Coffin Fences? Who's Dying?!

[DJ]

Hope squeezed the mare into a canter and half-halted lightly, asking for a calmer gate. Dazzle softened and calmed, lowering her head, bending her neck not hollowing her back. Hope turned the grey to the wooden roll-top. Hope sat up, out of galloping position warning the mare there was something ahead of her. She moved her hands up on the reins, collecting contact and Dazzle's ears pricked to the approaching fence, taking Hope seriously.

Dazzle lifted over the roll-top, acting green, loosing her form over the top as she saw the next jump ahead: the ditch. The mare was slow with her front end, wondering if she should have jumped it or not. As Dazzle arced to the top of the roll-top, Hope was already in the middle of the mare's back, preparing for the position to ride across the ditch. Even before Dazzle's feet hit the ground, Hope used driving aids, encouraging the dappled grey towards the ditch. She focused her eyes on the ditch and "out" jump ahead.

With the first jump behind them, Hope tried to stay with Dazzle's motion while still in her driving seat. She leaned forward slightly, helping Dazzle balance over the slight mound in the terrain. Dazzle took a good second look at the ditch, approaching. Hope stayed there for Dazzle, calm but firm, keeping her leg on the mare with a slight loop in the reins without dropping the equine. Hope continued following the mare, supporting with her hands as Dazzle gathered herself for the ditch. Hope's upper body was ready for the incredible leap, but her hips stayed securely over her ankle.

Dazzle boosted herself over the ditch, doing the typical worried-young-horse overkill. Hope continued supporting her off of the ground with a steady contact and similar upper-body motion. Her seat stayed close to the saddle because she expected Dazzle'd need some serious direction on the landing.

As it turned out, Hope was right. The ditch took so much of Dazzle's attention, that she jumped off to the right and landed with her body crooked and her focus any where except the third element of the coffin which was to the left. Dazzle broke the canter to a trot! Hope stayed in the driving position, right over the middle of the mare, and she trotted all of the way to the jump out. Fortunately, although it was a skinny, it was also a forgiving roll-top. At the take-off point, Hope rose well out of the saddle, still keeping her hip above her ankle, and supported Dazzle with her reins to keep her over the skinny. Dazzle retrieved her confidence back and stayed tight with her front end.

The landing from the skinny-out was a drop, and Hope opened her upper body angle, staying balanced with the mare and opened the angle of her elbow to follow Dazzle's mouth without dropping her.

After the landing Dazzle easily smoothed forward, cantering up the small hill and Hope pulled her to a walk, finishing for the training session.

[femalefred]

Ella was excited about this. She'd been doing a lot of work with the big blue roan warmblood, but this was the first time she'd taken him out on the course, and having seen how adept he was she could barely wait. They'd already warmed up a little in the basic arena and Music's ears had perked up when they'd headed out to the grass of the cross country course. She hadn't, however, expected to see Hope and her mare Dazzle out here. She almost regretted not bringing Duke out rather than Music for a second, now that the two were pasture buddies and seemed to get on so well.

For once, Music got excited about seeing another horse and lifted his head, whinnying sharply across to the dappled mare and attempting to break into a trot. It had been his rest day the day before, so it wasn't that surprising he had a little more energy than usual and Ella grinned, half halting him as they got closer to the other pair. It looked like they were just coming out of the coffin fence, and Dazzle was on a lightly odd line, and broke down to a trot - which was something Ella hadn't expected to see from the usually fizzy mare.

"Nice save!" she called over to Hope once the other woman had drawn her horse back to a walk. She finally let Music break into a trot to catch up with them, the warmblood taking up the flashy, high-stepping trot he favoured when he was looking forward to something - whether that something was the course or seeing Dazzle she couldn't quite say.

[Jazzy]

Alli trotted past the fence, moving onto the cross country course. Benny nickered to the horses further out, trying to pick up an extended trot. As they passed each fence, his ears flicked around, staying alert and attentive. The pair was on a nearly straight line to the cord-wood fence, so Alli decided to see how Benny would handle it.

She gave a little cluck as she asked Benny into the canter, which he quickly responded to. He was eating up the ground as fast as possible, and Alli did a quick half-halt to keep his speed in check. Not having seen a cross country fence before, Benny flung himself over it, jumping it like a 3' fence. All gave him a good pat, and let him slow to a walk. He bobbed his head enthusiastically, asking for more. As Alli shortened her reins he picked up a light jog, headed straight toward the horses. As they got closer, Alli could see that it was Ella and Hope.

"Hey there, guys!" She greeted, pushing Benny into a large, extended trot. He was slow to stop as they met up with Dazzle and Music, but Alli forced him to a halt. "You guys want to have some fun out here?" She always loved good, clean fun, but competitions were the absolute best. Especially on the cross country course.

[DJ]

Hope's turned to the voice and grinned when she saw Ella on top of the prancing warmblood. She halted Dazzle and clapped her neck.

"Thanks," she laughed. "Tons of practice and work. Still working for the show season this year. I'm thrilled to be able to ride her." Dazzle slid the reins out of Hope's hands by pushing her head out, and reached down to scratch her leg. She snatched a bit of grass (while she was down there, why not, right?) Hope laughed again and pulled the mare's head up, collecting her reins again. "How's Music coming along?"

Hope was pondering if she should ask if Ella would like any coaching, but figured she may just want to relax and have fun today. Not saying that training wasn't fun, but Hope pushed the thought away and steered Music to a large corner fence to stand next to.

Hope turned at the sound of yet another voice. Seeing Ally, she grinned again, waving. As Benny propelled himself over the fence, Hope had to laughed. When Ally came over, Hope greeted her and Dazzle woke up to greet Benny, tensing when he came up to her and moving her ears and flaring her nostrils to an unsure pose, but relaxing when he was closer.

Dazzle was weird like that. She'd tense and threaten when another horse came up, but never bit or kicked them. But she was always happy to see then when they were closer. The mare pricked her ears, flaring her nostrils slightly, and stretching her neck. Hope rolled her eyes and clapped the mare's muscular stretched neck, looking Arab-y.

Hope frowned at the question of having fun. "I've actually just finished with Dazzle. Se's done amazing today and I don't want to over work her. But we can stand out here for a while with you guys. I'm not busy again until three o'clock, so I have time."

[femalefred]

Ella smiled at Hope's enthusiastic comments about the progress Dazzle had made. It was true, the mare seemed a whole lot more concentrated than when she'd first met her. Music, on reaching the mare, stretched his neck out towards her, nostrils flaring and looking at her with apparent curiousity. "He's coming along well. He's a pretty mover when we're doing dressage and we're schooling at 5' now, which is bigger than I've really done before," she said with a grin. The blue roan was massively scopey. "He's a little slow though. Doesn't take well to sharp corners, but that's something we're working on."

"Heya Alli. I'm up for a little fun. I was just out to try Music on some of the fences with a few parts, but if you're up for something else I don't really mind."

[Jazzy]

Alli patted Benny as he stretched out his neck and snorted. "How about we warm up over some of these fences, get the horses used to them and then do a little timed jump course." She suggested, scanning the field for potential fences. The water complex would be included, and most likely the ditch, depending on how the horses handled it.

Benny quickly grew impatient, and, being a stallion, began to jig around and show off for the mares. He let out a few bucks as Alli backed him away from the other horses. In a flash, he had rocketed off, catching Alli off guard. She lost a stirrup, but managed to hold onto the saddle. She quickly spun the little boy in a circle, forcing him to slow his pace. Once she regained composure she headed back to the group. Benny was now drenched in sweat, and huffing and puffing. "Thanks, you little brat." Alli scoffed, giving the stallion a disapproving look. There would be a bit of an extra work out for him today. Most likely lengthening and shortening his strides in one of the lines, just to get him listening.

[DJ]

Hope's eyes widened. "Five feet?! Whoa." She reached out to stoke the gelding, only a nose away. "And sharp corners are a good thing. He's been in hunters for a while. Obviously, hunters have the longest tracks to the jumps, so they never learn good bends and such."

Hope watched Benny jig around herself on Dazzle and Ella on Music. Dazzle spun, facing the stallion and outstretching her neck, on the stallions circle, interested. Hope pulled the mare away, but the stallion bouncing around excited her, raising her head, bouncing into a trot forward. Hope half-halted the unresponsive mare and turned her back to Music, seeming uncaringly calm and bored with the young horses.

"Gosh. Young mares," Hope smirked.

[femalefred]

Ella smiled and nodded to Alli's suggestion. A short timed course would do both she and Music good. They'd been enjoying taking courses in an extremely lazy style lately, and what with shows being timed that just wouldn't do for much longer really. "I'm up for that," she said, before turning to Hope and grinning, nodding and giving the gelding a gentle rub at the base of his neck in appreciation. "I was impressed as well. I reckon he's probably got scope to go a bit bigger as well, but I'm not going to try for the moment."

Ella was almost inclined to laugh at the skittishness of the other horses. Music, now 9, was the oldest of the bunch and even he wasn't particularly ancient, just a lot calmer and a lot more blase about the entire prospect of the world. "If only I was riding Duke. He'd be joining in with all that like a shot!"

[Jazzy]

Alli chuckled at Ella's comment, and watched as Music stood completely still. "You'd do yourself good to follow his example." She said, giving Benny a scratch on the withers. The stallion stuck his neck out, thoroughly enjoying the attention. He reached out to touch Dazzle, who squealed as every normal mare would. Alli quickly backed him up so he wouldn't cause anymore trouble.

Setting out at a trot, she headed Benny straight toward the water complex. When they got to the edge of the water the stallion protested, trying to spin and run. Finally realizing that he could not win the battle, Benny leapt into the water, thoroughly drenching Alli. He leapt around a bit until he got to the opposite edge, then gave one giant launch out of the small pond. She then brought him around to the other side, which required them to jump in off of an embankment. Benny wasn't really paying attention, and didn't put up a fight going in. He scrambled a bit when he landed, but managed to make it all the way through the pond. Alli gave him a nice big pat and head back over to the group, quite proud of the little boy's accomplishments.

[DJ]

Hope smirked at the thought of Duke's reactions when Benny excited the other equines. Duke'd have been right out there, fooling around, everyone laughing at him. Music, on the other hand, seemed to stand almost in boredom. If the gelding was able, he'd be there, sighing and rolling his eyes at the foolish youngsters.

Dazzle struck and squealed at the stallion, and Alli backed up Benny, trying to avoid accidents as much as possible. She then spun and took the water hazard, not all that gracefully, as Benny fought, but they got through it, Alli trotting back soaked.

Dazzle sighed in boredom, reaching to sniff the fence in front of her. The mossy logs bent into a corner fence. She opened her mouth and began to gnaw on the wood, scraping her teeth along the edge, peeling up a bit of bark and leaving an indent in the cut side. Hope pulled the mare back, scolding her, but couldn't help laughing at the young horse.

[femalefred]

Ella laughed at Alli's comment, but at Benny and Dazzle's sudden apparently disagreement, she automatically gathered up Music's reins. The gelding had stepped back a little, looking somewhat affronted at this behaviour from the other horses, but when he felt his rider becoming alert again his ears perked, one flicking back to pay attention to Ella and his head lifted. He was prepared for something a little more exciting than standing around, and the young woman was happy to oblige. Nudging him forward, she moved around in a large circle, asking for a trot and taking the blue roan around a couple of fences in a slightly abstract serpentine-esque movement.

She was keeping an eye on the other two, and grinned when she saw Benny's messy, slightly insane appraoch to the water hazard, reminding her of Duke. The young dapple still wasn't entirely happy about the water, even if he was now trusting Ella enough not to actually freak out when they landed in it. Taking Music over the fence was likely to be a lot easier, and when the stallion was heading back to where they'd been stood before she nudged the warmblood into a canter, turning him towards the neat line of log into the water, through it, and then the log out. She knew the gelding could take the fences, she'd seen Hope take him through this way before, and she could feel her pulse quickening with excitement as they approached. Music was excited too, his ears were pricked and his pace was a lot quicker than the lazy working canter he tended to use when showjumping.

He hurled himself into the air when they got to the log - not a particularly tidy jump, but a good one - and thundered into a gallop on landing, shortening the five strides in the water to a huge three and launched back out, flying on towards the next fence when they cleared the log and only breaking into a canter after several firm half halts from an exhilirated but surprised Ella. Finally bringing the excited gelding back to a trot, she turned back to Hope and Alli, laughing and giving the warmblood a few enthusiastic pats on the neck.

[Jazzy]

Alli watched as Music bounded over the jumps with ease. Benny's ears remained pricked forward, alertly watching the other horses' movements. "Nice work, Ella. He looks really good." Alli said, smiling brightly. She urged Benny forward, pointing him toward a line with a coop to a ditch. Benny jumped the coop with no problems, and Alli pushed him into a hand gallop for the six strides to the ditch. He glanced downward, realizing that the ditch was coming up. Noticing his hesitation, Alli pushed him onward even more, giving Benny confidence. He launched himself quite smoothly, continuing on at a forward canter after landing.

Alli steered him toward the water complex yet again, trying to achieve a smooth run. This time she brought him in over the jump and back out up the embankment. Benny launched, landed, launched again and continued forward at a near gallop. Alli slowed him to a walk, giving him a big pat for the perfect jumps. The young stallion bobbed his head approvingly, wanting to continue with the jumping.

"So, what jumps should we use for our little race?" She asked, looking around the field and then to the other riders.

[tidal]

Jake led his horse onto the field ever so slowly. He had been away for a couple of weeks, and Insanity was condemned to his stall, and turn-out. So of course, he was more than overly excited to be back outside with Jake, cantering and galloping around like the idiots they both were.

Hey, hey. Settle down, it's fine. Jake cooed in his horse's left ear. At the sound, the equine turned to face his rider, twitched his ear, then grabbed the Australian hat from Jake's head. Oi! Give that back! He chuckled. He frowned as the creature lowered his head and widened it's eyes. He sighed, and hugged Insanity's head, and stroked his neck.

He flipped the reins over the head, and grabbed them in his left hand. Putting his free hand on the cantle, he stuck his foot in the stirrup and swung himself over. Good boy. He whispered, whilst leaning over to ruffle the mane. Insanity snorted, and pawed at the grass while waiting for his signal. He was in no mood for what Jake was planning for him. A leisurely stroll around the perimeter, a nice slow trot, and an easy-going canter was not at all what he'd wanted to do.

Jake nudged on with his calves, and started his usual warm-up around the course. He pursed his lips as the head in front of him flew up and down. Fine. But let's at least get in a bit of a warm-up, okay? Insanity whinnied, almost as if he had known what was being said. He waited for the next signal, which came momentarily. He picked his way around the arena for several minutes. Finally, Jake asked for the canter. The transition was instant. The horse beneath him shot out like a bullet, into a full-out gallop. Whoa. He murmured, trying to stay calm. Voice didn't work, so he tried doing some half-halts, but alas, no luck either. He gave up to the beast which was now tearing around the field in seconds, and urged him on.

Insanity perked his ears, and tossed his head. He was enjoying himself, and now, with total control, he decided to give the exhausted human on his back a break. He slowed down to a canter, which, in a few minutes, changed into a trot. He felt a hand rub against his neck, stroking. He knew he'd done something well, or maybe it was just luck that he'd been rewarded. He felt relaxation on his mouth, so he slowed to a walk.

The whole ride, he had been completely unaware of the other riders. Jake could've sworn they weren't there. He suddenly became a bit embarassed. He had looked like a fol when he had galloped. Hopefully everyone had missed the crazy partnership.

Jake cooled him out for around 20 minutes, daydreaming and patting his horse the whole time. Once he was by the gate, he swung off, rolled up his stirrups, and flung the reins back over his head so he could lead his horse out. A bit exhilerating, but it was a good ride. He grinned as he walked out. Insanity snorted in agreement.