The morning mist rose from the ground, birds sang their songs, horses whinnied for their breakfast, and a dog barked and whined for its owner.
A golden blonde stepped out of her SUV, a red-tri Australian shepherd at her heels. She ruffled his ears and walked through the tack room to a shed, filled with hay and sweetfeed. She loaded a bail of hay and sweetfeed onto a wheelbarrow and fed all the horses their breakfast.
A horse whinnied and pawed the ground, impatient for her breakfast. She whinnied again, louder than the time before. Another horse came trotting over, ears pinned, and whinnied to the whining mare. He nipped her neck, making her move out of the way of the feed-bin.
A truck pulled up the drive of the Tanzanite Ridge Riding Academy. Two young teenage girls leapt out of the back seats, laughing and talking.
"Can you believe that my mom almost said yes to a horse? It's so awesome!" a short, brown haired girl squealed.
The red-headed girl nodded. "I know. It's so cool! Come on; let's go get the horses ready." She hurried over to the owner of the stable, Pam.
Pam smiled and waved to the girls. "Hey, Rachel. Hi, Lea. How are you girls? You ready to ride? Don't forget, the Jumping Show is coming up this weekend, so be ready!" Pam reminded cheerfully, giving each girl a quick hug.
"Oh yeah, we are going to kick some—" Lea started to say, but Pam's cell phone interrupted them by ringing.
Pam held up her index finger, signaling to hold that thought, "Hello, this is Pam. Oh, hi, Tara. Of course you can ride today; you know I love having you all riding! Okay, I'll see you then, bye!" She hung up and sighed, "Okay, Tara is coming out to ride and you know she isn't as experienced as you two are. So, help her out a bit, you know, give her some pointers. Okay? So anyways, Rachel, you are riding Willow today; and Lea, I thought you could ride Talamanca today? Just to give you a small challenge," Pam said, winking and walking to her office.
"Cool!" the two girls said in unison, and then walking to get a halter.
They walked over to the box stalls; the horses they were riding were right next to each other.
Willow nickered to Rachel, eager to get riding. Rachel laughed and entered the stall, shutting it behind her. She slipped the halter over Willow's head, latching it, and then leading him out and over to the hitching rails.
Lea did the same, but to Talamanca. Tala was a chestnut Arabian mare who was very energetic and hyped up when ridden. Not many people liked to ride her, and many didn't try her to find that out. Lea tied her to the hitching rail with a slip knot, as did Rachel.
The girls walked into the tack room and came out with grooming kits in hand. They both held a curry comb and a soft brush to brush down their horses.
Lea hurried over to Talamanca, currying her coat first, and then brushing it smooth with the soft brush.
Rachel did the same, only a bit slower, since Willow was new and wasn't used to people riding him.
Lea moved swiftly into the tack room, coming back out with a blue and pale green saddle pad and an all purpose saddle. She loved to jump, yet she loved to barrel race and to do the western things too.
Rachel was more of an English rider, so when she disappeared into the tack room, she came back out with a red and orange saddle pad and an English saddle. She laid it gently on Willow's back, making sure not to hurt him.
Lea strapped her saddle on loosely at first, then to tighten it before mounting into the saddle. She went back to the tack room and grabbed her daily bridle, strapping on a black helmet.
Tala didn't like being bridled, so it took a few minutes to get the bit in her mouth. Lea finally slipped the new bit in Tala's mouth, checking that it fit correctly. "There are new bits, Rachel, so check and make sure they don't hurt Willow's mouth," she warned Rachel, waiting for her to finish bridling.
Rachel nodded, "Okay, thanks." She slipped the bit into Willow's mouth. Willow took the bit with no problem, unlike Talamanca.
The two girls led their horses to the jumping arena and then tightened their girths. Lea swung her leg over and landed lightly in the saddle. Rachel, on the other hand, used the fence to get into the saddle. Willow was pretty tall for a Tennessee Walker and Rachel had a hard time getting her foot into the stirrup.
Talamanca danced in place, ready to ride. Lea held her back while Rachel fixed her stirrups and her reins. "Okay, now we're ready," Lea announced, asking Tala to walk on.
Rachel nodded happily and asked Willow to walk next to her. He pinned his ears and nipped Tala's shoulder unhappily, causing Talamanca to lunge at Willow's neck.
"Hey! Quit that!" Lea shouted, maneuvering Tala further to the right of Willow.
Willow snorted and trotted beautifully, smoothly, and slowly. He was the perfect dressage horse, though he loved to jump instead. Rachel turned him in large circles, and then made him walk and trot the other direction. Finally, she asked him to canter. He picked up the correct lead the first time and cantered around the edge of the arena like a prize show horse would.
Lea smiled as she watched her best friend ride the horse of her dreams. Tala nickered and pranced in a circle, pulling on the reins, and trying to signal that she wanted to canter. Lea sighed and gave in, letting Talamanca canter freely. She made an unexpected sharp left turn, causing her to do a flying lead change just to jump over a short water jump.
Rachel slowed Willow to a trot, then a walk, and finally a halt. She watched as Talamanca forced Lea to let her jump, laughing in her head. Willow whinnied, prancing nearer to the jumps. "No, now stop that. We'll jump in a few minutes," Rachel scolded, making Willow back up a few steps.
Talamanca picked up speed and headed straight for the water jump. The front half of her body lifted into the air, her back end following. She cleared the jump, landing perfectly. Lea praised her greatly, massaging her neck and shoulder. "Good girl! You're such a good Talamanca! Yes you are! Yes you are!" Lea praised loudly, scratching Tala's neck.
Rachel applauded and Willow danced in place, telling Rachel that he wanted to jump. "Fine, let's go, Come on, boy, good boy, Willow," she told him, facing him towards a medium three-bar jump. He leapt into a fast canter, leaping high in the air to clear the jump. His front half made it over, but his back leg knocked into the top bar just barely enough to knock it to the ground. "Dang it! I thought we had it that time…" Rachel complained, praising her horse anyway for a job well done.
"It's okay; you'll get it next time."
"Girls! Tara is here, come on in for a few minutes please!" Pam called to them from the tack room, a young teenager standing next to her smiling.
Lea groaned loudly, walking Tala back over to the hitching rails for a 'short break.'
Rachel stayed silent as she jogged Willow back to Pam and Tara. She didn't mind hanging with Tara, but Lea didn't like Tara one bit. She thought that Tara was too…childish. But Rachel didn't mind it much, for deep down she was a little childish still, too. Who knows, maybe Lea and Tara will grow to like each other, Rachel thought to herself.
Tara waved and smiled at Rachel, but once she saw Lea ride up next to her, her expression went from, 'Yay! Rachel is here!' to 'Oh great, Lea is here…'
Rachel sighed deeply, knowing the two would not get along for quite a while. Or maybe they won't… she thought.