Unfriendly Competition (10 page)

BACK IN THE SADDLE

AFTER WE GOT THE CALL ABOUT MR. CONNER,
we split up the list of riders we had in our phones and told them the news about Mr. Conner. By the time we'd finished, it was time to get to our second class. I felt better throughout the afternoon about Mr. Conner's condition. But it felt weird not to have him on campus, even though I didn't see him during the day except for lessons: like I could still feel his absence.

I slogged through my classes and met Brit back in our room to change for our riding lesson.

“I'm nervous,” I admitted. “I understand why Mr. Conner wants us to ride the same course with Mike so we're not afraid, but the accident just happened this morning.”

Brit laced up brown paddock boots. “I feel the same way. I don't want to go anywhere near that spot. Especially not right now. But I trust Mr. Conner and I know he's right. We have to go or our fears will intensify.”

Reluctantly, I got up off my bed and followed Brit out the door. At least the morning fog had lifted and the November sun was bright in the cloudless sky. Brit and I gathered our tack and separated to get Charm and Apollo ready, since the stable was packed. Everyone was talking about Mr. Conner's accident. Someone had put a giant piece of white poster board over his office door and there were scribbled notes for him to get better and come back. I made a mental note to sign it after my lesson.

“Sasha!” Nicole Allen, one of my riding friends, called after me. She brushed her blond curls from her heart-shaped face. “Thanks for texting me about Mr. Conner. Omigosh, I'm so glad that you and the rest of the YENT riders were there to help. Were you scared?”

“It was really scary,” I said. “For a minute, I didn't think I'd be able to move, but all of us just snapped out of being afraid and knew we had to help him.”

“That's amazing,” Nicole said. “I put a poster board up on his door. Tell anyone you see to sign it.”

I should have known it had been Nicole. She was so
sweet—she'd been the first person to welcome me to Canterwood when I'd arrived.

“It's a great idea—he'll love it,” I said. “I'll definitely let people know.”

“I've got to groom Wish, but talk to you later.” Nicole smiled at me and headed off toward her gelding's stall.

As I walked toward Charm's stall, I made up my mind to keep him inside while I tacked him up. The stable was bustling with chatter about Mr. Conner, and I didn't want Charm getting nervous. Me either. Hearing about the accident over and over wasn't exactly something I wanted.

I put Charm's tack down on his wooden trunk and grabbed a body brush. It was all he'd need before our ride. He was clean enough from this morning.

“Hi,” I said, my voice soft. He'd had a rough start to the day too, and I didn't want to startle him.

Charm looked up at me from the corner of his stall. His left hind leg was cocked in a relaxed position. Inside, I put my arms around his neck and breathed in his scent. It was my favorite—better than any body spray or perfume. Even Heather's expensive Burberry kind.

Charm smelled like fresh, clean hay and sweet grain. I kissed his cheek, something he sometimes wouldn't let me do in front of his friends, and rubbed his blaze.

“We're going to go for a cross-country ride with everyone and Mike,” I said. “Mr. Conner broke his leg this morning.”

Charm looked at me, seeming to listen.

“I'm kind of scared to go back to there.” I rubbed my eyes, trying to block out the images of what had happened this morning. “It's what Mr. Conner wants, though, so we have to do it.”

Charm, always in tune with my feelings, rubbed his head against my arm like a giant dog.

“Sweet guy,” I said. “Thank you. Let's get you tacked up and get out there.”

It only took minutes to get him ready and soon, we were heading down the aisle to meet Mike and his mount outside the stable.

We passed Trix's stall, and Julia had the mare tied outside. “Heard you're the big hero who rescued Mr. Conner,” she said, unsmiling.

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I grabbed Lexington. Didn't Heather tell you what all of us did?”

Julia rolled her eyes and whisked a dandy brush over
Trix's bay coat. “Yeah. Whatever. She said the YENT riders got Mr. Conner help.”

Sometimes, I didn't understand this girl. She went from hot to cold with me in seconds for no reason I could figure out.

“Look. Are you . . .
mad
about something?” I asked.

Julia yanked the knot out of the lead line on the iron bar on Trix's stall and started to lead the mare away from me.

“Nope,” she called over her shoulder. “Everything's
perfect.
I have zero reason to be upset.”

I sighed. I didn't have time to go after her, not that I really wanted to, or figure out what was going on. If she had some sort of complex that we'd “saved” Mr. Conner then that was her problem. Julia usually wasn't a huge attention hog, but maybe she wished she'd been in on this. I didn't understand why, since what I'd seen had been horrible.

Enough,
I told myself.
You don't have time for this.

Charm and I resumed walking down the busy aisle. Outside, Brit, Callie, Heather, and Mike were all mounted. I got into Charm's saddle and instinctively tightened the straps on my cross-country vest.

“We're going to have a good, but fun workout,”
Mike said to us. He was riding Willow, a sweet strawberry roan school horse. “I imagine you're all feeling a little nervous and that's normal. But we're going to take things slow. Going back to the place of the accident and doing the cross-country you'd had planned for this morning is the best way to get rid of your fears. Okay?”

We all nodded, silent.

“I understand that this morning was extremely traumatic. If none of you feel you're ready to go back, I understand. Doug's in the outdoor arena, and he'll be more than happy to add you to any class he's teaching. You don't have to do this.”

But we did. At least,
I
did.

“I can handle it,” I said.

Everyone else chimed in with a similar response.

“Okay, then. Follow me down the drive, and we're going to cross the road together,” Mike said. He squeezed his legs against Willow's side and the two started away from the stable and down the school's driveway.

Together, Heather, Brit, Callie, and I moved our horses forward. We reached the end of the driveway in what felt like seconds. There was a collective hesitation among us as we reached the end of the drive.

“It's okay, girls,” Mike said, looking back at us. “Let's get the hard part over.”

For the first time, moving as a team, we followed Mike and crossed the road together. We reached the grass and waited for Mike to open the gate. With ease, he leaned down from Willow's back and unlatched the metal gate. He walked her forward, swinging open the gate for us. We rode through and waited for Mike to latch the gate.

He stopped Willow in front of us, his freckled face already tinted red from the cold November breeze. I was glad I'd put on my wool coat and had put on Charm's warmest saddle pad. I dug into the zipper pocket in my coat and pulled out Tropical Punch Lip Smacker gloss. So I was kind of a nervous glosser . . .

“We're going to start with a trot across the field, then we'll canter for a couple of miles up and down a few hills to keep building stamina,” Mike said. “We'll encounter a few low fences and hedges along the way, then we'll reach the woods. Once we get there, I'll explain what you'll come to next.”

Mike smiled at us and adjusted his chin strap. “Ready?”

“Ready!”

And I was. The fear I'd felt about riding had disappeared once we'd reached the other side of the road. We had to be ready for Huntington—and cross-country was my favorite thing to do with Charm. This was going to be fun!

Mike let Willow into a trot and the four of us spread out our horses—there was plenty of room in the open field. I loved how the grass, crunchy from the cold air, sounded beneath Charm's hooves. It looked as if the field stretched for miles and only an occasional tree dotted the grounds.

Charm kept a smooth trot and with every minute that passed, I relaxed and enjoyed the ride more. I looked over at Brit to my right and Heather on my left. Both of them had calm looks on their faces—I couldn't see Callie but I had no doubt that she was the coolest of all of us.

“Let's canter,” Mike called.

Yes!

I stopped posting and sat deep in the saddle, preparing to canter. Charm knew what was coming. I gave him an inch of extra rein and slid my hands a little higher up along his neck. He was cantering in two strides. I swayed gently in the saddle, moving with him.

Brit, glancing over, grinned as Apollo drew even with
us and all of our horses kept pace with one another.

The flat field started to ascend into a gentle incline. I leaned slightly over Charm's neck and tapped my heels against his sides. I didn't want him to slow—he had to keep the same speed going uphill. And the zillions of hours we'd spent practicing at Briar Creek and Canterwood paid off. Charm had no trouble maintaining a steady, even rhythm up the hill. His breathing didn't get heavier as the hill got steeper with every minute that passed.

After a few minutes, the ground leveled and the wind roared in my ears as Charm cantered. He tossed his head and snorted, invigorated by the practice.

Strides ahead, I watched Mike and Willow approach a row of brush. Willow lifted into the air, clearing the brush. Right behind Mike, Heather and Aristocrat, then Callie, then Brit cleared the hedge.

Now
this
was the awesome part. At the right second, I lifted into the two-point position and Charm rose into the air. He took the brush as if he was stepping over a crack in the driveway, and I could feel the eagerness in his body to jump more.

We cleared four more hedges, and Mike led us over a fallen tree that had its branches sawed off to prevent any injury to the horses' legs.

Woods were now visible in the distance, and we followed Mike's lead as he slowed Willow to a trot, then a walk a few paces later.

“Everyone doing okay?” Mike asked.

“Totally,” Heather said. The rest of us nodded.

“Great,” Mike said, patting Willow's shoulder. “We're about to enter the woods. They're perfect for cross-country. You won't encounter anything out of the ordinary, so don't worry. There will be a few logs, a creek that's narrow enough to jump, a bank, and lots of twists in the trail. Stay on alert for any deer because Mr. Conner and I saw a few last time we were here.”

We nodded at him. At first, it had felt weird to take instruction from Mike, but he was a natural instructor. I liked riding with him.

“Stay single file with plenty of space between your horses,” Mike said.

Behind him, we got into line. I fell behind Mike, Heather was after me, then Brit, and finally Callie.

We started at a posting trot into the woods. All of the trees were bare, so the horses didn't have to adjust to a low light. Charm, with both ears pointed forward, trotted along the dirt path. He loved this. We made several bends and ducked under a low-hanging tree branch as we followed Mike.

Mike and Willow leaped over a foot-high log, and we all did the same without a problem. Skinny branches on the bare trees surrounding both sides of the trail wavered in the wind. A few birds chirped, but the only sound I focused on was Charm's hoofbeats.

“Slow canter,” Mike called back to us.

I let the leather reins slide through my fingers and Charm moved into a canter, not rushing or trying to get more rein.

We jumped two more logs and started down a slight hill. We slowed the horses to a trot, and I leaned back in the saddle. Charm took careful steps through the dirt until the ground leveled again. Mike and Willow started cantering, and I let Charm follow their pace. A few strides ahead, I saw the creek Mike had mentioned.

Mike pointed Willow at the narrowest part and the mare gathered herself and cleared it without hesitation.

Charm, excited about jumping and probably wanting to show off in front of his friends, approached the jump with an extra bounce in his stride. I did a half halt, not wanting him to get too excited and out of control, and he listened.

I counted down the strides, not wanting to end up in the freezing water.

Four, three, two, one, now!

I leaned forward in the saddle and Charm lifted into the air, his body suspended over the creek for a brief but amazing second. He landed easily on the other side, his hooves sinking a little bit into the soft dirt.

I heard Heather and Aristocrat land behind us, and Charm and I kept cantering. We swept around a sharp corner on the path and jumped a line of brush.

Charm was doing great! He'd made any anxiety I'd had disappear, and every stride we took reminded me how much I loved riding and being with Charm—not just cross-country. I was happy with Charm no matter what we were doing.

After a few more bends in the trail, we exited the woods. Mike slowed Willow to a trot. The mare, winded, shook out her mane and pranced for a few strides as he slowed her.

“We'll trot back across the field for half of the ride back and walk the final leg to the stable,” Mike said. “How do you and your horses feel?”

“I'm great and so is Aristocrat,” Heather said.

“Same here,” Brit said. She gave Apollo rein to stretch his neck. The gray gelding's coat had darkened from sweat—just like the rest of the horses—but none of them looked too tired.

I ran a hand along Charm's neck, paying attention to his gait. I hadn't felt him take a single misstep, but I wanted to make sure he was okay. Each of Charm's hooves felt as if it touched the ground with the same force, and I didn't feel him favoring any of his legs. I'd walk him out for any possible soreness tomorrow morning. Charm was in great shape, though, and I didn't expect him to have any problems.