The girls got up early the next morning, and immediately headed down to the stables to feed the horses and turn them out into the field before heading inside for their own breakfast with Avery and Francoise.

"Good morning girls, did you sleep well?" Francoise smiled as the three entered the kitchen.
"Yes, it was great thanks!" responded Kate, while Issie and Stella nodded in agreement. It was great to be back together, even if it was just for a week. As they ate, they discussed plans for the day.
"I thought I'd ride Storm, Dancer and Raven this morning, then would it be ok if we possibly went into town for the afternoon?" Issie asked.
Francoise looked at Avery, who thought for a moment before nodding. Smiling, Francoise turned back to the girls. "That would be fine, I can drop you off just after lunch if you would like?"
"That would be great, thank you!"

After breakfast, the girls headed back out to the stables and collected three halters from the tack room then went out to the fields, calling for Storm, Dancer and Raven.
"I can't believe how lovely they are! Especially Storm, it seems like yesterday he was just a colt!" enthused Kate, before entering the mares' field and slipping a halter over Dancer's head. At the same time, in the stallions' field. Stella was catching Raven and Issie was getting Storm. Once all three were caught, the girls took them back up to the stables and started to groom them.
"I think I'll ride Storm first, he'll get impatient if he's tied up too long!" Issie smiled, gazing fondly at her horse, before glancing apologetically at her friends.
"I would offer you to ride them, but they haven't jumped in quite a while and if they're going to go crazy I wouldn't want you to get hurt. You can ride them another time though, for sure!"
Her friends smiled. Although it could seem a little off that they weren't allowed to ride them, they understood fully. These weren't just your average pony club mounts, they were proper event horses and required expert handling, so they were more than happy to watch for the time being, and help out by putting jumps up and down.

Moments later, Issie mounted Storm and took him down to the arena. Kate held the gate open, and closed it after her before joining Stella who was setting up a cross fence, the middle of which was about 90cm. It was small in comparison to what he did normally, but it was a nice height for a warm up fence. The girls proceeded to set up an oxer, with a front rail of 1m20 and a back rail of 1m25, on the other side of the arena, and a double, with both elements set at 1m30 and two strides in between, on the F-H diagonal. When the final jump was set up, Issie, who had been warming Storm up and taking him through the various gaits, turned the big bay stallion towards the cross fence. As soon as he realised what was being asked of him, he sped up and it took all Issie's strength to hold him so that he didn't rush over it. When he had settled and was popping over it nicely, she nodded to her friends who promptly put the jump up to a 1m20 vertical. The young horse took on the challenge, and popped over the jump with inches to spare, giving a playful buck on landing as if to say that it wasn't big enough. Laughing, Issie collected him up before turning to the oxer. Again, Storm jumped it with room to spare, tucking his legs up neatly so he wouldn't knock the rails. The double was next, and Issie held the bay steady so he wouldn't rush and misjudge the striding in between. If Stella and Kate had been impressed with Storm's performance over the vertical and the oxer, now they were amazed. The stallion gave each element inches to spare, giving two neat strides between them and a buck on landing. Issie drew him up, giving him a slappy pat on his glossy neck, before calling out to her friends to raise the jumps by two holes. She would just take him round once more, before cooling him off and rubbing him down. As Stella and Kate moved out of the way, having finished raising the jumps, Issie nudged her horse forwards and settled him into a balanced rhythm before turning for the vertical, now set at 1m30. To Storm, however, the jump was easy and he popped over effortlessly. The oxer, now with a front rail of 1.30m and a back rail of 1.35m, was a similar story. The scopey horse jumped it with ease, before settling so his rider could turn him to the double, now set at 1.40m. Once more, he cleared both elements easily and was eager to go again but Issie circled him, bringing him back to a trot and, finally, a walk. She gave him a loose rein and walked a circuit of the arena in each direction before halting and dismounting.
"Issie he's amazing!" Kate said as she came over, giving the horse a big pat.
Issie smiled. "He's a bit special isn't he?" she grinned, looking at her horse. She couldn't believe he was the same horse she had helped Blaze give birth to that stormy night.

Back on the stable yard, Issie untacked Storm and rubbed him down, putting a light sheet on him before turning him back out into the field. Meanwhile, Stella and Kate were tacking up Dancer. When Issie came back from the field, they legged her up onto the dapple grey mare's back. The mare was smaller than Storm, only 15.3hh as opposed to his 16.3hh. Entering the arena, Issie warmed the mare up as her friends put the jumps down. The vertical was converted back into a cross fence with the middle set at 90cm, whilst the oxer was put down so that the front rail was 1m05 and the back rail was 1m10 and the double was lowered so that each element was now 1m20 in height. Although a capable jumper, and slightly older than the stallion, Dancer was not at the same competition level as Storm and, as such, did not need to be trained over fences as high as the stallion. The mare had come from Dulmoth Park six months ago, and Issie had already progressed her from intro classes to intermediate level. She was a talented mare with a scopey jump and floating paces which often meant that she was in the top ten after the dressage phase.

Once satisfied that the mare was sufficiently warmed up, Issie turned her to the first fence. Like Storm, the mare immediately sped up, eager to jump after having only done flatwork for over a week. Issie settled her in time, and was rewarded with a lovely jump over the fence. She took the mare over it twice more, before nodding to her friends who quickly raised it to a 1m vertical. The grey horse took the fence on bravely, arching over it neatly. The oxer was next and she dropped a hind leg, rubbing the back rail slightly but not enough for it to fall. She popped in and out of the double with ease, and Issie's friends swiftly raised the jumps another 10cm. As they reached the oxer this time, it was as if the mare remembered her mistake before and gave it extra height, kicking out her hind legs to avoid making contact with the rail for a second time. After the double, Issie settled the horse and walked her off. It may seem like the work outs for these horses were short, but they were demanding and Avery always advised that she should do short workouts but achieve lots as opposed to long ones where not as much was achieved.

Having finished with Dancer for the day, Issie took her back to the yard, rubbed her down and turned her back out into the mares' field whilst her friends got Raven ready. The black stallion was another recent import from Dulmoth Park, 5 years old and stood at 16hh, although Tom reckoned he would make 16.2hh by the time he reached the age of 7. As she warmed him up, Issie's friends lowered the jumps so that the cross fence had a middle height of 80cm, the oxer had a front rail of 90cm and a back rail of 95cm and the elements of the double were both set at 1metre. Satisfied that the horse was working nicely, Issie turned to the first fence. Raven didn't need to be asked twice, and would have raced towards the first fence had Issie not been holding him steady. He popped over the fence easily, and let out a few excited bucks as he cantered away. Issie sat deep in the saddle and rode him forwards, settling him before taking him over the cross fence twice more. She then nodded to Stella and Kate, who proceeded to turn it into an 80cm vertical, and then took the young horse around the course. He took each jump easily, clearing each jump with room to spare as if to say that they were too easy. Issie laughed and gave him a slappy pat as Kate and Stella raised the jumps so that the vertical was set at 90cm, the front rail of the oxer at 95cm, the back rail of the oxer at 1metre and the elements of the double at 1m05. The young horse had only competed around a few local level events so far, and would be moving up to bigger classes the following season so, for now, he did not need to be stretched with his jumping in the same way Storm did.

Once she had finished working Raven, Issie and her friends rubbed him down and turned him back out into the stallions' field with Storm before heading up to the house for lunch. As promised, Francoise drove them into the town shortly after.
"Give me a ring when you're ready to come back, but don't be too late!" she waved as she drove off.
As the girls reached the town centre, they weren't prepared for the voice that suddenly screamed.
"Oh my gosh! It's Isadora Brown!"
Suddenly, there was a mob of people rushing towards them, digging in their bags for pen and paper which they held out, asking for her autograph. At the same time, many people were pulling out cameras and camera phones to take pictures. Issie looked at her friends, unsure of what to do. Should she sign and waste her afternoon, or should she walk away and risk getting slated for being rude in some magazine article? Stella and Kate nodded at their friend, and reluctantly Issie forced a smile to her face and started signing, having her pictures taken with various groups. She had just finished the last signing when a woman ran up to her.
"Isadora Brown? I'm Gemma Warrington from Horse and Hound magazine. I was wondering, would it be possible for us to have an interview with you?"
"Um… I think so. If you leave me your number I'll have someone get back to you later on."
"Great! Thank you!" Gemma smiled and reached into her bag for a business card with her number on, which Issie glanced at before putting the card safely in her own bag. She would show it to Avery later, and ask him what he thought.

A few minutes later, Issie and her friends were in one of their favourite stores, when the TV at the back of the store started advertising tickets for the Badminton Horse Trials. "If you haven't got yours already, it's not too late!" said the voiceover, before reading out a website and phone number where people could purchase tickets. "This is one event you won't want to miss, along with the usual big names, 17-year-old Isadora Brown, winner of the Kentucky Horse Trials, will be competing, hoping to add a win at Badminton Horse Trials to her list of achievements!"
Issie looked quickly at her friends at the mention of her name as video clips of her Kentucky cross country round and pictures of her at the end with Liberty were shown. The whole store suddenly filled with excited voices.
"I just got her autograph!"
"Yeah right!"
"She did! Isadora is here in the town!"
Several other voices joined in, confirming the rumours that the rider was, indeed, in town. Just then, Kate had an idea. Pulling off her hoody, she passed it to Issie who gratefully pulled it on and put the hood up.
"Thanks Kate!" she grinned. Hopefully they would be able to spend the rest of the afternoon like three normal friends.

Kate's plan worked, and by the time the girls got picked up by Francoise they were almost laughing about the crazy crowds. Back at the farm, Issie gave Gemma Warrington's card to Avery and explained how the reporter had asked for an interview.
"I think that's an excellent idea. Horse and Hound is one of the biggest selling magazines. It will be great publicity for your sponsors, and may even encourage a few more to offer support." When Issie nodded, he picked up the phone and punched in the number.
"Hello, Gemma Warrington? This is Tom Avery, trainer of Isadora Brown."
A few minutes later, it was arranged that the reporter would come over the following morning with a photographer.
"Make sure you get up extra early, girls. They're going to want pictures of the horses so they need to look their best!"