Vaulting //Class 1//

[Lottii]

OOC: No sign-up required, just jump in and add it to your timetable ;)

Rowan grinned as she groomed Razzy in her stable. The large mare was always a favorite with students, and by far the most experienced out of her two vaulting horses - making her the clear choice for the class. Only a couple of students had signed up to the class, but the woman had made it clear people were welcome to just turn up and join in. The smile still lit her face as she slipped the 17hh's bridle on, and stretched up to put the vaulting roller on her back. Grabbing the lunge line from the floor, she pushed her tiny frame onto the horse's back.

Riding Raz out to the indoor arena, a spasm of worry passed across Rowan's face. What if no one turned up? The course was a new introduction to the college, and it could happen. Shaking the negative thoughts from her head, the woman halted the horse in the center of the arena and put herself through the six basic moves. New students would first learn to do these in halt, then moving up a pace at a time until they were comfortable to do the basics in canter. After that, she could prepare a team and start working on routines - the area where cheerleaders and dancers came into their own. Slipping down from the Irish Draft Sports Horse, Rowan stepped away from the horse, spending a few minutes working her on both reins, lunging at all three paces. Bringing the mare to a halt, she fussed over whilst she waited to see if anyone would arrive.

[Cara]

Cara chewed on her lower lip as she slipped on a black and pink long-sleeved leotards, pink wasn't really her colour - to the point she actually detested the colour - but it looked good on the black Lycra of the body suit. She then pulled a pair of black riding tights on over the leotard. Pulling a jacket over the top of the leotard, and slipping her feet into her Ariat paddock boots, she headed out of the Dakota Halls and walked down to the tack room of the Student stables, where she grabbed her Charles Owen helmet and then headed toward the indoor arena.

Walking into the arena, she saw a woman working a rather large horse on the end of a lunge line. She had thought long and hard about taking the vaulting class, and had decided that her past as a gymnast could come in handy with this class, even though she had been instructed to stay away from gymnastics due to her fall during a competition. The pain was lessening now that she had started pushing herself once more.

She remained quiet as she watched horse and handler, not wanting to speak up and disrupt the pair of them.

Outfit

[Lottii]

Rowan changed to lunging the horse again, keeping Razzy's muscle loose and supple whilst she waiting. The woman lunged the horse mostly to the right. In vaulting competitions - and therefore most of the time in practice - the horse is lunged to the left. Although this won't generally cause any major problems, Rowan knew it was best to have the horse working an equal amount of time in each direction. She worked the mare through walk and trot first, before letting her settle into her smooth canter stride. Whilst Raz was cantering round, she noticed a newcomer in the arena. "Whoa" she called out in soft vocals to the mare. It was Razzy's signal to slow herself safely down into a standstill, and Rowan watched as the perfectly trained mare followed her instructions. Smiling warming, she turned to face the person she hoped would be a student.

"Good morning, welcome to the class. I'm Rowan Drache, and this is Razzy. Or to give her her full name, Diamante Ragazza." Rowan's vocals were a mix of the Italian she had never lost from the early years of her childhood and the Californian accent she had picked up during the rest of her childhood and teens. Her eyes gently appraised the girl, who clearly had the frame of a good gymnast. The fact she had arrived wearing a leotard added to this impression. "I guess you're pretty spectacular at gymnastics, from a glance. Have you ever done any Vaulting?" Her tone was still light and friendly, with a hint of the pleasure that at least one person had turned up, and this girl seemed to have potential. Raz nudged her in the back and Rowan spent a moment fussing over her before the large horse turned her attention to the student. Raz stretched her neck out and offered her head forwards for a fuss, causing Rowan to laugh. The mare had such manners that because Rowan had asked her to halt behind her, the mare wouldn't move her feet from the spot. With her neck out to try and reach the girl, the overall look was rather comical.

[Cara]

Cara watched horse and handler and suddenly felt like she had intruded once she had been spotted and the mare was asked to slow herself down to a halt. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Drache and Diamante Ragazza." She replied softly. "I am called Cara."

"I guess you're pretty spectacular at gymnastics, from a glance. Have you ever done any Vaulting?"

The girl's eyebrows shot up at the first sentence. How could the woman possibly know how well she had done with gymnastics just by looking at her. "I have done gymnastics since I was eighteen months, I wouldn't call myself spectacular though, Ma'am. I have never done vaulting, but I have read quite a bit about it."

She watched as the mare stretched out toward her, but without the woman's consent, she wouldn't step forward and touch the mare - she too had been trained well. She studied the mare's face and filed it away for later use.

[Lottii]

Rowan smiled happily, nodding at the girl's name. "Pleasure to meet you too, Cara." She observed Cara's eyebrow raise at her words, and let the girl finish her reply before she offered her apology. "I'm sorry, I was assuming again. You'll find it's a bad habit of mine." She held out her hands apologetically before continuing. "Well, gymnastics is certainly useful, and so is anything you already know about vaulting. Do you know what the six basic movements are?" she questioned in a light tone.

Her own eyebrow started to rise as the girl seemingly chose not to touch the mare. Nothing about Cara had indicated a fear of equines, but she offered some gentle encouragement with a smile, puzzled as to why the girl wasn't fussing over Razzy. "She doesn't bite, she's a gentle giant really. You can make a fuss of her if you want."

[Cara]

Cara ducked her head at the woman's apology, she was just trying to make it clear that she wasn't some gymnastic super star. She chewed on her lower lip as the woman continued. What did she know about vaulting? Pictures and pages from books she had read came to mind, but she knew that she would need to pick and choose what she said rather than just reciting some book. "Vaulting, in some way shape or form has been around for the past 2000 years. The vaulting horse in gymnastics was developed from vaulting - allowing concentration on the gymnastics without the horse.Vaulting was later used to help cavalry troops increase their abilities on the horse, and the troops would begin by working on a wooden horse before advancing to a live, moving mount. Modern vaulting was developed in post-war Germany as part of set of exercises for improving general riding. Cavalry officers introduced the art at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp as Artistic Riding, although the art was not continued in the Games. Vaulting is still much more popular in Europe, where it is still included in dressage training, than it is in other parts of the world, though vaulting is a growing art in a number of countries." She shrugged and closed her mouth to stop anything else from coming out. She shook her head after that, not wanting to come out as a know-it-all, she would allow the teacher to explain the six basic moves.

She looked at the horse again. "With all due respect, Ma'am." She said with a ghost of a smile. "I'm not afraid of being bitten, I just don't like entering the space of others without an invitation." She'd had too many times in the past where others had invaded her personal space without her consent.

Stepping forward she offered the mare her hand and gently blew up her nostrils before she gently ran a hand down the horse's nose.