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Post by Kate Perselie on Dec 9, 2012 19:13:00 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: F0FFFF; border-left: #7FFFD4 solid 15px; width: 420px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;]Now it's time to build up from the bottom of the pit, right to the top 
I walked into the barn, my black boots clicking brightly on the ground. Like usual, the stable was spotless, and not a single piece of hay was on the ground. When I had first gotten here, I was afraid of seeming out of place in the perfect barn, but now I was used to it. I felt like I belonged. Canterwood was my home. I had just started leasing a new horse, Abbott. He jumped 3 feet easily, which was good since I had outgrown Josh, who only jumped 2 feet. I was still jumping around 2 feet, not nearly as high as some of the other riders here, but I was still proud of my progress. My goal was to be jumping 2'9'' by the end of the summer. Mr. Conner had already mentioned that I should be jumping 2'6'' at the shows, which I was happy to do.
I picked up Abbott's halter and matching lead rope and quickly lead him into the grooming stall. I walked into the locker room and found his locker. Next I went to my locker to get my saddle and saddle pad. The only thing of Abbott's that I would need to borrow was a bridle. Grabbing the 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. Abbott 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 saddle. I put on the girth, making sure that the straps covered the top of the girth. I tightened it just enough, and Abbott let out a soft puff of breath. He didn't seem to hate the girth being tightened, which I was thankful for. I grabbed my helmet off the rack and put it on, buckling the straps. Next I put on the bridle. Rye didn't like that. He clamped his mouth together tightly, refusing to open his mouth. 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 brow band and buckled the straps. Taking ahold of the reins, I lead Abbott out of the grooming stalls and into the indoor arena.
“Hi.” I heard someone say, walking their horse around the ring.
"Sammie!" I said, grinning when I noticed it was my best friend. I mounted Abbott and started walking towards Sammie.
taggedSammie!!! words No idea outfit notes |
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Post by Vanessa★ on Dec 9, 2012 20:46:51 GMT -5
OCC:Sammie this thread
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Post by sammie on Dec 10, 2012 17:41:12 GMT -5
ooc; will post soon
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Post by sammie on Dec 10, 2012 18:18:28 GMT -5
| [atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style,width: 250px; padding: 10px; background-image: url(http://www.backgroundlabs.com/thumbnails/t373.gif);] Hey y'all. Member of the trio and
stylish chick hereeeeeee(:
it was a beautiful and sunny day, absolutely perf for a ride on her fave horse, midnight. the off-the-track back thoroughbred was amazing in every way. after grooming, tacking up and walking him to the arena followed by envious stares and wide-eyed boys, she swung her leg over him gracefully and landed softly on the saddle. she looked a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e in brand new dover saddlery, plum-colored breeches, tall, gleaming black boots and an uber-cute hot pink polo under a deep blue-almost-purple protection vest. her soft, platinum blond hair was uber-glam in a long, perfectly flawless braid under her spotless, navy practice helmet, a mere 12,000$. her makeup was beyond gorgeous. when the blond queen bee turned and saw her long-time, super pretty and so amazing bff kate, she squealed girlishly and fast-walked her horse over to kate's new one. she didn't remember this horse, but boy, was it pretty! kate must be leasing a new horse. sammie grinned. 'like, oh em gee. i haven't seen you in like, what, forever?' she said, laughing lightly, her china blue eyes sparkling and her slightly olive skin like porcelain in the afternoon sunlight.
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Post by Kate Perselie on Dec 10, 2012 19:04:33 GMT -5
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"Just about!" I said, smiling. "This is Abbott. I just started leasing him." I looked affectionately at Abbott, stroking his withers. "Have you been in here long? Want to practice together?
tagged Vannessa words no idea outfit Click! notes whoops under five sentences... [/center][/td][/tr][/td][/tr][/table][/center] |
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Post by sammie on Dec 10, 2012 20:17:07 GMT -5
| [atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style,width: 250px; padding: 10px; background-image: url(http://www.backgroundlabs.com/thumbnails/t373.gif);] Hey y'all. Member of the trio and
stylish chick hereeeeeee(:
she introduced me to her horse, abbott. ca-ute! she asked me if i had been in here long and if i wanted to practice together. i grinned. i tossed my hair in a bubbly way. 'um, duh! we just started.' i joked, winking playfully. i clicked midnight into a steady walk and turned in the saddle towards her. 'we can warm up and then coach each other over those jumps.' i told kate, gesturing towards the simple line of two verticles and an oxar. i clicked midnight into a working trot, stretching him out and getting his muscles working for what was ahead. i did some transitions, and then once we were ready, i turned to kate and slowed midnight. 'ready?' i asked.
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Post by Kate Perselie on Dec 11, 2012 13:11:51 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: F0FFFF; border-left: #7FFFD4 solid 15px; width: 420px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;]Now it's time to build up from the bottom of the pit, right to the top
I started to warm up, making Abbott walk, trot, and canter around the ring until he seemed ready to go. Abbott was a Thoroughbred and loved to move. He would canter until the day was done, but I wanted to start jumping so I made the warm up quick. I didn't want Abbott to get too tired. After warming up, I slowed Abbott to a walk.
"Ready?" Sammie asked, walking Midnight.
"Totally!" I said, excited. I couldn't wait to start! Sammie would be perfect to get corrections from. I knew that she would be honest with me. "Want to start with the red cross rail to the right, then the white cross rail for our warm up jumps?" I asked.
taggedSammie!!! words No idea outfit notes |
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Post by sammie on Dec 11, 2012 15:43:24 GMT -5
| [atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style,width: 250px; padding: 10px; background-image: url(http://www.backgroundlabs.com/thumbnails/t373.gif);] Hey y'all. Member of the trio and
stylish chick hereeeeeee(:
sammie smiled at her, nodding. 'kay.' she said and turned midnight into the middle of the circle. kate suggested what we'd do for the course. she nodded after thinking it over. ' yep, sounds good.' she said, and then gestured at the course on the other side, longer and more complicated than the other. 'then, we can do that one, before cooling out.' she said to kate. she turned to the girl. she wanted her to go first so that sammie could see what abbott was like. 'you wanna go first?' she asked, smiling brightly. she was uber-happy to see her bestfriend.
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Post by Kate Perselie on Dec 11, 2012 19:42:19 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: F0FFFF; border-left: #7FFFD4 solid 15px; width: 420px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;]Now it's time to build up from the bottom of the pit, right to the top
“Sure.” I said, slightly nervously. I had only been jumping when Mr. Conner was around, so it made me anxious for him not to be here.
Taking a deep breath, I focused my energy on Abbott. I lead him onto the rail, got a forward walk, and nudged him into the canter. The transition was nearly flawless. I was thankful that I had remembered spurs, because without them it was difficult to convince Abbott to canter. I pushed my weight into my heels, getting into a light seat. I aimed Abbott to the first warm up jump, which we cleared with no problem. Then to the second. Three, two, one, and a half. I sighed, disappointed that we hadn't made it over the jump as well as I knew we could have. I started the next part of the course, which Sammie had recommended. Luckily, all the jumps were 2 feet or under, so I felt fairly comfortable. Three, two one, JUMP! I felt like we were flying over the jumps! One, two, three, four, five. I counted in my head, balancing Abbott so he wouldn't chip the jump. And we have liftoff! I smiled to myself. I didn't let myself get distracted though. At the next jump, on the diagonal, I kept Abbot perfectly bent, but it took us a couple of steps to get the lead change. We finished the course, and I smiled, stroking Abbott's withers. I knew he wanted to please me, and I was happy with his work. I walked to the middle of the ring. Now I just needed to see what Sammie thought.
taggedSammie!!! words No idea outfit notes Trying not to make a perfect post, but also trying not to seem like a bad rider. Harder than it seems...  |
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Post by sammie on Dec 11, 2012 20:32:41 GMT -5
| [atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style,width: 250px; padding: 10px; background-image: url(http://www.backgroundlabs.com/thumbnails/t373.gif);] Hey y'all. Member of the trio and
stylish chick hereeeeeee(:
sammie watched every move that kate made, from her shoulders and neck to her legs and toes, ever so closely. she judged every single thing she did. that was what good coaches did. sammie grinned, dropping midnight's reins gently to clap softly. 'that was awesome.' she told her bff, her china blue eyes glistening with pride. then, her smile shrank a little. she felt bad telling kate what she'd done wrong. but, it had to be done. 'first, your back was a little curled when you did two point over the first jump.' sammie told her. 'you probably already know what happened on the second. i could tell you were counting strides and you probably could have stopped the chip if you'd just counted on your instincts to tell you when to rise. you probs started counting a millisecond too late.' sammie paused to check out kate's expression, and then continued. 'on the second-to-last one, it was really well done apart from that you sort of rushed into it. it looked like you lost a bit of focus but abbott still jumped it well and you regained your attention and made it over the last one. since abbott's new, i get why it took a while for you to get the lead change, you're probs still warming up to his stride and how he responds to your signals. you got it though, so kudos.' sammie smiled at kate. 'overall, amazing ride. you guys are a perfect match!' she said sweetly.
'can i go?'
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Post by Kate Perselie on Dec 25, 2012 16:25:23 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: F0FFFF; border-left: #7FFFD4 solid 15px; width: 420px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;]Now it's time to build up from the bottom of the pit, right to the top
I thought about what Sammie had to say. She had seen things that I hadn't even thought of!
“You're right.” I said. “I totally blanked on my position, which was not good at all. Thanks!” I added with a smile. “Go ahead!” I urged her on.
I knew that Sammie and Midnight were a perfect fit, but I had never seen them up close and in action. I was looking forward to it. Sammie gave really good advice, and I knew that she would be a good example to watch. I paid close attention as she and Midnight started the course.
taggedSammie!!! words No idea outfit notesWhoops! I kind of forgot about posting... |
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Post by sammie on Dec 27, 2012 9:45:28 GMT -5
| [atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style,width: 250px; padding: 10px; background-image: url(http://www.backgroundlabs.com/thumbnails/t373.gif);] Hey y'all. Member of the trio and
stylish chick hereeeeeee(:
squeezing midnight's sides, he moved into a smooth walk followed by a steady trot. sammie loved the sound of his hooves hitting the sand gently, strong and beautiful in the silence of the indoor ring. under sammie's invisibly cue, midnight moved into a forward yet smooth canter. sammie stared between his ears at the first jump, not high at all with the basic red lining meant to spook green horses. midnight usually got spooked pretty easily, but he'd done this one thousands of times before, even when they weren't at canterwood. she moved to his stride, and when he sped up a little performed a quick half-halt to slow him. he was known to rush before any jump, eager to fly, but sammie made sure not to tolerate it. at the correct moment, midnight's hooves left the ground and sammie bent into a flawless two point. midnight rocked back on his haunches before flying gracefully over the jump. they landed with a very soft 'thud', and sammie pushed him on. feeling midnight starting to slow, she squeezed his sides and tightened her reins to keep up a steady, quick canter towards the second-to-last jump of the triple combo. this time, sammie had to count strides in her head. midnight had a very short stride, so for a usually three-stride jump she'd need to improvise a way to let him get the right liftoff but also proper room for a four-stride so they wouldn't chip. his canter became choppy and before sammie could fix it, he flew over the jump and she got left behind a little, bouncing forward and clinging to his neck for a second. she knew that they'd have trouble with that combo, and she'd wished that she'd been more prepared. she quickly regained her seat and posture, moving fluently to his steady canter and easily flying over the last one, her position perfect and midnight's back bent in the air just right.
preparing herself for the three-foot diagonal, sammie squeezed midnight's sides and easily performed the flying change, her cues invisibly as midnight changed strides simply in mid-air. as they approached the jump, sammie made sure every part of how she was riding was perfect, her heels down, shoulders back, head up, knees loose on his sides and hands held high instead of on his neck. completely prepared, she leaned into a two-point and they flew over the jump, suspended for a split second in mid-air before landing soundlessly and continuing to the last jump. midnight quickened his canter, sammie falling forward the slightest bit, before slowing him to a steady canter and making the jump. she grinned crookedly, patting her horse's shoulder and slowing him to a trot before sitting into a walk. she looked over at kate, confident that she had noticed most of the mistakes. she'd had a near-perfect ride and she hugged midnight's neck again, smiling from ear to ear.
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Post by Kate Perselie on Dec 27, 2012 10:06:49 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: F0FFFF; border-left: #7FFFD4 solid 15px; width: 420px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;]Now it's time to build up from the bottom of the pit, right to the top
"That was really good!" I said smiling. "I could tell that before the line you were thinking about what you wanted to do, which was good, but you got behind a little after he went over the jump. Your recover was great though, and you finished the combo well." I told her, thinking over the ride in my head. "But all in all you guys looked great. You're a really good pair." I said honestly. I hoped that someday Abbott and I would be just as good a pair.
taggedwho? words # here outfit Outfit here notesNotes here |
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Post by sammie on Jan 1, 2013 18:37:26 GMT -5
-closed-
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