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Post by John Berkeley on Oct 10, 2011 2:39:52 GMT -5
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Post by Audrey Felicia McHenry on Oct 11, 2011 19:40:18 GMT -5
---------------------------------------------------------well it’s a big big city and it’s always the samecan never be too pretty, tell me your name--------------------------------------------------------- The Mini Prix. Finally her moment had come. It wasn't the Grand Prix, but it was close. Under the lights in the arena, Callie shone. Audrey had thanked the grooms time and time again for making all three horses so stunning. This was her shot - the Classic earlier had been a test run. From the start, she was going to push Callie and go for a clean and fast ride.
Audrey passed the rider before her on the way in to the arena, an older man who tried as hard as he could to get his overfaced horse over the jumps, but it just didn't happen. They took down five rails, and accompanied by a refusal, Audrey knew she'd beat at least one person.
Unlike the Classic, jump one was at the close end of the arena. Audrey heard the bell and pressed her heels close to Callie's sides, sinking her heels down and inclining her shoulders at a slight angle. The mare leapt into a canter, and Audrey didn't dilly dally in getting her up to and over the first oxer. And so it began.
Audrey had schooled Callie between her other rides that day and knew now what she needed to do to get the most out of her mount. She laid on her leg and set her jaw in a stern line. Callie extended her stride down the bending line and pricked her ears toward the vertical. Audrey bent her around her leg and folded with Callie's jump. Three strides to another oxer, and by the time they landed on the other side, horse and rider were in sync.
The turn around the fan to fence four was a solid jumper turn, with Callie recognizing the urgency of the situation and speeding up without changing the length of her stride. Audrey turned her to fence five midair over four, asking for extension to meet the long line to the first oxer of the triple combination.
While the oxer went without a hitch, the rest of the line wasn't quite so pretty. Audrey made the bad decision to keep the same extension for the two strides before the vertical, forcing Callie to take a deep spot and just touch a rail. Thankfully, it didn't fall, and Audrey let Callie pick her own distance for the final oxer. The mare proved her worth by taking the jump from a bad canter stride and clearing it anyway.
Audrey was already looking around eleven and one to the next obstacle on the opposite diagonal. This was a part of the course they could speed through, so Audrey shifted her weight and leg to urge Callie on around the wide curve of the arena. Six was, by Audrey's reckoning, the largest jump on the course, just barely within Callie's comfort level. It showed in the way the mare took the oxer, clearly giving her all to clear it.
If Audrey had been apprehensive about the combination, she was scared of this next turn. There were two options: go around 10a and 10b, next to the rail, or cut between the final double, 3, and 9 to shave precious seconds off the time. Audrey had left her decision up in the air until now, but considering how well the round was going, she decided to take the harder option.
Quickly and carefully (the motto of the jumper ring, wasn't it?) Audrey threaded Callie through the narrow passage and swung her hip around to meet the triple bar just in time. Audrey worked best under pressure and managed to push and pull her mount into an acceptable spot, dead center but slightly angled toward the rail. Audrey gave Callie all the rein she needed to launch herself over the jump. Even if the fence before was the biggest, this was the toughest jump on course.
Miracle of miracles, Audrey's gamble succeeded. Callie kept clear of the rails, and Audrey couldn't resist mumbling a "good girl" to her as she rounded the corner to fence eight, a straightforward vertical. They jumped with ease, Audrey displaying the ability of a girl who had been riding all her life.
Another tough decision: go around 5a or cut in front of it? Audrey decided she had already pushed her luck enough; she guided Callie through the triple combination to a straight line to fence nine. Once she got a good look at it, Audrey knew her decision had been right. A slanted approach might have resulted in a runout, considering how narrow the fence was. With the straight approach, Callie took the jump and kept herself clear.
Audrey hadn't seen anyone make the turn she was about to do. Maybe it was a bad idea; Audrey didn't care. WHat was the worst that could happen? She put Callie on a sharp bend, cutting through the space between 3 and 7, pushing her hip around in the same manner as before to meet 10a head-on. She had never had to use that particular technique on a course at a show before, and she was delighted to see it work.
Callie's jump was a little stilted, since she was still bent a little from the turn. Thank God it was a vertical, Audrey thought, or they would have taken a rail. One stride to the final jump of the course, and then Audrey was pushing Callie through the timers. As soon as they were clear, she pulled the mare back to a trot and exited the arena. Such a fantastic ride deserved a quick and generous reward. As she exited, Audrey overheard a trainer warning another rider. "Do not try that turn! Well, if someone else warned against it, that was all the more reason to do it, in Audrey's mind. She concealed a smile and headed back to the barns.
--------------------------------------------------------- so if you’re crazy, i don’t care you amaze me if you’re lonely, why’d you say you’re not lonely --------------------------------------------------------- word count: 9 7 7 outfit: here lyrics from: whistle for the choir by the fratellis graphics from: coti-tastic of caution 2.0 template made by: ayla of north creek academy [/color][/sup][/size][/font][/blockquote]
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