Fly Just a Bit Higher (Henri)

[Rose Hoff]

Rose walked up to the White Oak Barn, a little skip in her step. She'd talked to Henri, who she'd seen before, and the girl seemed very talented. When Rose had seen that both of them had made the equestrian team, she'd been very excited, and had later talked to the girl. They'd agreed to meet up here to train over some jumps. Rose had been very happy to agree on jumping, since it was her best discipline. She knew a little dressage, and could do cross country well, but she'd have to use a school horse for cross country, because Vintage was simply not cut out for it.

She walked up to Vintage's stall, tickling the mare's nose lightly through the bars of the stall. Going to the tack room, she grabbed her brush box and brought it back, stepping into the warmblood's stall. Vintage greeted her immediately, snuffling her nose over the girl's silvery blonde hair. Rose removed the mare's rug, as she'd started putting it on when she was let out, and grabbed a soft brush, sweeping it over the light grey's coat to get the dust off. She was already very clean from the rug, and the only dirt that had collected was around her neck, and it came off easily. She picked the mare's hooves, and when she bent over, Vintage bent her neck around, nibbling on the ends of Rose'd hair affectionately. Rose stood up, giggling at the mare and tapping her nose. She brushed out her tail, taking care to get all the shavings out, and made her mane nice and even. It had been wavy from the braids she'd put in the the equestrian team trials, but the curls were finally coming out. Vintage's mane was a little longer than average, and thin, since it wasn't able to grow out much from the braiding and pulling for shows. Rose put on her jumping boots, and tacked her up with a raspberry saddle pad. Putting her bridle on, she pulled Vintage's forelock out from under the brow band and led her out.

They made their way out to the showjumping arena. Rose had set up a course with jumps from about 3'6" to 4'9". This was about medium height for her and Vintage, and she was going to ask Henri about whether or not she should change it. She didn't really mind about what the height was, nor did she mind going around and changing the size of the jumps. Some people seemed to hate setting up courses, but Rose just saw it as excercise.

Once she entered, she closed the gate behind her and tightened her girth before mounting. She gathered her reins, guiding Vintage to the rail and moving her into the trot. She trotted around twice in each direction, and then asked her for a canter. Vintage leaped into a nice working canter and Rose kept her at it for a little bit, wanting to warm her up well. She would continue to work her lightly until Henri arrived.

[Henrietta Charleston]

Henri walked proficiently into the white oak barn. She was a bit off her schedule, though at this point with all the stress she was having from moving to a new school, time was the last thing on her mind. At this moment in her life however, the girl was quite happy with herself. She had actually made the equestrian team, and though it brought a whole new set of responsibilities for her; it had also brought her friends. She had already met one, Rose Hoff, who had also made the team with her and she had befriended quickly enough. Henri had made plans with the other girl to practice together and excitement lit up her face at the thought of actually being part of a team.

Henri hummed the same tune she had been humming a few days ago as she went and grabbed Hutch’s grooming kit. She had decided to groom him in his stall today, just because everyone was happy when she did that. The horse had his food and she had her time to make him gleam; even if he already did already gleam. Henri gave her horse a big, huge teddy bear hug, just because. Finally, the girl moved off to flick off all the dust that settled onto his back and pick his hooves.

Hutch simply chomped away at his hay, somewhat oblivious to the scurrying human moving in and out of his stall to grab tack. Only when she placed the leather saddle against his back did the gelding lift his head in surprise. They were going on a ride! Henri chuckled “Well, I see you woke up from your food coma, sunshine.” she said, an amused glance in the animal’s way before she set the girth up only one hole. She would tighten that later, when Hutch wasn’t pretending to be fat.

Finally, Hutch was all tacked up and ready to go mirroring his rider, in helmet and riding boots. Henri led the horse out by his reins, fixing her stirrups and girth before she got on and rode him over to the show jumping arena. The girl smiled softly at Rose, who was already working her horse around the ring “Gate!” she called before letting herself in on horseback and making Hutch go to the right. “Sorry I’m a bit late.” Henri apologized before warming up Hutch with transitions and circles. After the warm-up, Henri surveyed the jumps “So what shall we do first?” she asked curiously, leaving it up to the girl to decide.

[Rose Hoff]

Rose smiled when the girl entered, walking Vintage to the center of the ring as the other girl warmed up. Vintage tried to bow, rubbing her head against her leg, but Rose pulled her head up quickly. She didn't mind when Vintage did that when she was wrapped, but she didn't want the mare hurting herself with the boots.

When Henri finished warming up, Rose answered her question. She usually didn't like making decisions, but now was not the time to be standoffish. "I was thinking that we could do a couple little jumping exercises and then put together a course or two to work with. We could go a bit higher too if you're up for it I guess. Vin is feeling strong today." She patted the mare's neck affectionately.

The ring was set up with a line on one side with a vertical leading to an oxer with about 8 strides in between for Vintage, who was an average sized mare at 15.2 hands. The line on the other side was a triple combination, ascending in height, with 3 strides between the first two jumps and 4 between the second two. There was a broken line down the diagonal leading to the last jump of the triple combination, with two jumps down the diagonal, and then a broken line to the last jump in the other triple combination. The only other jump in the ring was a good sized vertical set next to the vertical that led to the oxer. It was set on a diagonal. Rose looked over the jumps. They were simple, but a couple different course could be manipulated out of them as well as individual exercises.


O.O.C. Sorry if that was confusing. I'm terrible at course design. But in order to make it a bit easier, you start with the pink line and when that stops go to the orange and after that the yellow. I hate when they overlap and it gets confusing. I'll probably use numbers next time but I didn't think of that until now...sorry. But that is the set up she made of the ring and one of the courses we could do I guess.

[Henrietta Charleston]

Henri warmed Hutch up quickly, enjoying the exercise as her muscles stretched out. No matter what type of style she was doing, the girl loved to two point at any gait. It stretched down her legs and heels, making her ready to take the impacts of the ride. The pair did a few trot circles, Henri making sure to use her inside leg to her outside rein as she pushed him to flex. Hutch was quite used to these flexing exercises of his, and put his head down for her. The brunette smiled at her horse before asking for a nice collected canter. She made him keep his gait relaxed and easy just to get started, then did it the other way.

When they stopped, Rose explained what she had planned out. Henri smiled, liking the idea of it all. “That sounds good. A course will definitely help with preparation to the first show.” she said with a grin before nodding at the prospect of making the jumps higher “Definitely, me and Hutch haven’t jumped big since last week. A refresher would be good.” Henri agreed. The last time they had jumped somewhere even remotely high was when Hutch had gotten spooked and crashed into the jump.

Henri shook her head at the thought of that, a slight bit of annoyance coming up at the thought of the silly, stupid freshman football players and their need to slam doors and spook horses. Still, the fall hadn’t fazed her much at all and she was ready to ride. The brunette straightened her helmet “I’m going to do the first line for a small warmup.” she announced before pushing Hutch into a fast paced trot.

The gelding easily jumped the first vertical, landing skillfully and developed a canter in which Henri kept, counting the strides. Since he was a bit bigger, only about six strides between the vertical and the oxer. Henri shortened his stride up for extra measure before two pointing and giving him a nudge. The Trakehner flew over and landed back into a canter before Henri pulled him back to a walk. She gave him a pat, waiting for Rose to go so they could start the real stuff.

OOC: Can't see the picture, though your description of the course was pretty good ^^

[Rose Hoff]

Rose smiled when the girl agreed that a course would be good. Whenever she trained she usually tried to make up a course for herself by the end of the session to try to improve her memorization for shows and have Vintage used to making her courses fluid rather than a series of short exercises. The jumps were already a pretty moderate height, but Rose was always game to go higher, and Vintage was strong enough in jumping to take any just about any decent sized jump as long as she was set up well enough and her rider was there for her.

Rose watched Henri take the line, noting her striding. Hutch naturally took strides that were quite a bit longer than that of Vintage, and Rose knew that she'd probably get another stride in, unless she really lengthened Vintage.

She trotted Vintage down the center from where they had been standing to C and called "Line!" before turning left and asking Vintage for a collected canter as they approached the first vertical. Vintage popped over it easily, and Rose bent easily into her jumping position, flowing back into her hunt seat when they landed. She pushed Vintage on, keeping her at a collected, but lively stride to the oxer and got her predicted seven strides. She made sure to keep Vintage's power on her hind end for the oxer, and the warmblood launched over it gracefully, falling back into her airy canter, with her ears picked forwards. Rose let her back into a walk and they returned to the center. She looked over the course again made a suggestion. "How about the triple combination back to the jump next to the first vertical we just took, and then take the first two jumps of the triple combination on the other direction, forming a broken line? And go to the two jumps down the diagonal to the third jump of the combination for another broken line. Like a mini course."

O.O.C. Does that make sense? The first line is going from C to A and the triple combination is as if you continued around the ring form the other line and took it, so more from A to C I suppose. If you're looking at the ring from C, the jump next to the first vertical would be directed down the diagonal from the bottom left to the top right. And the two diagonal jumps and angled from the top right to the bottom left. Yes?

[Rose Hoff]

O.O.C Can you see that?

[Henrietta Charleston]

Blue orbs followed the pair as they made their way over the warm up jumps. Just from the warm up, Henri knew she had a pretty good team member. The brunette grinned, giving Hutch a pat as Rose came to the center. She listened intently as the girl worked out their course, directing her gaze to the many different jumps set up. She nodded slowly as she talked, eyeing the course and trying to follow it as Rose spoke. Henri quirked a brow at the tight turns, but her grin said it all. A mini-course sounded quite perfect. She nodded, knowing how much trouble Hutch had bending around things like that; though it was definitely something they could work on.

Henri looked over at Rose, a confirmative nod once more as the course stayed ingrained in her mind “Alright, I got it. Sound great!” she said enthusiastically before pushing Hutch up to a trot “I’ll give it a run, and you tell me how his turns went please? We’re still working on those.” she asked, an inquisitive look growing on her face before her eyes switched to the jumps. Henri trotted Hutch till they got to the first turn in which she picked up her left lead canter, working up a collected coolness as they approached the triple combination

Hutch lifted cleanly into the air at the first jump, easily making it over as Henri immediately sat back up and counted her striding. The horse chipped in a bit at the last one, though he jumped it and Henri gave him a ressuring pat before turning her attention onto the vertical next to the first jump they had taken the day. She made him bend his neck as much as she could, though the horse cut the corner and still managed to make it somewhat straight over the jump. Henri organized him as she got closer to the first two jumps of the triple combination.

They flew beautifully under her and she grinned, tightening her leg and flexing his neck as they cleared the short end of the arena and headed toward the bending line. Henri lifted cleanly out of the saddle as the animal’s head came to her chest and the jumps flew under them. Finally there was the last jump in the triple combination. Henri extensively used her inside leg to turn him straight as well as her outside rein and managed to get the horse so calm and collected, he made it perfectly over. She grinned and patted his neck, satisfied with the first mini course. She looked over at Rose as she slowed Hutch down to a walk “That was good for us! I have to really work on getting him straight though, and chipping in…” she said, looking thought full for a moment. Finally, she returned her attention n to Rose in hopes to hear her opinion as well as watch her ride and give her tips of her own.

[Rose Hoff]

Rose watched Henri and Hutch run through she small course, her fingers unconsciously braiding through Vintage's mane and taking the braids out before starting again. The mare didn't seem to care, and only shuffled around a little, but didn't move much. There was no doubt that Henri was a very good rider, and Hutch was a talented horse. She noticed what Henri had meant about his turning, but that was just a wrinkle that they could even with a little time.

When the pair returned to the canter, Rose smiled, "You two are quite the competition! I'm glad to be competing with rather than against you!" she noted lightheartedly. "The only things I noticed were the corners, with him turning, and that one stride, but obviously you're aware and already working on that. Lovely job, especially with the second time you took the third jump of the combination. He took it really nicely, especially after chipping it the first time, and having to turn to it!" She gathered up her reins, "I guess now it's my turn..."

She walked Vintage to the rail, asking her for a canter. The mare picked it up nicely, keeping it energetic, and Rose was careful to keep her from getting flat already. She needed to keep Vintage interested and motivated from the start, since the mare had a habit of getting distracted and sometimes bored, which led to rushing things. Once they passed A, Rose began to turn her in towards the first jump, and she mentally counted down the strides to it. Vintage took it without a problem, and Rose felt her try to lengthen towards the next vertical, but held her back, wanting to get an even three strides. Vintage took it nicely, but Rose released too much, allowing her to extend once they landed and headed towards the next jump. Rose tried to collect her once more, but the mare had already gotten what she needed to reduce the distance to three strides, and Rose had no choice but to take a long spot in order to avoid a nasty shipped stride.

She kept Vintage straight to the rail, turning her gently around the corner and taking the time to collect her, as the mare was again getting powerful. She kept her collected through the weird angled curve to the next jump, but kept the mare powerful. This time she tried for a long spot, and Vintage took it nicely, changing her lead over it. Rose tried to keep Vintage straight towards the rail to make a broken line, but they ended up taking a diagonal to the kept jump. Rose cursed herself for not making her aids sharper, but they took the two jumps easily.

She allowed Vintage to extend a bit at the end of the ring, turning her down the diagonal after the oxer and kept her extended, taking a one stride between the two diagonal jumps, which probably should have been a two, but Vintage was able to get her diagonal change. After the fact, Rose was disappointed in herself, knowing that it had probably looked sloppy. She forced Vintage to stay towards the rail, turning her sharply to the final jump, trying to make it as crisp as possibly. Vintage flew over the high vertical neatly, and Rose smiled to herself, She broke Vintage down into a trot, and then a walk, moving back into the center and patting the mare's neck.

[Henrietta Charleston]

Henri was pretty harsh on herself when it came to school, though not to the point where she would put her or her horse in danger. Still, she would make sure to take every comment and tip she could get, either from herself or from a looking eye. Henri would always take compliments to the heart as well. This being said, as her co-team member complimented her ride, the brunette’s face beamed. She nodded as the girl went through her errors throughout the ride, happy to realize she had figured them out. This would make the getting over them initially better.

Henri then smiled at her comment about the last jump of the triple combination “I was quite happy with that too.” she said, giving her horse a pat “Usually, the second time through, we tend to do better.” Henri explained and nodded as the girl said it was her turn. The brunette turned her attention from her horse to Rose as her and her horse moved into the canter. Immediately Henri liked the way the girl brought up her horse’s impulsion, making sure to keep a nice bouncy gait. Blue orbs followed the pair as they made it evenly to the first jump and took it. She smiled, the girl was good. That much was quite obvious, and Henri was happy to be on a team with her.

The pair made it nicely over the next vertical, but Henri noticed the horse’s canter extend and she was forced to jump quite wide. Henri nodded to herself, noting to do that in case she ever got into that situation, in which she did. The brunette always liked to watch others ride, she often learned a lot from simply observing. She watched carefully as the opposite girl reorganized and made the jump nicely before moving off the bending line. Henri felt a rush of understanding as the girl came to the jumps crooked. She had been there many many many times.

The brunette smiled yet again as they still made it over just as beautifully and moved on to the next two diagonal jumps. Henri noted they might’ve been rushed a bit at the one stride, but it still worked out. The final jump was perfect and the girl gave her friend a broad grin. “That was great! The only things I truly noticed were that particularly wide jump, and that somewhat crooked bending line, and finally, the one striders. Though despite all these tiny things, you were able to correct these things to the best of your ability and I really liked the way you still managed to go over the two jump even after the crooked entrance. But still, that was a mini course and a starter, so I guess we both did pretty well if you ask me.” she said with a grin before looking over the course once more. “Do you want to make another course, or run through it again?” she asked, offering ideas on what they could do next to help improve their results.

[Rose Hoff]

Rose nodded as Henri as she explained what she'd noticed about the ride. "Thanks, I really need to work on the striding with her though. I keep letting her get ahead which is kind of horrible. We definitely need to work on that, and sharper turns too. Other than that I was pretty happy with it though. She grinned, running Vintage's mane through her fingers. "I think of want to try the triple again to work on her striding through that to get a nice, respectful pace. We really need to fix that for hunter classes. So the oxer line and triple again really quickly? And then we can move into a longer course." she suggested. She really just wanted to get the striding perfect for both lines before moving on. Gathering Vintage's reins, she brought her back to the rail, "Sorry for the repetition..."

When they got to the rail, she asked Vintage for a nice working trot, and when she got to C, cued her into a canter. They approached the vertical well, and Vintage popped over it. Rose released well, but made sure to collect her up after the jump to keep her at a good pace. She kept her at the same even pace, collecting Vintage power to her hindquarters so the mare made it over easily.

The continued around the long side and approached the first vertical of the combination, taking it and collecting again to get the good three strides before the next jump. Vintage arched over the next jump high, lashing her tail. She was a bit annoyed by the whole thing, and was clearly bored. Rose began to talk to her keeping her distracted so that Vintage would collect nicely and get four strides before the highest vertical. She cantered her off before bringing her back to the center. "Did you want to do that again? If you don't want to that's fine...we could start thinking up a course."

[Henrietta Charleston]

Henri nodded her head as the girl went on about how she needed to fix striding and various other things. The brunette realized they had quite the similar problems. While having problems wasn’t so good, it was nice to have someone to train with and improve with. She figured they would be ready for their first show against Adrenaline Rush Academy. Just the thought of very soon up-coming show sent the girl into a spin of excitement. Yes, she would kick butt. Coming from the Charleston family easily put a competitive streak in Henri’s mind, though her father overusing it had calmed her need to be the best quite a bit.

The brunette grinned as the other girl suggested the oxer line and the triple combination once more. A re-run on what they needed seemed like a good idea. She would work on Hutch’s chipping in this time and keep him steady. The gelding just had a bad habit of either rushing, or when collected too much, chipping in. Henri nodded in agreement “Oh no. It’s fine. The more practice, the better you get. I think it’s a great plan.” she responded to girl as her blue orbs watched the pair take to the jumps once more.

Henri felt a grin stretch out across her face, there was most definitely a beautiful improvement in the girl’s jumps since the first time through. That was the beauty of repetition. The girl’s excited face greeted Rose as she came back to the center “That time was much better! I liked how you managed to collect her and got her over the jump organized and using her hind end.” she complimented before pushing Hutch into a trot. She circled the gelding, getting a focused and collected canter before taking to the first vertical.

Henri felt the horse immediately attempt to speed up as they approached the jump, but she countered it, collecting him in and using his energy for both the front and back of his body. To her delight, Hutch made it over the first jump beautifully before going onto the oxer and taking it just as well. Henri then turned him into the triple combination, a focused expression on her face. It would be easier this time due to the fact she had gotten his attention from the first line. Henri counted her strides backwards before she lifted out of the saddle and let the horse jump under her.

She then collected his stride in, keeping him bouncy, but his strides smaller so she could fit in three. It was challenging for the large horse, but he jumped over the second and easily made it over the third. Henri grinned at the disappearance of his chipping in before slowing down to a walk and bringing him up to Rose and her mount. “There we go. I think we’re ready to try something different.” she said happily, before looking over the jump and trying to decide a course. “How bout we start with the triple combination, come around to the jump next to that first vertical, then do the first two jumps of the combination. After that, go around the oxer and go over the two verticals onto the last jump in the combination as a bending line before going over the first vertical and oxer in the first line?” she suggested.

OOC: PM me if it doesn't make sense hehe... I'll make a pic; if you want to do that course of course...

[Rose Hoff]

Rose was rather happy that Henri decided to do the course again too. She was glad that the other girl was just as enthusiastic about getting things perfect as she was. Or almost as perfect at least. Rose didn't know the girl well, and she could very well be, but Rose sort of doubted that many people were bigger perfectionists than her.

She watched the girl, and they did much better the second time too. Rose smiled at her when she returned, thrilled that repeating it had aided both of them. She listened intently as the girl explained the new course, and nodded when she had finished. It sounded like a great course to work Vintage with.

She gathered Vintage up again, keeping in the pattern that they'd been working with. She walked her out to the opposite side of the ring from where the triple started and cued Vintage into a canter. She liked Vintage to have some time to settle into her gait before they started jumping and it gave Rose some time to get her listening and active. When they approached the triple, Rose took it as she had last time, making sure to keep Vintage collected but powerful, since it's seemed to work before. They made it through cleanly and cantered off through the end of the arena.

She made sure to keep Vintage on the rail until they made it into the corner, only turning her onto the diagonal then. Vintage seemed to have settled by now, and they took a nice spot over the jump but still got a nice lead change. It was times like these when Rose most appreciated her auto-changes. Sometimes it seemed as if the mare was reading her mind, especially when the change wasn't at the obvious spots. After the jump, she was sure to keep her on a straight diagonal before turning her sharply to the two jumps, which they took nicely.

Unlike last time, she kept Vintage at a nice gait around the end, keeping her engaged and in frame, paying special attention to the nice bend in her beck. They turned down the diagonal again, and Rose was certain to get two strides in between the two jumps unlike last time, but failed to get her lead change. Coming off of the jump, she kept Vintage down the diagonal, asking her for a flying lead change which Vintage hesitated at for a stride before taking, making their striding to the last jump tricky, and Rose had to lengthen her at the last second to avoid a chip. She bit her lip, knowing that it must have looked horrid.

She pushed Vintage off of it, knowing that the mare would become easily distracted if she did, but she was already lagging a bit and Rose barely had time to push her power back before taking the vertical, and she winced as she heard the clatter of the rail behind her. It had been a stupid mistake, and the knawing in her stomach started again. Biting her cheek, she kicked Vintage forward, her face taking on a steely expression as they neared the vertical. They took it fine, but Vintage was clearly annoyed by Rose's sharper hands on the reins, and flicked her tail. Rose brought her back to the center, trying to tell herself that one rail down wouldn't kill them. She halfheartedly gave Vintage a pat, and forced a smile.

[Henrietta Charleston]

Henri was quite happy at the fact that both their rides had been greatly benefitted from doing the course twice. The first course of a ride was always the hardest for her to completely get the feel of the striding and everything. The brunette nodded as the other girl listened, wondering if her course was a bit hard to follow. To her glee, Rose seemed to agree with it and she watched as the girl went over to the start over the first triple combination. The pair easily transitioned into a smooth canter, and the brunette’s blue eyes followed them closely; ready to take note of what she thought was great and what needed to be improved on. Helping her team member was all part of being on a team.

Rose and her mount made it beautifully through the first jumps and she noted how the girl had collected her horse perfectly during the triple combination. It was easily the show of how good she was. At the flying changes, a smile pulled on Henri’s lips. Hutch was pretty good with automatic flying lead changes, but the horse did get a bit lazy at times. It only took a small hint of bend in jumping course to do a little pixie jump and switch, though it had scared the crap out of her when she was still getting used to riding him.

Henri looked carefully as Vintage missed her lead change and Rose grew worried. Due to the girl’s concentration being broken on that last vertical down the diagonal, they took the last jump on the bending line wide causing it to all come crashing down like dominos. The brunette sighed as Rose attempted to get the power in the mare’s haunches before the first vertical, but the mare was already lagging and the pole came down. Henri nodded still at Rose, trying to get her to keep her confidence. One rail down wasn’t the end of the world. A broad grin spread across her face as the pair easily made it through the last one, recovering nicely though the tension was still on Rose face as she slowed.

Henri pushed Hutch forward toward the girl “It’s alright Rose. I think you recovered really well over that rail down anyway. You were doing amazing before that last jump in the triple combination the second time because you just lost your concentration. My advice, if you can’t make the lead change in time, just focus on the jump.” she said with a soft smile before pushing Hutch into a trot circle and cantering off. In difference to the last time, Henri shortened the gelding’s strides causing the first three jumps to end cleanly with two strides between each. She smiled at that improvement before focusing on the tight turn.

Henri got the horse to bend his back, though she misjudged the turn and took it crooked. Hutch, being the superstar he was jumped it anyway and they were off onto the next two. The brunette bit her lower lip as she straightened him out quickly for them, landing them both quite nicely and going around the oxer. Pricked ears, the bay horse tried to approach the oxer causing Henri to actually pull his outside rein hard and make him go around. Her inside leg pushed and she cleared it by an inch before moving onto the upcoming fence. The girl winced, it must’ve looked terrible. Still, the pair managed to do the two first fences beautifully before changing leads and completing the bending line.

Henri nodded to herself, getting back control after her little shock of approaching a jump she wasn’t ready for and collected in the gelding. Imediately, Hutch’s canter became more powerful and he sprang up over the first vertical and onto the last jump. She readied herself, counting down the strides before lifting up and out of the saddle as Hutch made it up and over. Finally as they landed, Henri allowed herself to breathe, her face red now and she slowed him to a walk before moving up next to Rose. “Phew, that almost oxer gave me a scare.” she said with a shaky chuckle before moving to pat Hutch’s somewhat sweaty neck.

[Rose Hoff]

Rose watched Henri and Hutch take the course. They were doing very well until they had a scare with the oxer, and Rose felt her heart thrum in her chest as she imagined the disaster that could have come of it. Thankfully, they made it around it and took the rest of the course nicely before making it into the center. "It was all good except for that part...you scared me!" Rose smiled, rubbing Vintage's withers.

"Shall we try another course? I was thinking that we could do the oxer line and then the triple, and then take the vertical next to the first vertical to the two jumps in the triple like we did before. We continue to the same part that we just did, with the two jumps on the diagonal to the third jumps in the triple. Then we could take the first jump in the line and take a rollback to the jump next to it and then take the oxer line. It has some tight turns in it but I think we'll handle it well from what we've already done today. I guess I'll start."

She guided Vintage to the rail and asked her for a canter. She was careful to get her striding right while keeping Vintage strong to the first vertical which they had knocked before. Vintage took it stronger this time, and Rose pushed her on to the oxer, which they sailed over easily. She kept her at an easy pace to the triple, which they took nicely again without a problem. They'd gotten down their striding for the triple and now took it like it was nothing. She pushed her stronger off of the combination than last time, pushing her strongly over the vertical and praising Vintage when the mare got a flying change. She took her to the next jump and took it nicely, though Vintage's strides were long, and they got a long spot to the next one.

She cantered her around the end at a pace that was a bit faster, bit collected her before the two jumps on the diagonal. The got the correct striding between them and Rose pressed her on the the highest vertical, which Vintage took nicely but Rose was a bit forward.

The next part of the course was new, and Rose pushed Vintage strongly to the vertical, but collected her quickly afterwards, turning her head sharply to the next jump, and deepening her seat. Vintage's shortish strides made the turn nice and neat, and Rose extended her once they made it so that they could take the vertical easily, but again collected her afterwards, riding her to the rail before looping back to the first vertical. They took the last line easily and Rose scratched Vintage's neck afterwards, walking her to the center. She was quite pleased with her performance. "A couple of tough jumper turns in there, but she took them rather nicely." Rose smiled, leaning forward to scratch Vintage's ears.

[Henrietta Charleston]

Henri chuckled at Rose response “Haha, sorry Rose.” she said with a somewhat teasing apologetic grin. She hadn’t wanted to scare her team member, but she had scared herself as well in the craziness of it all, Henri actually felt somewhat amused about it. Her eyes grew somber however as the girl went onto to explain the next course plan. She nodded and listened intently as Rose used the same plan as before, but with a different ending. Henri inhaled deeply at the thought of the tight turns, but figured it would be pretty good practice for the team. Hutch, being the large horse he was always seemed to have a difficult time with turns. It was one of the reasons Henri had begun taking private dressage lessons.

She nodded to Rose as she volunteered to take the course first and watched carefully as she moved through the first jumps. Henri felt a grin spread across her face as the mare took the turns nearly flawlessly. She really needed to get Hutch to become more flexible. The brunette noted to practice with bending poles when they got the chance. She waited till Rose made the last jump easily and came back to a walk. Henri nodded at her words, her smile happy and proud “That was beautiful! You really did well with those tight turns.” The brunette nodded her head and pushed Hutch up.

Hutch pricked his ears as he realized it was now his turn to jump, and took the first line easily. He pretty much knew this part of the course now and collectedly bounced through the triple. Henri gave her horse praise as he shortened his stride, knowing the animal wasn’t too keen on it. A smile played on the corner of her lips at his flying lead change, happy to have his knowledge on that. Hutch almost automatically moved over the vertical and onto the first two jumps of the triple. Henri smiled at his intelligence, and collected his stride as they came to the bending line. Hutch cleared it easily, finishing with a flawless lead change as they moved on.

Henri’s attention kicked into high gear as they rounded to the new part, going over the first vertical. She winced as Hutch took too long to flex his body and came at the vertical crooked. The gelding, quite surprised, nicked the top pole. The brunette bit her lip, but focused on the next tight turn. She used the wall to her advantage, and kept the horse straight and let Hutch move toward the next jump. He came straight, now aware and they finished the last line pretty easily. The brunette brought her horse down to a walk and toward the center, aware of Hutch’s sheen of sweat. “Yeah… We need to work on tight turns…” she said, a small hint of embarrassment in her voice. Henri looked at Rose’s horse “Do you want to stop here for today, or do one more course?” she asked, fine with either.

OOC: Would you like to finish up this thread?