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Description
Lauren will come round to dressage in time, I'm just going to make her suffer a bit first because I'm evil like that. But not too evil, she can get broken in gently first! Zdarloch, Stridsholt, and Rune all belong to Zoubstance who is kind enough to let me play with them. Only Lauren and Zanetta belong to me. The arena is referenced from pics provided by Zoubstance, no ref used for the horse or rider so excuse any wonkyness. Lauren's position is terrible, but for story reasons, promise.

Story

The thing about visiting Zdarloch and meeting the people there was that as lovely as the day had been, it made Lauren feel even more homesick for her old stables. Stridsholt was a beautiful place with outstanding facilities, some of the best horses and riders in the world trained there and Lauren was sure that most people would kill to be in her position. But it all felt a bit too polished and perfect to her, like the show her parents put on in front of guests despite their numerous problems. It lacked the warmth and friendship of Zdarloch or her old stables, and Lauren was under no illusions that she was a total outsider here. The fact that she wasn't a trained dressage rider certainly didn't help matters with the other students, all of whom were training at a much higher level. She'd been interrogated by them on her first evening and they'd been horrified to learn that not only was she not on any dressage team, but that she had no interest in dressage whatsoever. Apparently show jumping, especially at the very junior level; she'd been at, didn't count for anything here. Since that first day it was clear that she was the very lowest in the pecking order and was at best ignored and at worst subjected to sly looks and sniggers whenever they saw her. Comments that were muttered just loud enough for her to hear were also common, especially about her riding, "my five year old cousin rides better!', her tack, "Is that a general purpose saddle? Oh bless", and her general taste, "Honestly, hot pink zebra! Soo tacky". None of it had helped her feel any less alone and Lauren had spent most of her time avoiding other people as much as possible. Unfortunately she had to go to a lesson at some point, and if she was honest she was rather dreading it.

Zen was all tacked up and ready to go, but Lauren was stalling for time. At least lessons at Stridsholt were private ones so she was saved from the humiliation of trying to keep up with the others. Taking a deep breath, Lauren led Zen out of the stable and towards the outdoor arena. Rune had told her to be warmed up and ready to go so she did her best. The showy warm ups the others seemed to favour were way beyond the pair. The only way they were going sideways was if something went wrong! So Lauren stuck to what she knew and did basic transitions to get Zen awake and listening, and some easy circles to encourage her to bend. After all, Zen was only six and there was plenty of time for them to learn other stuff. At least she hoped so.

Rune came over to the pair and said hello before going through the basics with them. Lauren was relieved by the fact that he seemed unbothered by just how little they knew, and rather than asking them for impossible movements was happy to ask for her to demonstrate walk, trot and canter, work on transitions between the paces, and do some serpentine and circles. As the lesson went on and they still hadn't been asked to do something daft like a piaffe, Lauren relaxed and found herself almost disappointed when Rune called her into the centre at the end.
"You look good together, especially by the end when you'd relaxed. At first you were rather hunched over and tense, and you could see it in Zen's movements. Nervous?
Something about the man made Lauren warm to him and reply honestly. "Terrified. I thought you might ask us to do something completely stupid like piaffe or passage!" Rune laughed.
"Absolutely not! You're a long way from that and Zen is far too young in any case. Did you feel the difference in her between the start and the end of the lesson?"
Lauren thought, and marvelled somewhat that she could. "Yes, actually. It was like everything felt choppy and hard work at the start, but by the end things felt much easier and she was listening better. Does that make sense?"
"Good! It does, although I need to point out that it wasn't Zen getting better at listening, rather you were getting better at telling her what to do. Like any horse she takes her cues from her rider. When you were tense and almost curled up in the saddle she was more worried something was wrong and looking for threats than interested in listening. As you relaxed, so did she. And once you relaxed your seat massively improved, which meant the aids you were giving were much clearer to her."
Lauren nodded. "That makes sense. So how do I work on that?"
"I want you to focus on your riding position. Whether it's in the school, or on a hack, any time you're riding. Keep your hands and arms soft and give with the reins. Let your legs hang long, you ride pretty short at the moment. Focus on them stretching towards the ground with your ankles, hip and head being in a line. You can check in the mirror, just don't spend all your time admiring yourself!"

Lauren laughed and thanked him before heading back towards the stables in a much happier mood. Everything Rune said made sense, and he had a back for explaining things to her in a way she could understand. He also seemed to have a sense of humour, a far cry from the dressage dragon she had feared initially. Perhaps her stay here wouldn't be so bad after all.

Description
Lauren will come round to dressage in time, I'm just going to make her suffer a bit first because I'm evil like that. But not too evil, she can get broken in gently first! Zdarloch, Stridsholt, and Rune all belong to Zoubstance who is kind enough to let me play with them. Only Lauren and Zanetta belong to me. The arena is referenced from pics provided by Zoubstance, no ref used for the horse or rider so excuse any wonkyness. Lauren's position is terrible, but for story reasons, promise.

Story

The thing about visiting Zdarloch and meeting the people there was that as lovely as the day had been, it made Lauren feel even more homesick for her old stables. Stridsholt was a beautiful place with outstanding facilities, some of the best horses and riders in the world trained there and Lauren was sure that most people would kill to be in her position. But it all felt a bit too polished and perfect to her, like the show her parents put on in front of guests despite their numerous problems. It lacked the warmth and friendship of Zdarloch or her old stables, and Lauren was under no illusions that she was a total outsider here. The fact that she wasn't a trained dressage rider certainly didn't help matters with the other students, all of whom were training at a much higher level. She'd been interrogated by them on her first evening and they'd been horrified to learn that not only was she not on any dressage team, but that she had no interest in dressage whatsoever. Apparently show jumping, especially at the very junior level; she'd been at, didn't count for anything here. Since that first day it was clear that she was the very lowest in the pecking order and was at best ignored and at worst subjected to sly looks and sniggers whenever they saw her. Comments that were muttered just loud enough for her to hear were also common, especially about her riding, "my five year old cousin rides better!', her tack, "Is that a general purpose saddle? Oh bless", and her general taste, "Honestly, hot pink zebra! Soo tacky". None of it had helped her feel any less alone and Lauren had spent most of her time avoiding other people as much as possible. Unfortunately she had to go to a lesson at some point, and if she was honest she was rather dreading it.

Zen was all tacked up and ready to go, but Lauren was stalling for time. At least lessons at Stridsholt were private ones so she was saved from the humiliation of trying to keep up with the others. Taking a deep breath, Lauren led Zen out of the stable and towards the outdoor arena. Rune had told her to be warmed up and ready to go so she did her best. The showy warm ups the others seemed to favour were way beyond the pair. The only way they were going sideways was if something went wrong! So Lauren stuck to what she knew and did basic transitions to get Zen awake and listening, and some easy circles to encourage her to bend. After all, Zen was only six and there was plenty of time for them to learn other stuff. At least she hoped so.

Rune came over to the pair and said hello before going through the basics with them. Lauren was relieved by the fact that he seemed unbothered by just how little they knew, and rather than asking them for impossible movements was happy to ask for her to demonstrate walk, trot and canter, work on transitions between the paces, and do some serpentine and circles. As the lesson went on and they still hadn't been asked to do something daft like a piaffe, Lauren relaxed and found herself almost disappointed when Rune called her into the centre at the end.
"You look good together, especially by the end when you'd relaxed. At first you were rather hunched over and tense, and you could see it in Zen's movements. Nervous?
Something about the man made Lauren warm to him and reply honestly. "Terrified. I thought you might ask us to do something completely stupid like piaffe or passage!" Rune laughed.
"Absolutely not! You're a long way from that and Zen is far too young in any case. Did you feel the difference in her between the start and the end of the lesson?"
Lauren thought, and marvelled somewhat that she could. "Yes, actually. It was like everything felt choppy and hard work at the start, but by the end things felt much easier and she was listening better. Does that make sense?"
"Good! It does, although I need to point out that it wasn't Zen getting better at listening, rather you were getting better at telling her what to do. Like any horse she takes her cues from her rider. When you were tense and almost curled up in the saddle she was more worried something was wrong and looking for threats than interested in listening. As you relaxed, so did she. And once you relaxed your seat massively improved, which meant the aids you were giving were much clearer to her."
Lauren nodded. "That makes sense. So how do I work on that?"
"I want you to focus on your riding position. Whether it's in the school, or on a hack, any time you're riding. Keep your hands and arms soft and give with the reins. Let your legs hang long, you ride pretty short at the moment. Focus on them stretching towards the ground with your ankles, hip and head being in a line. You can check in the mirror, just don't spend all your time admiring yourself!"

Lauren laughed and thanked him before heading back towards the stables in a much happier mood. Everything Rune said made sense, and he had a back for explaining things to her in a way she could understand. He also seemed to have a sense of humour, a far cry from the dressage dragon she had feared initially. Perhaps her stay here wouldn't be so bad after all.