Day Two Competition - Obstical Course

[Matalina]

The object of this race is to complete the each obstical. This race is being judged by four of your own on your creativity and orginality and entertainment value. There is also an acomplishment point value so even if your writting is judged poorly you will still get some points depending on how many of the items you completed in your post.

 

There are six obsticals in the course.

 

Obstical Course - Obsticals

1. A sandy area stretching 50 meters

2. A 3 foot hedge to jump over

3. A muddy area strecthing 50 meters

4. A 6 foot bar to go under

5. A Dumby to stab,bash or peirce with horse riders weapon

6. A 6 foot wide rift in the ground

 

You have two weeks to post.

 

Mat

[Guest Celes]

Lyv had spent the rest of the day after her race lying around in the grass, watching as others participated in events with their horses. She had had dinner with the rest of the racers and had actually made it to her bed just over midnight. It was not a feast every night and she needed to prepare for a difficult event, the obstacle course. Waking up early, she went down to the stables to get the mare who had gotten her through the first day’s race. She had forgotten to ask the horse’s name, as it was Tower property it was probably something silly and since it had gotten her through the first race, Lyv gave her a nice new name for this event. Sunfire would lead her through the obstacle course and they were going to win today, she was sure of it.

 

“Alright, I hope you slept well after yesterday’s turmoil, this race is ours!†Lyv grinned and ruffled through the mare’s manes and then saddled her up. They had a few rounds to warm up and then it was time to join in. The rest of the group was forming and Lyv found a few familiar faces, some from the Yards, some even from the day before. This was going to be interesting, she told herself as she might get a chance to avenge herself. Well, the fun had been good but she was a spirit to win as well as have fun, so as soon as the shot was fired, Lyv heeded Sunfire’s flanks and was gone like a spitfire.

 

As Lyv had taught the trainees in horse riding, she knew enough to stay in the saddle. She had used the forest and plains around the Yards to practice in with her students, but she had not ridden much on Sunfire before. The sand stretch they had to take was quite easy, she managed to keep her head up, to keep the stirring sand away from her eyes. Then it was a jump they had to pass, this all depended on the horse’s flexibility and she said a quick prayer that Sunfire would make the jump. Once, Lyv had been on a horse who had stopped dead just before a large log and had thrown Lyv right out of her saddle. Sunfire proved to be an excellent choice as after a little hesitation, she took the jump over the hedge and paced up again quickly.

 

However, the next obstacle was a mud slide and evidently, it had rained a little that night and the mud was thick and hard to get through. Her horse’s hooves slid through and she was forced to slow the mare’s pace or they would both end up topsy turvy. Lyv did not dare take a risk here and left it to the rest of the race to see how she would do. The 6 foot bar proved something of a risk as well, Lyv had never done something like this in her training before and wondered just how deep she had to bend. She was quite small and could hide almost in the mare’s manes as the horse passed the bar with great easy. Her heart was racing, but they managed fine and Lyv patted Sunrise on the neck, promising lots of sugary delights if she kept this up.

 

They passed something that Lyv remembered she had to take a stab at, she reached for her katana and found none at her hip. Then reached over her back for her quarterstaff and yelped, she had forgotten to bring any weapons along for the ride. Who would have thought they needed weapons for an obstacle course, only they had been told in advance and Lyv had simply forgotten. She slowed down, managed to reach out and took a punch at the dumby, hurting her hand badly and not a single scratch on the wretched thing. So much for the glory, Lyv thought to herself and decided to leave it as such and finish the race. They were passed by two of her opponents who smirked as they placed their weapons back on their hips. She just put her tongue out and heeded Sunfire into a final blaze.

 

“Come on girl, let’s show them who runs this show!†she cried and smiled broadly as they came to a 6 foot rift that would need to be jumped over. She heeded Sunfire to a final jump and made it to the other side, feeling the saddle hit her hard as she landed, but proud that they had made it over. She found that they were not the first to finish, but at least they had done their best and Sunfire got the treat she had earned. One of the men who had been watching asked her why she had not taken a swing at the dumby with a weapon at which Lyv said boldly that she was fine at hand to hand combat. The man pointed at her hand and told her that it might not agree so whole heartedly on that. Lyv sighed and as soon as she could tie the horse down, found someone to put a bandage around the scratched knuckles. This was going to hurt for a while longer, her own stupidity had caused it and the fact that people had seen, that hurt just a little more.

 

Lyv

[WhiteWolf]

Yrean was not in the best of moods at the beginning of the second event, not only was he still annoyed over losing out to blind bad luck the previous day, he had woken this morning with a pounding headache, one which seemed to be trying to burst his skull. He put this down to working late the night before, repairing the damage that the thrown shoe had done to the horses hoof. Thankfully, Yrean’s skill with horses had prevented the horse going lame, so deep was one of the stones embedded in the hoof. This also meant that Yrean’s horse would take at least a day to heal, and this had left Yrean feeling totally despondent. Just as he had been about to withdraw from the competition, Yrean got a shock, Dorian, his trainee had apprehended him just before Yrean had chance to speak to the judges, when Dorian heard about the predicament Yrean was in, he immediately offered the use of his horse.

 

“After all, you made a gift of him to me, it would not be proper for me to not help you out.â€

 

Yrean had been more than happy to take Dorian up on his offer, although with this pounding in his skull he was not so sure it was such a good idea. Eventually, Yrean decided the only thing to do was to assume the Void, and forget about the pain. Riding out to the beginning of the course, Yrean focused all his attention on what was to come, vowing to do better than he had done the day before.

 

The obstacle they had to negotiate was a large sandy area, and Yrean was glad he was not riding through it later on, once a few horses had churned the sand up, not only would the footing be more treacherous, the loose sand could be blown into the riders eyes by the breeze that was blowing. Even so, Yrean took one hand off the reins and tried to shield his eyes from the dust. Eventually though, he decided to let his horse pick their path, and closed his eyes, only peering out to check on their progress. It did not take long for them to clear the sandy area, and Yrean was able to guide his horse towards a hedge, just over waist high, but otherwise was totally unremarkable. Picking up the pace, Yrean let his horse pick the art of the jump he wanted, and as the horse started to spring, Yrean stood in the stirrups and lent forward, letting the reins go slack in his hands.

 

Dorian had obviously been working hard with his horse, as it easily cleared the hedge, and landed well on the far side, almost without losing any pace and Yrean easily guided the horse away from the hedge and towards a large mud hole. Reigning the horse in, Yrean slowed his pace, knowing that riding into mud too quickly, could cause the horse to loose it feet, The mud was thick and goopy, sticking to the hooves and building up on the horses forelocks, but it was not so bad that eventually Yrean picked up his pace and was soon clear of the mud, not realising as they left the mud hole, that clods of mud showered the gathered crowd, as they galloped to the next obstacle.

 

This consisted of a six-foot bar that the horse and rider had to pass under. By now Yrean’s confidence had returned, and that combined with the Void, had made him forget the headache, and instead he felt a growing optimism towards today’s proceedings. As he approached the bar, Yrean did not slow the horses pace, instead he released the reins and at the last possible moment, bent over backwards, until he was lying against the horses back. Yrean had to rise up slightly in the stirrups to do this, but he had seen this done many times, and had always thought he could do it himself. The folly of attempting something such as this, in competition, did not occur to Yrean, nor would it have deterred him if it had. As it was, Yrean cleared the bar with ease and was soon galloping to the next task. Pulling his sword clear of the scabbard, Yrean guided his horse to the left of the target, leaving himself room to swing his sabre. Leaning to his right, Yrean swung the sabre, aiming for the dummies neck, when he realised that the instructions had been to stab the dummy, not decapitate it. As quick as that thought flashed across his consciousness, another one followed quick on it’s heels.

 

Looking behind him, his grin threatening to split his face in half, Yrean laughed out loud at the sight of the headless dummy, and re-sheathing his sword, called out encouragement to his horse, pushing it to increase it’s speed and complete the final obstacle. The approach to this was slightly awkward as the last obstacle consisted of a large trench in the ground. Nothing to challenging if their had been a straight approach. Instead you had to round a sharp bend, and the trench was a short distance after the bend, not allowing the horse and rider to pick up speed. As they approached the turn, Yrean slowed the horse down, and took a wide entry into the corner; this allowing the horse to pick it’s pace back up sooner.

 

The distance to the trench was covered quickly, and Yrean could see that it was an easy jump, made difficult by the short distance they had to gather enough speed to clear the trench. For a moment, Yrean’s mind wondered who had designed this obstacle; failure here could result in the death of the horse, and injury to the rider. All of this was over in a moment, and Yrean urged his horse to even greater effort, in their attempts to build up speed. The edge of the trench had already started to crumble, but this was not apparent until it was almost too late to do anything about it. Thankfully, Yrean was too experienced to forget about something such as this, and he made sure that his horse took off a couple of paces from the edge, This made for a longer jump, but at least would provide a good platform to start from.

 

This time the landing was not as easy as the previous one, and for a moment, Yrean thought they would not make it, as his horse scrabbled for purchase, with it’s hind legs. Yrean had leant forward, urging his horse’s efforts, and after a short while the horse was able to power away from the edge of the trench.

 

Back in the stables, Yrean spent his time removing the tack and saddle from Dorian’s horse, then gave it a good rub down, before getting it’s feed bag. Yrean checked all the hooves, and the forelocks, making sure there were no small injuries. By the time he was finished, Dorian had shown up, and Yrean and he went off in search of a warm meal, and something to wash the dust from their throats.

 

Yrean Stavrosi

 

We are Grey. We stand between the Light and the Shadow

 

Mentor to Dorian

[Wretched Chaos]

Rodrik bounced happily in his saddle. The obstacle course was probably going to be the funnest competition of them all today. He stroked Thunder's mane, waiting for the signal to gather at the starting line. He shifted around to get used to the feel of Totenkompf on his back, and smiled happily when the signal to move up was given.

 

Rodrik bent slightly forward so he could stretch his legs and get a quicker boot into Thunder's haunches. The starting signal was given and he booted Thunder into a quick gallop. They entered the sand pit and contiued riding fast. Rodrik lifted a hand to cover his eyes from any snad that might be flung in his direction. They exited the sand and came to the hedge. Nothing too challenging about this either, he thought to himself. Thunder was well trained and knew exactly when to jump, easily clearing the hedge. Then they encountered the mud. Rodrik pulled up on the reins, enough to slow Thunder down, but not stop him. They sped across the mud at something slightly faster then a trot. The mud sprayed up on Thunder's legs and underbelly. The mud was thick and if he wasn't careful, might break Thunder's legs. They exited the mud, and Rodrik brought Thunder back to a full gallop. Rodrik looked ahead, and smiled. The bar. Rodrik already had his plan. Thunder himself was almost 6 feet tall, so lying flat on his back, Rodrik would not be able to make it. He would have to do something with a little more skill. Right in front of the bar, he swung himself sideways, one hand around Thunder's neck, and the other on the far side. His feet were wrapped around Thunder's midsection. He could see out of the corner of his eye, the bar passing overhead. He let several feet go by before he swung himself back into proper position. Then he came upon the dummy. He reached over his back and pulled out Totenkompf. He brought his arm out to the side and wound up for the slash. His arm came down fast and hard, with Thunder's speed an added bonus. The extremely sharp blade of his No Dachi cut rigth through the dummy, seperating the body at a diagonal. He sheathed Totenkompf, and focused on the next obstacle. Rodrik eyed the six foot rift in the ground. He booted Thunder for a little extra speed.He whispered in the stallion's ears, "You can do it buddy. You can do it." He closed his eyes and let Thunder make the jump. It felt like an eternity flying above the ground. He opened his eyes and watched Thunder land the jump, with feet to spare. He raced on and felt pride in his performance. They raced past the finish line and came to a halt.

 

He dismounted and congratulated Thunder on a great job. He slipped a bag of oats onto Thunder's mouth and started rubbing him down. He removed the bit and saddle, laying them next to the stallion. He brushed the mud off of Thunder's body and legs. He then gave him a massage where the saddle had been resting. He reflected on his thoughts before the race. He thought to himself, That was Fun!

[Asfaloth]

As he'd been informed that he was low on the list for starting Shawn had the advantage of watching several others go through the course before it was his turn. Blaize had gotten him through the other events of the day and he was confident they would make a good showing in this one as well.

 

He started off and quickly came to the first obstacle, a stretch of fifty meters or so of loose sand. The point of this competition was speed but Shawn slowed Blaize down as they entered as he was more concerned with his horse's safety than his placement in the race. Blaize stumbled a few times, not surprising since the young colt had never even walked on such a surface let alone a trot, but they made it through and onto the next hurdle.

 

This turned out to be a hedge they needed to jump over. This was a peice of cake compared to the barrel jumping event they'd come through together earlier so Shawn let Blaize take the jump however he would and kicked him on to more speed as they laded.

 

Then they were into the mud. as they entered they started spraying mud everywhere and it was then that Shawn realized the danger. There was no way to tell how deep the mud was. Twice in the fifty meters they crossed Blaize nearly twisted an ankle as he fell in a hole that appeared to be level ground.

 

Shawn thanked the Creator that they made it through without either of them getting hurt and looked for the next obstacle. There was a bar stretched across the trail that was at just that right height for a rider to be decapitated. Shawn pulled his lef leg out of the stirrup and leaned all the way over on the right side of the horse, thankful that the girth strap was secure.

 

Climbing back into the saddle with his horse at a run proved harder than getting out had been. By the time he got back in place they were passing the dummy he was supposed to strike with his weapon. Cursing to himself and wishing he'd brought his bow Shawn threw a knife at it instead. As soon as the knife left his fingers he knew he'd missed and threw another while the first was still in the air. He saw the second blade hit the target dummy right where its eye would be and turned back to see where they were.

 

Where they were was in the air. While he'd been concentrating on the dummy they'd come to a trench in the ground that had to be jumped. Shawn thanked the stablemaster that had helped him select Blaize for purchasing. The horse truly was an intelligent beast, for he had made the jump with no signal from Shawn.

 

Reaching the other side Shawn kicked his horse on to a gallop. Finsihing the course Shawn walked Blaize around in circles to cool him down. Then he unsaddled him and spent a good hour or more slowly grooming him, all the while praising him for the good work he'd done in the events of the day.