Author's Note: I'm a horse fanatic, so I'm writing this. Please review!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except stuff you don't recognize and the plot.
Flying with a Broken Wing
Chapter 1: Drama Queen
By musiclover94
Gabriella Montez walked into the stable and inhaled the smell of it, her favorite smell in the world, the smell of fresh hay and saddle soap. Various glossy horses whinnied at her as she walked past their stalls, her riding boots making a clip-clop, similar to a horse's hooves walking, on the wooden floor. It was two days before the Beijing Olympics Horseback Riding Competition and antics were running higher than the highest horse. Gabriella trod the much-used path to her Arabian mare, Anastasia's stall. The pure-white horse nickered at her owner and walked to the front of the stall and tried to stick her nose through the bars. The brunette laughed and opened the gate, letting herself in.
"Ready for a workout, Ana?" she asked playfully. Her horse threw its dainty head up in the air, her mane flopping up, then down. Gabriella dug through her jacket pocket for a moment before extracting a bright orange carrot. She held it out to Anastasia, who took it greedily. Quickly, she got out a grooming brush and began to clean her horse, removing bits of loose hair, dust, and dirt, from her moon-like coat. After the last bit of loose hair floated to the floor, Gabriella picked up the grooming box and headed to the tack room to get her mare's saddle and bridle. She returned to her antsy horse with a glossy chestnut-colored saddle, a matching bridle in her hands, and a set of white pads to go under the saddle.
"Hey, antsy," she joked, setting the tack on a saddle hook on the outside stall wall and grabbing a halter and lead rope to tie her horse up so she wouldn't run away. She picked the pads and saddle up and hoisted then on her horses back with ease and fastened them on in a minute, having done it so many times before. She unhitched the halter and guided the bridle's bit into her mouth and tightened it so it wouldn't slip.
She double-checked everything one last time and then tugged at the reins to make her stubborn horse move. Anastasia jerked her head up, a wild gleam in her black eyes. She had always had a wild side to her, because of her Arabian blood. Gabriella calmly calmed down her high-strung mare and guided her to the practice arena.
"You sure do love that mare," her trainer, Mary Ellen Gordon said from behind, smiling at the duo.
"More than anything else," Gabriella said, smiling and leaning her head against her steed's neck, thinking back to when they first met.
Flashback
A sixteen-year old Gabriella was leaning up against a wooden fence post, looking at the many frolicking horses playing with each other, some galloping after their friends, some grazing, some just standing there, occasionally moving to twitch off an irksome fly.
"Take your pick, suga'," her father said. Instead of a car, like all of her friends had gotten for their Sweet 16, Gabriella had wanted a horse. She had her father wrapped around her finger, so basically she was a Daddy's Girl. Joe Montez had, without question, driven out her with his only child and let her pick out a horse. He trusted her to pick a sturdy, sensible horse, because that's how Gabriella was, sensible.
She scanned the herd, looking for her ideal steed to take her to the top: a horse that had a fiery spirit, but was strong and bold. Her eyes stopped at a pure white mare that was galloping at top speed at one of her pasture mates, throwing her glossy neck around, her mane barely touching her neck.
She made a dead stop in the center of the emerald green field and reared on her hind legs. Gabriella could hear her spirited neigh even from a distance. The enchanting mare spun around on her back legs, clearly enjoying being the center of attention. She was the high-spirited Gabriella's perfect match. She tapped her father's shoulder.
"Yes, suga'?" he asked.
"I want that one," she said business-like, pointing at the mare, who was now bucking all over the field, having the time of her life.
"You sure?" he asked her skeptically, raising an eyebrow.
"Absolutely," Gabriella said, looking at her father unblinkingly.
He walked over to the dealer and said a few words, gesturing to the white mare. The dealer looked surprised at Gabriella's choice. He walked over to her and said, "You sure you can handle that mare?"
"Never been more sure of anything in my life, mister," she said, looking at him straight in the eye.
The deal was done within the hour. The owner would trailer the horse over to the Montez's the next day.
Gabriella was up at the crack of dawn, the cold morning air hitting her face as she stepped outside, early-morning birds chirping overhead. She stationed herself on the spacious porch, which had a prefect view of the driveway where, in a couple hours, her horse would arrive. She rested her head on her arms and leaned against the railing.
End Flashback
Her horse, now several years older, pulled at the reins anxiously, as if saying C'mon, let's go! She smiled and led her into the arena. The dirt was untouched, no deep hoof prints for Anastasia to stumble in. She halted her mare and put one foot in the iron stirrup, taking care not to poke her horse in the stomach. She adjusted the girth one last time and then gave the jittery mare a light tap with the crop and a nudge in the ribs.
She set her into an easy trot for a warm up, feeling proud of how she had trained her dream horse from a wild thing to a relatively calm show horse. She still had her moments, though. Like now. Her high-strung mount was galloping at top speed around the arena, like she had just drunk a lake-full of soda. Gabriella calmly sat deep in her saddle and put her heels down and her toes up and pulled back in small increments with the reins. In a few minutes of this, Anastasia calmed down into a slow canter around the arena.
Gabriella took him expertly over a double oxer. As she lifted off the ground, she felt the familiar like she was flying without wings for a split second. Then, the Arabian landed gracefully and lightly on the dirt flooring and continued eagerly, ears pricked forward, to the next jump. After they did several round of jumping, she slowed him to a walk and let him have more rein. He let his graceful head and neck slump as he cooled down. Gabriella patted his shoulder and leaned down to hug his sweating neck. Anastasia let out a feeble nicker in reply.
"That's some horse you got there, Gabriella," Mary Ellen said again, smiling, "A really nice team."
The brunette beamed. "Thanks."
The July humidity and heat hit them full on as Gabriella led her horse to the hose. Anastasia was acting like a cat, trying to pull away from the impending water. Gabriella tugged at the lead. She finally tied the struggling mare to the rail and went to get the hose. Upon seeing the Device, the white mare sidestepped away from her rider, her ears back in warning.
"You don't want to smell, do you?" Gabriella laughed. Even when Ana was being a pain in the butt, she loved her. Her mare actually looked a little guilty after Gabriella's words. Gabriella reeled her in and started to pour water over her. The stout mare looked very uncomfortable at this action. She flattened her ears until they were level with her head and flared her nostrils. Gabriella continued to bathe her and said, "Oh, quit being such a drama queen," but ruined the effect by smiling at her. Ana still looked ornery.
After a few more minutes of bathing, Gabriella unhitched a very angry Anastasia from the post and led her back to her stall for the night. As she was taking off her halter, Anastasia gave Gabriella the Horse Evil Eye.
Gabriella kissed her on the forehead and whispered to her best friend, so that only the mare could hear her, "Such a drama queen."
Author's Note: The next chapter will be very action-packed, I promise. Please review!