Chapter 54 – Jumping Practice II
As Nathan pulled away from the stable, Jack texted security that they were moving three horses over to the arena. When they approached the gate, security just waved to them. Jack directed Nathan to pull under the shelter when they got to the arena since he had started to rain just a bit. They quickly unloaded the horses and got them settled in stalls that lined the arena. They were greeted by Marco.
"I figured you would be over here." Marco said. "I got the course set. I also pulled the old course sheets from the classic as well as Sugar Creek"
"Good." Jack said. "I was thinking about that. I just wasn't sure where they were."
"Course sheets?" Elizabeth asked.
"I will explain." Marco said. "Go finished getting ready and on a horse."
The boys went to finish getting ready. When they went to grab the gear from the truck they realized it had been brought inside the door and the truck and trailer were already moved. Nathan shook his head and Jack just chuckled.
"Sorry." Elizabeth said. "We haven't met."
"Sorry, my dear." Marco said. "I am Marco Gonzalez. Both my wife and I are trainers here. We mainly work with jumpers, but have also helped with the jockeys."
"Elizabeth Thatcher."
"Aww." Marco said. "The lovely young lady my nephew Carlo was telling me about. You are young Mr Thornton's special lady."
Elizabeth blushed, but didn't say anything.
"I take you don't ride." Marco said.
"A little." Elizabeth said. "But it has been years."
"Well." Marco said. "We will have to get you on a horse. Now, course sheets. Every event had a sheet that they hand out to the competitors when they arrive. It shows the course and what jumps would be in a jump-off. We have kept them over the years. At the show we mark if someone has trouble with a jump or if it gets knocked down a lot. I also list my riders times and places as well as the winning time if it wasn't one of mine. Here see."
Marco showed her a few of Jack's old course sheets. He explained the jumps and the flow of the course.
"Wow." Elizabeth said. "That is a lot to remember."
"It is." Marco said. "But the more that they do it, the easier it gets. Now look at the arena and see how I have it set up similar to this sheet (pointing to the third one on his clipboard). I will time each of them running the course on each horse. Since I know the winning time, I will let them know how they would have placed and where they could have improved."
"Can I watch?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yes." Marco said. "But I will ask that you have your phone on silent and you don't make too much noise. It will echo in here and with the rain, the horses might already be a little jumpy. I will also ask that you stay behind the rail or in the room over there."
Marco showed her where she could watch through some windows.
"For now." Elizabeth said. "I will stay here."
"Good." Marco said.
It was about that time that Jack and Nathan came in with Jack leading a second horse. Marco took the extra horse and secured her to an outside railing near where Nathan was standing.
"Order." Marco said.
"Me on Bandit." Jack said. "Then Nathan on Honey. Me on Aphrodite. Nathan on Bandit and me on Honey. Nathan on Aphrodite."
"Good." Marco said. "This course is set at eighty-four seconds. Let's walk it."
After securing the horses. The three walked the course and then Jack was ready to ride. Marco got out with his stopwatch. Jack took a lap around the arena before lining up for the first jump. Elizabeth didn't understand everything, but the course didn't look easy. Jack clipped the first rail, but it stayed up. When he approached the triple bar, Bandit knocked down a rail, but Jack kept going. Jack then knocked down another fence.
"Stop." Marco called.
Jack stopped Bandit and rode over to Marco. Jack jumped down and both of them looked at Bandit's front legs. Not seeing anything wrong, Marco turned to Jack.
"Now." Marco said. "What is wrong?"
"I don't know." Jack said.
"Not an answer." Marco said. "You have cleared those heights before by themselves. That is the same combination that you missed at Sugar Creek three years ago. So what is the problem?"
"I think it might be the color of the rails." Jack said. "I don't think Bandit picked them up."
"Then show him." Marco said. "I will give you one more chance to start over before it will be a scratch."
The hands had already put the rails back up. Jack walked Bandit over to the triple bar and the other fence. He had him walk around it and even let him sniff the rail.
"We got this boy." Jack said petting Bandit's mane.
Jack lined up for another run. Jack made a loop and brought Bandit up to a canter. He went over the first vertical cleanly. He then made the triple bar and the next fence before continuing on. Jack was riding a little cautiously, but he was doing well. He went over the last jump and brought Bandit to a stop.
"Eighty-three fifty-seven." Marco said.
"That was close." Jack said.
"You could do better." Marco said. "Switch."
Jack rode Bandit over to the edge, got him a drink and then got on Aphrodite to watch Nathan go. Nathan rode over to Marco.
"Did you see what he did wrong?" Marco asked.
"Yes." Nathan said.
"Good, then don't do it." Marco said with a smirk.
Nathan rode Honey over to a few jumps and showed them to her. He then looped around and brought her up to a canter. Nathan easily went over the jumps and cut a few corners that Jack had gone long on. He clipped a rail on the triple combination, but it stayed up. When he crossed the finish line, Nathan turned and looked at Marco.
"Eighty-two ninety-seven." Marco said with a smile.
Nathan didn't say anything, but went over to where Jack was. Jack was not happy, but he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He lead Aphrodite into the arena. Nathan dismounted, got Honey a drink and then mounted Bandit, adjusting the stirrups. Jack was showing Aphrodite the jumps. Finally Jack was ready and looped around to start. He went over the jumps, but messed up the triple combination, taking a rail down. He continued riding and crossed the finish line.
"Eighty-three ninety-two, four faults." Marco said.
Jack nodded to him before heading over to the side. Marco followed to give the horse a little more of a break. Jack got Aphrodite a drink and then adjusted Honey's stirrups before mounting.
"Good job." Marco said. "What happened with the triple?"
"Not sure." Jack said. "I had done it in one long stride with Bandit, but she didn't like that."
"Because Aphrodite would need two short strides." Nathan said. "I was thinking that when we walked it. Her strides looked shorter then Bandit's."
"Very good." Marco said. "Ready?"
"Yes, Sir." Nathan said.
"Then let's go." Marco said.
Nathan led Bandit out into the ring and showed him the jumps. He then looped around, but before heading for the first jump, Nathan leaned down and whispered something to the horse. Bandit nickered and Nathan gave a little laugh. He then looped around again, this time taking the first jump. He made quick work of the jumps turning the tight corners like he had done on Honey. Jack sat watching Nathan's every move. He wondered what Nathan had said to the horse, because they both looked to be having fun and Bandit was taking jumps like they were simple one foot rails, not three elevens. Nathan clipped a couple rails and had a few hard rubs, but they all stayed up. When he crossed the finish line, he again turned and looked at Marco.
"Eighty-three fifteen." Marco said.
Again, Nathan tried to hide his smile, but he couldn't. He rode over to the side, getting a drink for Bandit. He adjusted the stirrups for Aphrodite while Jack rode into the ring on Honey. Before starting, Jack leaned down and said something to Honey. Nathan was calmly talking to Aphrodite at the start gate. After showing Honey a couple of the jumps, Jack was feeling more confident as he looped around and took the first jump. He cut a tight turn and continued. As he lined up for the triple, he gave Honey a little more leg and they made it through easily. He cut another tight corner and lined up for the last couple of jumps. He sailed over them only rubbing one. When he crossed the finish line, he turned and looked at Marco.
"Eighty-two forty-seven." Marco said.
Jack had a huge smile on his face as he rode over to Nathan. Nathan gave him a nod and took Aphrodite into the ring. He showed her a couple of the jumps and then looped around. He gave the first one a hard rub, but it stayed up. Aphrodite responded to Nathan and he was able to cut a few corners on her that he had on Honey. He remembered the two short strides through the first part of the triple combination. He crossed the finish line and turned to look at Marco.
"Eighty-three twenty-two." Marco said.
They walked over to Jack. Nathan got Aphrodite a drink.
"Good job boys." Marco said. "If this would have been at the competition, either of you would have done really well. There were thirty seven total jumpers. Seven made the jump-off."
"Wait." Jack said. "This was the intermediate course at Sugar Creek under eighteen three years ago."
"Yep." Marco said. "Your first year jumping intermediate full-time. Remember how you did?"
"Third." Jack said with a little disgust in his voice.
"Correct." Marco said. "You lost the jump-off by two tenths of a second."
"That is really good." Nathan said. "Jack you were what fifteen?"
"Yes." Jack said.
"How old were the other jumpers in your class?" Nathan asked.
"Mostly sixteen and seventeen." Jack said. "There were a few eighteen year olds that hadn't moved to advanced."
"Exactly." Nathan said. "You were the youngest in the class and yet, you made the jump-off and took third."
"Guess I didn't look at it that way." Jack said.
"No, no you didn't." Marco said. "You hated that yellow ribbon. You didn't even want to go get it."
Nathan turned to hide his smirk. He could just picture fifteen year old Jack not wanting to accept the yellow ribbon. He wondered what happened to the ribbon. That made him realize that there weren't any of Jack's ribbons in his room.
"Yeah." Jack said. "It was also the very last yellow ribbon that I ever won."
"My point." Marco said. "You either took first or second or you missed the jump-off if grand style from there on out."
"So what happened to the yellow ribbon?" Nathan asked.
"It is the trophy case." Jack said. "Where most of my ribbons are. The only ones I have at home are my very first blue and my champion one from the Fall Classic. I have a few of my hunter jumper and equitation ones as well."
"Enough talk." Marco said. "I want Jack to run through the course again on Bandit and Nathan on Aphrodite. Then I want you to spend some time just riding each of the horses, but not over jumps – at least not those heights. Then a work out."
"Yes, Sir." Nathan and Jack both said.
Marco walked away from the boys and saw Elizabeth standing there. He nodded to her. Elizabeth went over to the boys.
"You both did really well." Elizabeth said.
"Thank you." Nathan said.
"Thank you." Jack said. "But I think Nathan did better."
"So." Elizabeth said. "Learn from it."
"We each need to ride one more time." Jack said.
"I heard." Elizabeth said.
"Want to stand here and hold Honey's reins?" Jack asked.
Elizabeth took the reins that Jack had offered her. Nathan started out on the course as Jack adjusted Bandit's stirrups again. He watched Nathan and he looked good on Aphrodite. He wondered what Doug would feel about it. When Nathan was done, Jack took his turn. When Jack finished, he looked at his watch. He rode over to Nathan and Elizabeth.
"Let's get these guys back." Jack said. "We can ride them later."
"Let's leave them here." Nathan said. "Looks like rain on and off all day. We can come back over here this afternoon."
"Okay." Jack said. "Let's get them brushed and stalled over here."
The three of them lead the horses over to the side stalls. Jack pulled some brushes and they worked taking care of the horses. Jack then made sure that they each had some hay. He then talked to a couple of hands to let them know that they would be back later to ride some more.
"Let's walk back." Jack said. "Or we can take a side by side."
"Let's take a side by side." Nathan said. "It is still lightly raining."
"Okay." Jack said. "Want to leave your helmet and vest here?"
"Sure." Nathan said.
They boys went and put things in Jack's locker at the arena. They then headed back to the stable. Elizabeth headed to the house. Nathan went to check on Ghost and he was fine. Jack and Nathan then changed and headed to the house to workout.