Disclaimer: I own nothing except for Emma and Belle, so don't sue!
"Oh Belle, I missed you so much!" Emma said as she brushed her horse. It had been a long ride for her horse and after she took off the shipping equipment, she took out her brushes and started to work. Her parents had no use for all her riding stuff at home so they sent it along. Since she was the only one who owned a horse apart from a few others that Horizon owned, she had her own cubby for all her stuff. She was not allowed to have any of the stuff in the dorm and was supervised at all times while with her horse. A lot of the products, such as the shampoo, tack cleaners, hoof flex, and so on, had strong chemicals in them and Peter didn't want her resorting to such measures to get a high. "I thought I might never see you again. You know how much that worried me!"
Belle snuggled up to her. The mare was still really young. When her old stable had a pregnant horse, Emma had arranged to own the baby once it was born. She and Belle had immediately bonded. Belle regarded Emma as her second mother. She was only about four years old and Emma spoiled her.
"I can tell you love your horse a lot," Frederick said. He was the stable supervisor at Horizon. He was very knowledgeable about horses, which gave him and Emma an instant bond. He was also younger than any other counsellors were and quite hot, Emma thought. He had blond hair that was always just a bit untidy; he stood at about 6'; had dark green eyes that had such a depth to them it was easy to get lost in them while in a conversation. He had pulled out a brush and had helped Emma out with Belle.
"Yeah, she's my life. If it weren't for Belle, I wouldn't be here, I'd probably be dead. I hate to speculate, but there it is."
"I completely understand. You know Billy?" she nodded, while waiting for Belle, Emma had a go on all the horses. Billy was the calmest and best ride yet. "Well, he was my first horse. I still like him above all the others."
"Well, then, I suggest you give Belle a try. If she hasn't changed in the past few days, you'll be impressed. She's still a baby, but she's learning so fast. And you have to remember, I did all the work on her myself," she said proudly. Fred noticed that whenever she talked about Belle, her eyes lit up and a smile spread across her face, in all other moments, she had her teeth clenched and didn't talk to very many people.
"I will, but first I want to see you ride her. Have you jump her yet?"
"Yeah. Actually, the summer before I came here, I showed her in a junior jumping class. We placed first!"
"Wow! Impressive! Well, we'll get her tacked up, have a half-hour of flat work, and then we'll jump her a bit, see how far she'll go."
"Great. Let me go get changed. Can you handle tacking by yourself?" she laughed. "Oh, and watch out, she despises the saddle. Just talk to her and she might not try to kill you," she called over her shoulder as she ran out into a light snow. It had started a few hours before and still hadn't let up.
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"Hey, where's the fire?" Daisy asked as Emma ran in the dorm.
"Nowhere. I'm going for a ride."
"Oh, your horse is here? May I come watch? I'm bored out of my mind here."
"Sure. I don't really care." She got changed into her riding breeches and boots and they left, running toward the stables.
"So what do you think of the stable guy?" Daisy asked curiously.
"Oh, Fred? He's pretty good. He knows horses well," she said this, but thought that he was way more that "pretty good," he was perfect!
"Right," Daisy said, showing clearly that she knew exactly what Emma was thinking, but not letting on to anything. Many girls at Horizon had tried, on several occasions to seduce Fred, but none had succeeded. Probably because they hated the smell of horses, and Fred was always around those blasted animals. This didn't seem to affect Emma. In fact, she actually seemed to enjoy the smell the barn gave off. She was such a country girl. As Daisy was thinking these thoughts, they had entered the stable.
"Fred? You still alive?" Emma asked teasingly. Fred showed himself, leading a tacked up Belle and carrying spurs and a whip. "I see she didn't get you this time," they both laughed. "Oh, I only use a whip if she misbehaves." She saw the look of confusion on Fred's face while looking at the spurs. She understood what he was wondering. "I own those because she was going through this phase right before a show in which she was so slow."
"I see. Well, I'll bring them along, they might come in useful."
"Suit yourself." With that they headed to the arena. It was indoors, but not heated. Not knowing this, Daisy hadn't brought any extra blankets or coats. Emma tossed her one of Belle's blankets that was still unused since the last wash.
"Thanks," Daisy said.
"You're welcome. I know how cold it can get. My dad always used to complain about the cold when he watched me in the winter. I got in the habit of lending him Belle's. It works well," she said, reminiscing. A look of total pain showed up on her face. She didn't want Daisy or Fred to see the tears that were forming in her eyes at the thought of happier days. She looked at Belle. Her sweet face, full of innocence lit up Emma's face. As soon as she reached the arena, she flipped the reins over Belle's head, pulled down the stirrups, and tightened her girth. She got Fred to give her a leg up as Belle was quite tall (about 16-17 hands high). As she slid in the saddle, she immediately felt at home. This was all she needed. After warm up the real stuff began.
Daisy sat down beside Fred and they watched. Emma slowly brought Belle to a quick, but collected trot. She started making circles, figure-eights, and lead changes. When Belle was in a good working trot and had started to come down on the bit, she brought her to a canter. Belle and Emma both enjoyed this so much. They seemed to be running away from all that was wrong in their lives. It was such a sight to be seen. A little more flat work was done and then it was time for jumping. Emma slowed Belle down to a walk again as Daisy and Fred set up some jumps. They made them all about a foot to two feet above the ground to begin with. They set them up all over the place and Emma made up her course as she went. She jumped beautifully. She had straight lines, a beautiful even pace, and had a wonderful position.
"Looking good there," Fred yelled, looking thoroughly delighted with Emma. She loved riding so much, he could tell from her eyes. He knew that they would become great friends.
"Thanks, I love this. It's great. Can you guys pull the oxer and the vertical up a few more holes," she said, pointing to some jumps.
"No problem. But it's the last course. Here we'll make it a little harder," he said as he ran over to a now halted Belle. Daisy went and put up the jumps Emma had asked for. "Alright, you're doing well, no refusals, this horse seems perfect. Look this is what we'll do." And together they made up the course. It had a total of nine jumps and a few complicated turns but Emma seemed excited.
"Go for it," he called out. She picked up a canter right away, did a circle and began. It all went perfectly from the beginning. Her luck changed, however, at the seventh jump. It was right after a really tight corner. She had the wrong lead canter, which made Belle unbalanced. As they turned to jump, Belle stopped. Emma went flying over her head. She landed on the other side of the jump.
"Oh shit!" Fred yelled. "Emma! Emma! Are you alright? Oh come on, talk to me!" he said as he ran to her side. Daisy went and got a hold of Belle. Emma sat up, but flopped back down because of her head. It was pounding. Had she not been wearing a helmet, her head would have been history. "Are you okay?" he asked again.
"Yeah, just a headache. Ah, I pushed her too far. We should never have made that corner. It was wrong. I knew not to jump it. Is Belle alright?" she said, worried.
"Yeah, she's fine, just a bit shaken," Daisy said, stroking the animal's neck.
"Daisy, hand Belle to me and bring Emma to the nurse's office. I'll put Belle away and catch up to you guys."
"Sure thing. Come on Emma." She hoisted her up and led her on. As they exited the arena, Emma started talking again.
"Thanks."
"No problem."
"No, you don't understand. Thank you for everything. No one has ever offered to come with me to watch me ride. No one has ever calmed my horse down after a fall, except me. No one has ever been so nice," she said, holding back tears. "Why?"
"Because you seemed to need a friend. But didn't you say your father brought you to your lessons."
"Well, thank you. And ya, he brought me, but I doubt he liked it. He paid for it and didn't want his precious money to go to waste. It wasn't for me that he came. He paid for Belle too. He watched to make sure he'd made a good buy." She stopped and laughed. It was a sharp, hollow laugh. Daisy understood. Emma knew that she did and rested her head on Daisy's shoulder as they walked. She had made a friend in this godforsaken place. A real friend. She was truly happy for the first time since arriving at Horizon.
"Oh Belle, I missed you so much!" Emma said as she brushed her horse. It had been a long ride for her horse and after she took off the shipping equipment, she took out her brushes and started to work. Her parents had no use for all her riding stuff at home so they sent it along. Since she was the only one who owned a horse apart from a few others that Horizon owned, she had her own cubby for all her stuff. She was not allowed to have any of the stuff in the dorm and was supervised at all times while with her horse. A lot of the products, such as the shampoo, tack cleaners, hoof flex, and so on, had strong chemicals in them and Peter didn't want her resorting to such measures to get a high. "I thought I might never see you again. You know how much that worried me!"
Belle snuggled up to her. The mare was still really young. When her old stable had a pregnant horse, Emma had arranged to own the baby once it was born. She and Belle had immediately bonded. Belle regarded Emma as her second mother. She was only about four years old and Emma spoiled her.
"I can tell you love your horse a lot," Frederick said. He was the stable supervisor at Horizon. He was very knowledgeable about horses, which gave him and Emma an instant bond. He was also younger than any other counsellors were and quite hot, Emma thought. He had blond hair that was always just a bit untidy; he stood at about 6'; had dark green eyes that had such a depth to them it was easy to get lost in them while in a conversation. He had pulled out a brush and had helped Emma out with Belle.
"Yeah, she's my life. If it weren't for Belle, I wouldn't be here, I'd probably be dead. I hate to speculate, but there it is."
"I completely understand. You know Billy?" she nodded, while waiting for Belle, Emma had a go on all the horses. Billy was the calmest and best ride yet. "Well, he was my first horse. I still like him above all the others."
"Well, then, I suggest you give Belle a try. If she hasn't changed in the past few days, you'll be impressed. She's still a baby, but she's learning so fast. And you have to remember, I did all the work on her myself," she said proudly. Fred noticed that whenever she talked about Belle, her eyes lit up and a smile spread across her face, in all other moments, she had her teeth clenched and didn't talk to very many people.
"I will, but first I want to see you ride her. Have you jump her yet?"
"Yeah. Actually, the summer before I came here, I showed her in a junior jumping class. We placed first!"
"Wow! Impressive! Well, we'll get her tacked up, have a half-hour of flat work, and then we'll jump her a bit, see how far she'll go."
"Great. Let me go get changed. Can you handle tacking by yourself?" she laughed. "Oh, and watch out, she despises the saddle. Just talk to her and she might not try to kill you," she called over her shoulder as she ran out into a light snow. It had started a few hours before and still hadn't let up.
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"Hey, where's the fire?" Daisy asked as Emma ran in the dorm.
"Nowhere. I'm going for a ride."
"Oh, your horse is here? May I come watch? I'm bored out of my mind here."
"Sure. I don't really care." She got changed into her riding breeches and boots and they left, running toward the stables.
"So what do you think of the stable guy?" Daisy asked curiously.
"Oh, Fred? He's pretty good. He knows horses well," she said this, but thought that he was way more that "pretty good," he was perfect!
"Right," Daisy said, showing clearly that she knew exactly what Emma was thinking, but not letting on to anything. Many girls at Horizon had tried, on several occasions to seduce Fred, but none had succeeded. Probably because they hated the smell of horses, and Fred was always around those blasted animals. This didn't seem to affect Emma. In fact, she actually seemed to enjoy the smell the barn gave off. She was such a country girl. As Daisy was thinking these thoughts, they had entered the stable.
"Fred? You still alive?" Emma asked teasingly. Fred showed himself, leading a tacked up Belle and carrying spurs and a whip. "I see she didn't get you this time," they both laughed. "Oh, I only use a whip if she misbehaves." She saw the look of confusion on Fred's face while looking at the spurs. She understood what he was wondering. "I own those because she was going through this phase right before a show in which she was so slow."
"I see. Well, I'll bring them along, they might come in useful."
"Suit yourself." With that they headed to the arena. It was indoors, but not heated. Not knowing this, Daisy hadn't brought any extra blankets or coats. Emma tossed her one of Belle's blankets that was still unused since the last wash.
"Thanks," Daisy said.
"You're welcome. I know how cold it can get. My dad always used to complain about the cold when he watched me in the winter. I got in the habit of lending him Belle's. It works well," she said, reminiscing. A look of total pain showed up on her face. She didn't want Daisy or Fred to see the tears that were forming in her eyes at the thought of happier days. She looked at Belle. Her sweet face, full of innocence lit up Emma's face. As soon as she reached the arena, she flipped the reins over Belle's head, pulled down the stirrups, and tightened her girth. She got Fred to give her a leg up as Belle was quite tall (about 16-17 hands high). As she slid in the saddle, she immediately felt at home. This was all she needed. After warm up the real stuff began.
Daisy sat down beside Fred and they watched. Emma slowly brought Belle to a quick, but collected trot. She started making circles, figure-eights, and lead changes. When Belle was in a good working trot and had started to come down on the bit, she brought her to a canter. Belle and Emma both enjoyed this so much. They seemed to be running away from all that was wrong in their lives. It was such a sight to be seen. A little more flat work was done and then it was time for jumping. Emma slowed Belle down to a walk again as Daisy and Fred set up some jumps. They made them all about a foot to two feet above the ground to begin with. They set them up all over the place and Emma made up her course as she went. She jumped beautifully. She had straight lines, a beautiful even pace, and had a wonderful position.
"Looking good there," Fred yelled, looking thoroughly delighted with Emma. She loved riding so much, he could tell from her eyes. He knew that they would become great friends.
"Thanks, I love this. It's great. Can you guys pull the oxer and the vertical up a few more holes," she said, pointing to some jumps.
"No problem. But it's the last course. Here we'll make it a little harder," he said as he ran over to a now halted Belle. Daisy went and put up the jumps Emma had asked for. "Alright, you're doing well, no refusals, this horse seems perfect. Look this is what we'll do." And together they made up the course. It had a total of nine jumps and a few complicated turns but Emma seemed excited.
"Go for it," he called out. She picked up a canter right away, did a circle and began. It all went perfectly from the beginning. Her luck changed, however, at the seventh jump. It was right after a really tight corner. She had the wrong lead canter, which made Belle unbalanced. As they turned to jump, Belle stopped. Emma went flying over her head. She landed on the other side of the jump.
"Oh shit!" Fred yelled. "Emma! Emma! Are you alright? Oh come on, talk to me!" he said as he ran to her side. Daisy went and got a hold of Belle. Emma sat up, but flopped back down because of her head. It was pounding. Had she not been wearing a helmet, her head would have been history. "Are you okay?" he asked again.
"Yeah, just a headache. Ah, I pushed her too far. We should never have made that corner. It was wrong. I knew not to jump it. Is Belle alright?" she said, worried.
"Yeah, she's fine, just a bit shaken," Daisy said, stroking the animal's neck.
"Daisy, hand Belle to me and bring Emma to the nurse's office. I'll put Belle away and catch up to you guys."
"Sure thing. Come on Emma." She hoisted her up and led her on. As they exited the arena, Emma started talking again.
"Thanks."
"No problem."
"No, you don't understand. Thank you for everything. No one has ever offered to come with me to watch me ride. No one has ever calmed my horse down after a fall, except me. No one has ever been so nice," she said, holding back tears. "Why?"
"Because you seemed to need a friend. But didn't you say your father brought you to your lessons."
"Well, thank you. And ya, he brought me, but I doubt he liked it. He paid for it and didn't want his precious money to go to waste. It wasn't for me that he came. He paid for Belle too. He watched to make sure he'd made a good buy." She stopped and laughed. It was a sharp, hollow laugh. Daisy understood. Emma knew that she did and rested her head on Daisy's shoulder as they walked. She had made a friend in this godforsaken place. A real friend. She was truly happy for the first time since arriving at Horizon.