I turned my head to face Alex who was busy punching in numbers on a calculator. I cackled back. The two of us were working on some homework together under the covered seating of the Oasis. Alex was busy working away on some math, and as for me? Working on my personal favorite- an essay on the book we just read.
See, in the silly middle school days I went to professional school. But now I was a freshman along with Alex, and while the two of us wanted to continue on with professional school, we weren’t so lucky. Our parents found we would have no problem keeping up when showings and horses were ten minutes away so we were enrolled in- woopdeedoo- regular public high school. It wasn’t terrible since we had a lot of the same classes, but all of the extras days and work was a pain.
“You know what? Screw this.” Alex smashed her math into her bag. “Come on, let’s go get some tacos.”
“Tacos?” I said, surprised. I fought to push the essay back into my bag as well.
“You got it.”
Alex was quick on her feet, as she always was. Since Pony Finals she had gone through two more boyfriends, and in the end it made her a much, well, stronger person inside. She would walk with her head high and confident all day long. In the ring, it showed to. She would go in feeling like the winner and exit being the actual winner. Worked like a charm.
We walked past the gorgeous fountain outside of the grill and weaved through a few people. My favorite people to run into were the tourists. They would come every year to just watch the shows, and good lord they stood out. They would rock the brightly colored shorts and tank tops wearing none other than sandals. Of course, you also could not forget the camera they would have hanging over their neck for good measure. But it was all in fun, of course. It was just interesting to think I was once one of them.
Alex and I pushed past some spectators and participants and made our way towards the Tower Ring. There, some gorgeous older junior hunters were going. Earlier, I managed to pull it together for Lumiere. Lumiere was actually the full brother to Believe, the junior Navaeh won like crazy on. Lumiere, was in fact Imagine who Todd so badly wanted to import. Where he got his barn name, I did not know, but the horse was a dream. With a rich bay coat, stockings and blaze, he always caught the judge’s eye. And today we managed to pin sixth and third.
We made it to the stairs where we easily made our way up. It appeared some big jumper class was going on, but it didn’t matter to me. I wasn’t in jumpers- yet. I had high hopes for Marvel and I, and I knew I would have to give it my best shot. However, my thoughts were shaken from me when the great big sign came to view that read Tito’s Tacos. I loved that place beyond belief. Sure, it was just a horse show food stand, but their food was delicious.
Alex and I instantly sprang into line. Carlos, the main guy who worked here and I had come to know instantly slapped a smile on his face when he noticed Alex and I wanted to order. I spoke first.
“Carlos, my bro!” I sounded. “How’s it going?”
He grinned, flipping a sign in front of the table separating us. “We have a new system, winners eat free! You got a blue ribbon? Show it and you win a taco!” He laughed. “Cool, no?”
“Oh, I see what you did there!” I laughed. “WEF. Winners. Eat. Free. Anyway, can I have a burrito bowl please?”
“Same here.” Alex added in.
Carlos nodded to the two of us. “Sure thing, girls.”
He began to work on the delicious bowls of veggies, rice, beans, and meat that we always would stuff ourselves with. Navaeh was never a fan, but then again, she was Navaeh and would end up buying a salad without dressing somewhere or another. I turned to face Alex.
“You got a blue ribbon with you?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No, you?”
I shrugged. ”Let’s change that.”
Based off of the sheepish grin on Alex’s face, she agreed with our little idea. Today the two of us did rake up a nice handful of blue ribbons, but of course we wouldn’t gloatingly carry them around with us. There were always those pony kids who’s mothers would see they pinned eight in an under saddle class or whatnot and attach it to the child’s belt for the remainder of the day. Always happened.
It took a few minutes of waiting, but eventually our burrito bowls were handed to us. Alex and I decided to get giant bottles of water to go with it, and the two of us made it outside onto the deck where we overlooked the Tower Ring. A big-bodied bay was busy tooling around the ring with a smaller rider who seemed fairly new to this height based off of how she put her hands on the neck and tipped her shoulder. She still managed to get around through, and Alex and I took a seat.
“So tell me about this Marvelous horse.” She said with a grin.
I laughed. “Well, I call him Marvel. But he’s a giant, well, flaxen… Yes, flaxen young jumper.”
“Flaxen, huh?”
“Yeah.”
It was the next day when I found Lumiere to be under me and gliding towards our first fence. He was nice and stocky with a comfortable step, which made finding distances with him easy. Sure, he was still green, but he could step over 3’6 despite being a small junior. The single game up fast out of the end of the ring, but I was hunting a perfectly long distance. Lumiere took it in full form, knees to eyeballs and landing in perfect form. It was good he was green and cautious since it allowed him to really, really jump.
I got him into the corner, Lumiere throwing his head a little bit. That was the one reason we didn’t pin at the very top of the class every time. When we would hit all the corners Lumiere would anticipate the next fence and get nervous, therefore becoming somewhat skittish. I sat a little farther back, bringing Lumiere back into my hand. The next diagonal line was a breeze, Lumiere not caring that much about the natural jumps. He could be a great derby horse with how he took the derby style jumps.
Once more, he threw his head a little bit going to the upcoming two-stride. Lumiere wanted to quicken, but I eased him up. After all, I spotted a very relaxed distance coming up and I didn’t want to blow right by it. But Lumiere listened, and he tucked like crazy over the first element. Two strides later, he did the exact same over the second and I got a brisk little lead change.
But then, right there, was my nemesis. A giant, looming and wide 3’6 single oxer had a long approach on the diagonal. They were never my forte. If I screwed up the distance, then my funeral would be tomorrow. And I always, always would over think the distance. It was coming up now, and Lumiere saw it too. With all of its birch extras, it was quite a monster on the course. I just breathed deep and easy, and then thank the lord- I saw a distance and rode to it. Lumiere shot up over the fence, tucking beyond belief. That one would make a nice picture.
The last line, a bending line, was no problem. Lumiere didn’t care about the green boxes and brown poles, so he easily made it through them. When we landed, I grinned. The round was just about perfect except for the head throwing and slight rushing. Based off of the loud booming of claps from the crowd- it was recognized as a great round as well.
“That’s how I like to see rounds, Schaefer.” Todd told me, giving me a pat on my leg.
I ignored him. Ever since he told me no more showing Toujours, I began to hold a terrible grudge against my own trainer. And the worst? It wasn’t going away, and I didn’t think it ever will. Even If I got over it, what Todd did to me was unforgivable and I could never, ever forget it.
“Can you go to ring 12 and show a jumper for me?” Todd asked.
“Okay.”
My uninterested answer didn’t seem to faze Todd very much. I actually was exploding in excitement inside, but I couldn’t let it show. I would not let Todd think he was repaying me and trying to make everything better. Because, honestly, he wasn’t. He could put me on ten thousand horses, but none would compare to Toujours to me. I had no idea who the jumper was, but the class in there was some small little warm-up class and I knew all of our grooms so finding it wouldn’t be a problem.
I hopped off of Lumiere right away, giving the gelding a big pat. He snorted in return, turning his head towards me and giving me a nudge. I laughed. The horse could always make me feel better with his brilliant mind and joking manner. Kind of like a hunter form of Marvel.
Ah, Marvel. I rode him earlier this morning back at The Bay and actually got to jump him. He was a dream, as always, and I even did a little equitation on him. However, we concluded with a grid and the two of us managed to go up to four foot without any problems at all. I found all my distances, and I knew straight away after my ride today that these weeks of WEF on him were going to be amazing.
A groom took Lumiere from me to wait for the jog, and I nodded my thanks. With luck, maybe I could hitch a golf cart ride up to ring 12, but Week 1 at WEF was always a little empty. So, I ended up walking the scenic route, not that I minded. It was gorgeous out, but it would get hot soon. I dreaded that. It was absolutely terrible riding in the extreme Florida heat in spring and summer, so Todd always made sure we would be in cooler places showing just about every weekend.
I made it to the ring beside where an equitation class was going on and instantly spotted a groom of ours holding the reins of a giant gray gelding. He was very handsome, with splashes of dapples everywhere and a gentle looking eye. He was even bigger than Marvel, and I think I recognized him from somewhere, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
Just then, as if to answer my question, Susie came up behind me with a smile and her typical blue GPA hat. Even with her smile, I could still see the slight sternness in her eyes, but as long as I listened I wouldn’t have a hard time with her.
“You know this one, don’t you?” She asked me, scratching the gelding’s ears.
“Yeah. But I’m not sure where.” I got a leg-up.
“This is Anything But Ordinary, or Odin. Todd bred him and had him at the barn last summer for training but he’s back again. He’s only four, and green as they come. We think he can be an equitation horse, so I just want you to slowly make your way around these little jumps.” Susie instructed me. “Sound good?”
“Oh! Odin.” Yes, I did remember the horse now! “Sounds like a plan.”
“Right. So you can go get used to him, warm him up, whatever. You’re in thirteen trips so I’ll come and jump you four out.”
I nodded to Susie, gathering up my reins on the giant gray. I felt like an ant on him, miles off the ground as I guided him into the schooling ring. An array of bay jumpers were all strung out and popping over fences, and soon I would be with them. I allowed Odin to go around a full lap at the walk first though since he could be very green.
When all was well, I got a trot. The second Odin stepped into it I felt myself lurched back from his giant and powerful stride. My cheeks turned a flash red, embarrassed now that a mere trot could unbalance me. I shortened up my reins at that point, trying to see if I could massage Odin into a frame. No avail. But hey, he was a greenie.
When I reached the end of the arena, a gull decided it was the perfect time to take flight. Odin jumped right and my sheer experience of this with Toujours kept me on. I gritted my teeth. I did love working with greens, but this was a rough weekend for me and I didn’t need for this to be happening. I pulled his head to the left before getting my trot again, flustered. Odin was an interesting horse, and I pitied him for the fact he would get me on one of my worse days.
I tried working him through a few lateral movements once he stretched out, but Odin did not comply. He was only a four year old after all and could hardly even go into a frame. After changing direction, I let the horse stretch out the other way. Everyone in the ring was going in different directions, which made Odin nervous, but we worked through it.
I got a canter, which also managed to push me backwards. He had a huge stride atop of being a giant, so I was easily lurched back. I then decided to grab a little piece of mane and raise my hand, which in the end kept me in the saddle a bit more. Odin was very nervous, nostrils bristled and staying choppy. I couldn’t get him to relax though, and by the time Susie came over it was too late. She set of a small vertical, and I had to start jumping without success on the flat.
“Pop over the vertical, Schaefer!” She called to me.
I nodded, attempting to get Odin to relax going to the vertical but attempts futile. I got there at a shorter distance, Odin jerking his knees up and landing off to the side. I was jolted forward, but managed to stay in the saddle. My reins had loosened in the process, and I gritted my teeth in attempt to gather them back up again.
“Can’t see why Todd thinks he’s ready for this jumper class…” Susie shook her head. “Anyway, keep coming again.”
I got my canter again, half-seating to Odin’s giant stride. His stride was so big that I didn’t think a shorter distance out on the jumps in the ring could work out. So when I pointed Odin at the jump again, I let him go forward and got a long spot. This time he was more relaxed about it though, and jumped normally for the most part.
Susie never said to stop, so I continued cantering around the corner. She had raised the vertical up to 2’6, some inches shorter than the jumps in the ring, which I suspected, was one meter. Odin sensed the greater height, and when I got him at that nice distance, he decided to launch an extra foot higher than he needed to. Once more, I was thrown forward from his back-cracking attempt and halted him.
“Oh god, alright. I’ll just raise it up and come in the other direction. Remember, release with your hands, not body. Keep your shoulder back with him. You need it.” Susie said, shaking her head.
I winced. “I’ll try.”
I got a canter again, but this time in the other direction. Odin’s head was straight up in the air, eyes in the direction of some gulls sitting on a palm tree. Shaking my head, I brushed it aside and turned him early to the three foot vertical. Odin hesitated, but I legged him forward. When he finally got there he launched sky high, but I remembered what Susie said. Hands. Shoulder. Hands. Shoulder. In the end, I stayed perfectly balanced from her two simple tips.
“Alright, go learn your course. You’re in a trip.” Susie then said.
My weak smile was Susie’s answer. I loosened my rein a cinch, walking Odin towards the board by the ring. Right away, I could see the course. It wasn’t anything ridiculous since the jumps were pretty small. It consisted of a single going to a bending line, to an oxer, rollback turn, one stride, oxer, then a diagonal line. Nothing crazy, but on a green it could be interesting especially with a Liverpool at the in of the bending line.
I waited around for two minutes before it was my turn to go into the ring. Susie nodded me off, and I was set. She didn’t give crazy last minute instructions like Todd because she expected a lot more. So I had to rely on the last few thoughts buzzing around my head, and I went into the ring at a trot.
Odin instantly began to look around and prance. He was getting nervous with this new setting, and was going nowhere close to the sunflower single oxer. I figured I would nee to get him by anyway, so I straightaway picked up a canter. The buzzer sounded, and I was off.
I pointed Odin at the first jump, a simple white vertical. Nothing could go wrong with that, right? Well, I found a somewhat shorter distance, and Odin decided to bounce back. I had to kick him forward, and by that point we lost all of our momentum and stride. He added a sloppy extra stride in, being terrible with his knees as we landed off of, both flustered. I had to quickly pop my helmet back on so I could see, and by that time we had lost a lot of time.
Going through the corner I tried forgetting about our sloppy first jump and got Odin pointed at the Liverpool. Straight away, I knew this wouldn’t go according to plan. He began to bounce behind me, so I gave the giant gray a smack with my crop. Even so, he dully bounced to a stop with his ears pinned forward, nervous.
“It’s only water!” I hissed under my breath to him.
I had to turn Odin away from the oxer so we could take it again. This time, I knew I would need to leg him hard and do everything I possibly could to get the big horse over it. I kicked him into a canter, letting Odin know I was serious. Surely I could get him over it now.
I pointed him at the Liverpool again. Odin backed off just the same, and I kicked him forward. However, I was merely a fly on his back. Even though I was smacking and kicking, it was nowhere near enough for Odin. He bounced to a stop again. The buzzer sounded.
Susie simply looked away, not saying any words. I feared she would be angry, but both she and I both knew Odin was not ready for the class and we didn’t know what Todd was thinking. He sure seemed to be a wreck lately.
As I came out of the ring, the boy going in next surprised me. He looked at me, flashing a smile on his face. He seemed Italian, with tanner skin and ruffles of dark hair. He had olive green eyes, which were especially smooth and soft looking. I wondered why he was looking at me as if he knew me, and aboard a giant black gelding he was quite the sight.
“Better luck next time, Tesoro.” He said in an especially soothing voice.
The last word he said was Italian no doubt, so I didn’t quite know what it was. I thought nothing of his words as I hopped off of Odin, still steaming. At that point, I saw the look of none other than Navaeh strolling towards me with a look of shock on her face. I was about to turn back to Odin, but she put a hand on my shoulder first.
“Oh my god. Did Adriano Ricci just talk to you?” She exclaimed, eyes wide.
“Who?” I cocked my head.
“Adriano Ricci. That boy. So ridiculously WEF famous. Rides all the top jumpers and wins like crazy. Adriano Ricci, who all the girls want. That ring a bell?” She said quietly so no one would hear.