Starring;;
C H A N C E G R A N T F L A M I N G P A S S I O N S This was it, this was the day… That’s what I had to tell myself this morning, I hadn’t wanted to rise from my warm, comfy bed. Why did they have to host these things so early? They could have waited until noon or so couldn’t they? But no, they had to make things difficult. Even Daisy has objected to waking up this morning and I refused to get in the car – I left her home. It had taken a good amount of time to pack up, though, and in the end I was happy for being an early riser for once. By the time I got Daisy, the horses and I fed, the horses loaded up, the tack in their containers – it took about an hour and a half. I had pulled their manes and braided their tail’s the night before, so I didn’t have to worry about that – thank the gods! But it would be worth it, I hadn’t been to a show in quite awhile now and I was ready to get back in the game. Who knew, maybe I’d get some sponsorship here? It was awfully doubtful, but it could happen. Normally, shows were held in the spring and fall seasons, but as of today it was winter – though I doubt I should be so picky. It was cold for this time of year and I was surprised by the shallow amount of snowflakes that fell from the sky every few moments. I had moved here a few months ago actually, and I loved it. It wasn’t too different from Virginia, but it was in enough ways to keep my adventurous attitude in check. I hadn’t even visited all the parks and trails yet, what with my job and all. But here I go, rambling on like an idiot when my mind should have been focused on the event that lay in waiting.
Driving up to the place where the show was being held, I couldn’t help but be a little intimidated by all the people. There were a variety of different horses, from delicate Arabians (Oh yeah!) to the powerful Shires. There was a pasture nearby for horses that weren’t competing yet, so I wouldn’t have to worry about Sox. I was riding her after Flame, she would hopefully have burned off some steam before then – that and I needed to wait until her Relax Bend to kick in, otherwise this could be a disaster. She was quite high-strung and I wasn’t sure how well she was going to do in this part of the competition. But I knew I was going to be just as worried when Flame attempted the jumps – he didn’t like those that much. But it was good for him and taught him something that I could not: Experience. Sure, he might not do so well, but he will get better with time I’m sure; if he learned that perfection wasn’t everything that is.
I unloaded Sox and put her in the pasture before going to get Flame. Flame was quite a gentleman when it came to most things, not much got him worked up. He was looking good today too, with the tight braid that wound itself together down the center of the mane and down the crest. I had wound a black ribbon through it, trying to lend some contrast with his flaming red pelt. He was excited, but was good at keeping himself calm – though his nostrils flared and ears perked back and forth. I had a good 30-40 minutes before they’d call me up so I decided to work him a good big, warm him up. In the arena, I did the usual, practiced his gaits, diagonals, etc. When we finished we still had 10 minutes and I used that time to calm myself down with a nice hot chocolate; delicious.
Chance Grant, you’re wanted in the show ring with Flaming Passions… With a deep breath, I mounted Flame and we walked towards the ring. I was so nervous that I could hear my heart thumping in my ears. But Flame’s ears were pointed towards me, listening; we knew this, this wouldn’t be too hard – I was overreacting. We entered at
A and walked to
X. just like we did at every show before. I sat tall and proud, just like it should have been. Not only did I bow my head and salute the judges, but Flame did also. His legs stretched out before him, his body tilting downwards as he bowed to the judges. With a firm, but slight pull of the reins at the judges signal, we walked on. Flame's neck was arched, head tucked in nicely and securly. To some, it would look like I was making him do so, but it wasn't me, he did it himself. Rounding the bend we came to
C and with a small pressure he picked up a nice, even trot. His gait was smoother and I could do a sitting trot with ease, so I did. As we crossed the
X again, I applied the signals and we preformed a pirouette, quite nicely I must add. Pulling him out of it, we continued on as planned.
At
A we walked, at
E we continued to trot nicely, but with a little twist. At
E we did a passage trot for a few good strides, passing
C, we did a Piaffe, and then I let him stretch his legs in a smooth transition to an extended trot. I was so very pleased with his efforts, impressed too. At
B I applied a small signal and let him pick up an extended canter, he flicked his tail, though he was pleased to be able to stretch his legs after the confining trots. With just a small amount of pressure on his inside, he went around the turns smoothly. Just as we were coming out of the corner of
K, we did a flying lead change to the left before changing back to the right for the turn at
E. We slowed to a nice collected trot at
C and then walked to the
X in the center. We mimicked our earlier bows before exiting the ring.
Before I ran off to fetch Sox, I patted him and wrapped my arms around his neck, "You were so good today Flame. But the real challenge is tomorrow, we're going to jump!" [/center][/blockquote][/color]
ooc: You'll have to excuse my spelling, the spell check isn't working for me
