Chapter 1

When you ride a horse, you borrow freedom. That is what my mum always told me. I had always loved horses dearly. I got my first pony, a shetland named Nemo, when I was 4. I started riding when I was 3, and started jumping at the age of 5. My mum said I was a natural. And I was. With perfect form, graceful movement, and harmony, I was the perfect rider. When I was 7, I won my first horse show on my Appaloosa pony, Princess Teddy Bear Pony, with a total of 19.3 points out of twenty, over 4 small cross rails measuring 1'2. In the following years I upgraded a lot. By the age of 9, I was jumping four foot rails on Teddy, a thoroughbred cross gelding standing 15.3hh. When I was 11, I Qualified for The English Sectionals, a national horse show held in Kentucky, where teenagers compete against others in Dressage, Cross Country, and Show Jumping. I was the youngest rider, I won first with a whopping 172 points out of 180 total. The following year, when I was Thirteen, my mum bought me a beautiful black friesian stallion standing almost 17.2 hh. Magyke was the most amazing horse ever.[enter more descrip bout Magyke] Then, on my birthday, a strange man showed up and my mum told me to do some of the five foot verticals in the arena on Magyke. The man handed me a slip of paper, told me I scored 87%, and said he'd send a trainer to me right away. I was 14, and I qualified for the olympics. I was 15 when I took gold at the 2006 summer olympics with my team. My mum said she was so proud of me. She would always say "Lusa, when you ride, it is like watching god paint the sky". I would always tell her it was incredibly rude and unchristian it was for her to say that, but she said it was true. I was amazed how quickly my talent spread. It was like a bush fire. I got loads of invites to giant celeb parties, and a gazillion little girls would be emailing me 24/7 asking for riding tips. It was fun at first, but then it got annoying.

"Lusa, we are gonna be late!" My mum screamed. Grr, flashback over. I was standing in my room, still in my pj's. The sunrise illuminated the lavender walls of my room, and the 40 something horses in giant posters were glaring at me, almost saying, "Lusa! You still have to load Magyke, and you know how bad he is about that!" Magyke. My dream, but when it came to trailers, he could seriously hurt someone. I threw on a t-shirt and some pink sweats and grabbed my bag. I shoved some classic ties, my helmet, my crop, a black jacket, my best jodhpurs, and my boots in it, and ran downstairs. I paused at the top of the stairs, and glared at the picture of Magyke above the window. He was rearing up, and there were already dents in the trailer. That was the first time we tried to load him, Dad was holding the camera. It was like the picture was just taunting me, "He he he , you have to load Magyke! Good luck! What do you want me to put on your grave stone? Killed by my crazy horse?" I couldn't imagine Magyke killing me, maybe a ear of corn, but not me! I quickly brushed my long wavy brown hair behind my ear. I nearly stumbled going downstairs, but caught myself. I hurried to the cupboard, grabbed a pop tart, and ran outside. I walked up to the truck that read, CrestWood Stables, and threw my bag in the back seat. I turned south east and headed towards a large white barn with red shingles. I pulled open the door, silently cursing myself as my elbow popped when forcing it open. I had opened a path to heaven. A long row of stalls, where beautiful chestnut and bay and brown and black heads stuck out to greet me. I inhaled, and the sweet scent of hay, wood, saddle soap, leather, grain, manure, and the thick heavy smell of horses filled my nose. This smell, is what I woke up in the morning for. The barn was fairly large, 20 stalls 2 aisles, 5 stalls on each side, same old same old. A large tack room complete with shiny Casey D. saddles ruled the back portion of the barn, while 3 large wash stalls filled the space just left of the door. I grabbed Magyke's huge metal reinforced lead, and headed to the back stalls. Instantaneously, a large black head with a silky nose poked out, and whinnied at me. I walked over and reached up to straighten the mass of bangs he had. His eyes were just eyeing the lead saying, "Oh my goodness, you better not be loading me into the metal dungeon that moves on spinning feet!". I laughed at his facial expression. He just yawned in return. I slid open the metal latches that confined him to the large box stall, and slid inside. I hooked the lead onto his bright red halter. Red is the best color for black horses, mum says. It highlights their facial features.I lead him out of the stall and headed towards the shallow light coming from the tack room. I hooked Magyke's shank to a grooming stall just a couple feet away, and opened the tack room door. I went over to a cupboard and pulled out four rolls of red wraps, and four rolls of wrapped cotton. I also grabbed a giant red blanket that read "Magyke" on my way out. I slid my hand down Magyke's front left leg and pulled out a roll of the wrapped cotton. Trailers can hurt a horse's leg if they kick anything, and I wanted to protect Magyke. I wrapped it around his leg, just below the fetlock and up to the elbow. Then I put the red wrap over that, and secured it with a clasp. I did the same for the rest of his giant legs. His feathers got in the way though. He was a Friesian horse, and Friesians have extra fur on their feet because they are draft horses. We call the fur "feathers". Don't worry, he isn't a pegasus or anything. I slid the blanket over his silky fur and secured all seven clasps. Now, the hard part: Loading him. Unloading was easy, he practically gallops out, but loading him is like trying to get a mouse to shake hands with a cat. As I lead Magyke outside, My mum was sliding out the trailer ramp from underneath the truck. Her blonde hair was waving in the wind, making her look like an angel.

"Come on hun," she said "We have 15 minutes to get him loaded, and his record is 22, so get a move on!" I cautiously proceeded toward the trailer, only to be jerked into the air by Magyke.

"Stop it! Silly boy, it is just a trailer!" I tried again, and again. Soon he was rearing and neighing like someone was loading him into a slaughter trailer. Jeez! I walked up the ramp, this time pulling with all my might, and for the first time ever, he followed me inside.

"Wow," I said, "That was actually pretty easy! Who are you? And what have you done with my horse?" I clipped his double shank to the trailer clasp, and opened the little shutter in the window, so I could talk to him while my mom was driving. It was the only way to keep him calm. I walked back down the ramp, being careful not to startle him, and closed the door behind me. I went inside to double check everything was turned off and went back outside. I climbed into the cab of the truck, and our journey began.