[open] Getting to know you

[ayla]

Kenzie led Bear out to the showjumping arena, very glad for her winter riding gear. It was unseasonably cold and windy, but she really needed to get out and ride the horse that had been assigned to her as a reserve mount for the show team. It was unlikely she'd ever show the gelding; Kenzie herself was a reserve rider, and her main horse hadn't been lame in years, but it would be good practice to ride an unfamiliar horse.

Bear was certainly unfamiliar. Kenzie had never ridden a Lusitanio, and she had spent quite a bit of time that morning reading up on breed characteristics. It was a little odd to find a horse bred for dressage and bullfighting in the jumpers, which was probably why Kenzie had never seen a horse like Bear before. He was an absolute tank, and Kenzie had the fleeting notion that this was the kind of horse who would stare down a mountain lion and win.

She opened the gate to the arena and surveyed the jumps quickly. They were a little high for what she wanted, so Kenzie took a few minutes to lower half of them to 2'6", well within both of their abilities. The other half she left closer to 3'6", both to allow a step up in difficulty and to allow other people to jump with her.

Kenzie pursed her lips and forced herself to relax as she pulled her stirrups down. A high-stress environment like Blue Ridge was definitely not doing her any favors, but she would press on, just like she always did. A quick check of the girth, and then Kenzie put her foot in the left stirrup and jumped up to Bear's back. She gave a low whistle as she settled in the saddle; sitting on Bear was like sitting on an upside-down bathtub. He was wider than almost anything else she had ridden.

Kenzie went through her normal warm-up routine, albeit a little slower than normal. Bear was far more sensitive than Brian; Kenzie might even go so far as to say he was more sensitive than Ellie. But he didn't have the prissy attitude that Ellie did, which was a definite bonus. After some lateral work, Kenzie asked for a trot and was nearly bounced out of the saddle for a few steps. And Kenzie thought Ellie had suspension! She had to concentrate on sitting the trot, and maintained the gait for a good lap before letting herself post.

Just as she started posting, Bear flicked an ear back to the gate. Kenzie looked back to see someone entering, but she didn't take enough time to see who it was. Bear required all her attention; a new horse mean a new cueing system that she would have to learn.

[Rose Hoff]

Rose had been pretty excited when Fallon had been assigned as her reserve mount for the equestrian team. The mare was cute, sweet, and a great ride. Rose had her hands full with working with Eleanor, but she figured that she should at least get a few rides in with Fallon in case anything happened to Vintage. She hoped to eventually replace Fallon's place as her reserve with Eleanor, but it didn't look like that would be happening for a while, which Rose was fine with. Fallon was a joy to work with.

Now that it was the weekend, Rose had enough time to work with her for a while, and found the mare in her stall, munching contentedly. The mare didn't pay much attention to Rose as she tacked her up, clearly occupied by her hay, and looked a little disappointed when Rose put her bridle on and led her out. The planned on jumping Fallon a bit, since that was what they would most likely be doing if she were to take her to a show. They approached the jumping ring, and Rose could tell that someone was working in there.

She mounted Fallon easily, and gathered her reins, walking up to the gate. She could now that the rider was Kenzie, with whom she had sat with at lunch once day, with an unfamiliar horse who Rose could only assume was Kenzie's reserve mount for the equestrian team. After calling out, she opened the gate and walked in, closing it behind her from Fallon's back. She patted the mare's neck in praise for behaving so nicely. Vintage was very good with that, and Rose was glad that Fallon was as well.

Kenzie was working at a trot, so Rose picked up one as well. Fallon's trot was a bit bouncy, but Rose quickly got used to it, warming her up at a nice pace. The mare was attentive and eager to please, and Rose was already having a wonderful time with her. Maybe this was just what she needed to relax for a few moments.

[Avery Jacobs]

Avery walked aristocratically into the barn, her eyes immediately falling on her new horse. The excitement of getting a horse for the first time was still inside her, though the girl of course didn’t reveal this to anyone. Letting a smile graze her lips, the brunette’s affectionate side came out as she held out her hand to the inquisitive dark bay. The feel of his hot breath against her pale skin was enough to give her enough warmth for the whole day. After riding and owning him for nearly about two weeks, the girl had grown quite affectionate of her new mount. To her delight, Dev had grown to care for her as well.

Avery let her hand run down the smooth front bone of his face, from his forehead to the velvety muzzle. Dev lipped curiously at it before realizing there was nothing and bobbing his head. The brunette grinned at him and unlatched the door. The gelding had grown quite accustomed to opening the door himself, a habit she had noticed would prove to endless trouble when he learnt more tricks of escape. Avery shoved the horse’s head away as he attempted to slam it open as usual, and let it gently roll open simply by the force of her hand. Only then did she allow the horse to come to her and put on his maroon colored halter.

Avery led the animal out, easily placing him into the cross ties and started to groom his already shiny coat. The horse had already been cleaned dutifully by her yesterday over the cross country course and then afterwards as well. She gave him a pat for not rolling before she took him out, happy to not have to vigorously scrub him with curry comb once more. Dev still threw his head as she flicked the brush over his chest and tummy, but Avery ignored until he actually kicked out. Giving the horse a smack for his rudeness, Dev refrained from doing that again and the girl nodded to herself. He was ready for tack.

After placing the saddle pad and saddle skillfully on his broad back, Avery buckled her helmet on and led the gelding out with his reins. She took a moment to adjust the girth and her stirrups before leading him to mounting block and stepping up. In difference from the last time, the horse didn’t budge an inch as she mounted up, waiting for her to get settled instead of walking. Avery gave him a pat for his intelligence and asked him forward.

They made up to the show jumping ring where she hoped to try the animal over a few and see what they could do. Excitement fluttered in her stomach till the sight of two other heads going around the ring caught her eyes. Still, she would be fair, and not give them a hard time. Avery never really had issues with the students unless they got in her way; it was mostly a grudge against the teachers. Letting herself in, the brunette got her gelding to work asking him to pick his head up and walk. She did this on the inside part of the track, letting two other girls pass from the outside. Finally after she got the walk she wanted, Avery pushed him up to a trot, keeping his stride long and working as she began to post.

[ayla]

Kenzie came around the far side of the arena and finally got a good look at the newcomer: Rose, with whom she was on the equestrian team. She gave a smile to the other girl, then looked up to the gate again where an unfamiliar girl came in, leading a big warmblood-type gelding in jumper tack. She got a nod and a smaller smile, before Kenzie returned her attention to Bear.

The Lusitanio seemed warmed up enough, so Kenzie wanted to push him a little bit and see what he knew. Briefly, she brought him down to a walk, before cueing with the lightest aid she could give for a canter. Bear seemed to drop his hindquarters a full foot before rolling into a very collected, very cadenced canter almost on the spot. Kenzie allowed herself a small smile. After a few steps of this canter, she put her leg on rather heavily and got an almost explosively extended canter as a result.

"Cool," she said, not really noticing it was out loud. Somebody had done their homework on this gelding, and Kenzie was definitely reaping the benefits.

A horse like Bear had to have a downside, though, and Kenzie quickly found out what it was. Every twitch of her hand or leg or seat, intentional or not, got a response from the horse. A glance to watch Rose trot made Bear start to circle. A moment of instability in her seat brought a very abrupt transition to walk. It wasn't a mean-spirited thing; just Bear trying to please.

She would really have to work on her equitation and her body control. Ellie let her have it easy. Bear would make her be still and careful in everything she did. Kenzie transitioned to walk with minute adjustment of rein and seat, and lined herself up with the lowest jump in the arena: a verticle just a few inches over 2'. Bear pricked his ears forward and leaped into the same collected canter with just a tiny leg aid.

Kenzie let him pick his own spot, but paid careful attention to his choice. A hair short, but whether it was Bear's eye or just a coincidence, she couldn't tell. What stood out to her was the power behind Bear's jump. He had a back-cracking jump, but when Kenzie slipped backward, he flattened out and seemed very confused. On landing, he took a few canter strides, then started trotting, trying to let Kenzie get her seat again.

More reasons to fix the problems she still had in her positioning.

[Rose Hoff]

Rose continued to work Fallon at a working trot. The first time she'd felt the little bounce in the mare's step she'd almost laugh. Fallon was, in a nutshell, very adorable. Rose wished that she knew which breeds Fallon was composed of. One could guess, but it was pretty hard to tell.

She felt pretty confident jumping Fallon, as she'd already worked with her a little bit at the equestrian team meeting. Looking over the arena, she picked out a line of two jumps that looked to be about 2'6". Starting small and working up was probably the best way to go, especially since she didn't know Fallon's jumping style very well.

She turned Fallon off of the rail after calling out "Line!" and asked her for a canter. Fallon's strides were pretty short, and Rose had to take a moment to sit to it nicely, but she quickly adjusted to it. She'd been riding a lot of different horses lately, between mounted games with Chris, Fallon, and now Eleanor who had recently arrived.

Rose kept Fallon steady towards the vertical, pushing her on with confidence. She'd felt the mare start to falter as they approached, but they made it over the first fence nicely, and Rose was able to push Fallon through the line and take the second one as well. She cantered her off for a couple strides before breaking her back to a trot.

[Avery Jacobs]

Avery’s eyes flicked down for a few moments to check her diagonal as the gelding trotted around. The brunette frowned as Dev began to get heavy on her hands and she gave him a nudge with her heels. The working pace came back and she figured she could get a canter out of him. Making sure her lane was clear, Avery half halted the horse into the corner before asking for a smooth transition into the canter. Dev snorted, easily changing into the right lead and the sixteen year old smiled down at her mount. She was beginning to really like his transitions, even if he got a bit on the lazy side when bored.

Turquoise eyes observed as the first two girls took their horses over the simple line of somewhat medium sized jumps. She smiled to herself, those jump would be perfect to test Dev over. She waited until the girl on the mare finished the two jumps, and pushed her horse back into his collected canter. Avery circled him once, getting him off his forehand and making him use his back end before yelling out a warning “Line!” The brunette couldn’t help the flash of a smile as they reached the first vertical.

Dev rushed towards it, and Avery gritted her teeth. She had caught his boldness earlier on the cross country field, but she hadn’t expected it here. Immediately giving him a hard half halt, she took a long jump in order to avoid chipping in and cantered on to the next jump. This time, the gelding was more focused and Avery could easily point out the exact striding between it. Much happier with how she was approaching this second jump, the brunette lifted out of the saddle at the exact time as the horse leapt forward. Avery sighed as he somewhat over jumped it before landing smoothly and cantering on. Avery eased her horse back down to a trot and his excited expression dwindled down a little. She admired how bold he was however.

[ayla]

Kenzie broke down to a walk as the other riders in the arena took the line. She kicked her feet out of the stirrups and crossed her irons over the pommel of the saddle, while also watching the girls jump. She recognized them from seeing them around campus, but not from shows, so they probably weren't big-time on the east coast. They were good, though, and definitely didn't slide all over the place like Kenzie had.

That was the reason for the no-stirrups work. There would be no more crutches until Kenzie learned to be rock-solid on Bear, just as she was on Brian and Ellie. She pushed him up to a trot and immediately started posting, gluing her calves and thighs to the saddle.

A lap or so later, Kenzie was somewhat discouraged. Bear had tons of impulsion and therefore tons of bounce, and although he wasn't jarring like a horse with a straight shoulder and no self-carriage would be, he was still hard to find a rhythm on. It would be beyond embarassing if Ms. Carr asked to see her ride and she couldn't even manage a posting trot. Kenzie set her jaw and took a brief respite from posting by pushing Bear up to that lovely collected canter he had offered before.

Bear seemed to think canter meant jumping, and since Kenzie was inclined to agree, she called out "Line!" and turned to the same two-jump line as before. She sat up in the saddle a little, giving just a hint of resistance to Bear's desire to charge the fence, which was quite enough for the Lusitanio. He leaped over the fence with the same brilliance as before, but Kenzie was more prepared this time. Although her leg still slipped back, she folded far more at the hip and stayed close to the tack all the way over the fence and through to the landing.

The second fence was much the same, but with marginally less leg slippage. Not good enough, she thought to herself as she came into the corner at a canter, not even thinking about her lead. Both of her horses had auto changes, so it wasn't until Bear held his counter-canter into the corner that Kenzie remembered to take initiative and switch her weight and leg on her own. Once she did so, the bay swapped leads easily, but it would be another thing to remember. Great.

[Rose Hoff]

Rose watched both riders take the line. She didn't recognize the other girl but she took the line rather well despite her horse rushing at the beginning. Kenzie seemed to be having a hard time with the largely built horse she was on, but Rose didn't say anything and kept Fallon working at the rail. She knew that she was very lucky that she'd been assigned a horse she happened to be comfortable with like Fallon, and if she'd been assigned a horse like the Lustiano Kenzie was working with, she would probably be a horrible mess.

Rose decided to take the line she'd already done once more before moving a bit higher, since Fallon seemed up for it. The mare was a little bit less sensitive than Vintage, and Rose had to work on making her signals more clear to the mare , while still invisible. She called out, "Line!" before pressing her calves into Fallon's sides and asking for a canter.

She settled into the saddle and bent her towards the line, keeping her in the same working canter. She counted down the strides to the jump and Fallon took it nicely. She pushed her on after it, and the mare extended as asked. They got a long spot to the second jump, and Rose reminded herself that although Fallon needed to be supported while coming to a jump, she still needed to be asked to take the right spot and would take a long spot if extended as so. Rose definitely had to work on her striding with the mare, as it was hard to get a nice balance with Fallon.

[Avery Jacobs]

Avery in general was quite a determined person. She had achieved many things because of this. Over time, this determination had somewhat transformed into stubbornness as well, but the brunette liked to call it determination. She was quite determined to make sure Leo thought she hated him. That had been going quite well, due to the fact he had finally left her alone and gave her a sad look every time he saw her around the school. Then, she was also determined to get over the line she had just messed up a bit on. The girl’s dark eyes focused on the line once more and she waited till the other girls took a few jumps.

It was easy to see that they were both pretty good, though the first seemed to have a rather heavy mount to take the jumps. Avery shrugged and waited till the coast was clear before pushing Dev back into a canter. “Line!” she let the girl’s know she was coming through and focused back on the jumps ahead of her. The strides counted in her head and she remembered to collect the gelding and make sure he stayed on pace so her stride counting wouldn’t be off.

Dev protested with a shake of his head, but picked his feet up at the right second and flew over. Avery smiled to herself. Fixed. She then focused on the second jump, knowing she couldn’t let her guard down with the horse. The gelding was brand new and a gift, she really didn’t know much about her mount but so far she had realized he was a little headstrong. Avery chuckled and counted her strides before lifting out of the saddle and seeing the second jump fly flawlessly under her. As they landed, the brunette pulled her horse to a trot and then eased him back to a walk. Avery patted him in praise. No matter how mean she was to people, she was never mean to her horses.

OOC: Sorry that took so long guys...