Catch Rider (Show Jumping Dreams ~ Book 28)

by Claire Svendsen

  “You might as well give up,” Judy said as she trotted her bay mare calmly by. “She won’t settle. Just point her at the jumps and hope for the best.”

  “Right,” I said.

  I was seriously questioning my plan to stop them from drugging the horse I was going to ride. Grace seemed like she needed drugs but then again needing drugs to compete really meant that the horse shouldn’t have been competing in the first place.

  I tried to relax into the saddle and go with the mare but she still fought me. Was she so worked up because she was excited or because she was terrified? I really couldn’t tell. But after we’d trotted and cantered for a little while, Walter directed all his riders over a simple gymnastic line of jumps.

  There were five of us in the ring. All the other horses were nothing like Grace. I watched enviously as Lucky trotted into the line of jumps and popped over them with pricked ears and a spring in his step that hadn’t been there when I rode him. He was in top form today and all I felt was jealous and annoyed that Walter was messing with me. Maybe it was all some kind of test. I patted Grace on the neck, trying to make friends but she just pinned her ears flat.

  “Fine,” I said. “We won’t be friends then but I’m still riding you and that is that so you’d better not try and toss me off.”

  I turned Grace towards the line of jumps, imagining her just running through them, poles scattering everywhere but then I started to laugh. Imagining the worst was a sure fire way of making it happen and Dad was right, I’d ridden my fair share of difficult horses. Grace was no different. I ignored the way she wiggled and rushed and just tried to relax.

  “Trot her,” I heard Walter say but we were already cantering.

  The black and white jumps disappeared beneath us as Grace popped over them with room to spare, her pinned ears now pricked. She liked to jump. I could work with that. She was just excited. That was all.

  “I told you to trot,” Walter said as I rejoined the group.

  “I tried,” I replied. “I’m sure you know what she is like.”

  “Yes well, we’ll see,” he said, looking over to the barn where Martin was standing.

  He quickly disappeared inside. I wondered if he was going to get in trouble for not having given Grace a shot of something. I’d hovered over him like a bee as he tacked Grace up and hadn’t left the horse’s side. I could tell that he’d been frustrated that I was suddenly his shadow.

  “Alright everyone, again,” Walter said as he raised the jumps.

  Everyone did well in the warm up, even Lexi, whose horse was an angel. I couldn’t imagine why she would have been nervous at all unless she didn’t even like riding and her parents were forcing her to do it. As I suspected, Judy’s horse could really jump. She wasn’t a bad rider either. In fact, she was better than I thought she’d be. The others were mediocre riders, the ones who would go on to do other things when they grew bored of riding or their parents ran out of money.

  “I can’t believe you didn’t fall off when Grace bounced off that jump standard and then ricocheted across the ring,” Judy said as we walked our horses out afterwards.

  Grace wasn’t exactly walking, she was jigging along like a racehorse but she seemed happier now that she’d been allowed to jump and had accepted me as okay since I hadn’t got in her face about her questionable behavior.

  “I’ve ridden horses like her before,” I said. “It doesn’t faze me. I just don’t like being manipulated.”

  “Who does?” Judy said. “You should see the mess my parents get into when I play them against one another.”

  “Your parents are divorced?” I asked her.

  “Of course. Yours?” she replied.

  I nodded.

  “I think it worked out,” she said. “I get to ride with Walter now.”

  “But you warned me about him,” I said quietly as we walked away from the group. “Why did you do that?”

  “I didn’t want you to get hurt,” she said. “Or have your career messed up. I know how hard it is to build one in the first place.”

  “But if Walter does those things, why do you stay with him?” I said.

  “He’s one of the best.” She shrugged. “Where else am I supposed to go? Besides, he knows better than to mess with me. My Dad’s a lawyer.”

  CHAPTER FORTY SIX

  We rode over to the show grounds together, Grace prancing and dancing the whole way. The others gave me looks that were a combination of pity, annoyance and admiration. Grace was being a pain in the butt but the fact that I was able to stick on her and not get dumped off in the hedge said something for my riding ability. And as I looked at them, I felt pity too. Only a few days ago I’d envied them. Now I knew the truth. That nothing was as it seemed. Lexi was throwing up before the show because her parents made her compete. The others were throwing their money away on a trainer who drugged their horses to either win or not win. The whole thing was a sham. And yet as the sun lit the green grass and our fancy horses paraded past farms where other expensive horses grazed, part of me couldn’t believe that I’d been invited into this world. With all its flaws, it was still better than mine.

  By the time we got to the show grounds, Grace had almost worn herself out.

  “I hope I’m not going to have to hold her the whole time,” I said. “She’s going to pull my arm out of the socket.”

  “Walter has rented some stalls and has a sort of revolving door policy about who goes in them,” Judy said. “We may get lucky and find them empty.”

  I silently prayed to the horse gods that the stalls would be empty. I needed a place to put Grace but I also needed someone to watch her while I walked the course. I hoped that person would be my father. He’d given me his word that he would drive over and this time I was sure that he meant it. The more he saw him, the less he liked Walter and he wasn’t too keen on Grace either. I think he wanted to make sure nothing happened to me but I could take care of myself. I just wanted to make sure that nothing happened to Grace before my class.

  Martin had been beside himself before we left. Offering to hold the mare while I went to the bathroom or to walk her over so that I didn’t have to and the more I politely declined, the more distraught he got. I had a feeling that when Walter found out that Martin hadn’t dosed the horse with whatever he was supposed to then he was going to be in big trouble. And it would be pretty brazen to drug a horse on the actual show grounds where anyone could see, even though we had stalls because the ones Walter had rented were empty. I led Grace in with a happy sigh and quickly untacked her.

  The stalls had automatic waterers and square fans hung on the front with bungee cords. There were no feed tubs. I checked the waterer to make sure it was working and kicked the bedding around to fluff it up. By the time I came out of the stall Dad had found us.

  “Can you watch her?” I whispered. “I have to walk my course.”

  “Yes, come on,” Judy said, looping her arm through mine again. “That’s my class too. We’ll walk it together.”

  Dad nodded and stood there with his arms crossed in front of the chestnut mare’s stall like a sentry. There was no way that Martin would slip something past my father and this time I was going to make sure that I won our class, not because I wanted Walter to train me because I didn’t. I wanted him to see what he was losing by not having a rider like me in his barn.

  CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN

  Today my class was in the big ring, which meant the course was bigger and so were the jumps. There was also a liverpool and a water jump. I had no idea if Elegant Grace was any good at jumping water at all. Walter had told me Lucky was scared of water when he’d spooked at a puddle but he hadn’t told me anything about Grace. I guess I was supposed to figure her out on my own.

  “Doesn’t Walter walk the course with you guys?” I asked Judy as we walked into the ring.

  “It depends,” she said.

  “On what?” I asked.

  “On who is paying him the most. Lexi’s parents r
eally want her to win this weekend so they paid for extra help. See?”

  She pointed over to the smaller ring that I’d ridden in a couple of days ago where a more manageable looking course was set up. Walter and Lexi were walking it together. I could see him pointing things out to the tall, thin girl, then patting her on the shoulder. I couldn’t see her face but I was sure she probably had a look of horror on it and nothing Walter did or said would change that. The girl was literally terrified.

  “Why do her parents make her compete when she doesn’t even like it?” I said.

  “I don’t know,” Judy said with a shrug. “I think her mom wanted to be a rider when she was little but her parents never bought her a horse or something like that.”

  I shook my head. Why was it that the girls who didn’t even want it had great horses and an amazing show schedule forced upon them when others like me had to fight tooth and nail just to scrape up enough money to go to a rated show?

  If I turned a blind eye to Walter’s questionable ethics, maybe I could have that life too. But could I really do that? Turn myself into Jess? I knew in my heart that I couldn’t and it wasn’t just because my father had dangled Harlow in front of me like a carrot on a stick if I didn’t ride with Walter anymore. It was because I believed that horses shouldn’t be drugged before their classes. It was dangerous, both for the horse and the rider and it wasn’t fair.

  “Come on,” Judy said, grabbing my arm as I lagged behind. “Are you paying attention at all? This line from the vertical to the water is going to be a real pain.”

  “Yes,” I said. “I can see that.”

  I looked around the ring at the other riders in their white breeches and dark coats, striding out the distances that they would be riding later and I couldn’t help wondering how many of their horses were going to be on something questionable or illegal too. Hoping to slip through the cracks and not have their horse tested for drugs. Winning by cheating.

  CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT

  Back at the stalls, Dad was still standing watch.

  “How was the course?” he asked.

  “Tricky,” I said. “How did you get on?”

  “Martin tried to get rid of me,” he said. “They are definitely up to something here.”

  “I know,” I said.

  I hadn’t told Dad about the drugging because I didn’t want to give him any more reasons to dislike Walter but I think he’d pretty much figured it out on his own anyway.

  “He didn’t even walk the course with you.” Dad shook his head. “What kind of a trainer is he anyway?”

  “He walked that girl’s course,” I said, pointing to Lexi, who was standing next to her horse looking rather green. “She paid for his extra services today. At least that is what Judy said.”

  “Walking the course shouldn’t be an extra service,” Dad said. “What is wrong with these people.”

  “Well it looks like they could use a trainer like you Dad,” I said with a smile. “Why aren’t we poaching some of these people for our own barn?”

  “Because our barn isn’t ready for people like this,” he said.

  I knew he was right.

  We took turns outside Grace’s stall until it was close to my ride time and then I pulled her out. Martin had walked past several times, sending us steely glares but we just ignored him. Besides, he had his hands full taking care of the other horses. I wasn’t sure why so many of Walter’s girls were so helpless. They couldn’t redo braids that had popped out, they didn’t know where any of their stuff was and they whined constantly about everything.

  “Are you sure you want girls like this at our barn?” Dad said as one of them stomped off in a mood after claiming that their horse liked Martin better then it liked her. The sad thing was, she was probably right.

  “Not exactly,” I said. “It was bad enough with Molly and Cora but these girls have parents who are really rich.”

  “I’m not sure their money is worth it,” Dad said.

  We looked around the showgrounds at the other riders, their parents and their grooms. I felt like I’d been invited to a fancy restaurant and now I didn’t know which silverware to use. But even though I felt like I didn’t fit in, up in the saddle I was no different. Walter had been right. On the course you couldn't tell who was rich or who was poor. Who had done the work themselves and who had grooms at their every beck and call. If you could ride well or not, that was all that mattered.

  “Good luck,” Dad said as he gave me a leg up.

  “Thanks,” I said, feeling a little nervous. We’d stopped them from doing anything to Grace and now it was up to me to make sure that we won.

  “You know, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” he added.

  I didn’t have to ask if that was trainer dad or real dad talking. Trainer dad would never tell me that I didn’t have to ride a difficult horse, he’d shove me in the ring as fast as he could.

  “It’s okay Dad,” I said, looking down on the top of his head. “I want to.”

  “You don’t have to prove anything to Walter Grey,” Dad said.

  “I know,” I replied. “I have to prove it to myself.”

  CHAPTER FORTY NINE

  On the way to the ring, Grace dumped me off. One minute we were jigging along and the next she just spooked out from under me and I was left sitting in a pile of sand. Luckily the soft landing meant that the only thing that was bruised was my ego and Dad was right there, ready to snag the reins before she galloped off.

  “You okay?” Judy said with a laugh. She was walking over with me as her ride was right before mine. “I told you to watch her.”

  “I’m glad you find this so funny,” I said, brushing the dirt off my butt.

  “Don’t worry,” Judy said. “I think she likes you.”

  “How is that,” I asked, swinging back into the saddle again.

  “Because at least she dumped you onto something soft,” Judy replied.

  “Yeah, she must love me,” I said.

  But I couldn’t really be mad. I was here competing at an amazing show and I’d just got away with falling off on my way to the ring, not in the actual class. I rolled my shoulder, feeling a little pinch. Maybe I hadn’t come away as unscathed as I thought.

  “Okay?” Dad said.

  “Yes,” I told him. I wasn’t going to let a tiny little pain get in the way of my class.

  We stood by the ring and watched people go. This time I was out of the saddle and holding onto the reins. I wasn’t going to take any more chances before the class. Judy was sitting on Bethany, her feet out of the stirrups. She obviously trusted her mare not to do anything stupid like I usually did with my horses. I couldn’t trust Grace though, not for one second, except the funny thing was that I did trust her over the jumps, which was probably why she’d found her way to Walter’s barn in the first place. She was good, just difficult and opinionated. Funnily enough I felt like we were the perfect match.

  “You girls got this under control?” Walter said as he walked past.

  He had one hand on the reins, leading Lexi and her gray mare to her class like she was a little kid. Mind you I couldn’t exactly criticize. Maybe if Dad had been holding onto Grace, she wouldn’t have dumped me off.

  “I do,” Judy called back. “Emily’s not so sure. You probably need to ask the sand pile back there that still has her butt print in it.”

  “Hey,” I told her as Grace jumped sideways when a horse came out of the ring.

  Walter frowned. I wasn’t sure if it was because of what Judy had said or what Grace had just done.

  “Keep it together girls,” Walter said.

  And then he was gone.

  “Thanks a lot,” I told Judy.

  “He doesn’t care,” she said. “Lexi falls off all the time.”

  “I’m not Lexi,” I said. “And I don’t like falling off.”

  “Who does?” she said. “I still have a lump on my hip from the last time I made an unscheduled dismount.”


  “From Bethany?” I said. “But she’s so sweet.”

  “She’s not sweet when she has to jump a liverpool,” she said. “Or a water jump.”

  “Well what about this lunatic?” I said, patting Grace on the neck. “Any inside info on what she does or doesn’t like?”

  “Don’t worry,” Judy said. “She likes to jump everything.”

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  Judy had a respectable round but she was right. Bethany Bay didn’t like water. The mare balked at the liverpool and sucked back at the water where they had a heel in. They came out of the ring with eight faults.

  “I told Walter we needed to go in a class without any water in it,” she said, shaking her head as she came out of the ring.

  “He probably didn’t want you to beat Lexi,” I said, pointing to the smaller ring where there were no water jumps. “You could have cleaned up in that class.”

  “True,” she said, jumping to the ground. “But where is the fun in beating people who aren’t as good as you are?”

  She had a point.

  The girl riding Lucky had a good round, he was far more responsive than he’d been when I rode him and they were fast too. Since this was a timed round with no jump off then the fastest clear would win. I knew that Grace would be fast. I just wasn’t sure that we would be clean. But Lucky wasn’t clear either. He also disliked water and actually refused the water jump.

  “Now who's feeling lucky?” Judy said.

  I shook my head and said, “Very funny.”

  Dad gave me a leg up and Grace spun around a few times like a western pleasure horse before I was able to get her in the direction of the in gate.

  “Do you want me to lead you in?” Dad said.

  “No way,” I replied.