Five Years Later . . .
"Come on boy, we can do this!" I called out to my horse as we cantered toward the final fence: a water jump. This would be the ultimate test for Storm, to see if he had finally conquered his fear of water.
Storm, a dappled-gray Trakehner gelding who stands at sixteen hands high, seeing the jump and the murky water ahead of it, lengthened his stride when I asked him to without hesitation. I smiled and my smile only got bigger as he gathered himself before the fence and soared over both the fence and the water, clearing the white line by inches, to a round of applause from the audience.
"We did it, boy!" I cheered as we rode through the finish line. I patted his neck and he arched his neck, putting a little spring into his step. He deserved every single kind of praise there is, for he had come a long way from when I had bought him two years ago, when he was just a green horse.
As I slowed the gelding to a walk, I saw my sister, Lou, and Mallory standing at the edge of the ring, Lou looking ecstatic, and Mallory was giving me the thumbs-up sign.
Well of course Lou would be ecstatic said a voice in my mind as the judges put my score up on the electronic scoreboard. Every time you win a show, we get more customers for treating problem horses, the dude ranch, or wanting to buy Storm.
I passed Ashley on her horse, Apollo, a bay Danish Warmblood gelding with a faint star on his forehead, a pastern on his left hindleg, and stands at sixteen-one hands high, as Storm and I left the ring. "Good luck, Ashley!" I called.
"Thanks, and great job!" she replied.
"Ladies and gentlemen, that was number 126, Summer Storm; owned and ridden by Amy Fleming of Heartland Ranch. 1 minute and 15 seconds, 0 faults!" said the announcer over the PA system. "Now entering the ring is number 127, Apollo 13; owned and ridden by Ashley Stanton of Briar Ridge!"
"Amy you did great!" said Lou as I reined Storm to a halt and jumped off his back.
"That was so cool, I can't believe he jumped the water like that with no hesitation!" said Mallory holding her hand out toward Storm.
Storm snorted and lipped at Mallory's hand, looking for a treat.
She giggled. "Later boy," she said.
"Thanks, he was amazing," I replied stroking Storm's neck.
"And even better, you're in the jump-off," said Mallory stroking Storm's nose.
I smiled. "I know, I'm a little nervous about it," I replied.
"Well don't get too nervous, cause you might have a potential buyer," said Lou.
"What? Who?" I asked.
"Stuart Forest," replied Mallory excitedly.
I felt my jaw drop open. "Mr. Forest wants to buy Storm?" I asked, wondering if I had heard Mallory right.
"Yep, he says Storm has a lot of potential as a jumper, and he would like to try him out," explained Lou.
I thought about what Lou had just said.
Stuart Forest was a trainer at Fox Farms, a training barn that trains and competes in Show Jumping events. I had met Mr. Forest when my school bus, his horse van, and a Greyhound bus got into an accident. One of his horses, Caesar, had gotten trapped in some barbed wire; using my mom's method of T-touch, I had gotten the frightened gelding calmed down long enough for Mr. Forest to cut the wires and free Caesar.
Mr. Forest had then called me again to work with Caesar's trust issues; I don't know who had been more happy when Caesar had been cured, Mr. Forest, or Caesar's rider.
"Hello . . . earth to Amy!" said Mallory, bringing me out of my thoughts.
"Huh?" I asked.
"I said, 'So what do you think'?" said Lou.
"Oh . . . um . . . yeah it's great that he wants to try Storm; we'll just have to see if he still wants Storm after the jump-off," I explained, remembering one buyer who had wanted to buy the first horse I had trained two years ago.
Champion, a chestnut Anglo-Arabian gelding who had a snip on his muzzle, a sock on each of his legs, and had stood at sixteen-two hands high, had been the first horse I had bought to train and sell as a jumper. Champion had been clumsy and hadn't been able to even walk without getting all worked up. After three years of working with him, he was able to jump and perform Dressage up to Level 3.
After one competition, a man wanted to buy Champion for his daughter, but wanted to see how the jump-off went; needless to say, someone spooked the gelding and we lost the jump-off. The potential buyer didn't even believe me when I said that all horses spook and I never heard from him again. It was okay though, Champion was sold to a boy looking for a jumper and last I heard of them, the boy and Champion were already on the 'A' circuit.
"Ladies and gentlemen, that was number 127, Apollo 13; owned and ridden by Ashley Stanton of Briar Ridge! 1 minute and 20 seconds; 0 faults! That's all of our riders for this round, folks, but don't fret . . . cause numbers 48, 126, and 127 will be continuing on to the jump-off! There will be a twenty minute break while we remake the course, in the mean time . . ."
"Amy can you believe it? We're going to the jump-off!" cheered Ashley riding over on Apollo and dismounting.
"Oh come on, Ashley, you knew you'd be going into the jump-off," I said chiding her. "I was the nervous wreck."
She chuckled and slung her arm around my shoulders. "Come on, let's go walk our boys around and go with Mallory to check on Sapphire," she said, letting go of me so that she could run Apollo's stirrups up the leathers.
I did the same for Storm.
"I'll talk to you two later, I'm going to give Mr. Forest your answer, Amy," said Lou. "Mallory are you going to hang around the side of the ring to watch the jump-off?"
Mallory nodded. "Yep so this way I can go straight to the trailer to get Sapphire before our round," she replied.
"Alright, I'll try to make it back so I can wish you good luck and watch your round as well," said Lou, turning around to head back over to the trainers' area. "Good luck to you both!"
I heard a gasp from Ashley and turned to look at her. "What?" I asked.
"So . . . what did Stuart Forest want? Oh! Don't tell me . . . don't tell me . . . he has a horse that needs to be cured?" she asked.
"Well actually . . ."I began, but she interrupted me.
"No, no, no, no . . . wait . . . he's offering you either a sponsorship or a working student position at . . ." she began.
"Ashley!" I yelled, interrupting her soon to be a mile-long stretch of scenarios of what Mr. Forest could want with me.
She stopped talking and looked at me expectantly.
"No he doesn't have a horse that needs to be treated, nor is he offering me a sponsorship or a working student position," I said.
"Then what does he . . ." she began, but Mallory cut her off before I could.
"He's offering to buy Storm," she replied. "That's all."
"Really? Awesome!" she cheered. "Come on, let's go for that walk and talk."
Mallory shook her head, rolling her eyes in exasperation, and walked off toward the parking lot.
I chuckled, shaking my head, as we followed her.
It still felt strange that Ashley and I were friends, considering ever since I could remember, we had been rivals. Don't get me wrong, we still pick on each other, but other than that . . . we're pretty good friends.
Which is the only good thing that happened after that night I thought as the memories of that night came flooding back to me. No, not now I prayed, blinking rapidly to get rid of the hot liquid that was pooling in my eyes.
I breathed a sigh of relief a few minutes later when the tears stopped and I was able to talk without feeling like someone was strangling me. Damn it, why can't I just forget about him I asked myself as we reached the trailer. Ashley and I tied our horses to the hook in the side of the trailer and got a small bucket of water for them each to drink for a bit. It's been five years since he left, I should have forgotten about him by now.
"Okay, so Mom's holding a bonfire night in a couple of weeks, and I so think that you two should come, plus Soraya," said Ashley as her voice broke into my thoughts.
"I'm so in," said Mallory lowering the ramp to our trailer and walking up the ramp to go check on her horse.
"Huh? Oh yeah . . . um . . . I'll ask Grandpa and see what he says," I replied.
Ashley turned toward me and gave that look of hers. "You're still thinking about him aren't you?" she asked.
I sighed, wondering how I was gonna answer that one when I didn't even understand it myself. Why couldn't I just forget about him? I mean . . . sure there was a connection there and sure he kissed me that night after the Finale, but apparently it didn't mean anything to him.
At least not enough to make him want to stay I thought.
But he also said that he loves you and that's why you can't forget about him said a voice in my mind.
Mallory cleared her throat as she came out, leading her horse down the ramp. "So this bonfire, it's going to be safe for me to go right? Cause my parents will ground me for life if there's alcohol there," she said winking at me.
I winked back, thanking her for changing the subject. Having Mallory around all the time wasn't so bad, but she can be a bit sneaky. One day, about a month after Ty left, she found the letter he had written to me and we talked about it. Besides Spartan, whom I talk to all the time, she was the only one who knew about what Ty had said.
Ashley looked between me and Mallory. "I know you changed the subject on purpose Mallory, and no there will be no alcohol so your parents can chill," she said. "And don't think you're off the hook, Amy."
I sighed and groaned. I really didn't want to talk about that night, not now . . . not ever. I looked over at Mallory as she walked Sapphire around in schooling figures to work out the kinks.
Mallory had changed a lot over the past five years and I don't mean just physically. Ever since I bought Champion and decided to train and compete on horses to sell to bring in some extra income and spread the word about Heartland's methods, she decided herself to become a serious rider and started taking lessons at Briar Ridge. However, unlike Ashley and me, where we focused on Show Jumping, Mallory chose a discipline that I didn't think she would ever consider trying: Dressage. And she's great at it; already after five years, she's trained and competed up to Level 3.
A few months ago her parents bought her Sapphire, a dappled-gray Hanoverian mare who stands at sixteen hands high, as a birthday present. Sapphire had all the characteristics and conformation of the Hanoverian breed and she was as sweet as they come. Mallory and her would be great champions one day. The mare was at Level 4 which would give Mallory confidence as she learned the Dressage movements of Level 4. Today though, they were competing in Level 1 Dressage to gain some show experience together.
As we worked with our horses, the usual hustle and bustle of a show was going on all around us. I thought about how mine, Grandpa, and Lou's lives changed over the past five years.
With Lou's business experience and great advertising, Heartland grew from one barn, to three barns, an outdoor and indoor arena, a dude ranch, and now we have four stable hands to help out with the chores. And, besides boarding her horse at Heartland, Mallory has also been learning about treating horses. One of the barns was for boarders to board their horses, along with whichever horse I own to train at the time.
But our mission will always be the same Mom I thought as Mallory, satisfied that her horse was okay, loaded the mare back into the trailer.
"Ladies and gentlemen, ten minutes until the jump-off begins," said the announcer over the PA system.
"We'd better get over there," said Ashley as Mallory lifted the ramp back into place and secured it with the locks.
I untied Storm from the hook, while Ashley did the same with Apollo, and we walked back toward the arena.
In Show Jumping there are sometimes two rounds to determine the winner; if more than one rider has gone clear during the first round, there will be a jump-off. The fences would be raised, the turns would be tighter, but most of the fences would be excluded in the jump-off.
"Numbers 126 and 127 here are copies of the new course," said a judge coming up to us and handing out two papers with the course design on it.
"Thank you," we said accepting the new course instructions.
The judge nodded and walked off.
I took a look at the course and my eyes widened as I studied it.
They were definitely trying to test the three of us to see who was the better rider. The even number fences had been taken out, but they still left the water jump, the triple combination, and the wall.
"Wow, good luck to you guys," said Mallory looking over my shoulder.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," said Ashley. "We can do it, we've tackled far more challenging courses."
"Don't ever say that," said Mallory.
"What? Why not?" asked Ashley.
"Cause the person who says that always winds up last," said Mallory. "It's some kind of curse that is put on over-confident riders."
"Yeah . . . I doubt that's gonna be the case," said Ashley studying the course.
"Fine, don't believe me," said Mallory.
"Okay, none of us have to win, we're just here to enjoy ourselves, right?" I asked.
"Yeah," they replied.
"But it would still be nice to go home with a ribbon," said Mallory.
"Yeah, but this is your first show with Sapphire so . . . just enjoy yourself," I replied and went back to studying the course so that I knew how to ride Storm safely through the course, while, at the same time, seeing how we could win. I'm not being a hypocrite, but I would like to try to at least do good in this round.
Ten minutes later, I had my plan mapped out and I was satisfied with it.
"Ladies and gentlemen welcome back to the jump-off of the 18-25 group! As you know, three riders have gone clear in the first round. So give it up for Number 48, Starlight's Wish; owned and ridden by Fiona Langsley of Briar Ridge!"
A young girl of about eighteen with red hair, pale skin, average height, and slender, rode into the arena on an expensive-looking Arabian.
As soon as I saw the pair, I knew something was wrong.
The horse had been calm in the first round, but now . . . he was totally riled up. He held his head as high as it could go with the standing martingale he was wearing; the whites of his eyes were showing, and he was slick with sweat.
"Wow, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that horse was spooked," said Mallory.
Ashley made a noise of disgust. "Looks like she's using that bit again," she said.
"What do you mean?" I asked keeping an eye on the pair as they rode through the timers.
"Fiona has just started competing in the adult division a couple of months ago, and . . . while she's find during the first round, she chokes during a fake jump-off and the real one," explained Ashley.
"What about the horse?" I asked looking at him more closely. Starlight, a pure-black Arabian with a star on his forehead, and looked to stand at fifteen-three hands high, tossed his head as they approached the first fence.
"A purebred Arabian from Egypt; he was a stallion before her parents bought him for her. He's been gelded but . . ." she began gesturing toward the gelding who had cleared the fence, but was fighting with his rider the whole way.
"He's too much for her," I said, figuring it out. "You mentioned a bit, what kind of bit does she use on him?"
"A corkscrew wire bit," replied Ashley.
I noticed Mallory wincing and I couldn't blame her. A corkscrew wire bit was only needed if the horse needed a stronger bit, but the rider had to keep a gentle hand on the reins, otherwise it could do more harm than good to the horse.
Looking at the way Fiona was sawing at the reins to keep Starlight under control, I knew she was afraid of him and was obviously in need of a more quieter horse than a high-strung Arabian.
I watched as Fiona took the gelding around the course. She was tense and rigid in the saddle, foam was starting to appear around Starlight's mouth and splashed onto his chest and legs, and during the whole course, I kept expecting them to have an accident.
I held my breathe as they finished the course with no problems other than that they were fighting with each other; watching as Fiona rode out of the ring, I noticed two people standing by the edge of the ring, looking grim.
"Those are her parents, they're really, really, REALLY strict," said Ashley.
I nodded as I saw Fiona dismount Starlight; she looked . . . shaken.
"Ladies and gentlemen that was Number 48, Starlight's Wish; owned and ridden by Fiona Langsley of Briar Ridge. 1 minute and 15 seconds; 0 faults. Up next is Number 127, Apollo 13; owned and ridden by Ashley Stanton of Briar Ridge!"
"Good luck, Ashley," Mallory and I said to her as Ashley swung up into Apollo's saddle.
"Thanks, see you in a bit," she said, gathering up her reins and nudging Apollo into a walk.
I turned and checked my horse's tack to make sure it was safe to use, before swinging myself into the saddle.
I had just settled myself into the saddle when a large groan from the audience made me look up.
Ashley and her horse had gone clear up until they reached the wall; apparently, something had spooked Apollo, causing him to refuse the jump.
A girlish laugh made me turn around to see Fiona standing a little bit further off to mine and Mallory's left.
She scoffed. "Looks like Mommy's little protege is slipping," she said.
I nudged Storm closer to her. "You know, everyone has a bad day, I'm sure she'll do better next time," I said to her.
Fiona scoffed. "With that old nag? Yeah . . . right . . . she needs to get a new horse," she said, as the audience applauded Ashley's performance.
I looked at the ring and saw that, despite the refusal, she had gone clear.
"Oh, so you mean that Ashley should get a horse that she can't control like Starlight?" asked Mallory motioning with my head to where a groom was holding Starlight's reins.
She huffed, turned on her heel, and stormed off.
"Ladies and gentlemen, that was Number 127, Apollo13; owned and ridden by Ashley Stanton of Briar Ridge! 1 minute, 30 seconds; 8 faults!" the announcer said over the PA system. "Our last competitor is Number 126, Summer Storm; owned and ridden by Amy Fleming of Heartland Ranch!"
"That's us, boy!" I whisper to him, before nudging him into a walk, and rode toward the entrance of the ring.
"Knock 'em dead!" said Ashley as we passed each other.
"Thanks," I replied and entered the ring.
As I looked at the course, I knew instantly why they left these particular jumps; staring at a course on a piece of paper is fine, but it's nothing compared to seeing a course up close and personal. The timing and spacing would prove difficult for a Warmblood like Storm and Apollo. But it would be pretty easy for a small, slender horse like Starlight.
Storm's ears perked forward at the sight of the jumps, and I felt his whole body ripple with excitement. He was ready.
As I circled the ring at a trot, I tried not to think about the audience watching our every move, nor the fact that Mr. Forest wanted to try Storm.
The very thought that a famous trainer wanted to buy a horse that I had trained myself filled my stomach with nerves.
Take it easy, it's a competition like any other said the voice in my mind. Just take a deep breathe and give it your best.
I followed the instructions and took a deep breathe; almost instantly it quieted the butterflies in my stomach somewhat. "Okay, let's finish this," I whispered to the gelding as we picked up a canter.
He picked up the canter flawlessly and we rode toward the first jump.
I didn't really care about winning, even though it would help Heartland's reputation; all I cared about was helping a horse conquer their fear. And today, Storm was ready to go to a new home.
Storm courageously tackled each jump like it was nothing. I didn't know how fast we were going, nor did I look back to see if we were going clear; I just kept looking at the next jump and making sure Storm was okay as we came up on the water jump.
This time, I didn't even need to encourage Storm; he lengthened his stride and jumped clear over the water, landing safely on the other side.
Storm and I rode through the finish line to a loud round of applause from the audience, and, as I slowed my horse to a walk, I dared myself to look at the scoreboard, and almost fell out of the saddle.
1 minute and 10 seconds with 0 faults!
There must be a mistake . . . that can't be my score I thought, as the PA system came back to life.
"And that was Number 126, Summer Storm; owned and ridden by Amy Fleming of Heartland Ranch! 1 minute and 10 seconds; zero faults!"
"Oh my God, Amy . . . you've won!" shouted Ashley from where she sat on Apollo.
Mallory gave me the thumbs-up sign and, if her smile got any bigger, it would be too big to fit on her face.
Storm neighed excitedly.
As the judges called out the other riders to receive their ribbons, I stole a glance at Fiona and her parents.
Both of her parents looked angry and Fiona, while looking angry herself, looked uncomfortable on her horse.
She must have noticed me staring because she turned to look at me and scowled in my direction.
"Third place goes to Number 127, Ashley Stanton riding Apollo 13!" said the announcer as Ashley rode into the ring to collect her yellow ribbon.
The judge pinned the ribbon onto the bay gelding's bridle and shook Ashley's hand; Ashley beamed at him and shook his hand.
"Second place goes to Number 48, Fiona Langsley riding Starlight's Wish!" said the announcer as Fiona rode into the ring to collect her red ribbon.
The judge pinned the ribbon onto the black gelding's bridle and shook Fiona's hand; Fiona shook his hand, but she looked disgusted with the red ribbon.
"And this year's Huntington Champion is . . . Number 126, Amy Fleming riding Summer Storm!" said the announcer.
Feeling dizzy with happiness, I nudged my horse's sides with my heels, and rode into the ring to collect my blue ribbon.
"Congratulations, that was a very good ride," said the judge pinning the ribbon onto Storm's bridle and reached up to shake my hand.
"Thank you," I replied, shaking his hand.
He nodded and moved out of the way as I turned Storm away from him so that Storm and I could lead the Victory Lap.
As we cantered around the ring, I caught sight of Lou talking to Mr. Forest and I saw them shaking hands. Mallory was nowhere to be found and I figured she was back at the trailer getting her horse ready for the Dressage competition.
"Looks like Mr. Forest wants to try you, boy," I whispered to Storm, as we finished our lap, and slowed down to a walk before riding out of the ring towards Lou and Mr. Forest.