Valentines Show Beginner Jumping

[femalefred]

Order of running -
Jen on Tick
Liz on Song
Amanda on Aramis
Terry on Baz
Tilly on Hess
Amara on Gallant

Red = 12"
Blue = 15"
Green = 18"

Fence numbers are on the side which you should take them from.
Refusal = 4 faults
Knock down = 4 faults
Fall = 12 faults

Event is not timed until the jump-off, if there is one. You may only fall once, you may only have 2 refusals. More than this and you will be disqualified.

[Arya]

Liz and Song where preparing to jump the entire begginer course. This would be the pairs first jumping competion, and Liz didn't expect to do so well. Liz nudged Song into a nice and steady canter, heading for the first jump. Once close enough, Liz leaned forward and Song cleared the first jump. Song landed gracefully and cantered along the rail and turnig lightly to the second jump. Once again, the pair had jumped clear on 2A and 2B.

Song and Liz both jumped clear on the next three jumps, each time with Song landed gracefully and staying at a nice and steady pace. Coming to the 6th fence, Song acted like she wanted to refuse, but Liz kept her under control. Leaning forward in the saddle once more, the cleared the fence and moved onto 7A and 7B. Liz directed Song into the center of the 12" rails and Song cleared them both with no problem. The next to jumps Liz and Song cleared, but Song nicked the last fence. Luckily it stayed up, and the pair had a clear round.

Liz pulled Song to a walk and went over to Ella. A wide grin was on Liz's face, for it was a major accomplishment of the year. Liz knew that there would be a jump off, and she patted Song's shoulder, telling her that they made it.

[S.tormy]

Amara twiddled with her reins, humming songs off her nintendo games to distract herself and calm the butterflies in her stomach. Amara wasn't nervous about the jumping - they could do it and if she fell off, she'd just have to get up and face it.

No, it was the buzz of competing for the first time. Her cousins were all riders and were all successful(except one, but then again, she didn't really compete, she just liked to ride out in the countryside) and Amara really wanted to do well. She saw Liz get a clear round and walked Gallant over, congratulating her. Then she pushed Gallant into a trot. She'd already done the flatwork to warm him up, and now she just wanting to keep him ticking over and pop him over a jump to get him into the swing of things.

Since he was a recently gelded stallion, and was strong and mature, Amara knew that with the competitive buzz, a snaffle bit would not help her keep him under control. She had instead put the pelham and double reins on his bridle, like she did when she was riding with mares in the summer, or did when he was a stallion. Since he was jumping, and jumped big over the fences, she also put a running martingale on, so that she had a neck strap to grab if she needed, and if he thew his head up, she wouldn't get smacked in the mouth.

As Tilly went into the ring, Amara put Gallant at a cross pole in trot, after he cleared it, she popped him over in canter, before slowing to a walk and entering the collecting ring, then as Tilly came out, Amara nudged Gallant. Gallant strode in as if he owned the arena, and didn't shy at the bell. It was a good start. Pushing him into a gentle canter, she went round fence four, then turned the corner and set him up straight. Gallants ears pricked harder, more spring came to his already impulsive jump and he lept over the first, arching nicely as if it were a 3ft fence, not just 12". Amara felt him lengenth his stride down the long side, and fought silently to shorten his stride and collect him , it was a sharp and tight turn to the double. She only just succeeded, and Gallant stopped fighting and sat back on his hind legs, cantering almost around a point. Amara went pink in the face, great way to show how un-beginnerish they were in dressage! Gallant didn't care, he had jumps, he had an audience, he had talent, he loved the attention!

Amara gave him a small but sharper that usual nudge in his sides and he lept forward, took a long stride to the jump and lept large. Amara sat perfectly, one hand holding the neckstrap as a precaution. Gallant landed, then realised he had a short stride, and just took half a stride before leaping. Amara wobbled and when she landed, she sat up, and made him canter almost on the spot before pushing him into a collected trot and trying to turn. In the end she had to go around number 9 to reach 3, Gallant couldn't make the turn with his long stride. Hugging close to fence nine and then turning at a trot, she asked for canter a stride out, Gallant broke, then met the fence perfectly, arching over again, just like he had with the first.

Swinging him to the left, Amara broke into a trot, put him into left lead, curved left and set him up almost perfectly straight for fence 4. Gallant arched his neck, extended, collected and sprang over neatly. Suddenly it was like riding a dream horse, Gallant had realised that the better he behaved the quicker he got to jump the jumps. Amara let him out a notch now he had started behaving and took jump five at a slight curve to the left, clearing it and getting a good angle to fence 6, Gallant over-jumped so Amara pulled him in, and steered him around fence 2b and inside fence a. It was a bounce double and she collected him up so he wouldn't jump it all in one go. He strung neatly in, then scrambled for a second at seeing the fence so close, before leaping over boldly and carefully.

Leaning forward, they cantered briskly round fence four, before Amara sat down and straight, pulling gently on the reins to collect him, squeezing with her legs to matain the impulsion. As he lept over fence eight, Amara tried something she'd never tried with him. Leaning to the right and squeezing her right rein, she asked him to swap leads. The result was they landed disunited, but Gallant bucked and righted himself, before flying over 9, taking the right jump by luck. Amara patted Gallant enthusiastically as she slowed him down. It felt like it had taken forever, yet at the same time, she couldn't say how quick it had gone any more than she could name every star in the sky.

She rode out at a swinging walk with a stupid grin plastered happily across her face, praising her clever horse.



--------------------------

finished