Group Lesson I: Introductions, not Limitations

[mrs. chloe]

As always, Chloe Webber was up at six am sharp to beat the morning rush of students trying to fit in a ride before classes. She tacked up Aspen and led him outside the barn before hopping on and riding down to the outdoor ring to organize the afternoon lesson. She rolled her ankles as the gelding picked his way carefully down the hill and into the ring, since the gate was hanging open. Chloe worked Aspen for about forty five minutes before cooling out and throwing him back into his stall for the breakfast he had been forced to skip. Chloe traded her helmet for a baseball cap and pulled on her White Oak windbreaker she wore everywhere despite the warm temperatures.

As a late thought she reached to grab her helmet and tucked it under her arm. If a student's horse was acting squirrely she might have to get on, and a helmet was required when mounted at White Oak.

At around nine forty-five she had the ring all set up, two diagonal lines, and two longside lines. The jumps were just far enough for two riders to be able to pass by each other, and were simply white, wooden verticals. Chloe had set them all for three feet, but came back around and lowered them to 2'3". Today was about meeting people and horses, not about their limitations. Yet. for the ten o'clock lesson, and sorted out a schedule in her head. She didn't know most of the riders, so introductions had to be in order. Instead of having them warm-up by themselves like she usually did, Chloe would keep a close eye on how they rode, what their horse was like, and what they did.

Chloe's tall boots were planted firmly in the dirt as she sat atop one of the diagonal white verticals, waiting for her students. The first student was a whole ten minutes early, and a bunch more followed them.

"Welcome to your first group lesson here at White Oak. Mount your horse and gather in a circle near me. Introduce yourself and your horses, and what you do." Chloe probably could've said it more enthusiastically, but instead kept her voice at an even pace and volume. "I'll start. I'm Chloe Webber, Mrs. Chloe or Mrs. Webber to you. I own Borderline, and we used to do Grand Prix jumpers." Some of the riders looked impressive. Some she had seen before, some she had not. Some looked like they belonged in LA, and some looked like they grew up in a barn. And one thing that would come with time, some were winners.

ooc: this is the ring for the lesson. as it goes on i'll draw lines on to show which jumps to take and what exercises to perform. please don't make your character perfect, that's boring, and hard to fodder with. after your rider has introduced themselves, stay in the circle until mrs. webber tells you to get on the rail which will be next post. you can be late, but that is not a good impression, especially not on chloe. she may not bite yet, but she will later on.

also, please do not use tables this one time! a simple picture with a blockquoted post is great.

[cordelia robin evans]

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The alarm clock was something Robin had yet to figure out. At home her mom woke her up for morning feed, and she was allowed to go back to bed when they finished for another couple hours. Shows were so exciting and nerve wracking that she rarely slept the night before anyway.

School was a whole new thing. The alarm had been easy enough to set; 5:30 gave her enough time to check on her horses before getting to class. The stupid thing went off every two hours until 12:30 though, and she had yet to find the off button. Luckily her room mate, Caden, was gone enough that she didn't notice. That would be awkward.

Robin glanced from her book to the clock and back before realizing what the time was. 8:30! She was going to have to hurry if she wanted to warm Batman up before the morning lesson. It took only a few moments to find her breeches and pull them on; another couple seconds were taken up locating her boots. The well-worn tall boots were good for making first impressions and staying on her horse, but not quite fancy enough for shows.

Moving at a steady jog, the barn was only a couple minutes away from her dorm, which was nice. Batman was waiting for her with his head out of the dutch door of his stall. Robin did a speedy grooming job, ignoring the manure stain on his flank; if she tried to get that out she would end up missing the lesson, and lunch as well. The tragedy of owning a white horse.

Tacking up was also quick, and Robin was mounting as the other students began to arrive at the barn. The lesson was in the outdoor arena, but Robin headed off around the edge of the stable instead. She knew the route and by the time they got there it would be just about time for the lesson to start. Unless Batman was excited, which he was. So instead of arriving perfectly on time the pair entered the arena a full ten minutes before anyone else.

Robin shot the instructor a quiet smile. There was no point in starting up a conversation when a lesson was about to begin. While they waited Robin let her gelding stretch his legs a little more out along the rail, asking him to stretch his neck out while keeping up a steady pace. When she saw the other riders coming toward the arena she trotted back over to take her place, just in time to hear the introduction.

Ooo, Grand Prix jumpers, that sounded fun. Robin realized belatedly that Ms. Webber was looking at her and opened her mouth for a short greeting. "I'm Robin Evans and this is Batteries Not Included, or Batman. We do eventing." She reached down to pat the gelding on his withers. It looked at though he was already asleep, and all they had done with walk.


ooc: woo! Group lesson!

[Caden Penelope Taylor]

Caden's eyes opened at the sound of Robin's alarm and watched as her roommate fumbled around the room for her riding stuff. The blond waited about five minutes to start getting ready, and since her stuff was already in a neat pile it took almost no time at all. She pulled on a pair of Tailored Sportsmans, a polo shirt, and zipped up her Ariat Monacos. She grabbed the room key off of her desk and exited the room, shutting the door kind of quietly behind her. Last night Caden had made the decision to ride Fiona and groomed her before putting a thin cooler over top to keep her clean. All she had to do was pull it off and tack up for the lesson.

A Tad Coffin saddle, white half pad, Wellington bridle and martingale, and an M. Toulouse girth were flawlessly placed on the mare, who stood quietly and patiently. Caden clipped her helmet, pulled on a pair of black gloves and led the mare out of her stall and down the barn aisle toward the outdoor ring. The one where she had ridden with Blaine the couple of days before.

Her non-existent grooming session had put her right behind Robin and they entered the ring at almost the same time. Caden stretched Fiona's legs while Robin mounted, making sure there would be no injuries today. Hopefully. Caden got on the bay mare and made her stand for a minute while she adjusted her reins, stirrups, and whatever else needed adjusting. Caden then tapped the mare with her outside heel and they walked down the rail.

As Caden heard the welcome, she walked Fiona toward the center, where an older woman was sitting on a small vertical. Caden knew she had seen her before, but couldn't think of a name. Only when the woman mentioned her horse, Borderline, did she realize who they were. Grand Prix jumpers.

She listened to Robin's introduction although she could barely wait to introduce herself. "I'm Caden Taylor, and this is Happily Ever After, or Fiona. I also own Finnegan, St. Nicholas, and Uptown Girl." She noticed Robin didn't tell anyone about her mustang, was he supposed to be a secret? So she could just pull him out on show days and kick butt? Caden was on to her.

"I do large junior hunters with Fiona, green hunter with Lacey, children's jumpers with Nico, and the Eq classics, or 15-17 eq with Finn." Eh, Mrs. Webber didn't say anything about mentioning what classes they did, but she was going to anyway of course. Caden rolled her ankles while waiting for the rest of the group to introduce themselves. Caden hoped they all knew how to ride, because the ring was going to be crowded today.

[rhiannon heather aberth]

Rhia was out at the barn at nine in the morning, since she knew she had a tough lesson ahead of her. She had spent all of French class trying to decide which horse she would ride. Clara was out of the question, since she'd be in a lesson with big horses and she didn't want to hold back the height of the jumps. That left Captain and Morrie. Captain was obviously easier to ride and would be the choice if she wanted to impress people based on her horse, but he wasn't very handy with turns and only jumped three feet, which would be a problem if everyone was riding eighteen hand Warmbloods. Morrie was... well, Morrie, and she wasn't likely to get comments on how nice he was. But he could turn on a dime and jump four feet.

On a whim, Rhia decided on Morrie. He was clean enough, and by the time she curried him and brushed him off, he was practically sparkling. Gray horses were usually a pain, but Morrie tended to stay remarkably clean. Rhia led him out to the cross ties and went to fetch her Pessoa saddle and pad. Morrie required a wide tree, so he had a special saddle, and the Pessoa was the only thing that fit him. The half-Arab stood quietly in the cross ties as Rhia did up the girth and slipped his bridle on.

She grabbed her helmet and flipped her hair up into it, then made the trek out to the outdoor arena. She had judged the time well; it was nine fifty-five, plenty of time to get mounted up and settled in before the lesson started.

Rhia pulled down her stirrups and checked Morrie's girth before swinging up into the saddle. The gelding moved off almost immediately, as was his habit. Rhia had tried to fix it, but the hyperactive horse just wouldn't have it.

The welcome came almost too quickly, and Rhia didn't feel quite ready to ride when she turned Morrie into the middle of the ring. He wasn't happy about standing still, but the small girl made him at least stay in a small area.

Rhia listened politely to the introductions. Mrs. Webber's name was a little bit familiar; probably from when Rhia used to hang out at the rail of the Grand Prix ring all day. She couldn't place Robin, but Caden was familiar. Rhia had seen her on the covers of magazines and in person a few times, when their paths crossed at some shows.

"I'm Rhia Aberth, and this's Psytaying Alive, or Morrie. We do the pony jumpers. I'm really sorry about the dancing thing he does; he hates standing still when there's jumps around," she said when it was her turn. "I also have Thirteen Gun Salute, who does medium hunters and equitation, and Symphony Of The Seas, who's a large pony hunter." Rhia gave Mrs. Webber a small smile and returned to her Herculean task of keeping Morrie still, for once.

[Tobin Shae Kelly]

Tobin Shae Kelly drummed her fingers on her desk as she listened to the history teacher drone on about almost every document there was to drone about. Tobin wasn't bored easily, in fact she found all of her classes especially interesting, but today it was different. Maybe the anticipation of the first group lesson of the year? She still hadn't decided what horse to ride. Surely not Brody, Toby didn't want anyone being run into, especially if there were freshman still on ponies. So it was either Cheers, or Kelso. Cheers had been exercised the night before, and was still probably tired from the grid work they had done. Kelso it was. The pony may not be the most handsome, but he was a heck of a jumper and could keep up with any warmblood ridden in the lesson. Well, unless the jumps got to around 4'6", then she would have to drop out, but what instructor would have them jumping maniacally high fences in the first lesson?Once the bell rang Tobin was out the door and down to the barn, where she had already placed a change of clothes in her tack trunk. She changed in the bathroom and returned to Kelso. The pony was rather clean, so Toby did a quick currying, picked hooves, and started to tack up. Finally Toby was sliding the full cheek snaffle into the overo's mouth, and they were ready to go. Toby threw her hair up under her GPA and tucked her polo shirt in. Okay. Now to the lesson.

Kelso had always been an afternoon loving pony. Toby hated when pony jumpers was first thing in the morning because Kelso was never quite awake, or was too awake. She spent the morning trying to get him spunked up, or trotting him into the ground to get the spunk out of him. And usually it worked, he was perfect by the time his classes started.

Today was no exception, true, she had no chance to ride him beforehand, but at least some of it would come as habit to the pony.

Tobin found herself behind her roommate, Rhia was it? Toby didn't know, she hadn't really tried to talk to her. Not that she didn't like her, she couldn't make that judgement, it just felt too awkward. Toby waited for Rhia to mount, actually it wasn't much of a wait, her pony was ready to go. Then Toby mounted Kelso from the block. Okay, even if he was a pony, Tobin was only 5'2". Ground mounting wasn't completely out of the question, but it would hurt his back anyway.

She heard a welcome and was surprised to already see two other riders. One of which was none other than Caden Taylor. Toby was surprised to see her this early, must not have had a party to go to last night.

Tobin listened to the introduction and immediately recognized Mrs. Webber from television, or maybe her many trips to Upperville and WIHS, or HITS? Somewhere.

She listened to everyone, nodding every once and a while to show she was in fact listening, despite her eyes staying on the dirt underneath her. Robin, Caden, of course, and her roommate, who was named Rhia after all. She was exceptionally small, and Toby wasn't anywhere near surprised when she listed her mounts as all being ponies. Tobin barely set foot in the hunter pony waters, as she went straight from short stirrup to Children's. At age eleven she was doing three foot fences on seventeen hand horses, and it was wonderful.

Her turn? Alright. "I'm Tobin Kelly. This is Truth Is, or Kelso, my pony jumper mount. I own Shut Up and Smile, who does both eq and hunters, then Cool Story Bro, who is a large junior hunter. A very large junior hunter." Oh look, Tobin tried out some humor. It was probably an accident, as Toby didn't find anything funny really.

[mrs. chloe]

The instructor returned Robin's smile with a smaller one, acknowledging her silent greeting. Most of the kids here seemed friendly even with the competition in the air. Chloe was glad that they weren't at each other's throats. It would make lessons more enjoyable for everyone if outdoing your classmate wasn't a priority.

Chloe nodded as Robin finished her intro, then looked at the next girl. Ah, Caden. This was the first time they'd actually met face to face, not just staring at each other's rounds. Just because she wasn't involved in the hunter world anymore didn't mean she didn't enjoy watching. She did.

"You're fine. As long as he's not harming anyone." She gave a faint smile to the small girl atop her pony. Chloe's own jumper did that too. She listened to the rest of what Rhia had to say and turned her attention on the final girl. Tobin. Shut-Up And Smile was a familiar name, even if the rest of it wasn't. Chloe nodded one final time and said, "Alright, off to the rail," shooing them out of the middle. She took her spot back on the vertical and watched each horse and rider.

Just by looks, and rather vague assumptions, it seemed each one was capable of riding. Not plopping along at each gait, letting their pony do all the work, actually riding.

"Warm-up. I'm hoping everyone here can do a proper warm-up? I want more trotting than any other gait, please. Add some bending where you won't get in anyone's way." Chloe stood up from the vertical, walking in circles to follow each pair with her eyes.

After about ten minutes of observing, and the riders trotting, Chloe called out more instruction. "Okay, all of you halt your horses in between this line. Rhia, go ahead and walk Morrie up and down the line if you want." Chloe surveyed the course and turned to face the four riders and horses. "Okay, one by one we're going to cut across the ring, take up a left lead canter and come up this diagonal line." Chloe explained while pointing to the vertical she'd just been sitting on.

"It should be about five strides, maybe even a six for you two. She looked at Tobin and Rhia sitting on their ponies. Some larges had horse strides, some did not. Chloe didn't look for that when they were warming up.

"Robin, you and Batman can start." Once they left the group, Chloe turned back. "After she's made it through the line, you can figure out who'll go next amongst yourselves."

ooc: the pink squiggles are where the waiting horses are standing, the purple line is the 'course' if you will. after everyone's finished, wait for a post from Mrs. Webber before posting again. yes, more people can join and you can RP them coming on time or late.

[cordelia robin evans]

Robin was slightly surprised when the other girls named the horses in the barn as well as their current mounts. To be honest, it hadn't even occurred to her to include Puck in her introduction. He wasn't there, so why bother? The instructions could easily be interpreted either way though, so it made sense if she thought about it.

It was also interesting to her that two of the girls were on ponies. Sure they did pony classes, but to a hardcore eventer like Robin ponies were usually just a liability. Except for Puck, of course. And once she got past second level dressage she had let him retire from eventing, not because he couldn't jump but because he hated when he wasn't jumping. She was interested to see how the other ponies jumped, though. They would be her competition if she ever got Puck to learn distances and form.

As she headed out to the rail Robin let Batman have his head, steering with her legs if he didn't go in the general direction she wanted. She always warmed up on the buckle. It made him more compliant and helped him stretch a bit more. A Thoroughbred needed all the help he could get when competing against fancy Warmbloods.

The gelding was surprisingly well behaved during his warmup which made Robin slightly suspicious; a good warmup often meant he would be fresh over fences. Well, there wasn't really anything she could do about it. And she would much rather he be a little excited in a lesson than when she was hacking alone.

At the instructor's call Robin turned Batman back toward the jumps and allowed him to trot back over to the lineup. The gelding had his head up and his halt was perfectly squared; he thought it was a show line up, which made Robin grin.

The instruction was simple and straightforward; just how Robin liked it. She nodded once and nudged Batman into a forward walk, heading for the opposite rail. She let Batman pick his own turn and was only slightly surprised when he substituted a quarter pirouette for a bend. "Show off..." She whispered, reaching down to stroke his withers.

Aaand, canter. Simple transitions were easily flawless for her dressage gelding. Robin gave him a gentle half-halt to ask him to pick his nose up out of the dirt and he obliged with only slight hesitation. As the rounded the turn he tried to cut in but a squeeze from her inside calf pushed him back onto the rail. When she finally asked for the turn he picked up his canter slightly, finally realizing they were jumping.

They came to the first one at a funny distance but Batman popped over it without complaint, and immediately started powering through to the second one. In her head Robin counted her striding; one, two, three, fouuuur. The long stride was a flying change that Batman had decided to add in before the jump instead of after. Well, that was cool but as he finished she felt him bunch for takeoff. Uh, no thank you. She gave a stronger half-halt, asking him to go that last stride, but he ignored her and propelled himself over the little vertical as though it were a 3'6 oxer instead.

Robin realized as he stretched forward over it that her reins were far too short, despite her high crest release. They would have been fine for what the jump was but not for how he had jumped it. Base instinct caused her to open her fingers to let the reins slide through but as she did so he stretched his nose out even further and the whole loop jerked away from her.

Jumping with no reins was just a bit nerve wracking. Claire had sent her over full courses with no reins before but that was like, two foot jumps, and usually with no other horses in the ring. Batman was cruising as they departed from the line so she sat back, slowed down her breathing, and thought; walk. The gelding responded after a moment but had to throw in a little buck right after his canter to trot transition.

Robin picked up her reins again as they slowed and guided him back to the line so she could watch the others.


OOC: Not perfect enough? XD Kidding. I've done this myself before, over smaller jumps. And I lost mine in the middle of a triple. Lucky me, I was riding a fantabulous horse <3

[Tobin Shae Kelly]

Tobin leg yielded the chestnut overo pony toward the rail that no one else was occupying yet. She shortened her reins by a few laces and asked the pony for a more forward walk. Wherever she had space she would circle him around a jump, or leg yield on and off the rail. A switch of direction and the same thing in the other direction, then she asked for a working trot. The pony jolted forward before returning to a regular trot and continuing along at a normal pace.

Toby posted quietly as they trotted around the ring. The girl pushed Kelso into each corner, making sure he didn't put his worst habit into effect: cutting corners. It was a lesson pony move, which was odd, considering Kelso had never been a lesson pony. Maybe just a pony move. Other than the little outbreak when they first started trotting, Kelso had remained at a consistent pace. It was very unlike him to stay at one speed. He usually went quickly up long sides and collected himself on the shorter sides due to an old habit Toby let him pick up. But today he stayed the same.

She circled around each jump in the arena, and even tried to work in a spiral at one end, asking the pony to cross over in the back. Kelso liked to just run through those types of cues. While he wasn't running, he wasn't listening, and Tobin decided to pick that fight another day.

They switched directions, and circled some more before Mrs. Webber started calling out instructions again. Tobin brought the pony to a walk and directed him toward where he was supposed to stand. She stood in between Caden and Robin, since Kelso seemed most happy there. She watched Robin and Batman go through the course, it wasn't very pretty. Very flawed in fact, but they got through it without refusing, knocking rails, or falling off, which made it an alright jumper line.

She looked to the right and left and seeing no one stepping forward, she nodded in an effort to tell them she would go. "I'll go." There were the words. Just in case anyone needed them. Toby tightened her reins to an eq-length and tapped ever so lightly on Kelso's sides to ask for a walk. Halfway across the middle she picked up a left-lead canter and went around the ring at an even pace. But now that she was in the final corner, the pace wasn't so even, plus the pony had decided to come at least a yard off the rail, giving less time and space to turn. Tobin bent the overo around her inside leg toward the line. She gave the pony a half-halt to settle him before pushing her hands forward slightly over the martingale.

Kelso took full advantage of the trust Toby was placing with him. He covered the next two strides in one bounding one before propelling himself horizontally over the fence. Tobin kept with him with great eq, and sat up almost immediately as they landed. She held him to the second fence, not letting him get the four strides he wanted. Five strides later they jumped, folding together in great rhythm.

Other than the speed, it was fine. She told herself that as she whoa-ed the pony in the corner after the line. He already had the right lead, but by his speed you'd think he was preparing for a change. The pony settled in the next corner, and was walking on the buckle by the time they got back to the other riders.


ooc: sorry guys for the out of orderness. i guess it's fine, since everyone's only going once, but i feel unorganized right now xD anyway. rhia's turn!~

[rhiannon heather aberth]

Rhia wasn't exactly used to warming up her own horses, but she knew how to perfectly well. At home, she had to rush home to ride after school and there just wasn't enough time to tack and warm up, so usually whoever she was going to ride was ready when she walked into the barn. She was careful to always thank the groom, of course, and naturally she warmed up herself at shows, but it was a little strange.

Nevertheless, Rhia guided Morrie out to the rail and carefully collected her reins a little more. The gray pony arched his neck and mouthed at the bit, prancing a little with excitement. As soon as they got trotting, his impatience would disappear, but Rhia didn't want him to get away with the jog/walk he was currently doing. It took a few circles, but Morrie eventually relaxed enough to do a flat-footed walk.

Not wanting to risk it for too long, Rhia pushed him up to a trot. She sat a few beats, getting a feel for how he felt, then starting to post. Rhia glanced around the arena and noticed that no one was in the corner that she was in, so she started bending Morrie as asked. He was always supple in his neck and shoulder, but his hip was more of a struggle. After spiraling in and out a few times, Rhia finally obtained a uniform bend. She patted his neck and reversed direction, achieving the same thing in a slightly longer amount of time.

Rhia checked the other riders and judged that she had plenty of room for a canter circle around an oxer. Applying outside leg, Rhia waited for Morrie to shift into canter, then half-halted rather heavily to regain the rather spastic gelding's attention. She felt him come up underneath himself in the circle, which was more than she could say for the trot.

On the second circle, Rhia heard Mrs. Webber call them into lineup. She nodded as she heard the directions aimed at her and Morrie and shot Mrs. Webber an appreciative smile. She steered Morrie behind the other horses, out of kicking range, and walked up and down the line, trying to get as collected as she could.

She watched the two riders before her go; Robin and Batman first. Not a pretty line, but it was clear that Robin was an effective rider, since they got through it without incurring faults. They were eventers, after all, and getting through the course was what mattered. Rhia doubted her line would look much prettier.

Tobin and Kelso volunteered to go next, and as Rhia watched them traverse the simple line, she worried just a little as to whether she'd be able to keep up with everyone. Maybe she should have brought Captain, instead. As Tobin walked back to the line, Rhia walked Morrie to tackle the diagonal.

After assuring that she wouldn't be cutting anyone else off, Rhia pushed Morrie up to an active walk for half of the arena. A few yards before she wanted to transition to canter, Rhia half-halted and used her right calf to subtly shift Morrie's hindquarters to the left. The preparations thus made, as soon as Rhia touched the gray gelding with her heel, he was off in a rocking horse canter.

Rhia had already made the decision to take the line in six strides. Morrie could definitely do it in five long, fast strides, but Rhia didn't want to do it a la jumpers. Collection would be more impressive, and Morrie would jump better besides.

Rhia bent the gelding around her leg to take the sharp corner. She saw the distance as three collected strides, but Morrie pulled to do it in two. If she gave in to him here, she'd have a hell of a time pulling him back to collection to get in six strides for the next jump. Morrie tossed his head in protest, but by takeoff he was focused on the jump again. Rhia was careful not to release too much, since the gelding had a problem with rushing out of jumps.

The pair were golden until the last two strides, when Rhia, proud of Morrie's lack of resistance to the slower pace, eased up a little on the reins. Well, if you gave Morrie an inch, he would take a mile. He extended himself for exactly one stride before Rhia grimaced and tightened her reins back up, but the damage was done. They were heading for a deep spot. Rhia knew they could get over it, but it wouldn't be in line with "pretty." Morrie rocked back on his haunches and launched himself almost vertically. Rhia pushed her hands forward and allowed him to get over the fence as he liked, but it meant that he was probably hanging his knees and Rhia knew he was more hollow than a soup bowl.

They landed on the right lead (a miracle, considering that Rhia had forgotten to ask for the change mid-air). She cantered the corner, then halfway down the short rail she pulled Morrie back to a trot and returned to lineup. Not too horrible, for Mr. Arab Jumper, but not good either.

[Caden Penelope Taylor]

Caden steered Fiona toward the line of riders, making sure she wasn't getting too close to any other horses. The bay mare was used to standing so quietly still after all of the lineups they'd been in. Caden watched Robin ride a less than perfect line, then Toby and Kelso have a rush-y looking line, and finally Rhia, who also had a fast looking line. Hmph. Excellence hadn't been obtained by any of them.

Caden waited until Rhia had cleared the final jump of the line to cut across the center of the ring. She picked up a left lead canter at X and let Fiona canter down the line at a quiet pace. The mare had her nose out in front of her a smidge, instead of tucking it all the way into a frame. Which was fine, she looked better like that.

The pair had a nice bend in the short end of the ring, and actually stayed on the rail unlike Tobin and her quick pony. Caden used her leg to direct the mare to the diagonal line. Even with the sight of the jumps the mare remained at a constant pace. Perfect.

Three strides later the mare snapped her knees even over the tiny jump, and Caden folded with her. Fiona landed softly and covered the six strides to get to th- SIX? Fiona was not only sixteen hands, she was a Warmblood! It was too late to fix it, considering pushing so close to the fence would be ugly, and she'd rather get pony strides than have an ugly line.

Fi took off after the sixth stride and had her knees even. Caden gave a rather short release because of the small height of the fence, but recovered before it could pop the bay in the mouth. She asked for the lead over the fence, the cue was nearly invisible, but it worked.

Caden glued Fiona to the rail until they rounded the last corner, where they took the quarter line and came back to a walk. She shook her head and pulled the mare back in line next to Tobin.

[mrs. chloe]

Chloe watched as Robin started off at a nice pace, and even with the awkward spot they looked fine over the first one. But as many jumpers do, he rushed out, eating up the space with four strides. Four. And the loss of reins was surely not ideal. Overall the horse moved nicely for what he did, and the girl rode well.

"You did a nice job settling him after the last jump, and he did a nice job of listening to you. He did ignore your half-halt though, which could get dangerous. Make sure you sink into your heels and sit really deep when he gets quick like that. Exactly how you did in the corner, but while you're jumping. And have reins. The change before the fence may have been because of unequal weight distribution on your part." She nodded and looked back as Tobin was cutting across the centerline and turning left.

The pony was obviously a jumper. His head was up, and he was quick before he even saw the jumps. Chloe could tell Tobin wasn't going to try to get him to collect for the pony strides, it was full steam ahead.

"Great jumper line. I don't think that was really what you wanted right now though, right? When he comes off the rail open your outside rein and push with your inside leg. I know the movement of hands isn't ideal, but it's schooling. Exaggerate it, it'll help you. Don't trust him as much in front of a jump, especially a pony! They'll take full advantage of you."

Now the smallest girl's turn, Rhia. Chloe was curious to see how her pony moved, as he seemed to have arab in him. While they were certainly capable of jumping, you usually didn't see them at such high of a level. Rhia and Morrie looked much more collected than the other pony pair. The girl held him to a nice spot, and while the second jump was not very pretty, but they had gotten over.

"I liked how you kept him collected. Same with what I was saying to Tobin about trust before a fence. The second jump wasn't pretty on his part, which was because of your previous mistake, but you kept with him." Another nod.

And here was Caden Taylor, on her push-button mare. They were going in rather slow, and Chloe half-expected Caden to get the mare going a little more. Sure, speed wasn't needed on such low fences, but a good pace was ideal. The pair had nice form over the first jump, and went six strides before folding together over the next one. The girl had great eq, the mare had great form, but a six? The mare had just gotten pony strides very comfortably.

"A little more pace please? Pony strides on a warmblood is almost embarrassing." She laughed, it was a joke. Kind of.


"Alright, new course. It's a little bit more fun." She walked across the ring to the opposite longside line and raised the first vertical three inches. Then she walked to the oxer and bumbed it up by six.

"Okay, go right around the ring to the back diagonal, skip the first jump, and a rollback to the other diagonal. If your horse is quiet and not running around like a headless chicken, go to the next line. If you're not comfortable, skip it altogether." Chloe looked at the riders, motioning for someone, who ever, to start them off.

ooc: pink- where you stand; purple- course; blue- optional line
Whoever wants to go can go, no real order, just make sure you don't post again until Chloe has.

[rhiannon heather aberth]

Rhia watched Caden go; gorgeous horse, gorgeous equitation, but... Fiona was two and a half hands taller than Morrie was and they put the same number of strides in. Something had gone wrong, although Rhia couldn't guess as to what. Caden's cues were always invisible. If Rhia had been riding, she would have- she cut herself off in the middle of the thought. Mrs. Webber would tell Caden herself.

Once everyone was done, Rhia listened carefully to the critique. She knew what she had done wrong, but it was nice to hear that she'd done something right, too. Morrie did have a nice collected jumper canter, when he felt like it. Today was a good day, by Rhia's reckoning.

The next line, as Mrs. Webber described, did look a lot more fun than two verticals. Rhia eyeballed the second oxer in the optional line, though. Morrie could make it; it didn't look bigger than 3'3", and Rhia had taken him up to four feet before. She glanced down the lineup, making sure she wasn't stepping on any toes, then walked Morrie out of line.

She shifted her weight and leg so Morrie stepped his hip to the left before squeezing him with her right leg, elicting a collected left lead canter from the start. She swung wide around the end jumps, threading the gray gelding between the longside vertical and the wall, before turning to the first jump.

Morrie pricked his ears up in anticipation. Rhia let him extend a little more than they had before, although she paid careful attention to the steadily closing distance, ready to shorten or lengthen as necessary. Three strides out, Rhia realized she'd be a few feet short if she didn't open up Morrie's stride.

She did what Caden had not, and applied rather heavy leg to get the pony up to where he needed to be. The jump was a little flatter than it should have been, and the landing wasn't quite spot-on, but Rhia sat up quickly and made the rollback.

Rollbacks were a shared favorite between pony and girl. Rhia personally thought that there should be rollbacks in hunter courses, since they could really separate the good from the bad. Her trainer before she moved here had schooled Rhia and Morrie through rollbacks over and over, until they were easy.

Rhia lifted her inside rein an inch, elevating Morrie's shoulder. She squeezed her inside leg at the girth, giving him something to turn around. Her outside leg asked for a bend, while her outside hand controlled the degree of bend in his neck. This part of the course was flawless, in Rhia's mind's eye.

They took the next vertical with style: Rhia folded, picture-perfect, over Morrie's neck, and the gelding picked his knees up for once. It was five or six strides to the next vertical, and upon landing, Rhia realized that she couldn't collect Morrie in time to make six. Instead, she kept her leg on and softened her hand a fraction, letting the pony reach forward.

Five strides later, Morrie leaped off the ground at a spot that might have been a few inches long. Rhia wouldn't have noticed if she hadn't had to slip an extra inch of rein for her crest release; the pony had reached further than she expected.

Rhia made the snap decision to go on with the course. She asked for a lead change and got it just before she started coming around the corner to tackle the first vertical. She kept her eyes on the oxer all the way over the 2'9" vertical, which went fantastically. They had had a solid course so far; if it had been a show, they would be in the ribbons. Maybe not winning, but definitely at least fourth.

Rhia eyeballed the distance to the oxer. Five strides again, and this time they wouldn't be long, since Morrie was already moderately extended. She kept her leg on to get the extra few inches of stride and they made the distance... a little short. How was that even possible? Rhia clenched her jaw and followed Morrie through another not-perfect jump.

She had wanted the course to be better than the first, but it really wasn't much different. Four jumps, two imperfect. Rhia resisted the urge to beat herself up about it and simply cantered the short side, transitioning back to a walk before they got back to lineup.

[cordelia robin evans]

Robin nodded at the advice; it was exactly what Claire would have told her. Instead of lining back up she let her reins out to the buckle and let Batman walk up and down the unused rail, making sure to keep out of Rhia's way. She wanted the gelding to cool down a bit before his next round.

As Rhia and Morrie left the rail to start their round she perked up a bit though, watching the pony go through the line with interest. She had seen Tobin and Caden ride before, but not Rhia. And she was rather impressed up until the second jump, which left her shaking her head and grinning. The pony showed typical 'little guy' attitude and enthusiasm.

She settled back down for Tobin's ride; she had seen this pair go before, and a single line wasn't all that impressive. Rhia's second round caught her interest again though, and this time she wasn't disappointed. The petite girl rode as if she had never done anything but ponies.

Robin grinned, collecting her reins again as Rhia returned to the lineup. She made a brief halt with the others, just to be sure Caden and Tobin didn't care that she was going next; neither of them stepped forward so she assumed it was okay.

A gentle nudge with her right heel, combined with impulsion in her seat, prompted Batman into a steady canter from the halt. It was completely unnecessary but Robin felt like she had to make up for how messy their line had been by proving she really could ride.

Robin mostly left her gelding alone until they reached the first vertical, using a little more leg and hand aids than she normally would to make sure he took off where she wanted him too. She was rewarded with a smooth jump, auto change included, though she knew her own equitation wasn't going to be fabulous.

The rollback was fun; she and Batman did courses at home that were entirely made up of them so she just turned her gaze toward the next jump and let the gelding bend himself beautifully around the curve. To be honest, Robin didn't know why every hunter/jumper rider didn't do dressage as well. It was incredibly helpful for getting auto changes, bending lines, rollbacks, finding your distance, pace control, the list went on and on.

Robin took the rollback as evidence that this was going to be a jumper course, so as they rounded the corner to the second jump she let Batman extend his canter, so that they had only one stride of being straight before takeoff. Of course, that made it a little larger than it maybe should have been but they didn't even come close to touching a rail.

This time they made the line in the appropriate five strides and sailed easily over the third jump. Robin took a moment to rub Batman's withers and murmur what a good boy he was. This was more like one of their show rounds, so she asked for a lead change and tightened her left rein gently to ask for a smooth turn to the optional line.

Batman's pace was already picking up around the turn and Robin gave a stronger half-halt than usual, remembering Mrs. Cloe's advice. The gelding eased up just enough to make the vertical with room to spare.

They were still moving at a jumper pace down the last line, and Robin could tell it was going to be tight even if she half-halted. She wanted it to be spot-on though, so she chose the slightly more reckless option.

All it took was Robin letting her reins out a little and closing her leg for Batman to get the picture; the big gelding surged forward, eating up the distance with his Thoroughbred stride. This line was also done in four strides, but the spot was perfect which made up for it, in Robin's mind. They also took it at a height that was more appropriate to a four foot oxer, but that was why she had let her reins out.

They landed smoothly, and Robin shortened her reins again as the white gelding careened around the turn at a hand-gallop. She simply sat back and half-halted repeatedly. Batman obstinately ignored what he knew was a signal that they were done, but only for a few strides before he dropped down to a collected canter, and finally to a walk.

Well, it wasn't hunter pretty, but it was decent for a jumper course. Robin gave her still excited gelding a pat for bringing her safely through.