Rolling Hills Academy

Casper, Professional Thrower

I took in the activity around me as I hauled open the barn doors. It was only 9am on a Sunday, but it was already packed. I guess everyone wanted to practice for the show like I did. I walked down the aisle towards Casper's stall, ducking under horses attached to cross ties. I waved at a group of girls from my dorm hall and headed over to them. The girls all smiled as I approached them.

"Hey Harper!" A blonde girl chimed. I looked at her trying to remember her name. She laughed. "My name's Spencer." She said, seeing me frown. I smacked a palm to my forehead.

"Spencer! That's right. I'm so sorry. I don't remember any of your names either." I apologised, looking at the group of girls. They all smiled.

"That's okay, you've only been here a week. The only reason we remember your name is because there's only a couple new people in our building that we have to learn, while you have to learn literally the entire dorm." A darker skinned girl chimed.

Spencer started pointing to each of the girls. "This is Beth," she pointed to the darker skinned girl, "That's Tania," a red haired girl smiled, "and that over there is Jess." She pointed over to a brown haired girl with glasses, who was brushing a dappled grey mare. Jess shot me a quick smile.

"Your horses are all beautiful!" I said. Spencer was grooming a chocolate coloured gelding, Beth a strawberry roan mare, Tania a black paint mare, and Jess was grooming her dappled grey. Tania smiled sadly.

"The girls all have their own, but Penguin is a stable horse I've been riding. I couldn't have asked for a better stable horse though, isn't that right Penny?" Tania said, scratching Penguin between her ears.  I smiled softly.

"Maybe one day you'll be able to buy her off the school." I suggested. Jess piped up.

"That's what we've been saying. We even told her that we'd help her get Penguin. Mr. Harris already knows what a great match they are, so it shouldn't be hard." Jess said, slinging an arm around Tania. The four girls all smiled and we said our goodbyes, letting the girls get back to grooming.

I knew all four girls were on the beginner team, and I hoped that as they made their way up the ranks Tania would be able to stay with Penguin. I headed down the aisles, smiling at a couple other people I knew, until I finally reached Casper's stall. I peered inside, finding him snoozing in the corner, his back to me.

"Caspy!" I called gently. Casper's ears perked up and he spun around to see me, sticking his head over the stall door. His lips flapped and I chuckled. "You are adorable, you know that?" I asked him, giving him a quick hug. "It's time to wake up, we've got some practising for the show to do." Casper bobbed his head and I patted his neck one last time before heading towards the tack room. 

I grabbed his heavy leather saddle and a hunter green saddle pad, and headed back to Casper's stall. I left my practice tack in the trunk outside Casper's stall to make it easier to carry everything. I placed the saddle and saddle pad on the trunk and pulled out his grooming kit. I decided to groom him inside his stall instead of trying to fight for an open pair of cross ties. While I groomed him, I thought about last night. 

After my 'date' with Jaxon, I sat with Violet and Julia and told them every little detail. Not one of them seemed bored and they asked a lot of questions. I was happy that they were happy for me, and they both thought that Jaxon was going to ask me to be his girlfriend soon. At the time, I had said no, but Violet is his sister, and she'd know better than anyone.

We convinced Tessa to let Julia stay later than normal curfew time, 10pm, since it was a weekend. Tessa had to check with Julia's dorm monitor in Hyacinth Hall, but she had agreed to let Julia stay until 11:30. We spent the night talking about boys and watching cheesy reality TV, eating our weight in junk food. I also got to facetime with mom and dad, and my new friends and I talked with them about school and how we'd have to have them over to my place during one of the breaks. Overall, it was a really good night, but today I had to focus on riding and completing homework assignments I had left until the last minute.