[RESULTS POSTED] Jumping for Joy. [3 entries]

[Zosime Eumelia]

Name of Show: Jumping for Joy

Date of Show: May 30, 2011

Entries Due: May 27, 2011

Type of Show: Hunter/Jumper

Word Minimum: 200

PM To: ADMINISTRATOR { account name: admin }

Judged By: ADMINISTRATOR

Important Information: Click

Course: Click

[[ADMIN RILEY]]

ENTRY ONE - 738 words

Tan fingers worked at the buttons on her freshly pressed show shirt, her fingers slipping from the moisture collecting on them. “Calm Cheyenne, it’s just another show.” she spoke reassuringly to herself, but her voice didn’t sound so reassuring. She groaned in frustration as she began pinning on her broach at her neck after sticking herself with the needle. When she finally got it pinned to her neck collar she grabbed her show coat, gloves, helmet, and boot cleaner; for just before entering the ring. Shoving it in her show bag she slung it over her shoulder and quickly zipped up her tall boots before grabbing her keys and running out the door to her SUV.

Running through the parking lot she found her SUV, unlocking it and jumping into the drivers seat. Shoving the keys into the ignition and turning them till the engine purred to life she ran the buckle over her bodice buckling it in. Shifting into reverse she back out of her parking spot before she shifted into drive and drove towards the Academy. Glad that it wasn’t that far of a drive she soon saw the sign for the Academy and turned into the drive to the lot.

Parking close to the barn she cut off the engine, pulled the keys from the ignition and hopped out of the vehicle. Grabbing her bag off of the passengers seat she closed the door and locked them. Running into the barn it was a bustle of work. Finding one of the trainers she found out her number and got her number tag for her back. Pinning it onto her coat she went to check on her gray mare, Moonlight Dream.

Walking over to her stall the gray mare knew what was going on. Taking off the light sheet she had put on her for the evening so she wouldn't spoil her clean coat she began to give her a quick brush and look down before she grabbed her tack. Making sure it was still clean she rubbed it down with a clean towel real quick before taking it to the stall. Getting the saddle on her back cinching it at the lightest setting so it was't irritating during the wait. Grabbing her copy of the combination and jumping path she memorized it in her mind.

“All riders to course expection. All riders to course expection.” Grabbing her helmet and coat she pulled them on and went to expect the course. Memorizing the distance between the jumps and the strides it would need to take she mumbled little things to herself. Returning to her stall she sat with her mare calming her nerves.

A few riders out she bitted her mare and took her to the ring standing behind the fence. Watching the other riders she watched at their small mistakes that she hoped wouldn’t be her. Mounting up a rider out she closed her eyes and breathed. Hearing the final clap she squeezed Moon into a trot and warmed her up hearing the starting buzzer she turned Moon to the first gate and took it at a canter. At the pocket she squeeze and lifted soaring over the vertical. The next was a double with a sharp right turn to the third jump. concentrating on checking her speed and lead the took it and her hind hooves hit the second pole. It moved in the cup but didn’t fall down. Taking a quick turn to the third jump she checked and got over it with some room to spare. Taking jump four was a bit different it was a triple. Checking her speed she squeezed and lifted moving smoothly into a two point as they took the jump. Jump five was another vertical and jump six was a diagonal vertical. Each were simple for the two. Trying to get Moon to center with the jump she used a leg yield but it was to late. Getting her over but she landed short and the second pole thumped to the ground. She groaned inwardly but kept her concentration on the jumps ahead and not making another mistake. Taking the last four jumps they cleared them. Crossing the finish she slowed the mare and walked out of the ring. Her head slumped as she dismounted from her horse. There went her perfect run streak. A streak messed up by a beginners mistake.

ENTRY TWO - 635 words

Lucas clutched Snapshot’s reins in his sweaty palms. He didn’t know why he was so nervous. Snapshot had been handling jumps like the ones they were about to face so well in the past few weeks that it was silly for him to think in such a way. He looked down at his gray stallion just in time to see the horse jerk his head to the side, trying to tear the reins out of Luke’s grip. Instead of letting go like his horse had hoped, he quickly wrapped the reins around his hand and gave a tug back as a warning.

“Behave!” Luke hissed. “It’s your first show, and I don’t want you to ruin it.” Snapshot snorted and dropped his head so that he could scratch it on his right foreleg. Luke loosened his grip on the reins as he took one more look at the arena. The jumps weren’t that bad, and he had studied the course over and over again. He could practically do it in his sleep as long as the horse wasn’t as nuts as Snapshot. Noticing that it was almost his time to go, he led Snapshot over to the edge of the arena and waited patiently in the saddle. Their number was called up within a matter of minutes. Luke gave Snapshot a light tap with his heels, and Snapshot walked them both into the arena. They lined up at the starting point and paused.

“Let’s do this,” Luke whispered. He urged Snapshot into a canter and within seconds they were soaring over the first jump. A quick turn to the right and they were over the second, then the third. Snapshot easily took each jump, although Luke was beginning to notice that his horse was jumping a higher than necessary. He would have to work on that the next time they trained or else they would lose a lot of precious time in the next competitions. As they turned to head towards the fifth jump, Luke could feel Snapshot accelerating beneath him without any prompting. Thinking back to the map he had memorized, he knew this wouldn’t be too much of a problem until they had to turn into the eighth jump. Maybe he could slow Snapshot just enough to avoid any trouble in that turn. They quickly took the fifth and sixth jumps, but Luke gave a light tug on the reins as they headed towards the seventh jump as a way to let Snapshot know that he needed to slow down if they were going to make the next turn. The thoroughbred slowed a little too much, and as Luke felt them both go over the jump, he just knew that they weren’t going to make it all the way. Clang! He was right: Snapshot’s hind hooves had hit the jump. The horse tripped but quickly regained his balance as the pair moved on to the next jumps. Luke glanced behind him quickly to confirm what he was thinking. They had knocked down one of the bars on the jump. Wonderful. He turned his attention back to the remaining four jumps. Snapshot seemed to have gotten the message after their mistake and began to listen intently to Luke’s directions. Each jump was now a team effort between both of them: Luke would give the directions and Snapshot would reply with the exact movements called for. Soon they were making the final dash for the finish line and it was all over. Luke leaned back in the saddle and gave a tug on the reins as Snapshot slowed to a trot, then a half-prancing walk. With a pat on the shoulder and a few kind words, Luke directed Snapshot out of the arena and dismounted. In his opinion, Snapshot hadn’t done too badly in his first competition.

ENTRY THRE - 542 words

Well, today was the day. Time to find out if all that practice and coaching he had gotten paid off. Or at least that was the thought running through Vince’s mind as he got Lily ready for the competition. The longest part of this was plaiting the horse’s mane so it looked good for competition. But once he had her all nice and pretty and her tack put on, it was his turn to make sure he looked the part. At least he’d let his girlfriend do his hair for him. Sometimes he wondered why he kept it long but then if he cut it Zosi would kill him. She liked it like it was.

Leading Lily out of the barn and to the field where the competition was to be held, he watched the other riders go before him. While the last rider before his turn jumped, he climbed aboard Lily’s back. As soon as the other rider was done and any knocked rails fixed, he heard his number called up. ”Now or never girl,” he told the cremello mare, giving her a cluck to urge her on towards the jump starting position. As many times as they had been over and over this track, he was confident that there wouldn’t be any problems with their performance.

Starting out at a trot, Lily quickly had her stride set at an even pace, sailing over the first jump like she could have done it blindfolded. Jumps two and three were little trouble to her as well. In jumping the fourth jump, she did rub the third bar a little bit, rocking it just enough that Vince thought it would drop to the ground. Surprisingly, it stayed up and the pale mare kept her stride over the fifth, picking up a slight margin of speed between five and six, then again between six and seven, clearing all of them in turn.

Now were the ones that had given them countless problems in practice – the double to single jumps eight and nine. Again she cleared the eighth jump, managing to collect her feet just in time to jump again for the ninth jump. As Lily’s hooves made contact with the ground again, Vince chanced a glance back to see that she had indeed cleared the jump without so much as a rub of the rail. Turning his attention back to the course, the single jump of jump ten wasn’t any trouble at all.

”Just one more jump,” he thought. That’s all that stood between them and the end of their run. Just as long as this last rail didn’t fall, he was confident that they would win this. Well, that was to say if someone else didn’t do the same thing. Then that would lead to a jump off possibly and even that was a chance for mistakes to be made. Vince had to hold his breath as Lily jumped that last jump. He didn’t let it go until he felt Lily’s feet touch the ground again without the thumping of a fallen rail being heard. That was it! Vince slowed Lily to a steady walk, giving her a pat of the neck for what he felt was a great run on her part.

[[ADMIN RILEY]]

PRIZES FOR THIS SHOW.
provided by admin.

FIRST - 50 credits + 10 participant credits + $5,000.
SECOND - 35 credits + 10 participant credits + $2,500.
THIRD - 20 credits + 10 participant credits + $1,500.



RESULTS.


FIRST - Vincent Cordova with White Lily.
SECOND - Lucas Blackwell with Snapshot of Speed.
THIRD - Cheyenne Pateri with Moonlight Dreams.

CONGRATULATIONS.
you have all been credited!