Day Two Competition - Barrel Jumping

[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.

 

The obsticals for you to conquer are as follows:

 

1 barrel on end

2 barrels stacked on end

3 barrels stacked on sides in primad

4 barrels stacked on sides 2 wide

6 barrels 3 wide stacked on sides

9 barrels 3 wide stacked on sides

 

Mat

[Wretched Chaos]

Rodrik booted Thunder into a gallop, attempting to get enough speed to jump the barrels. Here was going to be the most challenging competition of everything. It would take a calm head and faith in your horse to win this competition. Fortunately he had both. He thought about a third factor that was completely unpredictable. Luck. He would need lots of luck to come out on top in this one. He foucused on the race.

 

The first barrel he would have to jump was stacked on its end, not that hard if you have enough speed. Thunder raced towards it and Rodrik gave Thunder the familiar pat that let the stallion know that it was time to jump. Thunder cleared it easily and they raced on.

 

The second obstacle were two barrels stacked on end. A little longer distance to jump, but still not that difficult. Thunder had made bigger jumps before. Rodrik gave the pat again and Thunder flew over them landing with a nice jolt. Rodrik whispered encouragement to Thunder.

 

Rodrik still felt at ease when he saw how the barrels were stacked this time. 3 sideways? That was kids stuff back home. He let Thunder make the jump on his own, as this was a distance that Thunder was very familar with. They cleared the obstacles again, and Rodrik offered up a little prayer for their luck to continue until the end of the race.

 

The fourth obstacle gave Rodrik a little smile. Hopefully they were all as easy as this. He gave Thunder the pat again, but this time Thunder stumbled. Rodrik felt fear soar through his body as he knew what would happen if Thunder fell. Fortunately, Thunder recovered in time to make the jump, although this time, they didn't have as smooth a landing as the others. Thunder did a sideways dance, before Rodrik booted Thunder back into a gallop.

 

The fifth jump was a little tougher, but Rodrik was confident that Thunder could make it. Rodrik knew from eperience that horses would begin to tire and stumble more after being worked as hard as Thunder was being now. He could only hope that Thunder's stamina would hold up. Thunder made the jump himself and Rodrik shifted his weight forward to help with the landing. The jolt partially throughh Rodrik out of his saddle, but he recovered quickly. Onto the final jump.

 

Rodrik's mouth dropped as he saw the final jump. 3 wide and 3 deep. He was in trouble. He bent over Thunder's neck and whispered as much encouragement as possible. He prayed to the Creator, and wished to the Light for Thunder to make the jump and bring in one victory, for Thunder. Thunder's hooves left the ground, and the stallion soared for what felt like an eternity. Rodrik kept his eyes shut and continued praying. He felt Thunder's forehooves strike the gorund. All he needed was a few more feet and Thunder was over. He opened his eyes and everything moved as if in slowmotion. The rear hooves came down, antagonizingly slowly. He felt a surge of pride as he felt them hit solid ground. He crossed the finish line and leaped off Thunder, hugging the stallion tightly, thankful that they were safe.

 

He watched the other contestants jmp and waited for the judges to announce the winner. During that time he had took care of Thunder. He only hoped that his friend could last the rest of the races before being burned out. He prayed silently.

[Asfaloth]

Barrel jumping, now this was a competition Shawn felt he could handle. The ring joust earlier had scared him as he'd had no experience in a competition of that sort but this was something he had trained for. This was something he and his horse were especially gifted for. Both of Blaize's parents had been superb jumpers and the stablemaster had told him when he bought the horse that he would be too.

 

The first jump was easy. So easy in fact that Blaize barely had to jump at all. In fact, his belly and feet just barely missed hitting the barrel as they soared over it. It might not look very showy to the crowd but Shawn knew Blaize needed to save his stength for the harder jumps to come.

 

The second jump was a bit more challenging with two barrels stacked on end. As they approached Shawn gave the signal with his knees and they flew through the air. Shawn kept a grip with his knees as they flew through the air to lessen the impact on landing.

 

Shawn kicked Blaize, encouraging him to gather speed as they approached the next jump. The jumps were getting progressively harder, this one consisting of three barrles stacked in a pyramid shape. Shawn and Blaize had done jumps this size before together so Shawn just let the horse take the jump for himself.

 

The next jump was a little longer so Shawn again encouraged Blaize to gain more speed. They sailed over the four barrels and went on to the next jump.

 

The penultimate jump was higher and longer than the previous ones. They cleared it easily enough but came down hard and Blaize twisted a bit as they landed. Shawn worried about his horse and thought about turning aside without attempting to make the last jump, he didn't want to hurt his horse after all.

 

But Blaize was determined to see it through. Shawn pulled on the reigns to slow the horse but Blaize just through his head forward and sped up. Once he saw which way it would go Shawn let Blaize have his head and take the jump. Blaize flew over all nine barrels of the last jump, impressing most in the crowd since he was still a rather small and young horse.

 

Shawn praised his horse as he rubbed him down after the race and stood by to watch the others.

[tismeb4u]

Corin Sat the stool set on the platform for the judges as the progression of riders worked their mounts around the course. Some set a hard pace at the beginning and others eased their way around the first part of the course saving the horses legs for the big jumps near the end. Indeed after watching several take a spill on the last or near last jump Corin was more then happy he had chosen to work this position in the competition and not the participate role.

 

Two riders intrigued Corin in their skills and somewhat differences in the methods of their start for the competition. A man he noted from the score sheet as Rodrik had his mount almost flat out as he took the first obstacle and tried to keep him at that break neck speed through the whole course it seemed. Surprisingly they actually did rather well, though the horse seemed to stumble heading into the fourth, which in turn caused Rodrik to over compensate in the fifth and almost come out of the saddle. But the two seemed to hold on to finish the course. It was not exactly clean but it was definitely one of the better runs at that time.

 

The second Corin did not need his sheet to tell him who rode the young mount at a canter to start. Shawn was one of Corin’s mentees which was turning out to make this judging a little harder then it normally would. He was a judge and as such he had to remain impartial to all the competitors; reminded himself as the boy began to add speed to the approach of each successive jump. Indeed they where working very well together and the run so far had been nice and clean. As if the thought itself set a rock in motion down a steep slope, the horse Shawn rode came down in an awkward and hazardous landing from the fourth. Even Shawn seemed to recognise the potential for injury and drew back on the reins, but the feisty young mount seemed to have it’s own mind and carried them over the final jump cleanly if rather low. The boy had been smart to give him his head before the jump allowing the horse to complete the jump. More training was definitely needed to educate his mount.

 

All and all the jumping turned out to be quite entertaining and for the most part injury free. There were a few spills but thankfully they did not need to put any of the mounts down in the end; one was definitely not going to be carrying a rider for several weeks after the fall it took on the fourth. But other then sprains and bruises the competition had completed without major mishap. Rising from the stool that had been less then comfortable after the time it had taken to get all the competitors through Corin proceeded off the platform and handed his score cards in to the head judge on his way out. Now it was time for a few ale and perhaps a hot bath for his backside; well at least he was sure he could find some ale.

 

OOC: good work you two. Thank you for keeping your agreement to participate in the compitions and post. :D

 

 

Corin Danveer

Tower Guard