The rest of the week flew by, and before I knew it, Friday had arrived. My homework was piling up, but that didn't matter when I had a riding lesson to get ready for! I dressed in dark grey breeches and a cozy light pink hoodie. Once my hair was neatly French braided, I threw on my black windbreaker (aka barn jacket) and my tall boots, and made my way to the stable.

I felt my Blackberry vibrate from my jacket pocket and pulled it out.

OMG. It was Luke.

Hey Taylor. :) U said u have a riding lesson today, and I was wondering if u'd mind me watching?

I typed back as fast as I could.

That'd totally be cool! Do u know how to get to the stable?

Think so. What time? Instant reply! I tried not to do a little dance in the middle of the sidewalk.

In about 30 mins. I'm at the stable already.

After a moment came Luke's reply. Great, I'll c u there. :)

I practically skipped down the stable aisle. This was going better than I'd thought it would! I groomed Glamour in her stall, not wanting to be out in the craziness that the stable turned into after classes let out. Every few minutes, I'd stick my head out of the stall and scan the aisle for Luke. No sign of him yet.

Finally I saw him, wandering through the stable, looking kind of lost. I stepped out of Glam's stall and waved to him. "Hey, you made it!" I said as he got closer. He looked incredibly cute in black jeans, sneakers, and a light blue shirt under a leather jacket.

"Yeah, sorry it took so long. I got a bit lost." Luke peered around me. "Is this your horse?" he asked.

"Uh-huh. This is Glamour. She's an eleven year-old Hanoverian mare."

Luke smiled adorably at me. "I have no idea what that means. But she's beautiful!" Glam arced her neck and shook our her mane, understanding the compliment. Luke and I laughed.

"She's something special, alright." We chatted about school stuff while I tacked up, and I felt myself loosen up around him. "Why don't you go find somewhere to sit by the outdoor arena? I'll be out in just a minute," I said as I grabbed Glamour's bridle. Luke nodded, and left in the direction I'd pointed in.

I was suddenly more nervous than I'd ever been for a lesson.

...

When I reached the outdoor ring we were practicing in, I saw that I was the last one to arrive. Luke was sitting on the bleachers just outside the arena, looking a little chilly.

Settling myself in the saddle, I started to warm up. Glamour was going well beneath me; keeping an even and steady rythme as we trotted around. She eyed the stack of poles and standards by the bleachers, and her ears flicked around. I did a soft half-halt to get her attention back on me. We cantered around the arena sedately, one of Glamour's dark tipped, golden ears swivelled back towards me the whole time, and I wondered inwardly how long this would last. Glam was doing so well, I'd hate for her to suddenly lose her composure.

Mr. Connor walked into the ring, clipboard in hand, and motioned us to come into the middle.

"If you're all warmed up, then let's get right into it. We'll be doing a gymnastic line; to practice balance, fitting the right strides in, and to build up you're horses' agility." As he spoke, Mike and Doug, Canterwood's two main grooms, started setting up the jumps. "The jumps won't be very big, only about two-foot-six, just so that you focus more on the spacing and strides instead of the jump heights. The gymnastic will be a one stride, to a two stride, to a three stride, to a four. You will have the opportunity to jump it several times both ways." Mr. Connor looked at us all. "Can anybody tell me what will be different about the different directions?" I raised my hand. "Taylor?" Mr. Connor prompted.

"Going from the smaller striding up requires the horse to extend their stride, while going the other way forces them to collect themselves more."

"Yes, good. This exercise will help you learn when and where to ask for collection or extention, and will help you see distances," Mr. Connor said. "Andy, you may go first. Then Nichole, Taylor, Ben, and Troy."

I watched as Andy and Nichole each took their horses through the gymnastic. Andy had trouble extending his horse's canter for the four stride, and Nichole's horse, Wish, took down a rail on the third jump. Rubbing Glamour's neck, I whispered, "Our turn. Ready?" Glam snorted and nodded her head. I giggled. "Good girl."

I circled Glamour twice before pointing her at the grid. I kept a firm pressure on the reins and squeezed gently with my calves. Four, three, two, one, up! Glamour jumped the first vertical easily. I tightened my gloved hands on the reins and one stride later, we launched into the air again. Glamour jumped this jump bigger, and I struggled to fit the next two strides in between the second and third jumps. It was tight, but Glamour made it over the jump without touching the poles. I counted down the strides again. Three, two, one, up! On landing, I let Glamour out a bit. She extended her stride just enough to fit in the four, and we finished the gymnastic smoothly.

I cheered silently in my head, and risked a glance at Luke. He was sitting on the edge of the bench, looking impressed. Yes! I rode back to Mr. Connor.

"That was lovely, Taylor. You knew just when to adjust your stride. It was a little tight in the two stride, but you recovered quickly," he commented. I waited until it was my turn again, and then prepared to take the grid the other way. Going this way, with the number of strides decreasing with each jump, would be trickier for me and Glam.

I let Glamour approach the jump with a little more canter, since the first jump was an oxer. Four, three, two, one, up! Then, three, two, one, up! Right away I sat deep in the saddle and asked Glam to shorten her stride. She tossed her head but did as I asked, fitting the two strides nicely. The second she started that last stride in between the last two jumps, I knew we were going to be to close to the fence. I signaled for Glam to take off, and cringed when I heard her front hooves bang against the pole. The red and white wooden rail tumbled to the ground.

I slowed Glamour back to the walk and gave her a pat, pleased with how she'd done despite the rail. "The knocked rail was my fualt, Mr. Connor," I explained.

"And what do you think caused it?" he asked.

"If I had collected Glamou a bit better in the two stride, we wouldn't have had such a short distance between the last two jumps."

Mr. Connor nodded and said, "I agree, but other than that, it was a good ride. I'm pleased with how you and Glamour are doing on the intermediate team." I beamed down at him. Compliments like that didn't come very often.

After Ben and Troy rode again, Mr. Connor dismissed us. I rode over to the rail where Luke was watching. "So, what do you think? Any sudden urge to get on a horse?" I asked playfully.

"I don't know how you do it," he said. "That looks pretty tricky and more than a little scary!"

I laughed. "It's great. Definately the most amazing feeling in the world, connecting with a horse like this." I dismounted and walked Glam out of the arena.

"I've got to run, but it was great talking with you and watching you ride! See you later?" Luke asked.

"Definately. See ya!" As soon as he was out of sight, I slumped against Glamour's neck, sighing. I was really falling head over heels for him.