Thinking Out Loud
Sarah and Val’s Story
16 Obstacles
+
1 Paces Track
These are a collection of short stories written about the same fictional competition, from the perspective of several different riders.
Somewhere on a farm in Brackenshire, several horses and riders are competing over sixteen obstacles spread around 2kms of land within a set time period, and finishing with a task to see who can canter slowly and then walk quickly along a set distance. Some obstacles are marked according to gait, others for accuracy, and in all cases the stories are fictional.
Unless they have happened to me.
Or someone has told me about it happening to them.
Or to someone else.
Or I saw it happen to someone else.
But the names of both horses and riders are fiction.
Anyway, those of us in the horse world know that ANYTHING is possible!
Sarah watched as the competitor in front completed the last of the six obstacles in the field and disappear from view, before asking her own horse, Val, to move forwards towards the white and red flags which marked the beginning of the course. She turned her attention to the Starter, who said ‘Ready? You can go in 10 seconds …. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Go and good luck!’
Sarah and her black 16hh mare walked through the Start, and veered off to the left so they could line up before the first obstacle: The Bridge. Confidently Val stepped up onto the wooden pallets which had been reinforced to take the weight of over 700kgs of horse and rider, and she walked steadily along its length before stepping down onto solid ground again. Sarah smiled because this was one of the challenges Val had refused to try at the beginning of the season; all of that hard work was paying off at last.
‘Thank you!’ she called back to the Judge, before asking Val forwards into trot, and together they negotiated the Slalom in harmony, before leaving that obstacle and maintaining the trot rhythm into the next: The Trefoil. They weaved their way around the three barrels with ease, and left through the exit flags before smoothly transitioning into a walk. Ahead were the two parallel poles which made up the Rein Back obstacle. When she walked the course earlier in the day, Sarah had noticed a large oak tree along the fence line behind The Trefoil. Now that she and Val were between the Rein Back poles, she imagined they were walking backwards towards the oak tree in a nice, straight line.
‘That’s far enough, well done,’ commented the Judge.
‘Thank you!’ Sarah and Val turned left and headed towards obstacle number 5, The Squeeze. Similar to The Bridge, at the start of the season Val had thought these horizontal bean poles held up by wooden posts were going to trap her and eat her, and so although Sarah knew they could canter through this obstacle in their practice sessions, she decided to play it safe during this competition because the organiser had decorated the edges of the obstacle with large pots containing brightly coloured flowers, and she wasn’t sure if Val would be confident about moving between them. As they approached the obstacle Sarah could feel Val shrinking back a little underneath her when she spotted the decorations. Breathing out, Sarah asked Val to stand for a few seconds until she felt her horse let out a little breath, and saw her tilt her neck slightly so she could glance back at her with one eye.
‘Good girl, come on, we can do this’ Sarah gave Val’s neck a quick stroke, before firmly asking her to walk on. She waited until the last possible moment before leaning forwards and sliding her bottom back so that she could fit underneath the bean poles, by which time Val’s head had already passed the first pot, and the horse was eager to walk between the rest of the pots and posts, and out into the relative safety of the open field.
‘Good, brave girl!’ Sarah gave her horse’s neck another stroke, before asking her forwards into a medium trot, letting all of the horse’s tension come out in the powerful strides as they crossed the remainder of the field to The Gate.
Val paid no attention to the bright blue rope, or the pieces of ply which suddenly swung towards them as Sarah released the flimsy contraption from its post. Quickly and cleanly they were through the obstacle, and then they had a lovely canter around the edge of some trees, taking obstacle number 7, The Uphill, literally in their stride, ditto the inviting log which was The Jump, and closely followed by The Ditch.
By now Val was keen to keep moving, and Sarah wondered if she had made the right decision in allowing her horse to bowl along like that. It had felt great, and clearing the log and the ditch had been exhilarating, but now Val was feeling strong, and Sarah knew she had some work to do to get her horse thinking back to her. The time set for the course was quite tight, and although Sarah didn’t think they had wasted much time up to that point, she wasn’t sure she had enough spare minutes in hand to get her horse listening to her again.
Obstacle number 10 was the Figure of Eight, and this was one of Sarah’s favourite obstacles. At home, she and Val could do this bareback and bridleless, but today, with a herd of cows standing along the fence line watching them, and Val in canter-jump-canter mode, Sarah doubted she could ride it with two hands, let alone one as was necessary to score any points! Discreetly, on their way to the start of the obstacle, Sarah asked Val for some response to her requests for shoulder-in, hindquarters in, and rein back, but Val was far more interested in snorting and prancing at the cows, so Sarah decided that if she had all of the time in the world she could have continued with her strategy, but as they were in a competition situation and not a training one, she would not push it. Sarah smiled and thanked the judge, and said they would pass.
The next obstacle was some distance away, and when Sarah had walked the course earlier she imagined that she and Val would canter, maybe gallop, along the grassy track, but as her horse was now preparing to take off and bolt, Sarah decided to use the time and space to regain communication with Val. The cows were undecided whether they would follow the horse and rider, or stay in position to watch the next competitor, so Sarah chose a brisk trot followed by transitions to back-up, walk, back-up, trot, and so on, in the hope that not only might this be good for both her and her horse, but also it may dissuade the cows from joining in.
By the time they reached the next obstacle the cows were nowhere to be seen, although they could be heard, and Val was listening to Sarah’s seat again. They negotiated the parallel poles forming a corridor in a steady trot, despite the fact they could easily ride this in canter, but Sarah didn’t want to gee up her horse again so played it safe. Val easily came forward to an engaged walk for the S-bend, before proceeding to obstacle number 13: Stand Still.
When Sarah decided to abort attempting the Figure of Eight obstacle, she thought they would miss out the Stand Still one too, but Val was calm again after their transitions during the last few minutes, so Sarah thought it was worth a go. True to form, Val stood quietly for the ten seconds required, and even had a good stretch and yawn in that time, causing both the Judge and Sarah to yawn too.
Obstacle 14 was another corridor of parallel poles, this time designed for the rider to walk between them, leading her horse. Sarah crossed her stirrups and jumped off, before taking the reins over Val’s head, and positioning herself in front of her horse. She lined them up, and together they trotted through, before heading over to the penultimate obstacle, another led one, The Jump Up. Sarah was careful that Val didn’t follow her as she walked up the side, and instead was pleased to see her horse follow her instruction and clear the jump on her own. The obstacle was one section of cross country steps, and further along the organiser had created the final obstacle using another of the steps: The Mount. Although this was a task Sarah knew that she and Val could do perfectly, she was taking no chances, and she made sure the stirrups were down on either side of her horse, the stirrup leathers were not twisted, and the reins were back over Val’s neck, before they entered the start of the obstacle.
Competently up in the saddle with her feet in the stirrups easily within the time limit, Sarah and Val headed out of the obstacle course, and over to the Paces Track. This was positioned on the other side of the cows’ field to the Figure of Eight, and Sarah could see the cows were still forming a rather unsettling audience for whoever was attempting that obstacle.
‘Ready when you are!’ the Judge called over to her.
‘Thank you!’ Sarah and Val began a lovely slow canter, and maintained it for the whole distance. At the other end they had time to establish their walk, before setting off back the other way. Sarah didn’t think their walk was fast enough for the competition, but as she could see that the cows were starting to make their noisy, energy-filled way over to this side of their field, and Val had noticed them too, she made the decision that a calm, slow walk was better than a hurried one which might make the time.
Safely through the Finish, Sarah gave Val a big hug, and then the pair of them followed the signs leading back to the corralling field, as the next competitor came in to view.
16 Obstacles
+
1 Paces Track
These are a collection of short stories written about the same fictional competition, from the perspective of several different riders.
Somewhere on a farm in Brackenshire, several horses and riders are competing over sixteen obstacles spread around 2kms of land within a set time period, and finishing with a task to see who can canter slowly and then walk quickly along a set distance. Some obstacles are marked according to gait, others for accuracy, and in all cases the stories are fictional.
Unless they have happened to me.
Or someone has told me about it happening to them.
Or to someone else.
Or I saw it happen to someone else.
But the names of both horses and riders are fiction.
Anyway, those of us in the horse world know that ANYTHING is possible!
Sarah watched as the competitor in front completed the last of the six obstacles in the field and disappear from view, before asking her own horse, Val, to move forwards towards the white and red flags which marked the beginning of the course. She turned her attention to the Starter, who said ‘Ready? You can go in 10 seconds …. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Go and good luck!’
Sarah and her black 16hh mare walked through the Start, and veered off to the left so they could line up before the first obstacle: The Bridge. Confidently Val stepped up onto the wooden pallets which had been reinforced to take the weight of over 700kgs of horse and rider, and she walked steadily along its length before stepping down onto solid ground again. Sarah smiled because this was one of the challenges Val had refused to try at the beginning of the season; all of that hard work was paying off at last.
‘Thank you!’ she called back to the Judge, before asking Val forwards into trot, and together they negotiated the Slalom in harmony, before leaving that obstacle and maintaining the trot rhythm into the next: The Trefoil. They weaved their way around the three barrels with ease, and left through the exit flags before smoothly transitioning into a walk. Ahead were the two parallel poles which made up the Rein Back obstacle. When she walked the course earlier in the day, Sarah had noticed a large oak tree along the fence line behind The Trefoil. Now that she and Val were between the Rein Back poles, she imagined they were walking backwards towards the oak tree in a nice, straight line.
‘That’s far enough, well done,’ commented the Judge.
‘Thank you!’ Sarah and Val turned left and headed towards obstacle number 5, The Squeeze. Similar to The Bridge, at the start of the season Val had thought these horizontal bean poles held up by wooden posts were going to trap her and eat her, and so although Sarah knew they could canter through this obstacle in their practice sessions, she decided to play it safe during this competition because the organiser had decorated the edges of the obstacle with large pots containing brightly coloured flowers, and she wasn’t sure if Val would be confident about moving between them. As they approached the obstacle Sarah could feel Val shrinking back a little underneath her when she spotted the decorations. Breathing out, Sarah asked Val to stand for a few seconds until she felt her horse let out a little breath, and saw her tilt her neck slightly so she could glance back at her with one eye.
‘Good girl, come on, we can do this’ Sarah gave Val’s neck a quick stroke, before firmly asking her to walk on. She waited until the last possible moment before leaning forwards and sliding her bottom back so that she could fit underneath the bean poles, by which time Val’s head had already passed the first pot, and the horse was eager to walk between the rest of the pots and posts, and out into the relative safety of the open field.
‘Good, brave girl!’ Sarah gave her horse’s neck another stroke, before asking her forwards into a medium trot, letting all of the horse’s tension come out in the powerful strides as they crossed the remainder of the field to The Gate.
Val paid no attention to the bright blue rope, or the pieces of ply which suddenly swung towards them as Sarah released the flimsy contraption from its post. Quickly and cleanly they were through the obstacle, and then they had a lovely canter around the edge of some trees, taking obstacle number 7, The Uphill, literally in their stride, ditto the inviting log which was The Jump, and closely followed by The Ditch.
By now Val was keen to keep moving, and Sarah wondered if she had made the right decision in allowing her horse to bowl along like that. It had felt great, and clearing the log and the ditch had been exhilarating, but now Val was feeling strong, and Sarah knew she had some work to do to get her horse thinking back to her. The time set for the course was quite tight, and although Sarah didn’t think they had wasted much time up to that point, she wasn’t sure she had enough spare minutes in hand to get her horse listening to her again.
Obstacle number 10 was the Figure of Eight, and this was one of Sarah’s favourite obstacles. At home, she and Val could do this bareback and bridleless, but today, with a herd of cows standing along the fence line watching them, and Val in canter-jump-canter mode, Sarah doubted she could ride it with two hands, let alone one as was necessary to score any points! Discreetly, on their way to the start of the obstacle, Sarah asked Val for some response to her requests for shoulder-in, hindquarters in, and rein back, but Val was far more interested in snorting and prancing at the cows, so Sarah decided that if she had all of the time in the world she could have continued with her strategy, but as they were in a competition situation and not a training one, she would not push it. Sarah smiled and thanked the judge, and said they would pass.
The next obstacle was some distance away, and when Sarah had walked the course earlier she imagined that she and Val would canter, maybe gallop, along the grassy track, but as her horse was now preparing to take off and bolt, Sarah decided to use the time and space to regain communication with Val. The cows were undecided whether they would follow the horse and rider, or stay in position to watch the next competitor, so Sarah chose a brisk trot followed by transitions to back-up, walk, back-up, trot, and so on, in the hope that not only might this be good for both her and her horse, but also it may dissuade the cows from joining in.
By the time they reached the next obstacle the cows were nowhere to be seen, although they could be heard, and Val was listening to Sarah’s seat again. They negotiated the parallel poles forming a corridor in a steady trot, despite the fact they could easily ride this in canter, but Sarah didn’t want to gee up her horse again so played it safe. Val easily came forward to an engaged walk for the S-bend, before proceeding to obstacle number 13: Stand Still.
When Sarah decided to abort attempting the Figure of Eight obstacle, she thought they would miss out the Stand Still one too, but Val was calm again after their transitions during the last few minutes, so Sarah thought it was worth a go. True to form, Val stood quietly for the ten seconds required, and even had a good stretch and yawn in that time, causing both the Judge and Sarah to yawn too.
Obstacle 14 was another corridor of parallel poles, this time designed for the rider to walk between them, leading her horse. Sarah crossed her stirrups and jumped off, before taking the reins over Val’s head, and positioning herself in front of her horse. She lined them up, and together they trotted through, before heading over to the penultimate obstacle, another led one, The Jump Up. Sarah was careful that Val didn’t follow her as she walked up the side, and instead was pleased to see her horse follow her instruction and clear the jump on her own. The obstacle was one section of cross country steps, and further along the organiser had created the final obstacle using another of the steps: The Mount. Although this was a task Sarah knew that she and Val could do perfectly, she was taking no chances, and she made sure the stirrups were down on either side of her horse, the stirrup leathers were not twisted, and the reins were back over Val’s neck, before they entered the start of the obstacle.
Competently up in the saddle with her feet in the stirrups easily within the time limit, Sarah and Val headed out of the obstacle course, and over to the Paces Track. This was positioned on the other side of the cows’ field to the Figure of Eight, and Sarah could see the cows were still forming a rather unsettling audience for whoever was attempting that obstacle.
‘Ready when you are!’ the Judge called over to her.
‘Thank you!’ Sarah and Val began a lovely slow canter, and maintained it for the whole distance. At the other end they had time to establish their walk, before setting off back the other way. Sarah didn’t think their walk was fast enough for the competition, but as she could see that the cows were starting to make their noisy, energy-filled way over to this side of their field, and Val had noticed them too, she made the decision that a calm, slow walk was better than a hurried one which might make the time.
Safely through the Finish, Sarah gave Val a big hug, and then the pair of them followed the signs leading back to the corralling field, as the next competitor came in to view.
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