With The Labels

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

"Thanks for the ride." I tell Blake as we pull into my driveway. Jack is running around the yard, chasing the chickens, and the horses are all out in turnout. Mom is bent over a flower garden, digging up weeds. She looks up at us, wipes her dirty hands on her overalls, and waves. We wave back.

"Anytime, sweet cheeks." I am starting to get immune to his comments. Opening my door, I am about to step out of the car when I feel Blake's hand on my shoulder. "Wait!" I turn to him, my shoulder tingling from where he touched me. He holds his hand there for a couple seconds before removing it. "The first football game is this Friday. You should go." He winks. "I know how much you love seeing me sweaty."

I smile at him while rolling my eyes, trying not to show the butterflies in my stomach. "Okay." Is all I say before stepping out of the car, closing the door behind me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watch Blake pull out of the driveway. I walk over to mom and give her a kiss on the cheek. "How was your first day?" She asks me.

"It was good." I quickly respond to her. All I can think about is the football game. It couldn't come any sooner. "I am gunna go and ride Penny. Maybe jump her around a little." I tell mom as I walk inside to change into my riding clothes. We have a small sand arena with a few jumps set up in it.

I quickly change and head back into the barn. I have on a pair of old grey Tailored Sportmans and a white long sleeve v-neck. At the barn I pull on my old show Tucci tall boots and a Charles Owen helmet.

"Hey, Penny." She pops her head up from her stall. Mom was bringing the horses in from turnout and started feeding. I attach a leather lead rope to her halter and lead her out of the stall, attaching her halter rings to the cross ties in the aisle.

Quickly, I curry her gleaming summer coat and hard brush wisps of hay and dust off. Then, I run a comb through her mane and tail and pick the mud out of her hooves. Walking over to the tack room, I grab the jump tack and boots and make my way back over to Penny. Gently, I place a white pad on her back, then my black Ogilvy pad, and finally, my jump saddle. I cinch up her girth before throwing on her leather open front boots. After buckling her bridle, I lead Penny out of the barn and into the arena. I mount up from the fence since we didn't have a block.

As I walk Penny around the arena, I see mom watching me, accompanied by Miranda and Blake. I wonder to myself what they are doing there, but keep my focus on Penny. The competitive side of me wants to show Blake how much of a badass Penny and I are, or at least used to be. Slowly, I pick up my reins and give her a squeeze forward, asking for a trot. With ease, I post to her smooth trot. In our warm up I work on leg yields and transitions. Picking up her right canter, I look at the jumps around me in the arena. We have a low 3 foot vertical set up and a huge nearly 5 foot oxer. I decide to use the vertical as my warm up fence. I canter across the diagonal and ask for a flying lead change. She easily changes as we canter right up to the base of the small jump. I snap into two point at the perfect moment and she lands on the other side, flipping her head. I laugh to myself and give her a pat on the shoulder. She really misses it.

I jump the vertical a couple of times both directions before heading to the oxer. I can see Mom and Miranda, and even Blake, sucking in nervous breathed out of the corner of my eye. Smirking, I sit deep in the saddle, soften my rein, and Penny leaps over the huge jump with feet to spare. We made the distance perfectly and I slowly bring her back to a walk. Kicking my feet out of the stirrups, I make my way over to everyone watching. Blake crosses his arms, showing off his strong biceps. He has on his trademark cowboy hat with an impressed look on his face.

"Looks like Penny is happy to be jumping again, huh girl?" I stop my horse next to mom, who is rubbing her neck.

"That was beautiful, Caroline. Blake and I just stopped over to bring you guys some meat loaf for dinner and we saw you riding. Phenomenal." Miranda has a big smile plastered on her face.