Riding to Win

by Bonnie Bryant

  Now all the weeks and months of preparation were about to pay off. At the sound of the starting horn, Samson leaped forward eagerly, responding instantly to Carole’s signals. He sailed easily over the first fence, a simple post-and-rail. The next few obstacles didn’t pose any more of a problem for the big black horse, and Carole felt her optimism soar higher with each jump.

  We can do this! she thought, recognizing deep in her heart that it was true. Samson and I can do this. We really can!

  She yanked her thoughts back to the task at hand. They could do it, but it was going to take all her concentration. This was no time to get distracted. The most difficult section of the course was still to come.

  Carole tightened up slightly on the reins and quickly estimated their approach to the next post-and-rail. Then she glanced ahead, knowing she would have to be alert for the upcoming triple jump—the angle leading into it was tricky, and many of the riders before her had brought down at least one section.

  She cleared her mind of that until Samson had landed safely and cleanly on the far side of the post-and-rail. Then she steadied him, slowing his fast pace slightly and focusing on the strides leading up to the first section of the triple. They had to land perfectly in order to make the single stride between the first and second section work, and Carole was ready. She measured Samson’s canter, then signaled for him to extend it slightly.

  It worked. The big black horse was controlled and well-positioned as he cleared the first section. After one clean stride, he soared up and over the second section, his hooves not even scraping the top rail. The third section flashed by beneath them just as easily.

  After that, even the high puissance wall that came next didn’t look the least bit scary. Carole felt more and more confident with each jump, but she was careful not to get overconfident and sloppy. She kept checking and rechecking their position and Samson’s stride, making adjustments where necessary. She also made sure to keep Samson moving along as fast as she felt they could go without sacrificing accuracy. The last thing she wanted was to ride clear of jumping faults and lose out by coming in half a second over the allotted time.

  Finally, all that stood between them and a clean round—one of the very few so far—was a simple brush fence. It wasn’t as high or forbidding as many of the obstacles they’d already jumped, but despite that, it had been the downfall of two or three riders before them. Carole tried not to get nervous as Samson headed toward it, his ears pricked forward. “Steady, big guy,” she whispered, even though she knew there was no way the horse could hear her over the pounding of his own hooves. She tried not to think about how disappointing it would be to come this far and then knock down a rail: That kind of thinking would only guarantee a fault.

  In what seemed the blink of an eye, there were just four strides left to the fence, then three. Carole forced her nervousness away. She had to do this. She had to do it for herself, for Max, and most of all for Samson.

  Carole automatically folded herself into jumping position, her seat raised, her legs firm, and her arms steady. At just the right moment, Samson’s hind legs flexed, propelling him up and forward. His forelegs tucked under him as they cleared the top rail, his head and neck stretched forward. A split second later, his forelegs touched down on the far side of the fence. Carole tensed slightly as they landed, half expecting to hear the clatter of rails coming down. But instead she heard a roar from the crowd. That was when she knew.

  “Hi-ya!” she cried, spurring her horse forward. Samson galloped across the finish line, and only then did Carole dare to glance at the big clock over the judges’ stand.

  She let out a breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding. They had made it under the time allowed. They had gone clear!

  As Carole rode out of the ring after her round, Stevie decided it would probably seem unprofessional to scream out her friend’s name and wave her hands over her head to get her attention and show how proud she was. So instead she satisfied herself with clapping until her hands hurt. She could hardly wait for the jump-off.

  When Carole and Samson were out of sight and the next rider entered the ring, Stevie pushed her way through the crowd at the fence. There were still quite a few riders left to go, and Stevie wanted to find Phil and maybe Lisa and Callie and the others so that they could all watch the jump-off together.

  The first person she found was Phil. Spotting him walking toward her between the rows of bleachers, she raced over to him and grabbed his hands excitedly. “Did you see Carole just now?” she cried. Then, realizing she hadn’t seen her boyfriend since finishing her own dressage performance almost an hour earlier, she added, “Oh! Did you see me ride?”

  “Didn’t you hear me yelling your name from the audience?” Phil asked, squeezing her hands and then leaning in for a congratulatory kiss. “Of course I saw you. You were amazing!”

  “Well, sort of amazing, maybe,” Stevie admitted with a grin. “I mean, we weren’t perfect or anything. We messed up one transition near the beginning, and Belle had a little trouble with that counter-canter today.”

  Phil waved his hands, as if shooing away a pesky fly. “I didn’t even notice any of that stuff,” he said loyally. “You looked perfect to me.”

  “Thanks.” Stevie knew that he was just being nice, but she didn’t mind. At the level of competition she and Belle had been up against, she knew that she had every reason to be pleased with their performance. She might not have ended up with a ribbon like George had—he’d taken the green sixth-place ribbon in the same event—but she knew that Max and the others would be proud of her, too. “Hey, speaking of perfection, did you see Carole’s round just now?”

  Phil nodded, looking impressed. “I can’t believe she went clean,” he said. “I mean, I always knew she was good. But after watching some of those other riders—you know, like Garrett Shanahan, and that dark-haired woman, what’s her name …”

  “I know.” Stevie linked her arm through his as they made their way out of the bleachers to the relatively peaceful area behind the stands. “Carole really, you know, sort of fits in with that crowd.” She shrugged. “Ben, too, actually. He was really good.” Ben and Topside had ridden a few places before Carole, and they, too, had qualified for the jump-off.

  Phil pulled her toward an empty bench under the shade of an evergreen tree. They sat down, and when he put his arm around her waist, Stevie leaned into his shoulder and breathed in the clean scent of soap from his shirt. It felt nice just relaxing, just being with Phil, after her exciting morning. She reminded herself to thank her parents for giving her the day off from her grounding. Maybe if she sounded grateful enough, she thought, they’d start thinking about lifting the punishment altogether.

  She decided not to think about that. All she wanted to do was enjoy her day of freedom. “So are you having fun?” she asked without lifting her head from Phil’s shoulder.

  “Uh-huh.” Phil paused. “I just wish I could have convinced A.J. to come today.”

  Stevie sat up and looked at him. “Me too,” she said seriously. Phil’s comment reminded her of the talk she’d had with Lisa the evening before. Stevie still could hardly believe that Lisa had seen A.J. drinking at a college bar. Lisa had sounded really worried, especially after Stevie had told her about what had happened on A.J.’s night out with Phil earlier in the week. As soon as she’d hung up with Lisa, Stevie had risked her parents’ wrath by calling Phil immediately to tell him about the latest incident. But neither of them had had any ideas about what to do. The only thing they could agree on was that they had to do something before their friend got any further out of control.

  Still, as concerned as she was about A.J., Stevie decided that figuring out how to help him could wait one more day. She and Phil couldn’t do much for him as long as they were at the horse show, and worrying about it would only ruin their own day.

  Instead, Stevie decided to focus on something a little more pleasant. “So my awesome gift for Carole is almost ready,” she t
old Phil. “All I have to do is pick up the photos today after the show, decide which one to have blown up, and then pick that one up on Monday.”

  “That’s great.” Phil patted her knee. “Carole will love it, especially after the great job she and Samson are doing here today.”

  Stevie’s eyes lit up. “Hey!” she said. “Maybe if she wins a ribbon, she can attach it to the frame somehow. Wouldn’t that look—”

  A friendly voice interrupted her. “Finally, some familiar faces!”

  Looking up, Stevie saw Scott heading toward them with a smile on his handsome face. “Hi!” she called, standing up to greet him. “What have you been up to?”

  Scott grinned. “Well, for one thing, I’ve been watching all my friends give brilliant performances in the ring,” he said. “Congratulations, Stevie. You were great.” He gave her a hug.

  “Thanks,” Stevie said, hugging him back. “We made some mistakes, but it was fun just to compete against all those awesome riders.”

  Phil laughed. “She’s just being modest,” he told Scott. “And believe me, that doesn’t happen very often, so enjoy it while you can.”

  Stevie gave her boyfriend a playful punch on the shoulder. Then she glanced in the direction of the ring, which was hidden from their view at the moment, as a cheer went up from the crowd. “They’ll be finished pretty soon,” she commented. “We should try to find seats soon so that we have a good view of the jump-off. Where are Callie and Lisa?”

  “The last time I saw Callie, she was still over at the pony rides with Maxi,” Scott replied. “We probably shouldn’t wait for her.”

  “What about Lisa?” Phil asked. “I haven’t seen her all day.”

  Scott shrugged. “She was supposed to catch a ride over with Red.”

  “Wait,” Stevie said. “What was the deal with her again? Why didn’t she come with you guys?”

  “Oh, didn’t Callie tell you?” Scott shrugged again. “I’m really not too clear on the whole story. Callie talked to Red about it. I think it had something to do with Prancer. Lisa wanted to stick around to take care of her until the vet got there to check on her. Or something like that.”

  “The vet?” Stevie felt a sudden pang of concern. As far as she knew, Judy Barker hadn’t scheduled a checkup for Prancer that day. Of course, she wasn’t sure that she hadn’t, either. Maybe Red had asked Judy to stop by for an extra visit. “Is something wrong? What did Red say?”

  “Sorry, I really don’t know.” Scott spread his hands helplessly. “Callie’s the one who spoke to him. All I know is that Lisa didn’t ride over with us, but she and Red were supposed to come over later.”

  Phil grabbed Stevie’s hand and squeezed it, obviously recognizing the worried look on her face. “Don’t panic,” he said gently. “This place is a zoo. I’m sure Lisa’s here somewhere and we just haven’t seen her yet. And I’m sure Prancer’s perfectly fine.”

  “Okay.” Stevie did her best to believe him, especially since she knew he was probably right. The show grounds were so crowded that Stevie had only caught one glimpse of her parents watching her dressage round from the front row of the stands, and she hadn’t seen her brothers at all. Lisa was there somewhere. It was silly to get worked up over nothing on such a wonderful day. “Then we’d better not wait for her, either,” she told the two guys. “Let’s grab some seats up high, where we can see the ring and also keep a lookout for Lisa and Callie.”

  Every time the crowd cheered at the end of another round, Carole glanced toward the main ring from the warm-up area. She was walking Samson slowly around and around, trying to keep him alert and limber. By her estimation, there couldn’t be more than two or three riders left to go before it would be time for the jump-off.

  I can’t believe this is happening, she thought joyfully, glancing at the big black horse beside her. He seemed to understand that they weren’t finished yet. His expression was eager, and he hardly seemed tired at all after the strenuous first round. I can’t believe I’m really here, waiting to go back into the ring with these people.

  She cast a quick glance around at the other riders in the practice ring. Only five others had qualified for the jump-off so far, including Garrett Shanahan and a couple of other well-known competitors.

  Most exciting of all, though, was that Ben had made it, too. Carole glanced across the warm-up ring to where Ben was walking Topside, suddenly feeling a swell of pride to be a part of the great team of Pine Hollow riders. At that moment Ben turned and caught her looking at him. Instead of scowling or looking suspicious, he actually lifted one hand in a sort of half wave. Then he turned Topside and came toward her, leading the bay gelding, who looked almost as fresh as Samson.

  “Nice job out there, Ben,” Carole told him sincerely when he was close enough to hear. “You and Topside were really good.”

  “You too,” Ben replied gruffly. Carole wasn’t sure, but she thought she caught a glimpse of pleasure, or maybe pride, in his dark eyes.

  “Thanks. It was all thanks to Samson. He’s really on today, and he—” Carole broke off. She’d suddenly spotted her father standing in the crowd that was pressing up against the rail marking off the path between the warm-up area and the main ring. He was looking her way, so she grinned and waved, giving him a thumbs-up with her free hand.

  Colonel Hanson saw her and waved back. But Carole couldn’t help noticing that he didn’t return her smile—in fact, his expression was rather grim. That’s weird, she thought fleetingly. Who would have guessed that Dad would be more nervous than I am?

  The truth was, she didn’t feel very nervous at all. As far as she was concerned, she and Samson had already proved themselves. They had shown everyone that they deserved to be there, competing against the top horses and riders on the East Coast. Who knew where they could go from here? The future seemed limitless, full of all sorts of exciting possibilities. Carole couldn’t wait for the jump-off.

  Carole was scheduled to ride fifth out of the six riders in the jump-off. Only Garrett Shanahan would follow her, which would give her a pretty good idea of what she had to beat.

  “It’s almost time, big guy,” she told Samson, ignoring the sound of the announcer explaining the rules of the jump-off to the audience.

  Just then Denise appeared at her side. “Hi, Carole,” she said. “How are you feeling?”

  “Great,” Carole replied truthfully. “I can’t wait for my turn!”

  Denise smiled. “Good. I just came over to see if you want me to watch Samson while you check out the competition.”

  “That would be great!” Carole said gratefully. “Thanks, Denise.” Handing over Samson’s lead, she hurried toward the fence. Now she would really be able to see what she was up against.

  The first rider was clearly nervous as she entered the ring, and it rubbed off on her horse. The pair brought down two rails out of the first three. They ended up with a good time but far too many jumping faults.

  Ben rode second. His face held its usual impassive expression as he aimed Topside at the first fence in the shortened jump-off course. Carole crossed her fingers, hoping they would do well. For most of the course, they did. Topside handled each obstacle in his usual controlled, professional manner. But when there were just two fences left, Carole saw Ben glance quickly at the clock. She could guess what was going through his head. They were clean so far, but they were being so careful that their time was moderate at best. With four riders to go after them, they couldn’t afford to post a time that would be easy to beat.

  Watching closely, Carole saw Ben urge Topside on faster. The plan backfired. They were too rushed approaching the next obstacle. Ben saw it, too, and he did his best to correct it. Topside tried valiantly to adjust his stride as his rider was asking. But there just wasn’t enough time. The bay gelding met the fence at an awkward angle, and though he struggled to leap up and over anyway, his front hooves clipped the top rail and brought it clattering to the ground.

  Carole’s heart went out to Ben.
She knew how disappointed he must be. But it didn’t show on his face. It also didn’t show in his riding. He collected Topside, steadying him after the mistake, and aimed him toward the next and last obstacle. They cleared it easily and galloped across the finish line with a respectable time.

  Well, he’s guaranteed fifth place at least, Carole thought as she watched her teammate ride out of the ring, seeming oblivious to the applause of the crowd as he patted Topside’s sweaty neck and whispered to the horse. Maybe better. Sometimes that kind of solid, low-fault performance is enough to win a competition like this.

  As if proving her thoughts true, the next two competitors each brought down two fences. As Carole hurried to meet Denise, who was leading Samson toward her, she knew that Ben’s ride was the one she had to beat so far. All she had to do was go clear in a decent amount of time, and the win was hers.

  Not allowing herself to think about or even glance at Garrett Shanahan, who was already mounted on his big chestnut mare and waiting quietly on the far side of the warm-up ring, Carole quickly mounted and rode Samson toward the main ring. She knew she should probably be feeling nervous, but instead she was strangely calm. Anything could happen out there, of course, and Carole knew better than to be overconfident. One little mistake, one misstep or unluckily placed stone on the ground, could mean a fault. But despite all that, it was hard to be too worried when she was riding a horse like Samson.

  As the starting bell rang, Carole’s mind snapped into focus. All she could see was the fences in front of her, the packed ground leading up to each one. All she could hear was Samson’s breathing and the thud of his hooves on the dirt. They soared easily over one fence, then another. Samson was moving fast, but Carole was still in complete control, guiding the sharp turns between obstacles and measuring each stride to keep them on track. Another fence flashed under them, then another, and several more. Before she knew it, they were crossing the finish line with the first clean round in the jump-off!

  “Samson! We did it!” Carole whispered gleefully, leaning forward to pat her horse even as she glanced up at the timer over the judges’ stand. She blinked, not quite believing her eyes. She and Samson had beaten the next fastest time by more than two full seconds!