Picture Perfect? (Bizz)

[Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω]

Cara was busy in Red Willow barn. She had the silver dun that she had recently started working with in a set of cross-ties and was grooming the mare's silver-grey coat until it shone like polished marble. The almost black mane she carefully put into neat hunter braids and the tail she pulled into a French-braid which ended at the bottom of the dock so that the skirt of her tail flowed out beautifully, where the top flyaway bits were all held in place, the end of the plait was folded over and hidden away with a band that matched the colour of the tail. She the put Ember's gear on, making sure that the close contact saddle she wore was sitting perfectly on her back, the girth a hand-span away from the mare's elbow, skin smooth under it. The shaped saddle pad sat smooth and neat under the saddle, the same amount of edging able to see all the way around.

The mare threw her head up when the bit was lifted to her mouth and she stubbornly stayed that way, hoping the pint-sized girl would get the hint and leave her alone. The mare pinned her ears when the girl wouldn't budge.

Cara stood there, without flinching, while the mare threw a tantrum at having a bridle put near her, the flattened ears didn't do a thing for her and she waited for the mare to drop her head - yes, to have a go at her - before she smoothly listed the bridle and slipped the bit into the pony's mouth. "See, not so hard." She said with a laugh as the pony suddenly realized that she had been tricked and didn't know what to do.

Once the pony was ready and waiting in the cross-ties with her halter done up over her bridle, the girl walked into the tack room where she slipped out of the red tracksuit she was wearing, revealing the white jodhpurs and yellow polo shirt she was wearing. Slipping her feet out of her paddock boots, she pushed her toe into and pulled on her field boots before running a dry rag over them to make them shine. She then checked to make sure her bun was still neat and all the hair in place before she slipped the Charles Owen helmet onto her head and walked back out to the mare. "Come on." She removed the halter and held onto the pony's reins as she put the ties away safely, hanging the halter on the hook in the grooming stall, before leading her through to the indoor arena.

The girl took a deep breath as they walked through the gate. She knew she wasn't late, as she always made sure she was down in the barn at least a couple of hours before lessons so that she could have her mount looking ready for a show ring, even if that made her look like she was trying to seem better than anyone else, and because of this she was always at her lessons early.

Today, she had booked a private lesson with Mr Williams. She saw that she had arrived to an empty arena, which was her first cue that she was a little early. Unsure of what to do, she asked the mare to stand while she put the girth up another hole and pulled the stirrups down. She then crossed the stirrups over the pommel - this way they would be easier to get down when the instructor arrived - and walked the mare around. "You need to learn about personal space." She told the pretty pony as the mare tried to barge past her.

She halted the mare and turned to face her. Her eyebrows lifted as Ember flattened her ears and lifted her head, but this human refused to back down as she applied a little pressure with the reins, asking the pony to lower her head. As soon as Ember's head dropped, the girl released the pressure. She tsked as the pony tried to walk forward and pressed her thumb and fore finger either side of the horses nose just below the noseband but above the sensitive area of the nostrils and applied pressure. Ember tried to walk forward and the pressure got stronger, as soon as the mare made a move backward, the pressure was released instantly. Cara worked on the theory: Make the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult. She smiled and rubbed the mare's forehead to tell her she had done well.

The young teen turned around again and stepped forward once more and clicked her tongue for the mare to follow, which Ember did at a respectful distance. The lesson had worked well quite quickly, but Cara did not doubt that as soon as the mare got bored of following, she'd be right up there trying to lead the way again.

Outfit

[bizz]

Henry Williams the stickler for being on time was late. He rushed through the barns, a corgi trying to keep up at an awkward gallop. he composed himself three feet from the gate. His hands brushed off his black polo, and tucked it in again. He looked down at his shoes, they were beyond the point of no return, dusty from his brisk walk up here. He took a second to contemplate brushing them off, but with a quick glance at his watch the realization that he was five minutes late was pressing into him. If there was one thing he disliked more than a bad presentation it was tardiness.

He opened the gate quickly and made his way in. With a quick look at his clipboard he saw Cara's name printed in bold. He looked at her as she lead the new school mare around the ring. He took a second to walk to the upper left corner of the ring, an few chairs and a table set up for trainers and other students who wanted to watch. He set the clipboard down and pointed to a spot on the ground a silent order for Speedbump to lie down. Once the dog was situated Henry moved into the middle of the ring and sat himself down on a log jump that was diagonal in the middle of the ring as a diagonal single.

"Hello Cara. New mare? Mount up."

He greeted her with a nod, looking towards the mounting block. Henry looked over the ring while he let Cara get on. He stood up, ready to get everything ready for this lesson. He moved around to the two outside lines and dropped one for to a line of 2'6" cross rails and the other line to 2' cross rails. He could do nothing about the log on the diagonal single as it was built at 2'3". He cross rail set on the quarter line was already set a 2' so he just left it. Satisfied with his work Henry moved back to the center of the right. He plopped down on the log then looked up at the rider again.

"So what are we working on Cara?"

As soon as he said the question he stood and walked back to the chairs, where picked up his clipboard and prepared to write down notes as he had a quick chat with Cara before the started the lesson.

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[Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω]

Cara continued to walk the mare around, only having to remind her about personal space a couple of more times before the mare possibly caught on, and began to wonder if Mr Williams had changed the day and she had missed a note. She didn't say a lot, but heard everything and quite a few of the barnhands had been talking one evening while mucking stalls and were talking about how much of a stickler to being on time Mr Henry was, and she knew she hadn't arrived too early before the lesson time for him not to have arrived already. However, a flicker of Ember's ear gave away the arrival of someone and the girl knew that she did have the correct day after all.

"Hello Cara. New mare? Mount up."

The girl turned to watch the man as he crossed the arena and sat on a jump. "Yes, Sir." She replied softly as she led the mare over to the mounting block before she pulled the stirrups down, tightened the girth, stepped onto the block and swung into the saddle. "Miss Carr says she can be a handful."

She nudged the mare forward and sat deep as the silver dun took off at a speedy trot. She opened and closed her hands on the reins before closing her inside hand on the inside rein and asking the mare for a circle, which she grudgingly did and dropped back to a sulky walk. She could feel her cheeks burn, but didn't drop her head as that would go against everything she had been taught in her riding lessons. "I would like to work on keeping her in control all the way through a jump, please Sir. She jumps well and jumps high, but seems to loose form and collection in the middle of a jump." She knew they were a lot of words coming from her mouth, but she was getting better about being able to talk to others.

[bizz]

He nodded as Cara explained the mare, and then again as the mare took off. Henry sighed slowly, then thought about changing the jumps again, putting them up seeing what the mare could do. Then again that would be wrong. The quickest way to ruin an already quick horse was to run them at jumps. Starting small really was the way to get this mare back on track.

"Well. Let's start her here-- back to basics"

A small smile lit Henry's features as his motto fell out from his lips. He watched the mare walk around, saw her try to take advantage of the slow pace and make up her mind about what speed they were going to go. Well-- that just would do.

"Alright Cara. I want you to trot the long sides and when you reach the corners walk for five steps then pick up your trot again."

He had used this excises before. He would keep changing where they walked so that the mare had to listen to the rider instead of making her own decisions. He started to think in other things they could do with the mare.

"After you have stopped at the ends start changing where you walk... and add some circles"

His hand fluttered to address the whole ring as he wrote and instructed at the same time. His pen scribbled quickly new school horse, very quick, athletic enough, looks green. Then Henry looked up to examine his lesson.

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[Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω]

Cara nodded her head to the man's words. Trot the long sides then walk five strides before asking for the trot again. She liked simple exercises like this and hoped that the pony would behave herself.

Sitting tall, the young rider took up the reins and asked for a little impulsion, asking the mare for a nice forward going walk before she asked for the trot. Nodding her head as the mare picked up her stride and began to walk out nicely. Making sure that her posture was correct, she gathered the reins again as they approached the corner leading to the long side and applied the smallest amount of pressure to the pony's stride and nodded as Ember sprang into a smooth trot. She waited a heartbeat and began to post along with the mare's stride, making sure that she rose when the pony's inside foreleg was on the ground. She'd been riding long enough that knowing whether she was on the correct diagonal or not was as easy as breathing.

As they approached the corner, Cara thought about transitioning the mare downward. She stretched tall with the upper body; stretched long through the thigh (like a tree – the trunk/upper body grows up; the roots/legs grow down). The upper leg became “longer” as the knee reached straight down. This shift of weight down the fronts of the upper legs allowed the hip bones to widen, creating space for the pony’s back to lift up into. The lengthening of the upper leg was to displace the lower leg back a bit, which is advantageous because it encouraged the horse to maintain activity in her hind legs. She remembered to lighten the foot in the stirrup – avoiding bracing (tension) and encourages the lower leg back and against the pony. Even though the tempo was slowing down, the pony’s hind legs not only continued to step up under themselves, but stepped under even further. Her ankles remained soft and heels deep. Correct equitation (especially leg position) positively influences the horse. She closed her hands on the reins to slow the horse. The legs closing around her sides told the pony to keep the energy, but the hands closing around the reins told her not to go forward. The legs created energy coming forward from the hind end, the open seat has allowed the energy through the back, so all her hands needed to do is not let the energy out the front – no pulling necessary. Ember dropped back to a walk, with only a little hesitation, and the girl rubbed her neck before she once again asked for a trot.

They repeated the exercise once more on the opposite side of the arena before they went down the first long side again. As Ember's shoulder reached H, she gave the mare the cue that she wanted a circle; keeping her shoulder line perpendicular to the pony's body, she opened her inside rein to direct the mare. Keeping her outside elbow connected to her side and feeling quiet contact with the outside rein. Her outside thigh and knee gently pressed toward the mare's inside ear. And, without anymore cues. the mare did as she was asked. Coming out of the circle, the rider asked for a downward transition, walked the five strides and again asked for the trot.

Twice more they went around the arena working through trot to walk and back again with a circle thrown in here and there, but never in the same place, the girl was impressed that Ember seemed to have forgotten about fighting her rider and just did as she was asked, carrying herself like a perfectly trained dressage pony.

OOC: The info on the downward transition came from here. I wanted a nice way of explaining the downward transition rather than just saying "She sat tall, closed her legs against the pony's sides and closed her hands on the reins..." The circle info is from here