I changed it to a circle at A in a counter canter, then a collected trot and finally a levade and then a courabette.
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Anna swung a leg on my back, and then, picking up the reins, asked me to rise. I bent my knees and took Anna's weight and rose up. She asked me trot off and I did so willingly. Then, with a slight twitch of her leg, she collected me. Then finally extended me into a long legged, and clean trot. I felt Anna wince as, she pushed me into a controlled canter, which I leapt into a bit to willingly.
"Dancer, settle down" she muttered in my ear, teeth clenched from the pain.
After she put me through my paces, I was nice and supple and willingly went on the bit. Dorthèe stood by the fence, watching along with Max. Red however, was sitting on the top rail, hands clenched in anticipation and dread of what might happen. Red knew Anna better than perhaps, even me. He was there when she decided to become a riding master in dressage and helped find me. He knew Anna and I and helped us through our ups and downs no matter the consequences. He knew the full story of Anna's life and while I only got hints at it, it seemed she had made quite a few mistakes.
Anna pulled me to a halt and, made me square, before bending over my neck to whisper
" never look back to the past, always look ahead, to the future. The past is done and today is a new day, a new start." She gave me a pat on my neck and then with a soft click and a brushing of her heels, moved me into a brisk, but nicely supple, counter canter. We headed toward A and made a circle, before Anna rounded my back and asked for a transition to a collected trot. I gave a swish of my tail in annoyance before complying, I hated slowing from a canter, my favorite gait. I lifted my legs hog hand placed the, with precision as I did a collected trot, aware that Max, and Dorthèe were scrutinizing my every move.
Anna rounded me up and asked ever so softly for a levade, which I sprung into almost instantaneously. The levade has always been my second weakest move, next to the courabette due to the tremendous amount of strain a horse has in order to maintain it. I held it for a few seconds, before feeling the twinge of pain from my ligament. I ordered myself not to think about it as Anna let me trot a lap, before, in full view of Max and Dorthèe asked me for a courabette. Then, I'm ashamed to say it, I didn't respond. Anna tightened her reins and asked me again, a second time. Finally after a split secon hesitation, sprung into a courabette. I sunk into my hocks and held my controlled rear, before springing from the earth as if to separate Anna and I from gravity. When we landed, I heard Anna's muffled curse before a harsh pain in my leg made me forget everything else.
I dropped out of the courabette at Anna's insistance. she immediately slid off my back ignoring the pain in her leg, dropped down by my right hind leg and tore the boot off it. My leg burned like fire. I lifted it off the ground, refusing to touch even the toe of my hoof to the ground.
"Moondance, I'm sorry" whimpered Anna as Red leapt off the fence to help her. Max ran inside to go call the vet. Anna knew, just like I did that there was no coming back from such an injury. It changed you life.
Each step was agonizing pain as Dorthèe led me back to my stall. (Anna was inside Max's office, icing her leg) Dorthèe was especially quiet as she took off my bridle.
" I never meant to hurt you." the words were so soft, that if I hadn't been standing there I wouldn't of even understood who she was talking to. "Your Anna's life and she had so much potential, my own sister, a riding master. Mother and Father were so proud" a haughty tone had come into her voice " a riding master and no matter what, nothing I did was ever good enough, nothing! And then the fall and Hugo, my best friend, my listener, was dead. And it was my fault. My own stupid fault for rushing that fence, the last one."
