Post by Kate Perselie on Jul 9, 2012 17:51:00 GMT -5
I took a deep breath, trying to settle my stomach and heart, which felt like it was beating 100 times a second. I took another deep breath, walking into the barn. My newly shined boots clicked on the ground everytime I took a step on the hard floor of the barn. I checked my outfit, making sure that I looked presentable for Mr. Conner, the trainer. I needed to look perfect, like I belonged on the riding teams competing...and winning. I was wearing a soft blue polo shirt tucked into a pair of tan breeches with a brown belt. I had paired the clothes with my shiny black tall boots and my Charles Owen helmet with a grey stripe down the middle. I had tucked my small silver locket under my shirt. In it was a picture of me and my family; another gift for going to Canterwood.
Everything was imaculate, not even a single piece of hay was lying on the ground. I looked behind me, checking if I was leaving a trail of dirt from outside. Anxiously, I re-did my ponytail. I fiddled with the strap on my helmet. I walked into the grooming stalls and put my helmet on the ground. I turned around and walked down the hall, looking for the horse that I was going to be riding.
I had already memorised everything from the email that I had recieved. The horse that I would be riding, the tests that I would be taking, everything. I was nervous, but mostly excited. Over the summer, I had practiced three times a week, sometimes four. I had practiced flatwork and jumping until my legs were sore and I was dead tired. I just hoped that it would pay off and that I would do well in my tryouts. My old trainer, Marie, had told me that I would do fine, but I didn't know if I completely believed her.
I found the horse that I would be riding: Rye. He was a sweet looking horse, dappled grey, with big, gentle eyes. He looked fairly young, and he raised his head high when he saw me at his stall door. I picked up his halter and matching lead rope and quickly lead him into the grooming stall. I walked into the locker room and found Rye's locker. Grabbing his things, I walked back out to start grooming him. I picked up the curry comb and began brushing in quick, round circles. Tiny puffs of dust formed. The next brush was the hard brush. Very little dust came off. The horses here were obviously very well groomed. I finished with the soft brush. Rye seemed to really like it. He shook his head up and down and perked his ears. He even turned around and watched me as I brushed him.
I picked up the saddle pad, which was light blue, and placed it on his back. The color looked great, and I flattened it on his back. Next came the other pad and the saddle. I put on the girth, making sure that the straps covered the top of the girth. I tightened it just enough, and Rye let out a soft puff of breath. He didn't seem to hate the girth being tightened, which I was thankful for. At least there wasn't much elseto be nervous about, like an angry horse. I grabbed my helmet off the ground and put it on, buckling the straps. Next I put on the bridle. Rye didn't like that. He raised his head up to the ceiling, forcing my hand to slip. I remembered what my old trainer had said, and fixed the bridle in my hand, putting it on his nose. I lodged my fingers into the corners of his mouth and wiggled them a little. The bit slid easily into his mouth. I fixed the browband and buckled the straps. Taking ahold of the reins, I lead Rye out of the grooming stalls and into the indoor arena.
Mr. Conner wasn't in the ring yet, so I quickly mounted and began to warm up. I took Rye around the ring twice at the walk to let him stretch. The ring was huge, with long windows stretching down the long sides. The jumps were painted to perfection in the school colors, green and gold. Once we had walked around I pushed my legs against Rye's sides and led him into the trot. He was forward, moving nicely and smoothly under my legs, his ears swiveling. I posted, leaning a bit forward and closing my hip angle. We trotted around once in each direction at the posting trot before I let him canter around once in each direction as well. His canter was slightly bumpy, but I sat deep into the saddle and it got easier to ride. We changed direction and got a flying lead change. The lead change was slightly difficult, so I did it again in the other direction. I rode Rye deep into the corners, getting the flying lead change a couple more times before I felt comfortable.
I pulled Rye into a walk. The warm up had relaxed me a little, but I was still pretty nervous. My mom had told me not to worry, but that was kind of a mothers job, right? I guess she was right. I mean, I had been on the IEA over the past couple of years, and at my past couple shows I had won pretty big.
"I saw you warming up." It was Mr. Conner, who had just walked into the ring. "You're trying out Hunter/Jumper, not dressage, correct?"
"Yeah--Yes, I am." I said, correcting myself.
"Okay," He began. "I'm going to test you on flatwork and jumping then. Just treat it like a lesson."
I took a deep breath.
"Trot around once at the sitting trot, then change direction and posting trot." He told me.
I poked my heels into Rye's sides softly, urging him into a trot. Rye moved smoothly under my legs, paying attention to my movement. I pushed my weight into my heels. Remembering what Marie had told me, I led Rye on with my lower legs, not only my heels. I arched my back neatly. I sat deep into the trot once around and then began to post. I relaxed my thighs, trying not to pinch with my knees.
"Canter Rye around once then do a flying lead change through the middle."
I did as Mr. Conner said. Remembering what we worked on when we were warming up, I squeezed my outside heel into Rye's side, getting the flying lead change right when we crossed the middle of the ring. I did a silent cheer in my head. We finished cantering around the ring. So far we had had a great ride. I knew that it was enough to make the intermediate team, the beginner team at the least.
"I'm going to set up some jumps. While I'm doing that, you can start to warm up over that end jump." He told me, walking into the middle of the ring.
I did as he said, first at the trot. It was a small jump, just a cross rail. It was a foot and a half at the most. Rye was great going over the jump. Perfect. Jumping was my favorite thing to do, and I was glad that I had gotten a horse who loved it too. I could tell. Whenever we went over the jump he would prick his ears to the ceiling. We went over the jump three times before Mr. Conner told me to walk and he would give me the course.
"Jump the end jump that you warmed up over to the right, then go over the diagonal, then the line and then the other diagonal. Canter it all." He told me.
I repeated what he said, making sure that I got the correct course. He nodded.
I urged Rye into a canter, tightening the reins so I would have more control. We soared over the first jump, clearing it by a few inches. I pushed Rye into the first corner, going deep into the corner. We headed towards the next jump, and I made sure that Rye was going straight over it. I smiled, glad that I was having such a good course. In my moment of silent cheer, I wasn't paying attention to Rye and he cut the corner. I fixed the mistake, hoping that I could make up for it by doing well on the rest of the course. I made the line towards the jump perfectly straight and we got in six strides, the perfect number of strides for a horse of his size. We finished the line. We rounded the corner and headed towards the jump. Right before the jump I felt Rye's weight shift under my body. His attention wasn't completely there, so I squeezed my legs against his sides. Luckily I had gotten his attention in time and we jumped the jump well. It was a good course. I hadn't had Rye's full attention the whole time and it had cost us a couple of times, but all in all I thought that I had done a fairly good job.
"You can dismount and I'll get back to you soon with the results. You can give Rye to Matt. He's over there." Mr. Conner told me.
I looked over my shoulder and saw a nice looking guy, probably around 12th grade. Was he watching me the whole time? I blushed. After I had cooled Rye down I dismounted and handed Rye to Matt. I took a deep breath in. The only thing left to do know was wait.
Everything was imaculate, not even a single piece of hay was lying on the ground. I looked behind me, checking if I was leaving a trail of dirt from outside. Anxiously, I re-did my ponytail. I fiddled with the strap on my helmet. I walked into the grooming stalls and put my helmet on the ground. I turned around and walked down the hall, looking for the horse that I was going to be riding.
I had already memorised everything from the email that I had recieved. The horse that I would be riding, the tests that I would be taking, everything. I was nervous, but mostly excited. Over the summer, I had practiced three times a week, sometimes four. I had practiced flatwork and jumping until my legs were sore and I was dead tired. I just hoped that it would pay off and that I would do well in my tryouts. My old trainer, Marie, had told me that I would do fine, but I didn't know if I completely believed her.
I found the horse that I would be riding: Rye. He was a sweet looking horse, dappled grey, with big, gentle eyes. He looked fairly young, and he raised his head high when he saw me at his stall door. I picked up his halter and matching lead rope and quickly lead him into the grooming stall. I walked into the locker room and found Rye's locker. Grabbing his things, I walked back out to start grooming him. I picked up the curry comb and began brushing in quick, round circles. Tiny puffs of dust formed. The next brush was the hard brush. Very little dust came off. The horses here were obviously very well groomed. I finished with the soft brush. Rye seemed to really like it. He shook his head up and down and perked his ears. He even turned around and watched me as I brushed him.
I picked up the saddle pad, which was light blue, and placed it on his back. The color looked great, and I flattened it on his back. Next came the other pad and the saddle. I put on the girth, making sure that the straps covered the top of the girth. I tightened it just enough, and Rye let out a soft puff of breath. He didn't seem to hate the girth being tightened, which I was thankful for. At least there wasn't much elseto be nervous about, like an angry horse. I grabbed my helmet off the ground and put it on, buckling the straps. Next I put on the bridle. Rye didn't like that. He raised his head up to the ceiling, forcing my hand to slip. I remembered what my old trainer had said, and fixed the bridle in my hand, putting it on his nose. I lodged my fingers into the corners of his mouth and wiggled them a little. The bit slid easily into his mouth. I fixed the browband and buckled the straps. Taking ahold of the reins, I lead Rye out of the grooming stalls and into the indoor arena.
Mr. Conner wasn't in the ring yet, so I quickly mounted and began to warm up. I took Rye around the ring twice at the walk to let him stretch. The ring was huge, with long windows stretching down the long sides. The jumps were painted to perfection in the school colors, green and gold. Once we had walked around I pushed my legs against Rye's sides and led him into the trot. He was forward, moving nicely and smoothly under my legs, his ears swiveling. I posted, leaning a bit forward and closing my hip angle. We trotted around once in each direction at the posting trot before I let him canter around once in each direction as well. His canter was slightly bumpy, but I sat deep into the saddle and it got easier to ride. We changed direction and got a flying lead change. The lead change was slightly difficult, so I did it again in the other direction. I rode Rye deep into the corners, getting the flying lead change a couple more times before I felt comfortable.
I pulled Rye into a walk. The warm up had relaxed me a little, but I was still pretty nervous. My mom had told me not to worry, but that was kind of a mothers job, right? I guess she was right. I mean, I had been on the IEA over the past couple of years, and at my past couple shows I had won pretty big.
"I saw you warming up." It was Mr. Conner, who had just walked into the ring. "You're trying out Hunter/Jumper, not dressage, correct?"
"Yeah--Yes, I am." I said, correcting myself.
"Okay," He began. "I'm going to test you on flatwork and jumping then. Just treat it like a lesson."
I took a deep breath.
"Trot around once at the sitting trot, then change direction and posting trot." He told me.
I poked my heels into Rye's sides softly, urging him into a trot. Rye moved smoothly under my legs, paying attention to my movement. I pushed my weight into my heels. Remembering what Marie had told me, I led Rye on with my lower legs, not only my heels. I arched my back neatly. I sat deep into the trot once around and then began to post. I relaxed my thighs, trying not to pinch with my knees.
"Canter Rye around once then do a flying lead change through the middle."
I did as Mr. Conner said. Remembering what we worked on when we were warming up, I squeezed my outside heel into Rye's side, getting the flying lead change right when we crossed the middle of the ring. I did a silent cheer in my head. We finished cantering around the ring. So far we had had a great ride. I knew that it was enough to make the intermediate team, the beginner team at the least.
"I'm going to set up some jumps. While I'm doing that, you can start to warm up over that end jump." He told me, walking into the middle of the ring.
I did as he said, first at the trot. It was a small jump, just a cross rail. It was a foot and a half at the most. Rye was great going over the jump. Perfect. Jumping was my favorite thing to do, and I was glad that I had gotten a horse who loved it too. I could tell. Whenever we went over the jump he would prick his ears to the ceiling. We went over the jump three times before Mr. Conner told me to walk and he would give me the course.
"Jump the end jump that you warmed up over to the right, then go over the diagonal, then the line and then the other diagonal. Canter it all." He told me.
I repeated what he said, making sure that I got the correct course. He nodded.
I urged Rye into a canter, tightening the reins so I would have more control. We soared over the first jump, clearing it by a few inches. I pushed Rye into the first corner, going deep into the corner. We headed towards the next jump, and I made sure that Rye was going straight over it. I smiled, glad that I was having such a good course. In my moment of silent cheer, I wasn't paying attention to Rye and he cut the corner. I fixed the mistake, hoping that I could make up for it by doing well on the rest of the course. I made the line towards the jump perfectly straight and we got in six strides, the perfect number of strides for a horse of his size. We finished the line. We rounded the corner and headed towards the jump. Right before the jump I felt Rye's weight shift under my body. His attention wasn't completely there, so I squeezed my legs against his sides. Luckily I had gotten his attention in time and we jumped the jump well. It was a good course. I hadn't had Rye's full attention the whole time and it had cost us a couple of times, but all in all I thought that I had done a fairly good job.
"You can dismount and I'll get back to you soon with the results. You can give Rye to Matt. He's over there." Mr. Conner told me.
I looked over my shoulder and saw a nice looking guy, probably around 12th grade. Was he watching me the whole time? I blushed. After I had cooled Rye down I dismounted and handed Rye to Matt. I took a deep breath in. The only thing left to do know was wait.
