the obstacle and how much effort the horse put into the attempt.”

He stepped back half a step, bouncing on the heels of his cowboy boots, arms slipping behind his back and fingers interlocking. “I will be focusing more on obstacle challenges, but equitation is always important, as is the bond between the horse and rider. To perform well at any competition or challenge, you must have trust. Trust yourself, trust your horse, and hope your horse also trusts you. This is not easy, but nor is it very hard. It takes a lot of patience, though, and I promise you, it’s much more fun than what you may think. Any questions so far?”

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Posting Order
Miranda
Bronwyn
Christopher

Note: Students will have five days to reply. After five days, if there has been no reply, the next person in the posting order can reply.

[Miranda Florin]

Miranda listened to the answers the others gave, glad as Chris admitted that he didn't know much about it either. While she didn't mind making light of her ignorance, she was, deep down, glad that she wasn't the only one that hadn't a clue and had only shown up to do something extra. She felt Guardian shift his weight and cock up a back hoof, choosing to relax, as it seemed they wouldn't be moving at the moment, and smiled at the thought of the large, but gentle, gelding falling asleep under her. She looked over at Blaze for a moment, thinking that, if he were to fall asleep, at least she wouldn't be the only one with a napping equine.

As the teacher started talking about what he thought trail class was, and what they would be working on, Miranda listened to him, trying to make what seemed to be the most important stick in her mind. She knew that some of the finer points would escape her later on, but hopefully this wouldn't be a too theory-rich class, and instead move into the actual how-to of the thing soon. As the teacher asked if they had any questions, she shook her head. This all made sense, at least so far.

[daine2]

Bronwyn gave the only boy in the trail class a small smile upon hearing him agree that what she'd said sounded good, even though she knew that she hadn't said much more than what most people would have thought. She scratched Sugar on the neck gently before turning her attention to Mr. Ambrose, listening to him intensely. Oh, she had known that she could learn so much from him! The man was all that she'd thought he'd be, and he explained things so well. She made a mental note to remember all she could and write it down later that night, in her dorm room, because she hadn't known a lot of what the man had just said. She did hope, though, that the lecture would soon be over and they'd get onto the actually riding and training stuff… but she could understand that knowing this stuff was important for anyone who wanted to compete.

She also shook her head no when he asked if they had any questions. Mr. Ambrose had explained it all so well that there was no need for questions. She had understood everything he'd said perfectly, and her grin couldn't get any larger. Bronnie mentally reviewed what the instructor had said and assured herself that she had been only too right in signing up for this class. She did, however, take the time to look at the other two students, Miranda and Christopher, giving them both a friendly grin.

[daine3]

notes: moving on

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Lukas grinned slightly when his stuents appeared to not haveny questions or coments, and he clapped his hands in anticipation, looping an arm through Deuce's reins and waking te horse up a bit, as the gelding was snoozing.

"Alright, so how about we get on to the actual work?" He said with a kind smile, "I'm going to start you guys of on something that may sound simple, but takes time to perfect. The offside mount and dismount." He paused to take a look at his students expressions. "This is a 'challenge' that is asked at nearly every competition, and it's harder than it sounds. Horses, like us humans, usually prefer one side to the other, and the left side is the side we generally mount up from..." He thought briefly about going into detail abut why they mounted from the left side, but chose not to. "Most horses prefer you to get on from that side, and for riders, since the idea of mounting from the other side never, or almost never crosses the mind, it's something most riders don't do, and as such, their horses aren't desensitized to it. Because we don't mount from the off-side, we also don't use those muscles and don't train our bodies to think of it as 'natural', so it can be quite hard for both horse and rider to adapt to it. I've seen some horses fall to pieces beause their riders had to mount from the offside."

He walked to Deuce's saddle and checked the girth, tightening it slightly, then moved to the off-side of the horse and stood besid the stirrup. "Ideally, in an obstacle and trail challenge, you want to be able to mount and dismount from this side without your horse moving, and with him or her on a looser rein. You can have contact with the reins, but in no way should you be forcing your horse to stand still with the reins. To start, desensitize the horse to the stirrup, flop it against the side of the horse until he's fine with it. Then, go in steps. Place a foot in the stirrup. If the horse starts freaking out, either go with it if he's not too upset and bounce with him untl he calms down, or back off and do more foundation work." Lukas fell silent and stepped his boot up to slide into the stirrup, then swung on up when Deuce merely flicked an ear lazily. He sat in the saddle for a moment before swinging down. "That's what you want to achieve." He told the group before once again doing the same thing, but cueing the horse to sidestep when he had only his foot in th stirrup. Lukas hopped with the horse for a few strides before stopping the horse and moving the two back t their origional position. "If your horse is nervous, but isn't acting like he's going to completely spazz out on you, stick with him and talk to him to keep him calm. If the horse feels like he's getting light i the front end or starts spinning or anything else that cold get you hurt, stop and back off and I'll help you. If you want help in general, just ask." He stepped back slightly and nodded to the students, "Go ahead and give it a try. I know i'm long-winded, but these are things you guys have to know. Remember, don't expect it to be perfect the first time and don't get irritated."

[warrie]

February got up from her seat, grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder before before rushing out of her forth and final normal class of the day now it was her favorite classes, she walked eagerly toward the barn where her lovely Hajnal Izidora, which she call Dawn for short, had been placed. The mare was absolutely gorgeous well too February she was, after all the mare was a minimal red leopard, and she was an amazing ride to top it off. The mare never fused or did anything she wasn't asked to do. Though most would assume that she was an appaloosa but the mare was a Nez perce bred mare, at least that is what she was registered in, and was actually an Appaloosa and a Akhal teke cross.

When February walked into the stables she was met with an excited whinny, she smiled as she made her way to her red leopard mare who had her head over the stall door eagerly wanting to be petted. he patted the mare on the neck before grabbing her lead and clipping it to Dawn's halter before opening the stall door and leading the mare to the cross ties. She quickly groomed Dawn then she walked off coming back with the pretty mares western saddle, blanket and bridle. She preferred Western over English though she could ride both equally good. She tacked Dawn up before wrapping her legs like it had said too.

February lead Dawn out of the stable before mounting up and walking then trotting toward the trail field. Once the bell rang February found herself cantering toward the field, pulling Dawn to a walk when they nears the gate. She stopped the mare opened the gate, walked her through it, stopping again and closing it then asked her to trot to where the others were. Hearing the end of what the instructor was saying, she knew about off-side mounting she had to do it a few time when when she had gotten her left leg hurt and refused to stop riding.

Once Mr.Ambrose stopped explaining she walked her minimal red leopard mare toward him making her go around one of the other students, one that was on a huge horse, she stopped a distance away, that he would call a safe distance because of her fear of guys. "Sorry I'm late, I'm February, I'm knew." She said, her voice polite but strained at the same time. This teacher was around the age of the guys who had jumping her. Feeling her riders fear Dawn lifted her head slightly and took a step back before being whoaed by Feb, who forced herself to calm down and as quickly as Dawn was unsettled she calmed down again.

[daine2]

Bronwyn nodded when Mr. Ambrose said to try out the offside mount and dismount. She knew exactly what it was, as she had done it before, in a competition... but still, she knew that her mare, steady and solid as she was, had a few problems with adjusting to her mounting and dismounting from the 'wrong' side. The girl asked sugar to move a little ways away from the small group and halted her, shifting her weight into the offside stirrup, she moved to dismount, but paused when Sugar shifted sideways, ears flicking.

"Easy..." Bronwyn said softly, scratching the horse under the mane with her free hand. When Sugar settled on down, the girl quickly swung her leg over the saddle and stumbled to the ground a little off balance. She wasn't too good at dismounting from the offside herself, as she hadn't trained those muscles to the movement. When she stumbled back, Sugar sidestepped and turned to face her.

"Well, I messed up." Bronwyn announced to the class, her face a little red as she repositioned Sugar and took up a stance at the mare's shoulder. She twisted the stirrup around and placed her foot in it, one hand on the reins, and swung aboard while the mare was in the motion of whirling in a circle. Bronwyn knew she hadn't done that well, but she wanted to see what the instructor would advise her to do to correct her offside ount and dismount.

[warrie]

February walked Dawn a few steps around then stopped her getting ready to offside dismount she knew how to do it but it had been awhile since she had to do it so she had to think about it so she could do it right and not make Dawn thin she wanted her to twist in circles and she instantly started mentally slapping herself because of it. Feb offside dismounted she knew she did it a little wrong and facepalmed her forehead before offside mounting which looked much better then the dismount so she concentrated and did it again before falling on her bum with a small off sound.

Dawn turned and sniffed Feb's face before snorting and snotting her she sighed and got back up offside mounting again before trying it again almost falling but catching herself. She offside mounted again then decided to wait for help on the dismounting she hating having to get help but she wasn't going to risk hurting herself or Dawn because safety came first before anything else at least that's what February thought and was taught by everyone who owned or rode horses. She leaned forward and patted Dawn on the neck before straightening again.