It was a dark and stormy night in Kentucky. The rain was pouring down so hard you couldn't see clearly. The thunder boomed as the lightening lit the sky flashing on and off. Mallory and Sarah were worried about Red, their five year old thoroughbred. Red hated thunderstorms. Most thunderstorms Red didn't have a problem with but this was the kind he hated. Extremely loud noises and extra bright flashes or as Red sees it the most terrifying thing on the planet. Mallory was pacing the living room floor hoping Red would be ok.
"Mallory chill out!" Sarah screamed at her. "Red is going to be ok he's lived through a million other storms just like and worse than this." That didn't help much Mallory continued pacing, but she did stop after a few more minutes. Their parents came downstairs wondering what they were doing and forced them to go to bed.
The storm continued for the rest of the night and until about noon the next day. When the storm finally quit Sarah and Mallory threw on their rain gear and ran splashing through the mud puddles. They charged into the barn and rushed to Red's stall. He was perfectly fine. They got him out of the stall and started grooming his mane. Mallory started grooming his red colored fur while Sarah undid the braids in his mane and brushed them out. Mallory wanted to try a different style for Red's mane, so Sarah hopped off down making a splash in the mud. Mallory got up and started fixing Red's mane in her new way. Sarah went to get Red's saddle while Mallory went to get Sweetie out of her stall. Mallory put Sweetie's saddle on, mounted and rubbed her hands against Sweetie's plaited mane. Red's saddle was on and off they went through the field to the trail in the woods.
They were riding along their trail, nothing exciting was happening. The woods were dead silent after a storm, all of the sudden they heard a very faint rustling sound. The noise was coming closer and closer. Mallory and Sarah exchanged worried glances.
"What is that?" Sarah asked. Mallory just shrugged.
"I don't know. It could be a hobo or something," Mallory paused, "looks like we are going to find out pretty soon." She explained nervously while pointing to where the noise came from. They grabbed the reins ready to run away when a buck charges by right in front of them.
"Help!" Mallory screams as Sweetie darts down the trail. Sarah makes Red dart after them shocked that Sweetie was spooked by a buck. Sarah finally caught up with Mallory just in time to see what she thought would be a disaster.
Just as Sarah stops Red she sees Sweetie glide right over a tree knocked over from the storm. A perfect landing. Sarah with a shocked look on her face peers over at Mallory, she has an amazed but pleased look. Mallory has never jumped before and she never knew Sweetie could do that. They waited a few minutes before heading back to make sure the buck was gone. They put their horses in the barn so they could calm down. Sarah and Mallory went up to the room between their bedrooms. They powered up their laptop and started talking.
"Wow I didn't know Sweetie could do that" Sarah stated, "I wonder what else she can do."
"I don't know but that was amazing. I wonder if she would do it again. It would be fun to have her in competitions." Mallory explained still in shock.
"Let's look up what you have to do to train horses for jumping. I will help you train her."
"Thanks. The computer has to finish loading before we can look it up though" the computer finished loading and they found what they wanted. The next day they made their own jumps. They brought Sweetie out in the field with the jumps set up to see what she does. She walked up to the jump knelt down, sniffed it and just stood there.
"This is going to take a lot of work." Mallory stated while Sarah nodded. Sarah runs to the barn and gets something while Mallory continues to try and get her to jump. Sarah comes back with the saddle and all the other riding equipment and some of Sweetie's favorite treats. Mallory gave Sarah s puzzled look. Sarah set everything down and Mallory saw what she had and understood what Sarah meant. They put the saddle on Sweetie and Mallory mounted. Sarah pulled out Sweetie's favorite treat, horse cookies. Mallory brought Sweetie up to the jump and Sarah showed Sweetie the horse cookie. Sweetie started trotting toward the jump and knocked it over. Sweetie took the treat and walks off eating the cookie. That didn't work well.
"Time for the next plan, Oh crap I think it should wait for tomorrow, it's getting dark." Mallory said while looking at her watch. They brought Sweetie into the barn and took off the saddle and put everything away. They went inside and got into their pajamas. They were really tired after a long day.
In the morning Mallory and Sarah decided to wait a few hours before going outside because they were still tired. They finally decided to go and try to train Sweetie again. She wouldn't calm down. Sarah decided to go get Red out to see if he can help calm Sweetie down. Sarah put the riding stuff on Red while Mallory put the riding stuff on Sweetie. Sarah and Mallory mounted their horses. Red saw the jump and came towards it and shocked Sarah and Mallory by doing a perfect jump.
Sweetie saw what Sarah and Mallory wanted her to do. So, without warning Sweetie trotted to the jump and again glides right over it. They were so proud of Sweetie. They were glad they made more jumps and set them up. Sweetie kept going around to all of the jumps not missing a single one. Sarah could tell Mallory was enjoying herself, the look on her face said it all. Her hair was blowing in the wind while she and her horse soared in the air.
They spent the whole afternoon jumping and even Red did some jumping. That was a very long, tiring, and hot summer day for all of them. Sarah and Mallory groomed their horses and put them back in their stalls. Then, they went to take showers and relax for the rest of the night.
After they finished their showers, they watched a movie. While the movie was on commercial, they saw a TV ad for a jumping competition.
"Mallory, look jumping competition August thirteenth, that's only three weeks away." Sarah states really happy and fast, like she does when she's really excited.
"Dude, we should enter Sweetie, I think she's ready to at least try a competition." Mallory finished while watching Sarah nod in excitement. Sarah runs upstairs to get the laptop to look up how to enter. So, they entered the competition, and were really excited to do it.
For those next three weeks they spent everyday from about eleven in the morning to about six at night practicing for the competition. Everyday, Sweetie got better and better. With Red's help Sweetie also became more confident. Sarah and Mallory thought Sweetie would do excellent in the competition. Only a few days left until the competition now. Sarah and Mallory were excited.
The day of competition, Sarah and Mallory put Sweetie in her trailer and off they went. They arrived at the competition surrounded by complete chaos. People yelling, talking, running, and walking all over, it was enough to drive anyone insane.
They finally located the check in, and they found out that Mallory and Sweetie were scheduled to go first. Mallory's jaw dropped and her heart beated faster and faster until it sounded like she would have a heart attack.
Mallory mounted Sweetie as her palms began to sweat. She wasnt the only nervous one, Sweetie was nervous too. Finally it was time to start. Sweetie started slowly towards the first jump, but she wouldntgo any faster. Mallory started panicking, and that made Sweetie more nervous. Sweetie makes it to the first jump, and gets over. It was all downhill from there though. By the next jump Sweetie just knocked it over and kept going. Jump after jump Sweetie either knocked it over or went around.
The competition was over. Sweetie and Mallory came in dead last. Mallory got nervous and Sweetie started panicking and desperately failed.
"I wonder what happened to make Sweetie panic like that." Mallory said sadly on the way home.
"Maybe, she could tell you were nervous and she freaked out."
"Could be Sarah, I guess we should wait a while before the next competition."
"Yeah, we might as well just wait for spring. Maybe by then Sweetie won't remember this."
After Sweetie was in the barn and Sarah and Mallory got in their pajamas they watched the recording of the competition on their dads camera. They noticed what all went wrong.
The snow started falling, so, Mallory went to get the jumps while Sarah turned the heat up in the barn. Through the whole winter the only thing they did with Sweetie and Red was ride them around in the barn. Every week, they looked to see if the jumping competitions are scheduled to start soon. Week after week they got disappointed.
"Finally its April, maybe the competitions will start soon." Mallory said annoyed at how long the winter has been. Mallory was right there was a competition two weeks away. They practiced jumping with Red and Sweetie. They were even better than they were in August.
For the two weeks until competition, they practiced and also just rode for fun. Their horses were really learning a lot and loved to be ridden. Mallory and Sarah put their horses in the barn and went to bed early because the competition was the next morning.
The girls were up earlier than usual this morning. They took Sweetie out of her stall, groomed her, redid her plaited mane and loaded her on the trailer. Off they were to the competition.
Just like last time they checked in and found out when they go. Instead of being first they were second to last. This time Mallory wasn't nervous or if she was she at least didn't show it. She was acting extremely confident after how the first competition had gone. Sarah was surprised by her confidence.
The competition started. It was obvious who was and wasn't prepared for it. The unprepared blew the whole thing and the prepared missed only one or two jumps. Nobody had done perfect yet, so there was still a chance that Sweetie could win this thing. Every person messed up though even the best riders, so you never knew what would happen.
Finally it was time for Mallory and Sweetie. They started and Sweetie was not slowing down, she didnt speed up either unless she was told to. It was going good so far almost half way done with all the jumps, no mistakes yet. Hopefully, it stays like that. Getting closer and closer to being done Mallory was aftraid Sweetie would blow it big time at the end. Oh no! Something Mallory did not expect, a double high jump at then end. She never taught Sweetie those. No wonder everyone messed up more at the end. At the last jump, Sweetie soared over the double high jump with confidence. Perfect! No mistakes. Sweetie won the competition.
Once Mallory and Sarah got home they stayed with Sweetie and Red in the barn for a few hours to celebrate Sweetie's soaring victorious jump. They were really proud of Sweetie and happy that Red helped make Sweetie confident in knowing what she was doing.
They went inside and watched the competition over and over again still shocked at how well they did. Their dad printed out a picture for them to put on the wall. The winning leap of Mallorys horse Sweetie surprising everyone with her strength and skill.