Equestrian Team Trials- OPEN TO STUDENTS

[Onzyy]

This is open to all students, but only selected ones will be chosen. This is based on your performance as well as your horse's. This is a multi-discipline team, so please specify the discipline you will be riding and competing in. Kristin Clarkson and Cara-Jean Kitchi are already on the team.

--Charles Bass

ninety-nine red balloons ,
FLOATING IN THE SUMMER SKY
panic bells it's red alert !

Chuck entered the the indoor arena leading two black horses. One was Zenith Call and the other Horea. Horea was a gelding that he bought at the Auction a while ago, and was proving to be a talented Jumper as well as a dressage horse. Both the horses were Oldenburgs, and sometimes Chuck wondered if they didn't share a blood line along the line. He had bought the two so that if a student didn't have a horse but wanted to join then he had two horses that could be ridden.

Chuck loosely tied them on the side of the arena and started setting up. 4 trotting poles set up on one half of the arena, on the other end canter poles. He also left some of the arena open so that he could test the dressage riders. There a few jumps set up. They were about 3 foot high and consisted of a cross pop, oxer and a related distance. Now all he had to do was wait for the students.

you are thinking !

" you are speaking ! "

" someone else is speaking ! "

WORDS ,, ...
TAGGED ,, The students
OUTFIT ,, click !
NOTES ,, I'm not sure what a related distance is in Foreign terms
CREDIT ,, PANIC! ITS LAUZ @ CAUTION[/size]

[lottii]

Callum led his horse, Black Champagne, up to the arena. He had recently purchased the horse, and this would be the first real test they had faced together. So far the thoroughbred gelding's behavior had been erratic to say the least. Yesterday had seen some real progress though, with the gelding having a quick run on the Cross Country and showing off his talent without any hitches.
Entering the arena, Callum greeted the man, "Hi, I'm Callum and this is Black Champagne, Champagne for short. I don't think we have met yet. I am hoping to do Eventing, and Dressage. Champagne's particular forte is show-jumping though, which I haven't done much of by itself, and I also have a 5yr old Saddlebred I am training in Dressage."
Whilst waiting for a response, Callum hopped up lightly onto the 15.2hh horse, who respond with a shake of the head.

[lottii]

Mischief headed down to the arena, on foot. She was unsure whether to go to the trials or not, she didn't have a horse of her own, and she didn't really have an Academy horse she rode all the time yet either. It had to be worth a shot though, and getting on the team would be a great opportunity to compete in the disciplines she loved! She could see the man she assumed was in charge in the arena, and a boy on a beautiful Thoroughbred.
Opening the arena gate quietly, so as not to disturb the boy, Missy noticed two horses tied at the side of the arena. Missy desperately hoped these were for people who didn't have a horse to ride. Walking up to male stood in the arena, she gave him one of her best smiles, and introduced herself. "Hello, I am Mischief, although most adults choose to call me Missy, which is fine by me. I would love to try out for any English riding teams - I have experience in Dressage and Mounted Games mostly, but have also done Eventing and Show-Jumping too. The only problem is, I don't have a horse to ride. Is there a solution to that?" Missy smiled again, hoping her suspicion about the tied horses was correct.

[Onzyy]

ninety-nine red balloons ,
FLOATING IN THE SUMMER SKY
panic bells it's red alert !

Chuck really hoped that some students would be arriving. There was another one occupying his thoughts. Melissa his daughter. He wondered if she would be arriving for the trials or would choose to stay away. He had seen her ride before, and he liked what he saw. She had a natural talent in the saddle. Just then a student entered the arena. He was leading a Thoroughbred gelding and Chuck nodded towards his direction. "Hi, I'm Callum and this is Black Champagne, Champagne for short. I don't think we have met yet. I am hoping to do Eventing, and Dressage. Champagne's particular forte is show-jumping though, which I haven't done much of by itself, and I also have a 5yr old Saddlebred I am training in Dressage."
"Pleasure to meet you Callum. Start warming up so long while the other students arrive."

Chuck watched as the student rode off, and saw another one enter. She didn't have a horse with her, and Chuck noted that. It was for that exact reason that he had bought Call and Horea. "Pleasure to meet you Missy. There is a solution to that," he said nodding towards the two black horses,"That over there is Zenith Call and Horea, and I think for you, Call would be the best." He didn't doubt the girl's talent, but he hadn't explored Horea's talent as a jumper extensively enough to put a student on him just yet other than Dressage.

He walked towards the mare who nickered softly. He patted her and untied her, before walking back to the girl. He smiled at Missy and handed her the reins. "I allow you two to get to know each other."

you are thinking !

" you are speaking ! "

" someone else is speaking ! "

WORDS ,, ...
TAGGED ,, The students
OUTFIT ,, click !
NOTES ,, I'm not sure what a related distance is in Foreign terms
CREDIT ,, PANIC! ITS LAUZ @ CAUTION[/size]

[Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω]

Cara walked into the White Oak barn, she was dressed in white jodhpurs, white shirt and her black Ariat paddock boots. She had read on the notice board that Mr Bass was holding team trials, and even though she was already in the team she knew it would be poor sportsmanship for her not to turn up, so she was headed toward Titania's stall since the mare's leg had come right again and there had been no sign of heat for three days now.

"Cara?"

The girl turned at the sound of Miss Carr's voice. "Yes, Ma'am?"

Katherine gave the girl a warm smile. "I can see you are on your way to something, but may I ask that you tryout one of the new ponies for me? Ember is said to be quite a handful and I would like to stick someone on her that I know will be able to put up with whatever she can hand out."

Cara's eyes sparkled at the prospect of trying out a new horse. Even though jumping still made her want to throw up, she was getting back into the swing of riding school horses again. "Of course, Ma'am."

Katherine clapped her hands. "Thank you so much!" She said, only just stopping herself from throwing her arms around the girl. Her accepting to help had just taken a large amount of weight off the woman's shoulders. "Her name is Silver Fire, you'll find her in Red Willow. Come and speak to me once you've finished and let me know how she went."

Cara nodded as the woman walked off back to the office she seemed to spend so much time in. The girl walked into the tack room and grabbed her Charles Owen helmet and field boots before walking through to Red Willow barn. It didn't take her long to find the Welsh/Thoroughbred mare. "Hello." She said as she took the black halter off the hook by the door.

It didn't take her long to get the pony groomed and tacked up, Ember stood nicely - although she didn't exactly look happy about it - and only snaked her head around as the girth was tightened. She then spent some time braiding up the mare's mane and top of her tail, leaving the skirt to flow freely, before she placed the helmet on her head, swapped her boots over so she was now wearing long boots rather than short, and led Ember through to the indoor arena where she saw two other students already there. One who was already already mounted and warming up, whom she recognized from horsemanship and geography classes. The other, a girl, still unmounted and no horse in hand she saw in the mounted games class.

She waited until Mr Bass had finished speaking with the girl, and introducing her to Call, before she spoke up. "Good morning, Mr Bass. Do you mind that I am here?" She bounced forward as the mare gave her a very rude shove. The girl stepped back to where she had been before being pushed and pushed the silver dun's nose away from her and when Ember's ears flattened at being told off and she snaked her head toward the girl's arm, Cara tapped her shoulder and then stepped to the side as the mare tried to front foot her. "I apologize for her behaviour, Sir. Miss Carr recently purchased her and asked me to try her out." She knew she shouldn't be making excuses for inexcusable behaviour, but she was hoping that the naughtiness would vanish once she was in the saddle.

[Onzyy]

Chuck watched as the students warmed up, noting the way they handled the horses. He watched Missy extra carefully. Not that he doubted her riding ability, but because Call was such an unpredictable horse. Some days she behaved like a star, and other days was a total cow. He saw Cara enter with a silver dun pony, and wondered why she was here.

His question was answered when Cara spoke up. Hello Cara. Sure you can join us. You can start warming up so long. We'll be starting soon, he told her. He would only wait another fifteen minutes until he started the trials. Anyone who came late would just have to hope that Chuck was in a good mood. Obviously he would allow them to tryout, but would scold them for their lateness. In the Equestrian world time waited for no one. They would just have to learn that the hard way.

[Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω]

"Yes, Sir." Cara said with a respectful bow of her head, in reply to the invitation to mount up and warm the pony up. Leading the mare over to the mounting block - because she didn't know what Ember would think about her rider vaulting - ran the stirrups down, tightened the girth and stepping up onto the block, she swung into the saddle. "Steady." She said as the silver dun shot off as soon as her right leg was over the saddle.

Quickly regaining her posture, Cara pulled the mare in and got her working so that she didn't have a chance to think up any more ways to remove her rider. It didn't take long before Ember was walking along calmly on a free rein, stretching her neck out. Once she knew the mare was ready, she brought her onto the bit and squeezed her forward into a trot. "Well done." She whispered to the pony who's trot was floaty and would be easy to sit to in a dressage test. Working her on a 20 metre circle, she asked the pony to cross the diagonal and change rein, noting the slight resist to doing a flying change, but the change was less work than a counter canter so the mare threw in the change as they came back onto the circle.

As they completed another circle, Cara asked the mare to take the track again and at the corner into the short side, she sat deep and asked for a canter. She shook her head when Ember just trotted faster and tucked her nose in when asked to slow down and return to her floaty trot. Cara circled the mare and Ember kicked out at being told what to do, instantly losing her lovely frame. In retaliation, Cara decreased the size of the circle and the mare had no choice but to drop back to a walk. "Try that again shall we?" She had the mare walk for a while before she asked her to trot again, at the corner she once again sat deep and asked for a trot "Good girl." She said as she sat back to the mare's bumpy canter, because Ember was showing that she still wasn't happy that her rider had got her own way, the pony refused to go onto the bit again and stubbornly hollowed her back so that she didn't have the nice frame that she had when they first started working.

Cara was mortified as she turned the mare off the track and back to a trot and then a walk as they kept out of the way of the other riders. She was on the team, she should be riding a horse perfectly, she should be setting an example that others would want to follow. Instead, she was riding Ember and the mare didn't want to be that mount. The girl played with the reins and finally got the mare to accept the bit once more, with a little work with her legs she got Ember to tuck her hindquarters under her and once more had the beautiful frame that they had started with. Don't get me wrong though, even this was a battle of wills.

Rather than asking for too much just yet, Cara was happy to just keep the mare at a trot while she was in her nice frame. Sure a trot wasn't a lot, but she could still get the mare to do most of the dressage movements at a trot. She asked Ember to extend and then collect her stride, she lateral movements, half-pass(es) and - even though she knew she could be pushing it - she asked the mare to do a passage. She smiled and nodded as the mare did as she was asked, all of the earlier reluctance seemed to have ebbed away now that she had actually be asked to do something.

Outfit

[sepia]

As Flay danced away sideways, eyes wide as she eyed a bucket, Ethan let out a sigh. "C'mon, it's the equestrian team trials... you really don't need to be an idiot." His mare seemed bent on ignoring him, however, and twisted sideways, causing Ethan to leap forward a pace to avoid the bludgeon of her body. And he wasn't even on her yet. Still, she was often an silly little miss when he was on the ground, then good as gold when actually being asked to work, and Ethan could only hope that that was her state of mind today.

Not entirely sure where Daniel was - their horses being in different barns meant that it was a little difficult to coordinate - he headed for the Indoor Arena, ignoring Flay's continued antics as the attractive Morgan played around, taking offensive at anything mildly out of the ordinary. Having neatly dressed himself in a cream shirt, fawn jodhpurs and his slightly smarter than usual long black boots, Ethan looked quite smart, managing to not show up his impeccably groomed horse, whose red-gold mane and tail shone like her name declared against her dark coat.

Leading Flay into the arena, Ethan took a moment to take in the scene before heading over to the instructor. Only three people here so far, and they looked like they were just getting going, so he clearly wasn't late. "Good morning," he said, as he came to a halt a few paces away from Mr. Bass, glad that Flay seemed to have decided to take things in her stride a little more calmly, now, merely looking around the arena with a detached interest. "I'm Ethan Kim, and this is The Flames of Shadow... or Flay, for short. We're currently mostly focusing on eventing, but if possible, we'd like to try out for the show-jumping and dressage teams, if possible. I figure that the additional experience can't be a bad thing."

He hoped he wasn't being too forward - he didn't want to come across as obnoxious, just enthusiastic, and he felt that extra training and competing in show jumping and dressage could only help his eventing. And the pair of them enjoyed the two disciplines, too, being more experienced in them than in flinging themselves around a cross country course, which was still fairly new, at least when they were riding as a team.

As he waited for an acknowledgment, he let his eyes drift across the arena, watching the others ride and subconsciously eying the competition, when his attention was caught by the door swinging open again and two very familiar figures entering. Ah, good. It appeared that Daniel was going to turn up on time, grey Artie striding along at his side. Equally smartly attired as his brother, the elder boy had gone for a similar fashion statement, with a white shirt, cream breeches and long black boots, while Artie was as striking as ever, intelligent head eying up the other horses thoughtfully.

"Hello," he greeted Mr. Bass and his brother equally. "Daniel Kim and Arctic Sun, at your service, hopefuls for your eventing, dressage and show jumping teams." Not at all worried by about how arrogant he sounded, as he waited for a response he began to tighten his girth a hole, running down his stirrups so that he could get started as soon as the coach gave the word.