The A Circuit 04- Rein It In (3 page)

“I should get going, too,” she told Marissa. “See you in the ring.”

Soon she was leading her equitation horse, a massive
warmblood gelding named Orion, into a grooming stall. A lanky, restless bay Thoroughbred was already cross-tied in the next bay over. His owner, Dani, was humming as she groomed him.

“How’s the leg?” Tommi asked as she clipped the ties to Orion’s halter.

Dani glanced over, then grinned and did a funny little jig step. “Good as new,” she said, smacking herself on the thigh. “Not that Jamie believes it. He totally banished me from riding at Cap Challenge—says it’s too soon.”

“He’s just being cautious, like always.” Tommi grabbed a brush out of her grooming kit. “I think it really freaked him out when you got hurt.”

She still winced a bit herself every time she thought about that lesson. Dani had been lucky to get away with just a broken leg when her horse had tossed her into the ring’s wooden fence. The cast had come off a little over a week ago, and Dani had needed every ounce of her outgoing, optimistic personality to convince Jamie she was ready to ride at the upcoming indoor shows—some of them, at least.

Just then Summer clattered into view, dragging her horse along behind her. “Am I late?” she asked. “My mom’s stupid business meeting ran like a million hours overtime. Then when I got here, I had to spend another million hours searching for my bridle. Why can’t people just leave stuff where it’s supposed to be?”

Tommi traded a quick, amused look with Dani. Pelham Lane was the most organized place imaginable, with a place for everything and everything in its place. Summer, on the other hand, was notorious for leaving her things strewn around the barn and expecting the staff to put them all away for her.

“You’ll be fine if you hurry,” Tommi told Summer.

Dani nodded. “I’m not sure Fitz is even here yet.”

“Oh. Good.” Summer led her horse into a grooming stall. “So what are you guys talking about?”

“Just my leg,” Dani said. “I was saying Jamie’s still acting like it’ll break again if anyone looks at me cross-eyed. He convinced my parents to lock me in my room until after Cap Challenge.” She rolled her eyes dramatically.

“You’re still going to Harrisburg though, right?” Summer asked. “You should totally write in to that blog and tell them that. Because everyone’s probably wondering since that post last week.”

“What post?” Tommi asked.

“Didn’t you see it? You must be, like, the only person on the circuit who didn’t.” Summer fiddled with her horse’s halter. “It said all this stuff about how Dani was, like, battling with Jamie over whether he’d allow her to ride at Indoors at all.”

“Hmm.” Suddenly Tommi was tired of hearing about the stupid blog. Time for a change of subject. Shifting her brush to her other hand, she glanced at Dani. “So you’re definitely going to Harrisburg though, right? Did you qualify for either of the other shows, or wasn’t there time what with the leg thing?”

“Luckily Red and I snagged enough points early.” Dani grabbed a saddle pad and slung it over her horse’s back, causing him to dance in place and snort. “We’re in with room to spare at Washington, but just squeaked through over the cutoff for the National.”

“Nice.” Tommi tossed the brush back into her kit. Capital
Challenge or not, she knew Dani had to be pleased with her upcoming show schedule. Her horse was talented and scopey but could be challenging to ride, and the year before the pair hadn’t racked up enough points to qualify for anything at Indoors.

“Hey, I forgot my girth,” Summer said. “Watch my horse for a sec, okay?”

“Sure,” Tommi said, though Summer was already rushing off without waiting for a response. Her horse had one hind leg cocked and appeared to be falling asleep in the cross-ties, so he wasn’t likely to go anywhere.

Besides, it was practically a miracle that Summer was tacking up for the lesson herself instead of trying to finagle a groom into doing it for her. Jamie wanted his program to turn out horsemen, not just riders, which meant he liked the serious juniors to do as much of their own horse care as their skills and schedules allowed. And right before a show that preference became a rule, at least when it came to grooming and tacking up, since the grooms had more than enough to do without stopping to prepare a horse for a junior who was feeling lazy. Not that Summer usually paid attention to that sort of thing. Tommi guessed that the trainer must have had another talk with her.

Dani peered over the divider. “Hey, I heard Jamie saying Legs is going to be at Cap Challenge with his new owner,” she said. “That’s cool, right?”

“Definitely.” Tommi kept her voice casual. Thinking about Legs, the horse she’d sold right before school started, filled her with mixed emotions. He was meant to be the first step in a new business venture she hoped might eventually turn into a career in buying, training, and reselling show horses. She’d
convinced her father to fund part of Legs’s purchase, with the idea that if the first sale was a success, he would continue to help her build the business. Tommi was proud of herself for bringing Legs along and selling him so quickly, and thrilled that his new owner seemed to be doing so well with him.

On the other hand, thinking about Legs reminded her that weeks had passed and she hadn’t moved forward with her plans. At first she hadn’t worried about it, figuring she needed a break to focus on starting her senior year at school and figuring out her schedule for Indoors.

But now she was ready for the next step, and despite their deal, her father seemed to be dragging his heels. Every time Tommi mentioned wanting to start looking at prospects, he changed the subject—usually by reminding her she needed to start thinking about college applications and campus visits.

“Are you okay?”

Tommi blinked, realizing she was staring into space. She glanced at Dani and smiled.

“Yeah,” she said. “Just thinking about how to convince my dad it’s time for me to pick up another project horse.”

Dani flicked a speck of hay off her horse’s glossy coat. “He doesn’t want you to get another one?”

“No, it’s not that.” Tommi hesitated, trying to figure out how to explain her father to someone who didn’t really know him. “I’m sure he’ll be convinced when I find the right horse.”

She bit her lip, turning away and fiddling with Orion’s mane so Dani couldn’t see how aggravated she was. She hated that her new business was stalled just when it should be taking off. But what could she do? If she pushed too hard, her father was likely to just say no to the whole plan.

“I’m back!” Summer sang out, skipping into the grooming aisle with Whiskey at her heels. “And we’d better hurry. Marissa’s already heading for the indoor.”

“Hey, big boy,” Kate murmured, letting herself into the stall where a tall, attractive chestnut gelding was nibbling at his hay. “How’s it going? Bet you’re wondering what all the extra commotion is around here. Then again, I guess you were used to lots of commotion at the racetrack, huh?”

She smiled as the horse nuzzled her. Flame had only been at Pelham Lane since late summer, but Kate already had trouble imagining the place without him.

Her smile faded slightly as her mind jumped back to her encounter with Nat earlier. Was it any wonder Nat was still holding a grudge? She thought Kate had stolen Flame from her.

Okay, so that wasn’t technically true. Nat had never owned Flame, and Fitz had bought him from the owners of Happy Acres fair and square.

Still. If Nat hadn’t invited Kate to come watch her ride Flame in that schooling show over the summer, and if Kate hadn’t spent half the time there gushing about what a diamond in the rough the horse was, then Fitz never would have come up with the crazy idea to buy him and get Kate to help turn him into a show hunter. Once Kate realized how that must have made Nat feel, she’d tried to apologize to her—to explain how it had happened and ask what she could do to make it up to her. But Nat hadn’t even let her finish before cutting her off and slamming the door in her face. Literally and otherwise.

Kate picked a shaving out of Flame’s silky mane, trying not to think about Nat. “Wish I could give you a nice grooming, boy. But there’s so much to do …” She sighed as she checked her watch. It was time to get tacked up, or she’d be late for the lesson.

For a moment she was tempted to skip it. After all, she wouldn’t be competing at the big shows like the others. Not really. Oh, sure, she’d probably end up catch-riding a few for Jamie, maybe taking something in the hack for someone with multiple mounts or doing a warm-up class here and there.

And usually that was fine. But this was Indoors. Just once, Kate wished she could find out what it felt like to step into the big ring for real. …

“Kate! There you are,” Joy’s cheerful voice broke into Kate’s thoughts. The assistant trainer paused outside Flame’s stall, a saddle balanced on her hip. “The other juniors are almost ready for the lesson—even a certain handsome young gentleman who tends to be late.” She winked and smiled. “You’d better get a move on.”

Kate let herself out of the stall. “Yeah, about that. Since the others will be practicing for the show, I was thinking I might skip it today. They won’t miss me, and I’ve got a ton to do—the guys could use more help packing up the trailers, and—”

“Not so fast.” Joy held up a hand to stop her. “You earned this lesson with all that work you’ve been doing, remember? Jamie wouldn’t want you to skip it.”

“But I don’t need the practice, since I’m not riding in any of the big classes at Cap Challenge.”

“Okay. But Jamie’s counting on you to keep Fable in shape and improving, remember? And you’ll be away for over a week. He needs this ride, even if you don’t.”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess.” Kate hadn’t thought about it that way. Fabelhaften, better known as Fable, was at Pelham Lane to be sold for his wealthy owners, who’d moved to Europe in the spring. The big, athletic gray Hanoverian had already dabbled in a couple of other disciplines, most recently the hunters, but Jamie believed his true talents lay in the equitation ring. He’d asked Kate to take over the ride and campaign Fable in the competitive Big Eq classes, where the pair had held their own against Tommi, Fitz, and other top juniors from all over the zone.

“Besides”—Joy leaned closer and winked—“maybe you didn’t have enough time to qualify for the Big Eq finals
this
year. But there’s always next year, right? And if you and Fable keep on the way you’re going …” She waggled her eyebrows meaningfully.

Kate smiled, grateful as always for the assistant trainer’s positive outlook. “Okay,” she said. “I guess I’ll—”

“Excuse me.” Joy’s face suddenly went pale. She dumped the saddle onto the floor, leaning it up against the wall. “I’ll be back for this later. I just remembered something else I have to do. Have a good lesson.”

“Thanks,” Kate said, though Joy was already halfway down the aisle at a brisk jog.

“What was that all about?” a voice said behind Kate.

Turning, Kate saw Dani walking toward her, leading her tacked-up jumper. Tommi was right behind her with her eq horse.

“Hi,” Kate greeted them. “Wow, I’m even farther behind than I thought.”

“Is Joy sick or something?” Dani asked.

“I don’t think so.” Kate quickly latched Flame’s stall shut and gave the horse one last pat. “Why?”

Dani shrugged. “She’s been acting kind of weird lately. Like, distracted and rushing off randomly and stuff. Everyone’s noticed.”

Tommi stopped her horse beside Dani’s. “She’s probably just stressed out getting ready for Indoors like the rest of us. I bet she’ll be thrilled to see the trailers pull out of here tomorrow so she can relax.”

“Yeah.” Dani laughed. “If you can call running the whole place almost single-handedly while we’re gone
relaxing
.”

Kate glanced off in the direction the assistant trainer had gone, hoping that Joy was okay. In any case, she didn’t have time to worry about it just then.

“Listen, tell Jamie I’m on my way, okay?” she called to Tommi and Dani as she took off toward Fable’s stall.

Ten minutes later, Kate was breathless and had a smudge of green horse slobber across her shirt as she led Fable to the mounting block right outside the gate of the indoor ring. Fitz spotted her immediately and rode over.

“You made it,” he called out as she swung into the saddle. “Jamie’s not here yet.”

“Really?” Kate picked up her reins as Fable took a few quick steps away from the block. Once she got the big gray settled, she glanced around. Tommi was trotting in circles at one end of the ring. Zara was trying to convince her mare to trot instead of jigging sideways toward Summer’s horse, which was stopped
in the center of the ring while Summer fiddled with her stirrups. Marissa and Dani were chatting as they walked their horses around side by side on the buckle.

Most of the riders glanced over as Kate rode into the ring. “Oh, it’s you,” Summer said. “I thought it was Jamie.”

“Where
is
he, anyway?” Marissa glanced at her watch. “He’s usually Mr. Prompt.”

“No kidding,” Zara agreed. “He yelled at me for, like, half an hour last week because I was thirty seconds late.”