“What is that supposed to be?” I asked Esther, pointing to a jump that had three standards set up in a triangle and poles that spread out from one to the other.
“It’s a fan jump,” she said. “Try and keep to the narrow corner.”
“What about this?” I asked.
“That may be trouble,” she put her hands on her hips. “Not just for you but for everyone.”
It was a giant red wall set at three foot three, which was the height limit of the class. But instead of being a vertical, they had built it into a solid oxer.
“I don’t think Bluebird has ever jumped a wall like that before,” I said. “At least not one that wasn’t small with a pole on top to make up the height. That is all brick.”
“It’s certainly going to separate the pony’s with heart from the chickens,” Esther said. “Come on, let’s stride it out.”
As we walked and counted I passed Becka, walking the course with her trainer Todd and Justin the hot iPad guy.
“Did you see the wall?” she mouthed.
“I know,” I mouthed back. “It’s crazy!”
She just shrugged and grinned. I knew Becka well enough to know that she had the guts to ride over anything and I was pretty sure that Justin did too. I couldn’t have any doubt in my mind that Bluebird would go over it either. If I believed it, he would believe it too. After all, I knew deep down that he would jump the moon for me if he could.
The class was quite large, considering the fact that the jumpers always had far less entries than the hunters. The pony jumpers were usually even worse. It seemed that everyone wanted to grow up and ride a horse but they were missing out on all the fun. Ponies could turn on a dime and fit through twists and turns that a horse could never make. The day I outgrew ponies, I was going to be really sad.
“What do you think?” I asked Becka back in the warm up ring.
“I think it’s going to be fun,” she grinned. “Although Todd wasn’t too sure about that wall. He was going to go and complain but seeing as it’s not a rated show. I guess they can mostly just make up their own rules.”
“And their own jumps,” I said. “I guess we should be thankful that they don’t have us jumping cardboard boxes then.”
“Hey, what’s that on your saddle pad?” she pointed to the Tack Emporium logo.
“It’s horrible isn’t it?” I said. “I knew it was a bad idea.”
“Then why did you say yes?” she laughed.
“Because she provided me with a really expensive saddle and she didn’t take it back when I told her that I hadn’t exactly won it fair and square. I felt obligated.”
“You should never feel obligated to anyone,” Becka said with the authority of someone who never did anything they didn’t want to do.
“One day I’m going to be rich,” I said. “Then I’ll never have to be obligated to anyone ever again.”
“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Becka said. “But I don’t think being rich has anything to do with it.
She was probably right. Not feeling obligated to people was probably a state of mind. One I didn’t have. I had a propensity to guilt that I didn’t think would ever go away. Even now I felt guilty being at the show without Mickey but I couldn’t think about her right now. I had to get my head straight for the class.
Becka, Justin and I were all going late in the class which was good. It would give us a chance to see how the other kids rode the course, which wasn’t well. Nearly everyone had trouble at the wall. It wasn’t just the fact that it was a solid, towering menace. It was the fact that it was at the end of a bending line coming off a skinny vertical. You had to collect your pony to make sure he was careful and then apply lots of leg to make sure you had enough jump to get over the wall.
“At this rate, there isn’t even going to be a jump off,” Becka said.
She was right. So far everyone had either jumping faults or refusals. It seemed whoever designed the course thought it would be a lot easier if no one made it clear.
“Wish me luck,” Becka said.
“You don’t need luck,” I told her. “Show them how it’s done.”
We watched as Max blazed around the course but as Becka took the vertical and kicked on for the wall, I could see Max starting to slow despite her leg. He slid to a stop in front of the wall and demolished the whole thing. It took them ages to get it built back up again and I felt bad for Becka but she was talking to Todd over the fence and laughing. Max was a new pony for her to ride and I thought she’d done an amazing job to get round like she had. When they finished, she galloped Max up to the jump and when he started to slow she applied her crop and he leapt over it with a foot to spare. She came out of the ring looking flushed but happy.
“That wall is the worst,” she said. “Go for the crop first and ask questions later.”
Justin and Firecracker were next. I hated to admit it but the pony was so cute that I really wanted them to do well. Justin had a very business-like way of going, tight in the saddle with very strong legs. He used them to kick on to the wall and didn’t go for his crop which he probably should have as Firecracker’s hooves just nicked the top of the wall and a brick slid out.
“Too bad,” Becka cried as he came out of the ring patting his pony on the neck.
“Oh Justin, I thought you had it,” Samantha sighed.
He looked down at her and shrugged before going off to join his group of friends. She was left standing there looking rather left out.
“You know,” I told her as I went by. “If you had a pony to jump then I bet Justin would be more interested in you.”
“Maybe,” she said.
But I didn’t have any more time to persuade her. It was my turn to go in the ring and face the wall of death.
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
I’d never jumped a wall like that with Bluebird but that didn’t mean to say that he’d never jumped one before. His original owner, Sally, had competed him in a lot of shows. I held on to the thought that he was a wall jumping pro.
“It’s just a wall,” I told him. “Look. See?”
I trotted him over to it before the bell rang to signal for us to start. It wasn’t against the rules to show your pony a scary fence if you had the time. He didn’t seem fazed by it as we trotted by so I took that as a good sign.
He was quick to my leg as we took the jumps, ears pricked as he hopped over them eagerly. I tried to remember everything Miguel had taught me but it had already become second nature. I stayed out of Bluebird’s way and I let him have his head, trying not to interfere with his mouth as he jumped and using my automatic release instead of leaning on his neck.
We made it over the fan jump and a rather odd looking oxer with bales of hay piled up underneath it. Now we were coming to the bending line and the wall. Bluebird was having fun. I could feel him getting faster beneath me and I had to rein him in. We needed speed to clear the wall but if he was too flat, we’d have a brick out like Firecracker did. I steadied him for the vertical and he rapped the top rail but I didn’t hear a thud.
Closing my leg around his sides, we galloped to the wall. I tried to clear all thoughts from my mind except the one of him flying over it. I had to leave no room for doubt. We were going over. I think I may have actually closed my eyes for a second and then we made it and the crowd was cheering but then I heard a collected sigh of doom and I knew we’d had a brick out just like Justin had.
“You were so close,” Becka said as I came out of the ring. “I thought you had it.”
“Me too,” I said, jumping to the ground on legs like jelly and hugging Bluebird’s neck. “Now I know what we are going to work on when we get home. Walls and lots of them!”
It had been exhilarating, flying over that solid wall. I imagined that was what it must be liked to compete in cross country. Jumping over logs and trees and huge boats turned upside down and flanked by boulders. I bet Bluebird would love it. I’d have to talk to Esther about setting up some more natural loo
king jumps out in the field. It would be fun to give the horses something else to do except ring work and it would help to keep Ethan interested. After all, I didn’t want to lose another riding friend.
In the end there wasn’t a jump off just as predicted and I came in third. Justin, who was faster than me came in second and a girl I didn’t know came in first.
“Third,” I said, coming out of the ring feeling disappointed. It didn’t feel good not to win.
“You can’t win them all,” Esther said. “Even Grand Prix riders don’t win every competition they enter. Besides, you did a great job of giving your pony the confidence to go over that wall and that is the most important thing. You grew as a team.”
“I’d rather grow with a blue ribbon,” I grinned.
But I knew she was right. It couldn’t always be about winning all the time. Sometimes having an okay round and learning something was good enough.
Back at the stalls, I just wanted to pack up and go home. My sore throat was turning scratchier by the hour and my nose was starting to run. I’d hoped that maybe it was just allergies but there was no denying that this was most definitely a cold. I wanted a hot shower, something to eat and my nice soft bed. What I didn’t want was to talk to Liesl but there she was, standing by my stall waiting for me.
“Good job,” she said.
“I came in third,” I shrugged. “Why don’t you go and bother the girl who came in first?”
“He jumped that wall because you believed in him,” she continued, completely ignoring me. “You rescued him, didn’t you?” she asked, laying her hand on Bluebird’s neck.
“Anyone could have told you that,” I said, pulling him away from her.
“You gave him a home when no one else would. That’s why he’ll jump anything for you. He’s grateful that you saved him.”
Despite the warm air, a shiver ran down my spine. It could have been from the fact that Liesl was hitting a little close to home or maybe it was just because I was getting sicker. I wasn’t sure.
“He has no complaints,” Liesl shrugged, putting her hands down. “But he says he wishes you’d stop fussing about with his noseband. He’ll go the same, no matter what hole it is on.”
“What did you say?”
Now I wasn’t shivering at all. I was practically shaking. There was no way she could know about the noseband. No one did.
I’d been fiddling with Bluebird’s noseband ever since I got back from the clinic. The leather had stretched out a bit and one hole seemed too snug and the next one too loose. Every day I would switch from one to the other and try and tell if it made a difference in the way Bluebird went. It didn’t but no one knew about it. Not even Esther. She’d never seen me adjusting it and neither had anyone else and I’d been too distracted at the show to bother with it today.
“You really are the real deal,” I said. “But how?”
“Sometimes we can’t explain our gifts,” she said, putting her hand on my arm. I felt a warm tingling sensation travel upwards towards my throat.
“Honey with lemon,” she said. “And plenty of rest. I’ll see you at the barn in a few days.”
Then she just turned and walked away. All that stalking me and giving me a hard time and now that she’d finally caught me, she just let me go like a fish on a line.
“Wait,” I called out but she’d already disappeared into the crowd.
“Ready to pack up and go?” Esther asked, her arms full of shipping boots.
“Yes,” I said vaguely.
I wanted to know when Liesl was coming to the barn. I needed a timeline. A schedule. A plan. How were we going to get Mickey better? That was all that mattered to me now.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
After the show I got really sick. I wasn’t the sort to lay about groaning and moaning to get attention, I’d rather just suck it up and get on with life but even my mother suggested that maybe I should stay home from school. That was when I knew that I actually had to look as bad as I felt, which was pretty bad. My nose was red from blowing it every five seconds and my head throbbed every time I moved it. The razor blades that had lodged themselves in my throat for a few days had gone thanks to the lemon and honey that Liesl recommended but I still felt horribly wretched and I certainly didn’t mind missing school. However I did mind not being able to go to the barn. Every day I called Esther to check up on Bluebird. I think I was slowly driving her insane.
“What is he doing now?” I asked, pulling the phone away for a second to blow my nose.
“The same thing he was doing yesterday when you called,” Esther sighed. “He’s out in the field grazing.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
There was a pause. “Yes. I can see him from the end of the barn. He just pooped. Are you happy now?”
“Have you been checking his legs? Was he sore after the show? Did you put any liniment on him?”
“I know how to take care of a show horse,” Esther said curtly.
“I know, I know, I’m sorry,” I said. “It’s just I hate not being there to check on him myself, you know?”
“Sometimes you have to delegate responsibility,” Esther said. “Even the top riders can’t be there for their horses twenty four hours a day.”
“I know,” I said. “But they have lots of horses and I only have Bluebird.”
“And when you are sick, you stay home until you are better so that you don’t end up with pneumonia. Got it?”
“Yes,” I said.
Esther was turning out to be worse than Mom was. I at least thought she would have been open to me coming out to see Bluebird even if I didn’t ride. But apparently not.
“Feel better soon,” Esther said. “I’d better go. The hay guy is here.”
“Wait,” I said, suddenly remembering. “Has Liesl been out?”
“The crazy horse talking lady?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said. “Only I’m not so sure she is crazy after all.”
“Now I know you are definitely delirious. No she hasn’t been out. Now get some rest. I’ll see you in a few days.”
“Bye,” I said.
So Liesl hadn’t been out. Was that because she knew I was home sick or was that just a coincidence too? My brain was too fuzzy to sort out fact from fiction. Instead I lay in bed watching old horse movies and pretending to be asleep every time someone stuck their head in to see if I was okay. Even Cat had poked her nose around the door a few times. I wasn’t sure why. She didn’t like me and I didn’t like her. That was the end of it. Maybe she was checking to see if I was still alive or not, especially since I had the bigger room. I was pretty sure she wouldn’t mind being an only child again. I wouldn’t have minded either.
In the dead of night when I couldn’t sleep because it felt like a herd of horses were standing on my chest, I thought of Mickey. Shouldn’t she have shown some progress by now? At least if she woke up it would be better than nothing, even if she did speak a foreign language and didn’t know who we were. But the longer the coma went on, the worse it was. I knew that if she didn’t wake up soon then she was really in trouble and I missed her at the barn so much it was like there was a hole in my heart. Becka had said that riding was more important than that and she was right. I knew that I would always ride no matter what but I still wanted my best friend back.
It was Saturday by the time everyone agreed that I was well enough to go out to the barn.
“Now a committee has to decide every aspect of my life?” I groaned as I stood in the kitchen stuffing carrots and apples into a bag.
“At least it means they care about you,” Cat said.
She was sitting in the corner eating cereal. I got the feeling that perhaps she’d been a little jealous of all the attention I had been getting, even though it had been unwanted. The tissues and throat lozenges and the chicken soup that Mom made from scratch even though she didn’t know how. Despite protesting every step of the way, it had been nice to have my mother fussing over me for a cha
nge. Since Cat arrived, Mom had made every futile effort to please her and none of it worked. Maybe she’d given up and I was finally getting my mother back again.
“Are you taking all the carrots?” Mom asked as I shoved the final one in the bag.
“Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve seen Bluebird?” I asked. “He’s probably half starved to death from missing out on all his treats.”
“That pony must be a spoiled brat,” Cat said under her breath.
“No,” I said as I walked by. “But you are.”
I was out the door before she had a chance to answer and running to grab my bike. The sun felt good on my skin. I’d hated being trapped inside but to be honest on some of the days it had rained anyway. Now it was like the world was rejoicing that I was better by bathing the day in bright yellow sunshine.
Bluebird heard my bike before I even saw him but I heard his galloping hooves and an ear splitting whinny. Esther came to the front of the barn to look and see what all the fuss was about and when she saw me she waved.
“I thought you might be out today,” she said. “Perfect weather and all.”
“Wild horses couldn’t keep me away,” I said, dumping my bike on the ground.
Bluebird gave me the welcome I’d been longing for, stuffing his nose into my pocket for his carrots.
“Are you happy to see me or your treats?” I laughed but either way I didn’t care. If he saw me as a walking carrot and loved me for that, then it was fine by me.
I brought him in and spent ages grooming him. Then I put him in an empty stall and got to work on Hampton and then Harlow. By the time I was done, the three horses were gleaming and I was exhausted.
“I thought you’d be out in the ring by now,” Esther said, looking from the clean horses to my sweaty red face.
“I wanted to make sure everyone was all clean and happy first,” I said, leaning against the wall. “But now I don’t think I have the energy to ride.”
“Why don’t you just take Bluebird out on the trail then,” she said. “Have an easy first day back.”
Sale Horse (Show Jumping Dreams ~ Book 5) Page 8