High Hurdles Collection Two

by Lauraine Snelling

  “How’s Major?” The driver glanced in the rearview mirror as she jockeyed the car around the central turnaround. Newly planted shrubs filled in the spaces between rocks and a couple of flowering cherry trees.

  DJ filled them in on what had happened since the show. Each time she told the story she could feel the tears burn behind her eyes, but she kept them at bay.

  “Isn’t it weird that now you’re going to ride Herndon whether you wanted to yet or not?”

  “I know. But I sure wish it hadn’t been at Major’s expense. I shoulda …” When DJ closed her eyes, she could hear the pop and felt airborne all over again. She could see Major with one foot off the ground and dripping with sweat. As Gran had reminded her on the phone, she had much to be thankful for. Major could have broken a leg and have to be put down. He was still her friend whether she ever rode him again or not.

  “Darla Jean Randall, you know better than to talk like that. You can’t keep reliving the past.” Mrs. Yamamoto shook her head as she talked.

  DJ looked at Amy and shrugged. “You two sure sound alike. I know. But …”

  “No buts.” Amy crossed her arms. “If you really want to jump in the Olympics, you have to keep moving forward.”

  “Now you sound like Bridget and Gran all rolled into one.”

  Amy grinned and nodded. “Who do you think I listen to?”

  “So do I, you know that.”

  “Yep, and I’m going to make sure you think positive all the time. Gran, Joe, and I made a pact.”

  “You did what?”

  Mrs. Yamamoto stopped the car by the school curb. “You two have a good day. Remember, Amy, I’ll be picking you up half an hour early for your orthodontist appointment.”

  Amy rolled her eyes. “I know. You want to make my mouth hurt again.”

  “What’s that about positive talk?” DJ nudged her friend as they clambered from the car and slung their packs over their shoulders. They waved good-bye and headed for their lockers.

  Herndon hadn’t arrived by the time DJ raced into the barn. She checked his stall to make sure there was bedding in it, filled the water bucket, and put a leaf of hay in the corner manger. She stayed away from Major’s stall, wishing she’d taken time to call the veterinarian again.

  She was on her way to check the duty board when Brad’s truck and trailer rig turned into the Academy. She pointed to the area off to the side where they usually unloaded horses and stopped by the truck door.

  “Hi, Deej. You ready for him?” Brad had the window rolled down and rested his arm on the doorframe.

  “Sure enough.” She pointed to her pockets. “Even came prepared with horse cookies.”

  “He’ll love you forever.” Jackie opened her door and got out. “Let’s get him out of the trailer. You have a lesson pretty soon, right?”

  “Right.”

  “I wanted John to come down and work with you on Herndon, but he wasn’t available. It’s been a while since you rode him.”

  “Too long a while.”

  Brad unhooked the tailgate, and he and DJ lowered it to the ground. “But I know Bridget will size him up immediately. Just remember, DJ, that he’s a lot more high-strung than Major and not as push-button. You’ll need to really ride him, where Major would just take you over the fences.”

  “But this big guy loves to jump, and once the two of you learn to really work together, he should take you far.” Jackie talked over her shoulder as she entered the trailer to back the big gelding out. Herndon exited the trailer as if he were a prince or maybe a king surveying his realm. Head high, ears pricked, he stood at attention. Jackie let him look around, and only when he blew and sighed did she tug on his lead shank and walk forward.

  DJ led the way to his stall, where they removed the traveling sheet and let him sniff his surroundings. After he checked things out, he came to DJ, who stood in the corner, waiting. She held out a horse cookie on her flat palm and he nibbled it up, barely touching her skin. Before he’d finished that one, he nosed her hand and up her arm. He sniffed her hair, her face, and back to her hand. When he sighed again, she gave him another cookie.

  “Let’s lunge him a bit to get the kinks out.” Jackie snapped a lead shank back on Herndon’s halter. Once outside, the tall gelding trotted around at the end of the line, checking out his surroundings and giving a kick once in a while for good measure. He tossed his head and danced to the side when Jackie began drawing in the line and looping it in her other hand. “That should help, but as you can tell, he’s pretty frisky.” She handed DJ the lead shank. “Go for it; he’s all yours.”

  DJ swallowed and took in a deep breath. “I can never thank you enough.”

  “You don’t need to. Just do your best with him, and we’ll be right behind you all the way.” Jackie gave DJ a smile that made her eyes burn.

  “Okay, big fella, let’s get you tacked up and out in the ring so you can see the rest of your new world.” DJ and Jackie worked together giving him a quick brushing, then setting pad and saddle in place and pulling the girth tight.

  “He has a tendency to suck in a breath when you tighten this, so wait and tighten it again in the ring. He’s a bit of a snob, you know, but once he decides he’s your friend, it’s for life.” Jackie stroked Herndon’s face and rubbed his ears. “He loves molasses on his feed, that’s a real treat. He only tolerates the horse shoer. We had him shod just last week, so he’ll be fine until later in July.”

  “They’ll do fine, mother hen.” Brad unhooked the stall door. “Let’s go.”

  DJ led her new horse out to the covered arena at the front of the barn. Even walking him felt different from walking Major. Herndon’s stride was longer, and he didn’t keep his nose right near her elbow as Major did.

  “You need to watch him,” Jackie said. “He has a tendency to step on your feet, as if his own weren’t enough.”

  “Thanks, I’ll remember that.”

  Brad swung the gate open, and DJ led Herndon inside. With Jackie holding the reins, she tightened the girth, checked the bridle, and gathered her reins, then mounted in one graceful motion. While Major wasn’t small at fifteen and a half hands, with Herndon’s additional four inches, DJ felt like she could see over the barn. She patted her horse’s neck, leaned slightly forward, and with a nod to Brad and Jackie, signaled Herndon to walk.

  Herndon even walked differently. “Guess I knew all this when I rode you before, but now that you’re mine, it seems more important.” His ears flicked back and forth, listening to her and checking out everything around him. She walked him once around, then squeezed her calves for a trot. She posted easily as his trot lightly bounced her out of the saddle. She trotted him in figure eights, circles, serpentines, and across the diagonal.

  As he warmed up, she began working on the dressage techniques she’d done with him in the spring. She practiced haunches in, shoulder in, and cantered, everything in both directions of the ring.

  Brad signaled her over. “So how does he feel?”

  “Good … responsive.” DJ patted the horse’s neck and smoothed his mane to the side. “You want to come with us to the jumping arena?”

  “Of course.” Brad swung open the gate, and DJ rode Herndon through. Other riders continued around the arena; some waved to DJ, congratulating her on her new horse, asking her how Major was doing. The speed with which news passed around the Academy always amazed DJ, but now she could feel a warm surge in her heart region. They all cared about her and Major. What a gift to have so many friends. She promised herself to tell Gran about it. After all, Gran said blanket prayers were good, too, and that she prayed for all those at the Academy as part of her regular prayer list.

  A quick twinge of guilt followed the comfort. DJ couldn’t say that she prayed regularly for all of them like that, more only when there was a real problem. Not that she hadn’t prayed for Major. He’d been on her mind every other minute all night and day.

  Brad and Jackie walked beside her out to the sandy jumping a
rena.

  “You know, Deej, you are one lucky kid.”

  “I know, but what makes you say that now?”

  “To be starting out in a place like this. Not only is Bridget a great trainer and coach, but the people here are pretty special, too. I watch how you all cheer one another on. And the feeling here …”

  “What he’s trying to say, DJ, is that many places aren’t like this at all. Some places the competition is incredibly fierce and the back-biting, ugh. You’ve got to be aware, though, that as you travel to other shows, that nasty stuff goes on. We just don’t want it to backwash onto you.” Jackie stuck her hand through the crook of Brad’s arm. “The horse show world can ruin people of lesser moral character or tender sensibilities. You have to be real strong.”

  They stopped at the gate, and Brad opened it for her. “Why don’t you do the cavalletti at first? I’ve set them for his stride.”

  DJ nodded. She’d already planned on that. She rotated her shoulder. It ached and felt tight. Likewise her hip. Signaling Herndon around the ring, they came up to the rails laid parallel on the ground. After walking him over them twice, she increased the pace to a slow trot.

  Herndon snorted and shook his head, pulling against the bit. DJ kept a firm hand on the reins.

  “You just behave yourself. I don’t care if you don’t like this slow stuff. We’re going to do this until I say we jump. Or rather until Bridget does.”

  He pulled again, trying to jig. DJ kept him going straight, using her legs to push his hindquarters straight. While he did manage a jig step every once in a while, he responded to her aids. He twitched his tail, and she could feel his hindquarters gather for a buck.

  “No, you don’t!” She tightened the reins and brought him to a standstill. “Now, Herndon, get this through your head. I am the boss, and I say what we do and don’t do. You hear me?”

  His flicking ears said he did, and she signaled him into a canter around the perimeter of the jumps, cutting a diagonal and turning the other way. When she could feel him relax again, she slowed and let him blow, then signaled him forward.

  DJ looked up when she had Herndon going forward in a relaxed walk. Bridget had joined Brad and Jackie at the fence. Joe was crossing the gravel to watch with them, too. “Great, all we need is an audience. You get on your best behavior and stay there.” She made her voice firm.

  Herndon reminded her a bit of Patches, the horse she’d trained for Mrs. Johnson. He would take advantage of any slip on her part. Concentrate. Focus. The words hammered in her head.

  “All right, DJ, pick up a trot, circle, and pop over the low jump in the middle of the ring.” Bridget and Brad entered the arena and began moving standards and bars around.

  DJ ignored them and let Herndon speed up his trot. He nicked two of the cavalletti bars and popped over the jump. Big mistake. You shouldn’t have let him quicken like that. Come on, get with it.

  “Okay, goof off, let’s do that again and behave yourself this time.” DJ counted the paces from the cavalletti to the jump, making sure her horse kept an even pace, much slower than he liked. His ears showed his disgust as plainly as if he’d said the words.

  DJ wanted to laugh at him. But she was fast realizing that he needed a firm and consistent hand. She took him around twice more and could feel him settle down to work.

  “All right,” Bridget called from the center of the ring, “follow the pattern we have set and make sure his pacing is consistent. We are not in a hurry here. If he breaks into a slow canter, let him go. Otherwise, bring him back to a trot if he rushes.”

  “Okay.” Inside DJ wanted to take the higher jumps as badly as Herndon did, but she knew better.

  Around they continued with Bridget calling advice when needed. DJ could feel moisture trickling down her back, and Herndon’s shoulders wore sweat patches like dark paint. The longer they worked, the more he settled down, no longer fighting her restraints.

  Bridget raised the bars a notch, and they continued with the same pattern. Now they had a spread that included both single and double jumps, with the higher rails to the back.

  “Look toward the next jump. He is going to go where you are looking.”

  DJ nodded. She’d glanced up when she heard a shout from the barn. Around again. She knew they hadn’t done a perfect round yet. Little things like getting left behind, just like she had with Hilary’s horse. Herndon used himself so much more than Major ever did.

  Bridget raised the bars another notch.

  At the in and out Herndon quit.

  Chapter • 9

  “Oof!” You jerk! DJ wasn’t sure if she meant the horse or herself.

  She pried herself off the horse’s neck and spit out a bit of mane hair. Settling back in the saddle and finding her right stirrup took a couple more triple-time heartbeats. She straightened her helmet, collected her reins, and sucked in a deep breath. She and Herndon let out their breath at the same time.

  “Okay, fella, let’s go back to the beginning. Sorry I dropped you. It won’t happen again, but you could be a little more forgiving, you know.”

  Herndon snorted as DJ turned him and ordered a trot for them both to get their equilibrium back. Oh, Major, I miss you so. God, I know you know what’s best and are taking care of all of us. Keep me on this horse, please, and help us learn to work together. Feels to me like I’m getting worse, not better, at this.

  She squeezed him into a canter and focused on the jump in front of them. One at a time, count, pay attention, focus. Three, two, one, and up. Nice and easy. Three, two, one, and up. She felt him hesitate out of the in and out but drove him straight forward and they cleared it without a hitch. He twitched his tail when he landed as if to say, “See, it wasn’t my fault.”

  “Again,” Bridget called when DJ finished the round.

  “You know, if you’d settle down, you wouldn’t work up such a sweat.” She still wasn’t sure if she was talking to the horse or herself.

  Her legs felt like rubber when she finally finished. This was harder than the show-ring any day.

  “Not bad for working with a new horse.” Bridget stroked Herndon’s neck. “You have to watch him, though, and yourself. He will not tolerate some of the things you get away with on Major.”

  “I’m beginning to understand what a neat horse Major is. Herndon doesn’t seem to be sneaky like Patches, though.”

  “No, but he wants to make sure you know what you are doing. Trust will come with time, for both of you.” Bridget turned to Brad and Jackie. “DJ is very fortunate to have someone like you in her life at this point. Losing Major without another mount would have been disastrous to her career.”

  “Oh, I have a feeling that between Robert and her grandparents, there would have been another horse rather soon.” Joe nodded as he spoke. “But most likely not quite the quality we have here.” He looked up at DJ. “You look mighty fine on him, kid.” He winked at her. “Even up on his neck, although I wouldn’t go so far as to say that looked either graceful or comfortable.”

  DJ grinned down at him. “Yeah, well, I’ve seen you in some rather laughable poses with Ranger. One day I thought maybe you were trying to bulldog him.”

  “Can you beat that?” He turned to Bridget. “No respect, I get no respect around here.”

  That brought a laugh from all of them, and DJ dismounted. It felt like a mile farther down than from Major’s back. How long would it be before she quit comparing the two horses?

  “With Herndon, you could enter dressage shows, too, if you want.” Bridget smiled at DJ.

  DJ groaned. “I can’t keep up with what I have now.”

  “I know. I just thought I would make the suggestion.”

  “You’re kidding, right?” DJ felt her stomach plummet. What if Bridget really thought that was what was best for her? I don’t want to show dressage. I want to jump. But she caught the twinkle in Bridget’s eyes and breathed a sigh of relief.

  “You had her going there.” Joe threw an arm over DJ
’s shoulders. “Come on, let’s get him cooled down and used to his new stall. Maybe you should stay with him tonight so he doesn’t feel lonesome.”

  “J-o-e.”

  “How about I call your mom and ask her if we can take everyone out for pizza?” Brad walked on Herndon’s other side.

  “Fine with me. I’ve got lots of homework, though, so it can’t be late.”

  “Should we order it in?”

  “Whatever.” DJ led Herndon back in his stall and swapped his bridle for a halter. Herndon stepped forward to snag a wisp of hay and planted his hoof right on top of DJ’s foot.

  “Ow!” DJ smacked his shoulder at the same time as he shifted away. “You big … big …”

  “Horse?” Joe arched an eyebrow.

  Pain radiated up her leg. She felt like kicking him with her other foot, but then what would she stand on?

  “Sorry, DJ, are you all right?” Jackie asked.

  “I will be.” DJ glared at the gelding eyeing her with a puzzled look. “You know what you did, so don’t try to blame it on me!” Her voice snapped where her hand wished to slap. “And you can bet I’ll be more careful around you, too.” She wished she could rub her foot, but instead she finished removing her tack. Brad took the saddle from her to keep her from limping up to the tack room. Joe snapped on the lead shank and led Herndon out of the stall.

  “You go put your foot up for a minute. That’ll make it feel better. And some ice wouldn’t hurt.” He led the big horse off to the grassy area by the hot walker, where countless cooling horses had worn a groove around the green.

  “I’ll call your mother,” Brad called back from up the aisle.

  “Are you all right?” Jackie asked again.

  “It’s not the first time this has happened, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.”

  “Not unless you stay totally away from horses and barns and shows and such.”

  “When pigs fly.”