When Jess had dismounted from the horse she'd just had a lesson on and led him back to the yard, an owner of one of the liveries came up to her and said that she'd liked her riding, which Jess was astounded by, and asked Jess whether she'd like to exercise her 9 year old elegant TB bay mare, Shannon, for her. Jess jumped at the chance and half an hour later found herself sitting on top of the beautiful 15.3hh horse.
When she'd warmed up, the lady set out a small jumping course, taught Jess the route and warned her that the mare could get a bit excited when it came to jumping. The rest was up to Jess. Jess rode Shannon up to the first fence, determined to stay for most of the course in trot. She jumped the first fence beautifully, but then Shannon decided that this was fun, and cantered quickly in the wrong direction. Jess tried to get her back to trot but, when this failed, tried to steer her towards the next fence, which she managed. Although it was a bit fast, they jumped it.
By this time Shannon was really having fun and Jess felt herself losing control. But she managed to aim at the next fence, which happened to be larger than the previous ones and Shannon sped up and, with Jess unprepared, took a huge extended leap, lurching Jess right out of the saddle. Jess managed to cling on and push herself back into the saddle, pulling on the reins as hard as she could. She somehow steered the excited horse round the next corner and set her up straight for the next fence, which unfortunately had a long run-up to it. Shannon galloped up the run up and, finding that she was running out of room for another stride, took an extra big jump but not quite making it, knocking down the pole and bumping Jess right out of the saddle and onto the floor.
With no rider, Shannon continued round for a bit, leaving Jess thoroughly embarrassed. When Shannon had calmed down and Jess had picked herself up off the floor, Shannon's owner came over. "Well done for staying on for so long!" she cried, "I think you and Shannon have definitely got potential. Come next week and I'll give you some tips." Jess, thinking she was mad, agreed and could only look forwards to next Sunday, when she could ride Shannon again........
Sarah Green
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