Comet and the Champion's Cup

by Stacy Gregg

  “I guess I panicked, Tom,” Issie said. “Comet got spooked by the crowds and then I couldn’t concentrate and it all kind of fell apart and…”

  “It’s not your fault, Issie,” Avery said. “I’m kicking myself. I should have thought about it earlier. It’s the noise of the crowd. Comet’s not used to it. I should have thought of this before you went in there. But at least it’s not too late to fix it.”

  He put his hand into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a crocheted doily, the sort that sits on your nan’s bedside table. Issie noticed that there was something unusual about the doily–it appeared to have two pointy bits in the middle of it.

  “It’s an ear net,” Avery explained as he began to fit the doily over Comet’s ears. “It will muffle the sound and cut out the crowd noise.”

  “Will it really work?”

  “It should do,” Avery said. “Lots of professional riders use them to block out the crowd noise and help their horses to focus. I’m betting that Comet’s problems in the ring just now were purely because he’s not used to all that racket.” Avery patted the skewbald on his white striped face.” Anyway, there’s only one way to find out.”

  Issie was confused. “But, Tom, it’s too late. The pony Grand Prix is over. I’ve withdrawn.”

  Avery looked at her, “Well, yes and no.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve entered you in another event.” Issie couldn’t believe it.

  “What?”

  “The pony Puissance,” Avery said.

  “But, Tom. Why? It must have cost you $500! You’re going to lose your money! You saw him in the ring just now! It was a disaster!”

  Avery put his hand on Comet’s neck and looked up at her. “Issie, the Puissance is a completely different event. It requires a pony with exceptional bravery, and a rider who can put all their trust in their horse.” He looked at her. “Comet can do this. I know he can–that’s why I paid your entry.”

  Comet lifted his head up as Avery said this, as if he knew that they were talking about him. Issie looked at his bold chestnut and white face. Avery was right–Comet had more courage than any pony she had ever met. If they quit now, she would never know what he was really capable of.

  “OK, Tom,” she nodded. “We’ll do it.”

  Avery smiled at her. “Excellent. The competition begins in an hour. That gives us enough time for a quick lesson in showjumping Puissance-style.”

  Comet, who seemed to realise that something was going on, began to dance beneath her. “Steady, Comet,” Issie soothed him. “You’re getting a second chance in that ring, boy,” she whispered. “We both are.”

  A sense of determination gripped Issie now as she turned to her instructor. “We’re ready,” she said. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter 16

  Issie felt her tummy tighten with nerves. The Puissance had begun, but there were several other riders to go before it was her turn in the ring. Issie kind of wished she was going first. It would have been easier in a way to get it over and done with. That way you didn’t have a chance to get nervous. As Avery gave her some last-minute advice on jumping technique she tried to listen, but it was hard to concentrate. As she looked at the jumps in the arena her mind kept going back to her round in the Grand Prix. It had been a total disaster! And now she was going back into the ring to face the biggest jumps of her life? This was crazy!

  “The key,” Avery was telling her, “is to get your horse in quite deep to the fence to get a good bascule over the jump.” He put down his riding crop about two metres out from the practice jump. “Imagine that this crop marks your take-off point,” he said.

  Issie looked at the practice jump which Avery had fixed at a metre forty. To Issie, even the practice jump looked utterly huge.

  “I’ve never jumped that high before,” she said.

  “Yes, you have!” Avery said. “Remember the Puissance training that we did at home? Comet took one metre forty easily. We never got the chance to see how much higher he could go, but I think he can do even better than that. I think he can win this event.”

  “Uh-huh,” Issie said, sounding unconvinced.

  Avery looked her in the eyes. He could see now that something was wrong. “Are you nervous?”

  “A little,” Issie admitted.

  Avery nodded. “It’s perfectly normal to be nervous. But somehow you need to lose your fears before you enter that arena. Showjumping is all about keeping your cool.”

  “I know, Tom,” said Issie. “It’s just that when Comet got spooked in the arena in the Grand Prix and I nearly fell off, I guess I kind of lost my nerve a bit…”

  “He was only panicking because of the noise, Issie,” Avery said.

  “I know, I know, and he has the ear net now and everything…but, Tom, those are big jumps in there!”

  Avery looked at her. “Comet is a very smart horse. He knows exactly what you’re feeling. If you panic then he’ll panic too. If you relax then he’ll relax. Do you understand?”

  Relax! Issie looked across the arena at the crowded grandstand. “Yeah, right! How can I? This is the Horse of the Year pony Puissance!”

  Avery looked at her intently. “Take a deep breath and listen to me,” he said. “You had a rough ride in the Grand Prix, but you and I both know that Comet can do this. He’s a superstar, Issie. You have to give him the chance to prove it.”

  Issie took a deep breath and slowly let it out again. In her heart, she knew Avery was right. Comet was a star. Hadn’t Issie known that from the very first day they met? Avery saw it straightaway too. Even Mystic knew it. Wasn’t that why Mystic had been watching over Comet ever since Issie arrived at Blackthorn Farm? Mystic had helped her to find the skewbald pony that day when Kelly-Anne had taken him. Mystic believed in Comet. Now, after all they had been through, maybe it was time for Issie to make a final leap of faith and truly believe in this horse too.

  Issie took another deep breath and this time, as she exhaled, she willed herself to be brave, to trust absolutely in her horse. She felt the butterflies in her belly dissolve as she breathed all the nervous energy out and took another new breath in again.

  “Are you ready?” Avery said.

  “Yes, Tom,” she smiled. “I’m ready–and so is Comet.”

  “We’re up to competitor number twenty in the pony Puissance,” the announcer called. “Isadora Brown on Blackthorn Comet.”

  As she rode through into the arena and looked at the first fence Issie felt a tingle up her spine. Not from nerves this time, but from excitement. She wanted to do this.

  “Come on, Comet,” she whispered to her pony. “You and I know you’re the best jumper here–and now we’re gonna prove it to them.”

  With his smart new ear net on, Comet was no longer bothered by the crowd noise. The pony was totally unfazed and every inch the showjumper as Issie worked him around in a bouncy canter and headed towards the first fence. Comet took the painted rails with ease, flicking up his heels as he went over and giving a grunt of satisfaction as he landed on the other side as if to say, Piece of cake!

  “Steady, boy.” Issie turned him and gathered him up again for the brick wall. Even though she knew it was just made of wooden blocks, it looked really solid and scary. She swallowed her nerves and felt a surge of power from beneath her as Comet pricked his ears forward at the fence and approached it in a rounded canter, with one stride…two…three strides and over! They had gone clear! The crowd clapped politely. It was only the first round. Most of the thirty young riders competing in this event would go clear in this round. But there were still four rounds to go after this–and with each round, the brick wall would grow.

  “The field stewards are now raising the wall to one metre forty,” the announcer told the crowd in the grandstand.

  The second round was far more dramatic than the first. One metre forty was enough to knock out quite a few competitors. By the time the wall was raised again for round three, there were only eight
riders left.

  The loudspeaker crackled back to life. “The wall is now being set at one metre fifty,” the announcer called.

  “One metre fifty? You might as well give up now! You’ll never make it over that on your ugly skewbald!” Issie turned around to see Natasha Tucker pouting at her from the back of her grey pony Fabergé.

  “Did you see me and Fabby in that last round?” Natasha said. “Fabby just flew over the fence. Puissance is his speciality.” She looked darkly at Issie. “I really do expect to win this.”

  Issie couldn’t believe it. Of all the people to be in a jump-off with, did she have to be riding against Stuck-up Tucker?

  Natasha’s smugness got even worse a few moments later when she rode the next round and Fabergé went clear over the one metre fifty wall. Issie watched Natasha ride out of the ring with an unbearably pleased-with-herself look. She wasn’t the only one to go clear. Three other riders had already made it round and the pressure was really on.

  Avery’s last-minute advice for getting over the wall this time was short and to the point. “Don’t think about it too hard,” he said to Issie as she entered the ring. “Just jump it!”

  Comet did exactly that. Issie came into the ring, popped neatly over the painted rails and then turned Comet to face the wall. She counted his strides out loud under her breath to keep herself focused. “One, two, three!” As the skewbald took off this time Issie realised just how big the fence was. One metre fifty! That was as tall as she was! She had just jumped herself!

  For the fourth round the fence went up to one metre sixty. Issie looked at the brick wall and tried not to get freaked out. She was pretty sure now that the wall was so tall Comet wouldn’t even be able to see over it.

  “We’re down to the final two rounds,” the announcer said. “With only five riders left, it remains to be seen who will make it over this wall and into the jump-off for the final round.”

  Issie looked at the four other riders. She couldn’t believe she had made it so far. She was in the fourth round. If she could get over the fence this time then she would make the final jump-off.

  She looked over at Natasha Tucker. Natasha was circling Fabergé outside the arena now under the watchful eye of a horse-faced woman with long flame-red hair and tan jodhpurs.

  “Who’s she?” Issie asked.

  “You really don’t know?” Avery was surprised. “Issie, that’s Ginty McLintoch. She’s trained some of the best showjumping riders. She has some of the best horses in her stable too.” Avery pointed at Natasha’s grey pony Fabergé. “The word is that Ginty charged the Tuckers top dollar for Fabergé. She’s renowned for having a real eye for horse flesh. Ginty has customers who are willing to pay big bling for a talented pony…”

  The loudspeaker crackled back into life. “We’re in the fourth round of the pony Puissance here at the Horse of the Year with Natasha Tucker on Fabergé next into the arena.”

  Issie watched as Natasha rode into the ring. Natasha’s eyes were set at the jumps with steely determination. Issie had noticed that she brandished a hot pink riding crop in the previous rounds. This time when Natasha was a couple of strides out from the wall she used the crop, bringing it down hard against Fabergé’s flank and screaming, “Get up!”

  Poor Fabergé looked thoroughly shocked at being hit for no reason and his canter became disunited, but he managed to take off cleanly somehow and still cleared the wall.

  Avery shook his head. “That’s a classic Ginty McLintoch rider for you,” he sighed. “Ginty trains all her students to use their whips as soon as the fences get big.”

  “Actually, I don’t think Natasha needs any encouragement when it comes to using her whip,” said Issie. She watched Natasha ride back out of the arena with a huge grin on her face. And Natasha’s grin got even wider a few minutes later when the next three riders all failed to make it over the wall.

  “Only one rider has made it over the wall so far. Now it’s time for our last competitor, Isadora Brown on Blackthorn Comet,” the announcer said.

  As Issie took Comet into the ring this time she tried to remember everything Avery had told her about bringing the pony in deep to the fence and not holding him back. As she popped Comet over the painted rails she felt the pony arc up beneath her and she knew for certain as she turned to face the wall that Comet was ready to do this.

  Up in the grandstand above her, though, the others weren’t so sure.

  “Ohmygod!” Stella squealed. “That wall is totally huge!”

  “I can’t look!” Kate had her hands over her face and was peering through her fingers.

  “Is it safe for her to jump a wall that size?” Mrs Brown asked Hester.

  “You must be joking!” Hester said without thinking. Then she saw Mrs Brown’s distraught face and added, “She’ll be fine, Amanda. She’ll get over it no trouble–you watch!”

  “Come on, Issie!” Tina, Trisha, Lucy, Sophie, Kitty, Kelly-Anne, George and Arthur were screaming at the top of their lungs.

  Down in the arena, Comet’s ears swivelled as he heard the shouts of the crowd. But the ear net had muffled the noise and he didn’t lose his cool. Neither did Issie as she lined the skewbald pony up to the wall, took a deep breath and rode him forward at a fast canter. Comet took four big strides and then leapt straight up in the air. It almost looked like the pony was climbing the wall rather than jumping it as he rose up and over. Then he did a neat flip with his hindquarters, flicking his fetlocks up in the air so that they too flew above the bricks.

  “Is she over?” Kate asked, peeking through her fingers. “Did she do it?” Her question was answered by the roar of the crowd going wild. Issie was clear!

  “We are down to just two competitors in the final round. Natasha Tucker on Fabergé and Isadora Brown on Blackthorn Comet,” the announcer said. “The course stewards are now raising the wall. They’ve taken it up another ten centimetres this time. That means final height for our pony Puissance today will be one metre seventy!”

  As the stewards added another row of bricks to raise the height of the wall, Issie tried to stay calm and keep Comet working at a trot around the warm-up area. A metre seventy! It’s OK, she told herself, that’s just ten more centimetres, hardly anything at all. Comet can do it.

  “Issie!” A voice called out to her. She looked up and saw Natasha Tucker riding towards her on Fabby. There was something wrong though. Issie couldn’t place it at first and then she realised what it was. Natasha was smiling at her.

  “Issie!” Natasha said. “I just wanted to ask you something. It’s just that, well, the ground is quite hard and I don’t want to hurt Fabby’s legs more than I have to and I was just wondering…well…”

  “What?” said Issie.

  “I was just wondering if you want to call it quits at round four,” Natasha said. “We could tell the judges that we’re both stopping now and then they’d call a draw and we’d both share the first and second prize money.” Natasha gave Issie a smile. “What do you think? Do we have a deal?”

  Issie looked at the wall. Maybe Natasha was right. An extra ten centimetres meant that the wall was totally huge now. Way bigger than anything she had ever jumped in her life. She looked back at Natasha, and then she remembered what Avery had said about horses being able to sense fear. At that moment, Issie could sense it too. She realised that Natasha was afraid. Afraid of the wall and afraid of losing to Issie. That was the difference between these two riders now. Sure, the wall was huge, but Issie still believed she could do it. She believed that Comet could jump it. And she wasn’t afraid. She was ready.

  “Thanks, Natasha, but I want to ride,” she said. “I want to see how this one turns out.”

  Natasha’s smile instantly transformed into a scowl. “Your loss,” she said. “Just remember I gave you your chance to be a winner, OK?”

  “Natasha Tucker on Fabergé into the ring please!” the announcer called.

  “Good luck, Natasha,” Issie said.

  �
�What-ever!” Natasha snapped back as she turned Fabergé and rode into the arena. The steely determination was still there on Natasha’s face, but this time as she took the first fence and turned to face the wall, Issie saw something else in there as well.

  Fabergé sensed the change in his rider too. As they came in to take the wall this time, Issie could only just see the very tips of the grey pony’s ears above the wall. She saw Fabergé approach and then get ready to take off and then, at the very last moment, Natasha lashed out with her whip. At the same time, though, she stiffened and hesitated and Fabergé felt the conflict of being struck by this girl who was afraid to go over the wall. Instinctively, the horse became afraid too. Instead of leaping, at the very last moment he planted his feet and slid to a stop. Natasha, who hadn’t been expecting this, flew clean over his head and straight into the wall. There was a loud gasp from the crowd as the bricks and rider all tumbled down in a great heap, and then a sigh of relief when Natasha stood up and dusted herself off.

  “And unfortunately for Natasha Tucker and Fabergé that fall means disqualification in the final round,” the announcer said. “Our stewards are just taking a few moments to rebuild the wall and then we’ll have our last competitor, Isadora Brown on Blackthorn Comet.”

  In the grandstand the crowd went completely silent as Issie entered the ring.

  Comet seemed to know that every eye in the place was on him. The little skewbald had always known he was a star, and now that he had his moment to show them, he was loving it! Issie could feel the fizzing tension in his chestnut and white body. The little horse was almost trembling with excitement and eagerness as he took the painted rails with ease and came around the corner for the last time to confront the wall.

  As Issie approached the wall this time she tried to clear her mind. Don’t think about how big it is, she told herself, and don’t think about the danger. Just think about being on the other side.

  Professional showjumpers will tell you that once the fences start getting really big, jumping feels totally different. There is a moment when it doesn’t feel like you are jumping at all; it feels like you are flying. It felt like that now as Comet took the wall. As the pony leapt up and up, Issie felt the world fall away behind her, and then she was in midair. As they crested the top of the wall it felt like they were in slow motion, floating there for a moment, before they came down the other side.