Show Social

No announcement had been made yet, and no discussion between pals had yet occurred.  But, even if it was true that they both had applied for the same job, and her friend got it, at least Jill sincerely wanted the best for her friend! She would concentrate on that joy and not worry about her bills for a moment.  And, Jill was proud of the fact that she had generously suggested to said friend that she apply, even though no one had sent Jill the job listing. 

At first she had thought there was no risk in applying, since she already did NOT have the job. She needed to earn and it was work she could do, and in fact believed she could excel at and enjoy given the opportunity, so why let past rejection inhibit current action? 

She thought differently now, as people were avoiding her eye on the pathways around the show property and had also been ignoring her messages! 

So, her application made folks uncomfortable?  Why did she manage to be so unpopular? 

She knew that being effective with groups of 1,000 pound animals and their novice human partners and spectators might demonstrate qualities fellow humans might find pushy, but, it still hurt to be disliked. She LIKED people and was always trying to help, to do her best etc.   Intellectually, she understood that leadership is not popular blah blah blah, but lonely and soaking in a buttermilk bath for her sore skin condition, she finally let the tears fall about it.
*
"Have you heard the horse-riding fall/bonk on the head story?" Jill's friend was not skeptical that the rider had been let down by the medical community, but she wondered what other factors were not being revealed.  They were parked at the horse show beside the trailer of a facility where a woman had recently died while out riding.  No one really knew what happened, the horse came home without her and they'd found her dead in a field.

*
Even though it was none of Jill's business, as groom, and NOT in the volunteer job description, she couldn't help herself. The horse was being so strong and naughty and the rider looked so uptight about it... 

She went to the side of the warm up ring and said "You need to worry less about a frame and MORE about establishing a constant rhythm." The show rider strained to hear Jill, so as they got a little further away she shouted, "and make sure YOU'RE breathing!"

Dee said her mount was impossible, and walked for a rest. "Well get THAT out of your head right now." Jill insisted.  They had agreed about that (accidentally now relevant) concept on the drive up there, the impact of your inner thoughts on the horse's outward way of going.

Luckily, right then, moving away from the warm up ring, Jill walked in to their teacher and asked her to take a walk over to the uptight team. 

Jill was proud when the coach said "You need to ride forwards, ride him off your leg. THINK rhythm."  The teacher added, forbodingly and funnily, "This game is called survival of the fittest!"

Discussing it afterwards, her friend didn't see that Jill's advice had been accurate.  "The difference between your instruction and our teacher's, was that she told me how to work our way thru the hyper stage so that he was willing to come back in hand and allow me to put my leg on him."

Hmmmmmmmm, more food for thought.  Any nary a progress towards earning any pay cheque...

Trailer, Check

Extra horse, check.

Finally, had she found a like-minded spirit, with a trailer and extra horses to hunt with?!  She promised to follow up with suggested dates.  What a way to meet a person.
*
"I was so lost I specifically headed to the Tack Shop and to ask to use their phone, and then I found you." The giant dog sat right on Jill's foot as she became acquainted with the woman from the ad in the paper.  They were really connecting, standing there chatting in the rain.  So Jill went out on a limb, "I know I'm really late and it's a rotten day, but maybe I can help you feed and then we can go for a ride?"

After a long pause, the Dr. asked "Are you okay leading two at once?"  There were six in that muddy paddock and the woman went in to fetch the horses they would ride. They didn't discuss the one that shouldn't have got loose, ha, as the blond dealt with him and Jill proceeded with the two mares to the toy-like 3 stall red barn.

At first she mounted the 17.1 hand black horse, after several attempts to get the mare to stand at the mounting block. She was jogging and fussing and when they'd reached the plateau where the dressage lessons took place, the mare started to do little bucks and dives with a great deal of sideways nonsense.  Jill was like a fly on a dinasour's back and her leg seemed to be having no effect.

The owner apologized and admitted she hadn't been ridden in six weeks. "Let's go to the road." They turned around.  The beast that was supposed to be suitable for beginner's was making strange with a new rider and Jill could feel herself tensing up and making it worse.  She didn't know the property or the horse's training or anything!  The woman's husband had just started the chainsaw and it felt like a horror scene.  The bay mare for advance riders only, meanwhile, was quiet and sane despite the shennangins, and when the woman said "Do you want to switch?" Jill dismounted instantly.

And then finally,  she was riding the speedy, spooky spring fever Shire, that hadn't been ridden for so long.   They jogged ahead as leaders, down the path along the treeline to the drop where you came out on the road.  It was necessary to walk past one farm to get to the dirt road to turn right to the gravel road to get to the endless wonderful trails, and Jill was just to be shown the way for future fun.

On the way back, they rode right up to the neighbour's coach house two stall barn and had a horsey chat with them standing outside it.

"You make me feel like I'm in England! Your accent, your fearlessness, your tweed and just the look of you, on your Shire!  And your now your hobby horsemen neighbours?  This does not happen in our city, or university TOWN. ha."  Jill did not add the transparency of the good-willed helmet facade, ha.

Musical Hooves

Jill had looked up the calorie burning stats, because when she went from riding 6 hours 6 days a week with the Eventing Team to feeding and mucking out 3 hours each weekday morning at the Standardbred Breeding Farm, she started dropping weight like crazy.  She had enjoyed being thinner and stronger than ever before in her life!  


Now, she wasn't riding regularly or working on a farm, not even teaching, and she missed it terribly.  She had never known before how much manual labour and physical work agreed with her!  She loved the outdoors and she sure missed having a herd of animal friends.


Before he disappeared, he had said, "Maybe circumstances will change so I can come around more often." And, that he'd always been fascinated by horses.  She had a hard time answering him about  what it is she does with them...  "Mostly, nowadays, I am an enthusiast I guess.  Because I'm not riding or teaching or even doing any equine journalism, but, I think I am most gifted as a trainer." 


Most gifted?  Her own arrogant honesty surprised her, but it was true she had had countless horse owners over the years acknowledge their horse's development and increased happiness as a tribute to her consistent kindness and attention. She was trying to be accurate and succinct, and didn't want to downplay her own competence. "I have amazing aspirations though.  Have you seen Cavalia?"  He shook his head.  "It's a theatrical, magical, musical display of horsemanship.  I think some horses might LIKE music as much as we do."


From the way he sang, she didn't know he would speak a bit like a scientist, "Select birds and primates appear to have an appreciation for music.  Most animals have no perception of rhythm, harmony or melody. Gibbon apes engage in musical behaviour. Male and female couples sing long coordinated duets that can be heard over a kilometer away.  It stregnthens their bond, claims territory and scares off predators."  Did she swoon before she fled? She hadn't known she wouldn't see him again.
*
Until the fortune teller had said it to her, Jill had never noticed it about herself.  "Animals stick to you like glue!"

Dogs walking by other pedestrians on the street would sniff her hand and ask for a pat.  Dogs tied across the street would bark at her. "Sometimes when I'm walking to work cats leap out of the trees at me" Jill would joke about it now, but it WAS that obvious. Horses, dogs, cats.  Whenever her roommate's hamster escaped it made its way to Jill's bed.  AAAAAAAAAACK EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEk  etc.
Why do I have to be dr. doolittle? Jill made her rommie's laugh.
*

Jill's mom sounded so entranced, "Those horses were DANCING" as her dad was telling her about the World Equestrian Games they'd been watching on tv for three consecutive weekends... Jill didn't have cable let alone specialty channels, and was glad for the play by plays.   And to see her Dad enthused about something.  Jill didn't often feel like she had much in common with her family, and sometimes it was a strain to be around them, because of the way she couldn't talk about what was happening in her life and who she really was.

This day though, Jill told them about her dream to invent a musical ride for the Nutcracker Suite, and that they should hope to come every year at Christmas to watch the Jill Wentworth show... What a thrill to notice that it didn't seem like they'd mind!
*

"Who needs a drummer when you have a horse!?" Jill exclaimed to her lunch buddy, after telling her how fun it was to mute the voice over on the dressage video she'd started watching again, and play her guitar to the beat of the horses legs. "The trot work was great with the chords I'm practicing lately. The video horse and rider team would leg yeild in to one chord and then straighten to another one and then I'd come up with one more to change to as they leg yeilded back to the wall... On the video the movement had a specific name, about a square. But we know it just as one of the warm up exercises Jo makes you do in the freezing cold winter arena cold."
*
"Have you heard of a kur? It is a series of advanced dressage moves set to music. The horses seem to prefer classical music (or, is it just instrumental music?) and they learn to associate certain movements with certain orchestrael sounds or whatever. THE HORSES SEEM TO LIKE MUSIC. And it is beautiful... The first time I watched one, I was recording it, and attempting a commentary as tears streamed down my cheeks. Did you know that ponies recognize patterns FASTER than humans?"

Jill bubbled enthusiasm accidentally and was amazed that the rockstar and his wife would join her at the top level equestrian competition. She'd simply described her love of the musical freestyle and they'd decided (to her surprise) to come and check one out?  What an amazing night out!

After the first round, Jill commented, "The music didn't match the horse's rhythm enough."

After the second rider's freestyle, she said "Okay, that one the horse's movements matched the music. But, the music didn't match itself enough. Do you know what I mean?" She'd found the musical segments spliced together too arbitrarily, a forced instead of beautiful musical compilation...

During the third rider's dressage test, into the perfect audience rapture silence, her rockstar buddy asked "but, you want LIVE musicians for your freestyle." (?)

Was he reading her mind, or had she mentioned that?  What could she do but shrug and nod.  You should be able to charge admission for a show like that right?

Big Bad Badminton

"If you just relax into a fall," her friend read that caption, "you are less likely to get hurt." and she showed Jill the picture shows a horse upside down, in mid air, having struck the jump with a shoulder with great momentum instead of clearing it. The rider has already hit the ground and looks to be about to crushed under the horse.

"R e l a x i n g would indeed help? I must shalt remember this!" Jill said she liked to cross country defensively, "but with an optimistic approach because what you expect IS what you get.  I ride like I'll believe it (with my jumping position) when I see it horse (aka we art airborne). Now, let's GO!"

Her riding buddy was rehashing the Badminton footage they'd watched on the internet.

"I can't believe that event is only a four star. They are crazy in England!" Jill thought what they had just watched had to be the hardest competition there is in the sport of eventing in the whole wide world. It was just unbelievable.

They would watch the competitions so many times that they actually memorized the course and many rides. Those riders are soooo brave. Those horses are sooooo brave.

The sunken road. And the long, double drop bounces into the lake with a bounce up and out? Ohmigosh - watching was kinda like watching a horror movie, the first time.

Whenever Jill needed moxy for some other enterprise in life, she would watch Badminton.

The guy winning it this year had won it 30 years ago and Jill had been at the Dining Room table a few years past when he decided to come out of retirement.  Seeing how tired his horse was as the end of the cross country course drew near Jill was reminded of the icy winter hacks with another high performance team, where she'd learned the concept: "Imagine training for Badminton, at a walk." as an injured hopeful was carefully conditioned in advance of the competiton.

*
"I will never own another horse," Jill said, still broken hearted from the mare she'd lost at 17. "I don't even aspire. Let someone else pay the vet bills and make the hard decisions. I will just love 'em and leave 'em."

Basically we are offering you a "Make Your Own Adventure" position, they said.  But somehow it still hadn't panned out.  Jill was beginning to wonder if their whole idea was to get her to write up all her ideas to try and steal 'em.  She'd just graduated from New Media/Journalism program but was too entrepreneurial for much of the job market.

Trial

“Late to your own funeral” a non-client Jill had invited to the property accused, apparently quoting the owner of the farm. Jill had just stepped in the barn for her unpaid volunteer supervisor shift -- which unfortunately, she was a half hour late for. She'd gotten mixed up with schedule, but never had a chance to admit that. She was sorry... but also frustrated and unappreciated.

She'd invited a potential pony buyer, and useful training/show rider hopeful to the farm because she knew the kid was a good rider. Her pony at home was difficult, and, and not the kind of natural athlete at the breeders. She'd hoped to be making future matches or at least planting sales seeds.


Jill always thought they appreciated her unpaid use of expertise and certification credentials to supervise such trial rides and related activities at their place. It was all for promotion of the breed of ponies that she would invite such guests! Admittedly, she treated it casually, but she felt affronted by the shrill accusation that replaced any sort of greeting!

Jill surprised even herself when she turned on her heel and got in the car and drove off the property. Obviously, she had decided not to volunteer/participate that day.  
*


Jill felt humiliated and used, when the head coach took a payment from the same formerly freebie-friend- rider's mom to participate in the testing arranged for one of Jill's actual students.   

As an instructor but not an examiner, Jill knew she should not have been allowed to see the test papers.  She knew it would be out of place to point out to any of the governing sport offices that the exam said "tell 10 items of the grooming kit" when the current year's text had never listed or explained more than 9, nor had any prior year's text.  Luckily both of the riders she'd worked with had heard from Jill about many grooming kits items beyond those listed in the manual.  

It also frustrated her that the head coach/examiner gave Jill's paying student 9/10 on the question, while the free-ride celebrity guest got 10/10, when their answers were so remarkably similar.

Worse, she surprised Jill by asking her in front of everyone to set the required jump course for the added guests.  She did her best, instead of protesting, but, alas, it was less than perfect.

When the head coach/examiner was then also condescending about Jill's jugdement of the jump spacing, in front of both riders, their fans and families and other folks around the farm, she seriously regretted inventing and promoting the the rider testing in the first place. Not to mention lamenting her "take the high road" effort to make nice in public and set jumps as the ungrateful pretend boss rudely requested.

But she wasn't going to make a bad situation worse by making a stink.  As she moved the heavy wing standards yet again, while everybody watched, she did not to comment that she didn't have students at the facility that jump! Where she was actively coaching students over fences, she used the 8ft between arena pillars to guide jump spacing. She wanted also admit she'd never found striding her strong suit, and would normally keep a reference chart/worksheet in her pocket for pre-planned course setting occasions.

All this treatment was from the very coach who had suggested to her once she needed to stand up for herself more. 


Jill stood up, but did not speak out. She simply made it a good natured learning experience for everyone in the moment.

The pleasant clients paying top dollar for her teaching time on the weekend soothed Jill's aching ego with the feedback that “the farm owners must be so happy you are here.” The student's father was a principal of a school and sounded happy she was and she knew her student was too.  He wanted her (not the head coach) to come to the classroom for some special initiatives!

Shocks not Horrors!

Someday she hoped they'd host a horse-ball clinic. But in the early days, Jill wanted to teach a lesson about appropriate size of turns. It seemed to her that not a single student on the property, including the most "advanced," had any idea about a so-called large (aka 20m circle). When they lined up, came out from the middle for their turn on course or for mounting and dismounting, they asked their horses to turn on a dime, often from a standstill, without any leg at all, over and over and over. Jill couldn't correct each student each time individually effectively enough. They had no idea about the guideline 3 times the leg power for any touch of hand. She so wanted to create a lesson plan or two about it!

Meanwhile, the volunteers were sitting up six jump courses at the boss's instruction, implying Jill's horse welfare lesson plan inappropriate for their level? Maybe in July? Practice for the show and jump jump jump to it?

Jill also wondered if she could earn enough trust to ask volunteers or a working student or an assistant instructor could be allowed to stay with her. Maybe this helper could even work on trying to soften up the track footing for the poor horse bones in any spare time?

At least, she wasn't being asked to pull at the manes barbaricky short at least, or being the ones who don't like it to deal with as an intro, ha.
*
An occasional co-worker was complaining to Jill as they shovelled that he has been interviewing for jobs and waiting for the call back... and, he thinks it must be as awful as waiting for a call from a potential lover and/or hoping for a date invitation. The agony!

Jill yelled at him, while mucking out stalls, joking at full volume, "oh ya? WELL YOU SHOULD TRY WAITING FOR BOTH KINDS OF CALLS AT THE SAME TIME!" He left with a smirk and she finished the last stall without his supervision dumping the wheelbarrow thank you very much...

Walking the slightly snowy thus slippery UPHILL plank up to and over the manure spreader with a full wheelbarrow was good for her riding. Jill thought there couldn't be a stronger motivator to keep one's balance! And a good riding practice happened during the chores, ha - Jill had tumbled in after many a dumped wheelbarrow in her lifetime and could attest to how gross and embarrassing to fall in it can be. She was very aware of her stomach muscles afterwards... and, for sure mucking out was good for her pony ride arms too.
*
Jill was thrilled for her student who was estactic because the Duchess said she liked her horse! What an honour to be in the Royal Winter Fair's opening ceremonies like that!

Wrong, Wrong Again

The owner was correcting some of the working students on their method and was trying to get them to think about what they had done.  "What's more important, the horse or the human?"  Jill piped up from the other side of the barn, "Unfair choice! Unfair choice!" to bring some smiles into the learning episode, ha.
*
Jill did not mention having once being diagnosed with a mental illness, on her cover letter to the full time job at the university newspaper, even though they wanted marginalized people to self-identify when applying!  She just couldn't bring herself to do it.  Was her "previous" diagnosis, of suffering Post Traumatic Stress syndrome even really relevant?  The violent episodes she'd witnessed and experienced were long over now and she didn't want to feel disabled by them anymore.

But, to that very day, her body did not handle stress well.  As she made a huge effort making healthy lifestyle choices, Jill's physical self did not cooperate as well as she hoped.

Currently her white blood cells/T-cell count was too high which indicated her immune system was attacking itself, instead of fighting disease.  Meanwhile, her red blood cell count was too low.  Hypoglycemic, and deficient in B12 like those celiac/lactose intolerants she worried she was, and  more and more tired every day.  And if felt like her eyesight worsened by the day also.  Had the doctor really read all the test results correctly?  She had several more appointments looming and would learn as much as she could.

She felt her true nature was actually just to be "up for the party" as well as hardworking, at all times! And was frightened, frustrated and ashamed of changes in her body that she couldn't control.

*
Jill always said there would always be a horse for her to ride, because she would ride the one that no one else wanted to.  Sometimes, it was kind of like that with students too... she would get the difficult students, with unusual learning styles and so on.  


She smiled to remember when one of her students, a boy, with ADD was doing a very good job with a difficult pony while Jill was issuing ongoing instructions... he'd interupted to exclaim "I think this is the best I've ever ridden!"  which indeed it was!

Jill had complained that day to her teacher about all the layers she required for winter, and how annoying and cumbersome they were. Her teacher had consoled "Just wait til you have kids!" and Jill hoped the woman was right she'd learn that.
*
The business meeting was clearly a farce, from a guy with a crush.  And, alas, she hated the way he orchestrated their meeting so as to entrap her to dinner.  She felt she never should have agreed to go away...  It even turned out she'd missed a riding lesson!

Her ego wondered if the texts he sent to her he sent to other babes too?  His not-so-ex was tweeting beseeching comments about the same events he had thrown Jill invitations to.  Regardless, she wasn't interested in his potential romance and her heart made alternate travel wishes...  another guy she didn't want to be seeing suggested "Its never too late to settle."

She was already giving up on so many other life goals.  Her horoscope asked if she was giving up before even getting started, but she was withdrawing her name from the April Rider Level test.  But she did not feel at all ready to try the Rider Level 8.  She wasn't fit enough, there weren't enough weeks left for training and practice and she hated having a new horse partner every class.
Especially unbearable because she didn't even have a horse to hack it out with.

It was all wrong.  She was w r o n g  again, yikes.

Pony Club Rules!

Of course the pony she had the crush on would be available for such a price, lol.  What other sales ponies might she be able to find to make friends with?  She had already gladly signed 483 waivers, but she still had to find a way to show him how she rode.  As she got older, she also began to recgonize the importance of seeing an animal go, before hopping on yourself, ha.  "Your idea of an obedient horse and mine, are two completely different things."
*
It really bugged Jill when she asked her former co-worker to sign some mentoring time sheets for some of the coaching she'd provided in the meetings, lesson observation and other student/lesson plan/horse update discussions, because she refused to.  They'd worked together for almost the full prior year and Jill was just asking her to sign off on five hours or so.

It turned out, after being marketed and paid more than Jill as a certified COACH (vs Jill's certified INSTRUCTOR status), she wasn't actually certified yet.

Slightly less frustrating was the feedback on the pony club clinic she stole from Jill (with the finally obtained actual "superior" credentials), was that they didn't like the way she SOUNDED when she taught, her voice was alienating.   As was the way she delivered her commentary as criticism.  Jill hoped there'd be a little room at next year's camp out for her brand of patience, creativity, musicality and f u n.


Jill refrained from comment when she heard the story from the woman directly about selling her horse and how the new owner was having trouble getting the mare to load for shows and such.  She had the audacity to feign surprise.  Meanwhile, this very same "superior" coach had told Jill about this annoying aspect of the equine's nature in year's prior.  Another tricky horse trade? Buyer beware.  Meanwhile Jill did not have much credibility in the market place because she didn't own a horse and wasn't competing "Pre-Training."
*
At first she felt bad for stealing the more exciting pony mount from the older sister of her student, as they all when out hacking together.  They were all good riders and Jill felt honoured and guilty for getting her favourite mount, even though it made the most sense size-wise.

A few gallop strides later, bonk, the teenager in front of her was fallen on her head and getting a concussion test pop quiz from mean mommy, before being sent round the gallop route one more time.  Yowza.

Anti-Training Methods

Jill felt pleased about her progress. After being so marginalized in society and at home as she grew up, instead of supported in the truth of her nature, she was finally, getting pretty far in life. In the life she wanted for herself anyway.

Many of the harsh accusations a former associate surprised her with, were clearly false, as she always payed her bills and she strove to honour her word. You could tell from her credit rating and reputation.

Perhaps the venom came from a fear that Jill had landed a new job by telling some awful truth about the "Senior," former coach behind her back. But, Jill was a a believer that if you couldn't say anything nice about a person, then don't say anything at all, and she'd left that facilty completely off her resume and not mentioned it at all in the interview.

Jill used her art to express and vent instead of trying to ruin anyone's credibility. Hadn't her work shown that time and time again? Perhaps it was immature and narcissistic to navel gaze in her songwriting and poetry as she did, but did it really hurt anyone? Was it also somehow misleading? Jill was trying to consider the feedback and learn what she could.

She was willing to acknowledge mistakes.

Jill remorsefully remembered her first Dressage clinic where she followed the clinician's instruction and whipped her horse repeatedly. It made her sick to think of it now. There was also the disaster of the barefoot natural trim, which she'd arranged for the very same love of her life and it still made her feel naseaous with guilt and regret and sorrow over the pain she'd caused him with that too.

It was also that true she went from work place to work place to work place. And she was willing to examine that pattern in detail. She couldn't remember if she'd quit or been fired after the episode that first came to mind.

As clear as the day it happened, Jill could hear the boss's partner shouting in the arena, as they were schooling the sales horse. "Hit him again" whack. "And again!" Whack. "Again. HARDER!" whack smack. It made her feel weak to wonder exactly what they were doing in there, but she still went to the arena window to sneak a peek.

The young bay Holstiner was rearing and bucking in response to whatever lesson they were teaching him. Beating him in front of or beside a vertical. He was spinning around. Was the whipping because he was refusing to jump or was there some other exercise? She couldn't tell. She turned away and busied herself with some chore at the far end of the barn, where she would not have to hear it so clearly, nevermind watch.

When the boss came in and Jill set about her duty of untacking, feeling so sorry for the pony and giving him kindness in her esp and being as physically gentle and considerate with the heaving, sweaty exhausted animal as she could. As he opened his mouth to release the bit, she noticed a tooth sticking out the side of his mouth. It took her a second to actually recognize what it was. A tooth! Jutting out sideways from the dental vacancy!

Was this why he was so disagreeable or a result? "Did you see this?" Jill nodded towards it, as she slid the halter into place and snapped it on.

The boss was shocked "ohmigosh! Did you do that taking the bridle off?"

Jill glared at her. The boss took a deep breath and went on "Could you have caught him in the mouth putting the halter on?"

Jill had been trying to stick it out to the end of the agreed term for a good reference from the place, but she knew that she wouldn't/couldn't work there much longer.

How Long Have You Been Riding?

The cats did not look well.  They were eating and drinking and all and they felt soft but didn't have a sleek look, especially Lucie.  Was she lethargic? There was still the headshaking with both of them, but she saw no signs of fleas.  "If was at an office job right now, I would not be witness to this" she told herself about a few of his ailments... vowing NOT to go to the vet again so soon.  It always cost at least $100 and most of the time didn't even address the concern she'd travelled in with!
*
Meanwhile, at her new lesson factory, one horse started licking her right away.  Okay, now this was getting weird.  Was she diabetic and leaking sugar or something? They all just loved the attention she doted on each of them!  And, she loved it right back -- obviously she was not getting enough snuggling at home, ha.

The teacher she was replacing was moving on to work full time for a vet, including the rehab rides.

She liked how many horses went in bitless bridles, and how every single rider sat so lightly on the horse's back as they mounted, using a mounting block and proper line up procedure. She did not like how they adjusted their stirrups, letting go of the reins and kicking both feet out of the stirrups.  Or, for that matter, how they didn't learn to do their estimates and adjustments from the ground while killing time in the barn anyway.

When she was officially the teacher, she would keep an eye on the clock and ensure they tacked up on time.  With a schedule like this one with half hour breaks between classes, there was no reason to ever run late!  She was also glad coaches were able to oversee the duties of the volunteers in this way!

She wanted to organize a colours, markings and measurement event, and a mane pulling clinic, as well as a saddle fitting clinic.  Her first lesson plan with all riders was going to be helmet fitting, to document checking up on this AND to teach them what to look for themselves.

She had a wonderful back to school feeling, and couldn't wait to create student profile forms and horse bios and binders and binders and binders of organized notes ha.


Eventually her surveys to the riders/students she was meeting changed from "How long have you been riding?" to "How many times have you fallen off?"  It was fun to get them to splain their history in this dramatic way!


Jill remembered one of the first times she fell off her big bay 7 yr buddy, she hit the metal fence part at the end of the ring.   She had the wind knocked out of her, and in fact ended up with two stripes in across her back from the fence bars - one bled and one later turned into a huge black horizontal stripe across the top of her butt... and she suffered a terrible tailbone tenderness for a long time afterwards.

As she got up, staggering to her knees, her coach pointed to where the metal was bent outward at the end of the ring.   "See what you did?" Jill was in such agony at first that she actually believed her, which was just as well...  "Who tries to make a rider with no air in their lungs and who knows what injuries LAUGH?!" Jill would   f i n a l l y  jokingly complain about to her teacher about her response.

Schooled at Stonehedge

Jill trailered off property with her coach and had a first time to let him gallop. It was amazing to let him go full out, trusting the path was safe of ground hog holes or roots and the border of the field he may go long enough to tire him out ha.

When they got back to their coach she said, "Well OF course, ON course, you will not need to go nearly that fast" But they could laugh together because it was great for Jill to go like that and then to be able to get control again. The gag snaffle was doing exactly what it should, "lI ove the new bit!"

They only jumped about 7 or 8 fences but it was still worth the trip just to get the smell of the place up his nose.  Then, unfortuneately he was lame for a few days after being reshod.  Jill had talk the owner into buying new stirrup leathers because they were just stretched unevenly by about two holes and she couldn't even them out no matter what she did and it was effecting their balance!

In the notebook Jill reported "i hate his dressage because he is so bouncy and also, he hates my dressage because i bounce around so much, Ha.


They were working together through a rotten circle, because his back wasn't strong enough yet to be round for very long, and so he would often hollow out and gets bouncier, which would make Jill bounce more and so on and so on and... 


Jill jokingly predicted that maybe their loose rein walk across the diagonal will stun the judge with its beauty and the double counting of that movement would have an amazing impact on their score...


*

During a practice ride the next morning, even though you're not supposed to, she jumped the three foot wall both directions on her own. The show was coming up, they needed confidence at that exact height and they needed to practice something else, because the only available "creepy" stadium fence was a purple and white wall, about 2'6"t


The only cross country trouble Jill could foresee was a small log with a fairly significant drop that one had to jump after running up and down a mound. It was quite steep for about four strides and then the drop. ACK.