Eventing Trials/Practice

[lottii]

Anybody can take part in this session. Depending on the people that take part, the team may be the people who take part, or some of the people who take part. This is just a general practice to see how good everyone is/isn't


Katja was grooming her horse, Misty, as she had been for the last half an hour. Misty was a beautiful white-gray Dutch Warmblood, but after being out in the paddock for an hour, she was more a muddy brown color. As Katja ran the brush over her flank for the last time, the mare was finally clean, gleaming white. Reaching for the mare's tack which was resting on the door of the stall, Katja put on the GP saddle she had decided was best for the mare. Her other horse, Lulu, stood tacked up and clean in the neighboring stall. Lulu was also gray, but she had a stunning dapple pattern on her coat. With both her horses ready, she led both of them out of the stable, looping their halters and ropes over her arm in case they got a chance for a break during the practice. Katja mounted Misty, the bigger of the pair - by three inches - at 15.3hh, and leading Lulu from her, made her way to the start of the Cross Country Course, where any student could come along.

Reaching the Cross Country course, Katja hopped off and loosely tied the two horses to the gate, and then waited for someone to come.

[lottii]

Mischief walked slowly down to the start of the Cross Country course. There she could see the woman who's name she knew was Katja standing near the gate, and two gray horses tied up. Reaching the gate, she opened the gate just wide enough to slip through, and greeted the coach. "Hi, you must be Katja. I'm Missy. I was hoping to try out for the Eventing team, but I don't have a horse." Missy gave one of her charming smiles and stood while the teacher responded.

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Katja watched as the girl came through the gate, and then listened as she introduced herself and made clear her problem about not having a horse to ride. Katja had brought both horses down intending to be able to use them to see how students would react on a horse other than their own, but she was sure that they girl could ride Lulu. "Yes, that's right. I am Katja. If you wish to try out on one of my horses, that would be acceptable." Gesturing to the smaller horse, Katja continued speaking. "This is mare is Lady's Limelight, although most people prefer to call her Lulu. She is a Connemara cross, 15 hands high and although she may be just 8 years old she is talented and generally safe. I think you will be fine with her." Katja deliberately gave little indication of how the mare was to ride, preferring to see how Missy would ride. Giving the girl time to check the girth and get on, Katja asked her to just warm up and get the feel of the horse.

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Missy was overjoyed that she would be able to ride one of the coach's horses, and determined to ride well. She checked the girth and adjusted the stirrups before getting on. Walking the horse on, she felt the mares light, loose pace, and realized this was probably a talented horse. After a little walk around, she gently asked the mare for a trot and was instantly rewarded. A smooth trot led into an amazing rolling canter. After she had done all three paces in each direction, Missy headed back over to Katja to see what her next instructions would be.

[Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω]

Andie stood on a step-stool in White Oak barn, her large gelding in a set of cross-ties already wearing his navy numnah and close contact saddle, and her favourite snaffle bridle with the diamante browband. The reason she was standing in the stool was because she was busily braiding up his dark grey mane, so pleased that his mane was one solid colour with only the smallest hints of silver running through the darker hairs.

Once the grey sabino was ready, she left himin the aisle as she slipped into the tack room. Quickly the head cheerleader changed out of the jeans and tee she was wearing into a pair of slightly discoloured white jodhpurs, a pink polo shirt and slipped her feet into her long black leather boots. She then slipped the Charles Owen helmet on her head and headed back out to the young gelding who was standing there with his ears pricked forward, knowing that something was up as he didn't get this prettied up just for an everyday ride. "First impressions and all that my lad." She said as she walked around to his tail and removed the bandage that had been wrapped around the damp hairs to keep them under control.

Removing the ties, she led the gelding out to the cross country course where they had been asked to meet up. She was ecstatic that she had the chance to be on the school eventing team and she couldn't wait to show the teacher what she was capable of.

A bright smile lit up her face as they approached the course, she held onto the bridle as Jack picked up his step. "Hello Miss Keller." She said brightly. "My name's Andie Simone and this here is Jack of all Trades." She rubbed the grey's nose as she spoke.

[lottii]

"Hello Miss Simone, your pony is very nicely turned out. I can you spent some time on him. If you wish to mount and just give him a little warm up, don't worry about outlines and the like yet, just get the muscles warmed up nicely. When you have warmed up, come back over to me and we will pop over a few jumps individually and then over four or five as a course." Katja appraised the horse critically, he was a big horse, who had some heavy draft horse in there, and some QH too. His muscle tone made him look like he could be a serious guy on the Cross Country. He had lovely conformation and stunning colors.

Katja watched the start of her warm up, before turning one eye to Mischief, who was approaching her after finishing her warm up. "Normally I would ask for a few jumps next, but as your just getting used to her, lets see if you can get her going nicely in an outline and just try some circles. I don't know how much dressage you know, but she is trained up to Advanced level, so can do flying changes, shoulder-in etc. Just see what you can get with her at the level you can ride at."

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Mischief listened carefully, loving riding this horse and determined to show off herself and the horse. Playing with the horse's mouth and using her legs, the horse easily went into an outline, and Missy trotted a couple of circles before trying a shoulder in followed up with a leg yield. Please with how that had gone, she halted the mare, did a 180 deg turn on the forehand and went straight into a collected trot. Mischief was surprised how much fun she was having, dressage could be fun when you weren't being told what to do the whole time! Trying a canted she showed an extended and collected canter, and then several flying changes with just a couple of strides gap between each. Figuring she should show she could do some work in walk as well, she did a collected walk and then a half pass in walk - unsure if the mare could do it in trot, though she thought she probably could - before deciding to end on an extended walk. Walking her back over to the mare, Mischief had a massive smile, she has really enjoyed that and hoped it came off well to the coach. "Was that ok?", she asked slightly nervous now. "Lulu is wonderful, and beautifully behaved. It must have taken a long time to train her".

[Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω]

Andie grinned at the praise. "We wanted to make a good impression and Jack refused to leave the barn until he was all braided up." She said with an easy laugh. She was lucky that she had never had the problem of being shy around other people, adults included.

She nodded her head when instructed to mount up and start warming up the large gelding. She knew that a lot of people were put off by he Percheron bloodlines and passed off any thought of him being proper competition in the eventing area.

Leading the gelding away from the woman, she tightened the girth, pulled the stirrups down and swung into the saddle. "There's a good boy." She rubbed his neck as he stood rock solid as she mounted and settled herself into the saddle. "Let's get started." She picked up the reins and squeezed the gelding forward.

She started the gelding at a walk, allowing him to stretch out and begin to start loosening up. She then moved up to a trot, flexing the gelding every now and then - her dressage training getting the better of her - and getting him nice and supple for the jumps that they would be facing once they were warmed up.

After some circles and a good canter (this all took about fifteen minutes), Andie brought the gelding back to a trot and then a walk as they headed back to Miss Keller.

[lottii]

Katja watched avidly, studying the horse's every movement as Missy put her mare through her moves, she controlled her nicely - you had to give the right command for Lulu to do something. She was particularly impressed with the flying changes, Lulu didn't like keeping them up for that. "Well done, Missy. Just wait a moment and then you can do your jumping at the same time as Andie".

Katja turned her focus back to Andie and Jack. Smiling a rare genuine smile at the comment about Jack not wanting to leave the barn. She watched as the girl started warming up. The gelding had nice paces, round and balanced before he started going in an outline. Just as Jack was nice and loose at trot, Andie perfectly judged the time to start cantering. When Andie returned to her, she gave her a brief word of praise, "He goes nicely, doesn't he?" before moving on to explain what would happen next. I would like you to individually go over the log and then come back. I know it's simple, but I need reassurance before I can let you move onto the harder stuff. Go over it however you like". The log she has mention was 40 or 50 feet away from them and was only about 2'3" high.

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Mischief grinned at praise, it was something she didn't get often. Settling Lulu, she watched the other girl's warm up, Andie Miss Keller had called her. She hoped they could be friends, the girl seemed nice, and she certainly had a beautiful horse. When Andie came back, Katja had explained the first jump, a simple log. Mischief went first, trotting the horse until the last 4 or 5 strides before sitting deep and asking for a strong canter. This was the method which had worked on the horse she had done most of her cross country riding on, and she had a feeling it would go well with this mare's temperament. Missy was rewarded as the horse cantered on the command and met the jump nicely, jumping it properly despite the size being smaller than she probably jumped normally.
Returning to Katja, she received a small smile from the teacher, and then stood Lulu to watch Andie jump.

[Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω]

Andie grinned at the woman's words. "Once he's moving, you completely forget that he's part Percheron, and the Quarter and Sport horse come out of him."

She looked over at the log the woman was talking about, knowing the Jack would easily clear it and thought it was the perfect jump to start with. She nodded her head toward the other rider as she returned and she turned Jack away from the teacher and the other girl who was mounted up. Pushing the gelding forward from a walk to a trot, she circled once and asked for a canter.

She sat back to the canter as she lined the gelding up to the jump and as they got closer, she rose into a two-point position and gave the gelding his head as he flew into the air and over the jump, leaving room to spare. If they were riding a course, she would have moved into two-point earlier and would remain that way as they raced around the course, but since it was only one jump, she sat back once on the other side of it and circled the gelding around the log and rode back to Miss Keller.

Once back at the instructor, the girl dropped her reins and threw her arms around the gelding's neck as she gave him a hug. Jack turned his head around to look at his rider. Andie sat up again a beaming smile on her face, her cheeks slightly flushed as she couldn't wait to get going again.

[lottii]

"Well done Andie, you judged that perfectly for your horse, you too Missy. Next we are going to try a couple of bigger jumps in succession, first is a larger log, then a gate, followed by a small trakehner." Katja was impressed by both the riders so far. She suspected Missy had more practice at Dressage rather than Cross Country, whereas she was worried Jack's weaker point might be show-jumping. Neither of these were big issues, though. Katja thought Jack would be perfectly good at Show-Jumping, just not with the perfection he was showing out on the course.

"I am confident both the horses are okay with ditches?" This was the biggest problem she could come across, that and not liking water - the next thing they would try. The Trakehner was only about 2'3", on account of the ditch making it a more challenging jump, but the log was probably 2'9" and the gate nearer 3'. Katja started mentally preparing what they would do at the water obstacle, whilst waiting for the first girl to go. "Again, just approach it how you feel best. Once I know how you and the horse go together, I may start asking for chances in the approach", Katja commented, as a little reminder they were also meant to be learning from the experience.

[Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω]

Andie looked at the jumps as the woman mentioned them. The followed a slight curve around the trees that edged the course of jumps before the course went into the trees. She shook her head when asked if the horses had a problem with ditches, too preoccupied with working out a line for the jumps to actually give the woman a verbal reply.

"We'll go first." She said with a smile toward the other rider. When out riding, she could see them being friends. However, when not in the saddle, the head cheerleader wouldn't want anything to do with the other girl who seemed a little eccentric.

Moving away from the others, Andie asked for a trot and then a canter. She sat back to the canter as they made their way toward the first jump a log that was just under three feet. They approached the log on a slight angel so that they would be in line for the gate. Leaning forward she gave the gelding his head as he flew over the log, her eyes were already on the gate and the trakehner beyond that.

The gate that was three feet even was once again jumped a the slightest of angles so that they would have a straight line to the final jump, that they had already cleared in her mind, and they flew over the gate with as much ease as if it were a log half the height. The rider grinned as the gelding tossed his head up and down once they were back on the ground the thundering toward the final jump.

"Easy." She whispered as she collected him a little as they made the line for the third and final jump. She had always been told to take a trakehner as though it were and oxer in the show jumping arena - she guessed that was because it would make the rider forget about the ditch below the jump. She moved forward as she felt the gelding ask for his head. "Three, two, one." She counted the strides down and they flew into the air and over the dreaded jump, forcing herself to keep her eyes straight ahead rather than looking down.

She pumped her fist into the air and gave a whoop as they handed on the other side. "You are the most awesome horse!" She cheered as she threw her arms around the cantering horse's neck before she sat up and collected him, asking for a trot and then a walk as they rejoined the others.

[lottii]

"Brilliant Andie, a wonderful display of cross country." Katja was genuinely pleased with the horse and rider, they seemed like a solid match who would benefit the team. She just hoped Missy could find a mount of her own, whilst Lulu was great for practicing on, she got over-excited at competitions and Katja wasn't sure whether someone else should rider her in that mood.
"You ready Missy?" Katja commented, she wasn't sure if the girl was nervous or just concentrating.

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Mischief watched Andie take the jumps nicely, and was please when she got a good comment. Her insides were in turmoil and the thought of jumping the ditch though. The only bad fall of her life had been when a horse refused at a ditch at the last second, slipping into it anyway and almost squashing her.
She turned towards the first jump, deciding now Lulu would be better off approaching at a canter from the start. Doing a 20 meter circle to get the mare into the right kind of canter, she set off towards the log at what she would call a rolling canter. Going into the 2-point position a few strides away from the jump, she decided to stay in the position for most of the mini-course. As Lulu popped neatly over the first jump, Missy changed direction slightly. Whereas Andie had chosen to take a slight diagonal route over the first two jumps to reach the final jump in a straight line, Missy decided that Lulu would probably prefer a slightly sharper change of direction after the first jump, allowing her to jump all three fences straight.
Heading towards the second jump, a gate which was quite inviting, Mischief let Lulu slip into a faster canter. She knew this was most likely the wrong thing to do on a mini-course like this, but the mare wanted to and she felt she would jump the gate better from this way. Lulu cleared the gate successfully, if anything she took off a smidgen to early, but not enough to affect the jump.
Going straight to the third jump after the second allowed Missy to bring Lulu back into a canter normally used more for show jumping rather than cross country, but she was sure the horse would want to look at the fence and then gain reassurance from the rider, rather that spotting it at the last second and refusing. Sure enough Lulu spotted the jump had a ditch five strides out, Missy sat deep and pushed her on. The mare responded by reaching the fence perfectly for a take off, and clearing it several inches higher than necessary. With a little buck of excitement before Missy settled her back down and joined Katja and Andie, both of them had enjoyed that.

[Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω]

Andie applauded as the other horse and rider, Missy, had completed the three jumps. "Well done." She said as they joined them again. She admired the way the girl had run the course, and the fact that Missy hadn't followed her path but worked out one of her own. She knew that some judges - and talent scouts - liked the sharp turns that Myssi had got the mare she was riding to do, but Andie knew that Jack didn't like sharp turns as these threw off the geldings balance, so she always found the smoothest route.

She glanced toward the gate, surely there were more riders due to arrive? Before looking back toward Katja, eager to know what they were doing next. She rubbed Jack's neck as the gelding dragged a front hoof across the ground, dragging a line in the soft soil.

She used her leg to ask Jack to sidestep closer to the mare that Missy was riding and the gelding blew down his nose at the mare in a friendly greeting. "Have you spoken to Miss Carr yet about getting assigned a horse of your own?" She asked softly, hoping that she wouldn't get told off for speaking out of turn - not that she really cared too much as the woman wasn't speaking so she couldn't get in trouble for speaking over Katja. "I'm sure it can't be that much fun arriving at lessons and hoping that the instructor has spare horses... Well, actually it's heaps of fun riding loads of different horses, but I'm sure you can't wait for one you can call yours?"

[Onzyy]

Darren entered the barn leading a dusty Fuzz. The mare's usually bay coat was turned a lighter shade of brown, and he knew that she would require a good brushing before he saddled her up. Today marked the eventing trials and Darren wanted to make a good impression. So over his breeches he wore jeans and a over the white short sleeved shirt, one that would just prevent the dirt being transferred. Fuzz nuzzled his pocket hoping for a treat, but Darren had decided to only spoil her after the trial. He brushed his mare thoroughly until her bay coat shone. Next he plaited her man into hunter plaits, and afterwards her tail.

Once in the tack room, Darren quickly changed and pulled on his Ariat field boots. He took the brown bridle off the hook as well as the eventing saddle. Everything was polished to perfection, and Darren was proud of the way he looked after all his tack. Fuzz's saddle blanket was lime green with a pink lining, and it stood out completely. As always Fuzz puffed out her stomach, and Darren tickled her under the foreleg, before doing the last few holes. He then put on the mares eventing boots, using duct tape to secure them. He also added her overreach boots to the mix.

Before he mounted he zipped up the protective vest and lowered his stirrups. He almost forgot his skull cap, but put it on before he got on Fuzz. The mare was eager to be off, and Darren allowed her to walk on a long rein. He thought he was late when he saw the other students there, but put a smile on and walked on. Hello ma'am. I'm Darren Laramie and this is History Project.

Darren's Outfit
The Tack
History Project

[sepia]

"We are sorry for being late," a voice called across to the little group of horses and people as Missy came back to a halt after her round, having had the courtesy to not interrupt while the combination was jumping. "I hope the fact that our horses are already warmed up will go some way towards making amends." The voice was confident and casual, though still respectful and, unsurprisingly given who'd signed up for the lessons, came from Daniel, while behind him followed Ethan, who looked rather more worried about the fact that they seemed to be late.

"We warmed up in one of the arenas before coming out here, sorry," Daniel added as they joined the little group, Artie flinging himself into a prancy little trot as he eyed up the cross country jumps, snorting with excitement. His rider sat his antics calmly, gently riding him in a little circle, at the end of which the pushy grey consented to actually stand still, though it was clear from his demeanor that all he wanted to do was get going. "Next time we'll be sure to be on time."

Ethan nodded his agreement as he drew Flay to a halt beside Andie and Jack, offering a sheepish little smile to the assembled group, and his own apologies. "Yes, sorry for being late." Flay, however, seemed utterly unrepentant, eying all the other horses with a distinctly superior air, flicking her flaxen mane in a seeming expression of disgust. Great, Ethan thought. She's in one of those moods... and therefore likely to act up despite the fact that she can jump just as well as any other horse here.

Both horses and riders were neatly turned out, apparently having come to the same conclusions as everyone else: that first impressions were very important. Though neither gelding or mare were plaited up, they'd been groomed until the shone, both horses looking their quite striking best, especially when stood next to each other: Artie's iron grey making quite the contrast against Flay's very dark bay and red-gold mane and tail. Their riders completed the picutre, being similarly neatly attired, with Daniel managing to pull off a black polo shirt and black jodhpurs, while Ethan was dressed rather less strikingly in dark brown and blue.

"So," Daniel continued, "I assume we're jumping that little course there?" Artie snorted, as if to say 'I hope we are!" and shifted sideways, not wanting to stand still while he could see jumps waiting: he wanted to go, go, go! Flay flung him a disparaging look, and stood rock-still herself, as if to prove that she was civilised enough to behave. Ethan, meanwhile, waited for the explosion of idiocy that was sure to come - Flay was never this well behaved unless she was about to do something.

[lottii]

Mischief returned to the group, smiling at Andie as she congratulated her. "You did great too, Jack looks like he would have preferred the jumps on a slant rather than a sharper turn." Halting Lulu near to Jack, she listened as Andie spoke about having to ride instructors horses. "It's not the best, but it is good to get the experience on lots of horses. I've spoken to Miss Carr, just before I came here, I will be able to start riding Bear tomorrow, which is so exciting", Mischief smiled again, excited by the thought of riding Bear. "I didn't think it would be very good to bring him here the first time I rode him though, even for a brilliant horse, that might be pushing it a bit!". Mischief was still smiling as she noticed some more horses and riders approaching.

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"Well done, Missy. You chose the best route for Lulu, which is quite impressive as you have only ridden her for such a short while", Katja commented as Missy returned to the group. Listening in to a conversation between the two girls, Katja was considering offering Lulu to Missy on loan, she wasn't sure she would have time for both her horses now she was at teaching.

Seeing a group of horses and riders approaching, Katja greeted them as a group. "Hello everyone, your are a little late but thats okay this time. Darren if you want to work in the space over there and get History Project warmed up, Ethan and Daniel I would like to see you pop over the small log there, and then move onto the course. Daniel you go first." Katja was a little annoyed that they were late - she hadn't specified to warm up before they came, but perhaps they expected that to be the case.

All the horses were beautifully turned out, those not plaited up had been groomed to perfection. Katja glanced over them, assessing them in her typical style. History Project was nicely muscled, a beautiful horse that looked every part an Eventer. Arctic Sun was a lovely Sport Horse, he looked like he would excel all round at Eventing, with lovely dressage paces, but the muscle to power around a Cross Country course. Flay - The Flames of Shadow - was the least Eventer looking horse from the three new arrivals, although Katja had learnt never to judge a horse's capability by its breed. A Morgan would have lovely movement for dressage, and the accuracy for Show Jumping. Katja was sure Ethan wouldn't have brought Flay along if she couldn't do Cross Country though!

Watching as the riders set off to follow the instructions, she spoke to Missy and Andie. "Missy, I think you are done now, you are welcome to stay and watch everybody else, or you could go and brush Lulu down. Andie, if it isn't too much bother would you be able to wait for Ethan and Daniel to finish their XC, and then you can all do your dressage at the same time to save me looking in lots of directions", Katja explained simply - not being one to waste words when she was assessing horses. She decided that Darren could do his dressage with the others, and then show what History Project was like at XC afterwards. With these five, she thought she might have a really good Eventing team. She settled down to see how they would do.

[Onzyy]

Darren nodded as he received his instructions. Fuzz was being a total goof ball, and decided to throw in a few happy bucks. He sat them easily and laughed it off. She had obviously seen the jumps as Fuzz quickly settled down. Working her on a long rein, Darren pushed her into a working trot. Fuzz took the bit gratefully and extended her stride. As Darren collected her, so her stride length shortened, until it was a comfortable working trot. She was working on the bit, so Darren didn't have any issues with that. He started a sitting trot, and moved Fuzz into a canter. Her stride was smooth and rocking-horse like. Slowly, he bought her down to walk, feeling the elasticity in her stride.

Darren felt that the warm up would do, it had taken them the best of 25 minutes, and he headed back towards the coach. We ready ma'am, he said to the coach with a smile. He really hoped that they made it this time.