Back in the Saddle (10 page)

SUNDAY WAS WARM
and still, with a hint of the pleasant spring weather that would be arriving before long. Haley leaned forward in the passenger seat of her uncle's truck as he pulled up to Jan's modest clapboard barn, set in the midst of stubbly winter fields that would soon be sprouting with corn and hay and soybeans. Andrew was already grooming his horse in the outdoor wash rack between the barn and the outdoor ring.

By the time Haley had unloaded Wings and led him over to the tie ring beside Turbo, Kyle and Augie had arrived too. Andrew had Turbo tacked up before the others, but he stood nearby and let the thoroughbred graze
on the wispy bits of early spring grass while Haley and Kyle finished getting their horses ready.

“So,” Kyle said. “I talked to my parents, and I'm going to do that event next weekend too.”

“Cool.” Haley looked up from trying to brush a manure stain out of the white part of her pony's coat. It was still too cold for a proper bath, so keeping him clean was a constant challenge. “Guess we'll all be fighting for that blue ribbon again.”

Andrew laughed, but Kyle shook his head. “Nope, I'll leave that to you two. I'm going to drop back a level.”

“Really?” That made Haley look up again. At unrecognized events it was common for there to be levels well below beginner novice, which was the lowest recognized level. She and Wings had done their first competition at something called mini-amoeba level, over a cross-country course that had been totally enclosed in a large fenced field, with obstacles ranging from small logs on the ground to railroad ties and simple flower boxes.

Jan appeared at the end of the barn aisle just in time to hear Kyle's comment. She was leading a tall, elegant
dapple-gray gelding. The horse was fully tacked up in Jan's jumping saddle, with a running martingale attached to his bridle. Haley had met Cancun the last time she'd come to Jan's for a lesson. He was a talented jumper but had turned out to be a little too lively and bold for his previous career as a show hunter. His new owner wanted to event him, so Jan was teaching him the basics.

“I got your text about dropping back a level, Kyle,” Jan said. “I think it's a good idea. You guys did fine last time, but I think you'd both gain confidence from a good stadium round, and dropping down is probably the best way to do it.” She glanced at Wings. “Haley, you might want to consider trying elementary this time too. You and Wings could probably—”

“No!” Haley blurted out. “I mean, I don't think that's necessary. We'll be ready for BN this time.”

Jan raised her eyebrows. “Okay,” she said with a shrug. “Thought that stop might've shaken you up a little—you were awfully quiet afterward.”

“I was just trying to figure out what I'd done wrong so I could fix it.” Haley squared her shoulders, looking her
trainer in the eye. “And I know we can do this.”

Jan nodded. “Fine. Sounds like you're confident, so no worries.”

Kyle was watching Cancun as the big gray horse sniffed noses with Turbo. “Are you riding with us today?” he asked the trainer.

“Thought I would, if nobody minds.” Jan tugged lightly on the reins to pull her horse away from the other gelding. “We probably won't jump, but Cancun could use some more experience just being in the ring with other horses before we tackle the warm-up area next weekend.”

“You mean you're entering him in the event?” Kyle asked. “The one we're all doing?”

“Uh-huh. We're going to give BN a whirl, see how he does.”

Haley was still a little distracted by Jan's suggestion, however mild, that she and Wings drop down a level. But now she tuned in again. “You'll be competing against us?” she blurted out.

Jan chuckled. “Looks that way. But don't worry. Cancun and I won't be chasing ribbons. This is his first
event—we're just going to give it a go, try to have a nice, calm dressage test and then see how he reacts to being out on a cross-country course in an unfamiliar place.” She patted the gray gelding. “I know he won't have any trouble with the physical part—he's jumped much bigger than BN height before—but the mental part? That's an open question.”

Haley nodded, though she knew that Jan wouldn't enter the event if she wasn't pretty confident that the horse was ready. Haley tried not to think about that as she grabbed her saddle.

Suddenly Jan's phone buzzed. Pulling it out of her pocket, she glanced at the screen. “I've got to take this,” she said. “See you all in the ring in five?”

“We'll be there,” Kyle told her.

Haley watched the trainer hurry away with her phone pressed to her ear and Cancun trailing along behind her. “Wow,” Haley said. “It's weird to think about competing against Jan, right?”

“Yeah.” Andrew shrugged. “That sort of thing happens a lot in eventing, though.”

“I guess.” Haley knew he was right. Upper-level riders often rode young or green horses at the lower levels as part of their training. At the bigger recognized events down toward Chicago, where Haley had spectated a few times, it wasn't unusual to see former Olympians riding at training level—and not always winning either.

“Makes me even happier that I'm dropping back,” Kyle joked. “So I guess you guys had better school extra hard this week, huh?”

“Don't worry. Already on it.” Haley set the saddle onto her pony's back. “Wings and I have been working really hard all week, especially on dressage. I'm starting to see dressage letters whenever I close my eyes to go to sleep.”

Andrew chuckled. “I'm not quite that bad. Turbo gets burned out on dressage pretty easily, so we've mostly been hacking out. It's easier to work on stuff like bending and adjusting our stride if he doesn't know it's dressage, you know?” He winked and gave his horse a pat.

“Wow.” Kyle shook his head and grinned. “Guess I'm just a slacker compared to you two. Augie and I took the week off from schooling, pretty much. Just went on
the trails a couple of times, and did some barrel racing with my neighbor on Friday afternoon.” He shrugged. “Well, folding-chair racing, technically. We didn't have any barrels.”

Andrew laughed as he handed Kyle the bridle hanging near Augie's head. “Sounds fun. Come on, let's get out there.”

Jan was already in the ring when they arrived. She was in the saddle, walking Cancun on a loose rein while talking on the phone. When she saw the students coming, she hung up and stuck the phone back into her pocket.

“Let's get them warmed up with some basic flatwork,” she called. “Loose rein, ride off your seats and legs, and let's play follow the leader.”

She led the way through their warm-up, starting off on the rail and then switching to circles and figure eights around the jumps set up in the ring. Wings felt lively and alert, pricking his ears at each jump as they passed it.

“I know, buddy,” Haley whispered, giving him a quick rub on the withers as they followed Turbo around another turn. “I can't wait to start jumping either.”

When all the horses were loose and listening, Jan halted her horse in the center of the ring. She pointed to a line of two jumps—a vertical to a panel.

“We'll start here,” she said. “Treat it as a gymnastic—trot in, canter out. Haley, you're up first.”

Haley nodded, turning Wings away from the others to begin her approach to the line Jan had indicated. The jumps were small, maybe two foot three or so. Wings tried to break into a canter as soon as he realized they were heading for a jump, but Haley held him back.

“Trot, boy,” she said firmly. “Trrrrot.”

She could feel his energy building beneath her as he surged toward the vertical. He leaped over it and landed at a forward canter, kicking up his heels after the first stride.

Haley laughed. “Focus, Wingsie!” she cried as the pony charged ahead, ears pricked. “There's another jump coming.”

The pony leaped over the second fence easily, and Haley had to circle him several times before he broke back to a choppy trot and then a walk.

Jan was smiling as Haley and Wings returned to the
group. “Well, he certainly seems enthusiastic today,” she quipped. “Andrew? You're next.”

Turbo completed the simple exercise easily, and then it was Kyle's turn. He had no trouble keeping his horse at a trot; in fact, a few strides out Jan called, “Leg! Keep him moving forward!”

Kyle glanced over at her, then kicked, but Augie barely responded. The buckskin gelding lurched over the first jump, barely lifting his feet, and the top rail clanked to the ground.

“Keep going!” Jan called.

Kyle nodded, kicking harder. Augie finally lumbered into a canter, and the next jump went much better.

Jan had already dismounted and was leading Cancun over to reset the first fence. “Okay, let's try that again, Kyle,” she said. “Start at a canter this time. I think we need to make sure Mr. Augie's awake before we move on.”

Andrew and Kyle chuckled, but Haley's smile felt forced and she opened and closed her hands on the reins impatiently. It had been a while since she'd shared a stadium jumping lesson with Kyle—long enough to have
almost forgotten what it was like. Augie was super-reliable over just about any kind of cross-country fence, since the horse knew they were solid and wouldn't give way if he hit them. But he was smart enough to recognize that the jumps in the ring fell down much more easily, and he tended to get lazy about picking up his feet. That was why he had so much trouble in that phase.

And sure enough, as the lesson progressed, Augie stayed true to form. He was a little better over the panel and gate, but any top rail was more likely than not to end up on the ground.

“Sorry,” Kyle said breathlessly, pulling his horse to a halt after making mincemeat out of yet another line of fences. “We haven't really done any jumping since the event. Guess it shows, huh?”

“It's all right.” Jan slid down from the saddle again. “Let me put the fences down a couple of holes, and let's see if it goes any better then.”

Haley swallowed back a sigh of frustration. She'd hoped that today's lesson would really help her and Wings, get them both sharp for next week's competition. But here
they were spending their time on remedial stuff instead!

I might as well have stayed home and schooled on my own,
she thought.

But she almost immediately shook her head. She always learned a lot in Jan's lessons, no matter what the students did. This would be good for her and Wings. At the very least it was a reminder of what
not
to do.

Finally, at the end Jan set up a full course at BN show height. She sent Andrew and Turbo out over it first, and then Haley and Wings.

By the time Wings had landed after the final fence, Haley was smiling again. He'd felt great out there, attacking every jump with gusto and not even coming close to touching a rail.

“Great!” Jan called. “Wings is such a super little jumper—I swear he has more scope than most horses two hands taller than him!”

“Thanks.” Haley dropped her reins and leaned down to give Wings a big hug around the neck. “See? Told you we were ready for BN.” She grinned at Jan to show that she was just kidding. Well, mostly, anyway.

Jan laughed. “Okay, okay. Now if you all don't mind, I'd like to see if Cancun and I are ready for BN. If you're in a hurry, you can go cool down outside; otherwise stay in the middle, okay?”

“Sure!” Haley quickly gathered her reins and nudged Wings into a walk, riding him toward the open area at the center of the ring. She was glad that Jan had decided to jump Cancun today after all. Haley loved watching her trainer ride, and especially loved watching her jump. The two boys joined her, letting their horses stand on a loose rein while Jan trotted and cantered around the ring a couple of times to get Cancun loosened up again. Then Jan aimed the big dapple gray at the first fence of the course.

Cancun's ears pricked sharply forward when he realized they were heading for the jump. His canter slowed, and he drifted sideways—first to the left, and then when Jan stopped him, to the right. But Jan kept his head pointed toward the fence the whole time, and when they got there, he hesitated only slightly before leaping over it and racing forward on the far side.

Haley held her breath. She could hear Jan talking to
the big gelding, though the trainer's aids were so subtle that it didn't look like she was doing anything else. Haley knew she was, though, since Cancun tipped an ear back toward his rider, and his pace slowed and collected. He met the second fence neatly out of stride, though he jumped a little higher than necessary and swished his tail upon landing.

Next came a vertical that Jan had decorated with brightly colored fake flowers to help prepare the horses for whatever type of filler they might find on the jumps at an event. Cancun slowed down again as he approached, his head going up as he gave the flowers a hard stare.

But once again Jan kept him moving forward, and once again Cancun hesitated only for a split second before leaping over the jump. He spurted forward on the far side and let out a small buck, which Jan sat through easily before sending him on.

“Hey, look, Wings—you're not the only one who does that,” Kyle commented with a grin.

Haley laughed and patted her pony. “But he looks cuter doing it,” she told the boys.

Then she watched as Jan circled Cancun back around, aiming him at the flower fence again. Doing that at a real event would get you eliminated, but Haley knew it wasn't about doing things the proper way right now. Jan was schooling Cancun, making sure he was learning all the time, and this was what Jan thought he needed to do to learn what she was teaching him. And it seemed to work, since the gray gelding cleared the flowers nicely the second time.

After that Jan continued on to the next jump, not deviating again until they'd finished the course. “Wow, that was nice,” Andrew commented. “But it's pretty obvious why Cancun flunked out of hunters.”