My Horsy Life

Chapter 11

                                                                                   Making The Cut

Wa had tacked up our horses, warmed them up, and now was in the dirt arena ready to try and make the cut. Emily Vine had us trot, one at a time, around the course then trot over the ground poles, trot over the tiny jumps, and canter over the set of 35 jumps. She had upped the jump set by 15 jumps! The orange haired girl went first and stumbled on the ground poles but other than that had a clean round. Kristy went next, then Julie, Amber, Kelly, Goldie, Jannet, Marry, and finally me and FreeRein. We cleared the course with no mistakes. I grinned at Kelly who had made a clear go too, along with Ambe. Kristy and Julie and 13 more girls had made a few mistakes. 14 other girls, not counting me, had a clear go. Emily Vine had been writing something down on a clipboard. She called Jannet, Goldie, and Marry to one side. She called Kristy, Julie, and the orange haired girl to the other side. She called Amber and Kelly to the side with Jannet, Goldie, and Marry. Emily Vine called 12 other girls to the side with Kristy, orange haired girl, and Julie. Finally it was me last. Emily Vine told me to go over to the side with Kelly. She talked to the orange haired girl and moved her to my side, along with Julie and Kristy.

"The side with the most girls will stay. I'm sorry girls. You 12 will have to go home. Girls? You girls will go cool out your horses." Emily Vine said. The girls, including me, that had passed cooled out the horses. The girls who lost went home. Some girls who had passed had sisters that hadn't so that now it was only nine girls left. We led our horses to our stations and untacked them. I groomed FreeRein down well and put him in the paddock. Kelly and Amber did the same. We went up to our rooms. I went into my room and locked my dorm room door. I took a shower and put on some comfy clothes and opened my laptop. Mom had Emailed me back and said she was happy I was okay. I wrote down something in my journal on my laptop. I shut it a half hour later and crawled into my bed with Forest. There was a knock on my door and I got up, I unlocked the door and opened it. It was Bradley. I let him come in and I snuggled into my bed again while he sat on it. We talked and talked and finally he had to leave. I fell asleep and felt someone sit on my bed and stroke my face. I awoke with my stomach hurting. There was no one here. I felt like crying my head and stomach hurt that much. Someone unlocked my door and came in. It was Bradley again. He came with french toast and orange juice. He knew I was sick.

"How ya feeling?" He asked. Kelly came in and took Forest out to the pen. She came back a couple hours later and told me she had put Harmony in the paddock and had ridden FreeRein and put him back in his stall. I ate while Bradley talked with Kelly. I finished and Kelly went out to ride her own horses. Bradley sat on my bed and stroked my forehead. I dosed and noticed he was still there. When I woke up again I saw Bradley was sitting on a couch and was reading. I could tell he was reading a horse book.

"B-Bradley?" I stammered. He jumped up and rushed to my side. He sat on the edge of the bed and stroked my forehead.

"Yes love?" He answered back. I shook my head and sat up. I got out of bed and felt a rush of dizziness come over me. I walked to the door and opened it. Bradley looked confused. "Love... You're still sick." He said. Rushing to my side again. I walked out and down to the barn and walked over to Harmony's stall. I opened it and snapped the lead on. I walked her out and to the warm up ring. I walked her around and around. She looked better and healthier. She loved to be outside and wanted to be ridden. I led her to the station and groomed her down. Bradley took FreeRein out and groomed him down. I then put on the saddle pad and the saddle. Bradley looked at me. "Love, you're not well enough to ride. And anyway, she's pregnant." He said to me,

"I know. I wanna ride with you." I said and finished tacking her up. Bradley tacked FreeRein up and we led them out to the warm up ring. Bradley helped me mount up and then he did the same. We warmed up and went out on a trail. We rode and rode.

"Brad? How come you picked me? Why me? How are the other girls not better? What about the orange haired girl? Isn't she better than me?" I asked him. He thought and said.

"The orange haired girl can't ride as good as you, she's not as pretty as you, and she's just plain stuck up!" He said, "Plus. I love you." He finished. We rode for a couple more hours without talking. Then we started talking about horses.