Timber Creek Academy

~15~

After a decent day of classes, I skipped to my riding lesson. I was so ready to ride today. Rumor has it that we are going cross country schooling!

In minutes, Wesley was tacked up and ready to go. We stepped outside into the warm, late September air. I mounted, then squeezed his chestnut sides into a walk. He ambled along, and for the first lap, I allowed him to be lazy. I made him really walk for the rest of the laps, and then asked him for a trot. He jogged smoothly, and I recalled what Mrs. Banks had said about him.

"When we got him, he was a reining horse, but he grew too tall and the breeders had to sell him," she explained.

I grinned as I warmed up my little western pony, and bumped him into a canter. He flowed like liquid, and it brought a smile to my face.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched the rest of the girls warm up. They were each doing something different.

Carly taking Fontaine through transitions.

Rachel doing large circles with Luna.

Beth and Trixie working on controlling their pace.

Ally and Diamond working on impulsion.

Brooke and Colonel practiced leg yields.

Macy and Prancer worked on their collection.

As I watched them work with their horses, it made me miss riding Leo. I sighed. 6 more days.

Mrs. Banks walked in, and low and behold, carrying our safety vests! Stable policy was to have the manager hold on to our safety vests so we wouldn't go cross country schooling alone. We were allowed to use them though if we just asked.

"Yes girls, we will be going cross country schooling," Mrs. Banks said. Everyone cheered, and I was excited, but I really wished Leo was here so we could show off a little. Cross country was our thing!

We clicked our safety vests on, mine black with my name stitched in white on the back by my neck, and surprisingly, Mrs. Banks hopped on a black Tennessee Walker mix mare, Emma, that she was training. She looked a little tall on her, but not too big for the strong mare. She too snapped on a vest, and then we left the ring as a pack.

As we walked along a trail, Mrs. Banks talked to us about how this practice would run.

"For the first part of the lesson, we will practice some of the more trickier fences, and then we will go over a course. It will not be about speed, just making it over each fence and having a confidence-boosting ride," she explained, and we emerged into an open field that was dotted with natural looking obstacles. Logs here and there, brush jumps around, a ditch, a coop, and a fun-looking water jump.

I was a little unsure about jumping Wesley over these kind of fences, since I've never done cross country with him before, but I was sure he would tackle them with the same effort he did with normal fences.

"Everyone trot around and canter to let your horses get a look of the area," Mrs. Banks said, and she trotted off on her mount.

I urged Wesley into a trot, and the ex-reiner smoothly transitioned and had no problems being outside. He seemed to have an extra pep in his step, and that passed on to me, making me more upbeat. This was gonna be fun!

After we'd let our horses get a feel for the area, Mrs. Banks had us do a follow-the-leader activity where we would follow her over the warm up fences. "Start at a trot to let your horse see the jumps and kind of just experience and figure it out.  Remeber to keep a safe distance between each other," Mrs. Banks instructed, and she went off at a trot with Emma, following her was Rachel on Luna, Ally on Diamond, Beth on Trixie, then me on Wesley, and following me were Macy on Prancer, Brooke on Colonel, and Carly on Fontaine.