A Medallion

Chapter 17

Tessa's POV:  

The time I had dreaded the whole visit had arrived.  Vanessa was to ride Challenger.

Many horse girls are protective of their horses, and don't like it when someone else rides them.  I was that way too, but even more so.  Challenger was just so sensitive.  More sensitive than he looked.  

I was pretty sure I knew what was going to happen.  It'd happened pretty much every time someone else besides me rode him.

  Vanessa would mount Challenger and ask him to walk with a way stronger leg aid than he needed.  Challenger would bolt off in a fast walk or maybe even trot.  

Vanessa would snatch at the reins in surprise and catch him in the mouth, causing him to stop completely or even back up.  I'd yell something to Vanessa about how sensitive he was. 

And after that?  Who knew.  I was almost certain it wouldn't end well.  If it did, it would be a pleasant surprise. 

I gathered the reins in my left hand and let my feet out of the stirrups.  Then I leaned forward and swung left and down in one well practiced motion.  

 As I walked up to slide the reins over his head, I leaned next to his ear.  "Just try to be good, okay boy?  I won't let her really hurt you."  

I kissed him on his brow above his eye and pulled the reins over his head.  

Vanessa's POV:  

We walked our horses over to the mounting platform and dismounted.  Tessa whispered something in Challenger's ear before handing me the reins.

A tingling thrill of nerves and excitement ran through me.  Even though I had the money to always ride lots of different horses if I wanted to, I didn't.  And thus, I was always had that little kid thrill of excitement when getting on a new horse's back.  

I took the reins from Tessa.  "You can get on Win if you want," I said as I led Challenger around to line him up to the mounting platform. 

She shook her head.  "Thanks, but no thanks."  

"Could I ride him?"  

I looked up in surprise at Lacy's request.  "Uh...  Yeah sure, if you want to.  I thought you were going to stick with Russo?"  

"Hey, the way I figure it, he looks pretty sane, and it's not every day I get to ride such an expensive horse."  She slid off of Russo.  

She and Tessa exchanged horses as I mounted up the steps and lined Challenger up to the platform.  He was eyeing me with suspicion.  I didn't think he had many riders besides Tessa.  

I gathered my reins, stuck my foot in the stirrup, and mounted.  

Challenger stood still for me as I figured out if my stirrups were the right length.  I should have checked that before mounting, but I'd been too excited.  

Actually, Tessa and I were pretty similar in stirrup length, so I shortened my reins.  Time to ride this horse.  

I squeezed like I normally did.  Challenger's head flew up and he shot off in a very fast walk verging on trot.  I was startled and pulled on the reins to slow him down.  

Suddenly we weren't just stopped, we were backing up.  I let off the rein. We were literally right back at the mounting platform where we'd started.  

I heard Lacy giggle behind me, but I didn't hear anything from Tessa except, "Careful, he's really sensitive."  

I caught my breath from the shock.  "Yeah... I can tell."  

I shortened my reins even more, prepared for him to do that fast walk thing again.  Challenger chewed the bit a little and to my surprise his head went down as if he was putting himself on the bit.  

Before I could cue him for walk, he began back up again. But I wasn't pulling on the reins, right? I gave him a sharp tap.

He swished his tail and launched forward in walk. Without intending, I grabbed him in the mouth with the reins. He lurched to a stop and stamped a foot.

"You were pulling on the reins, that's why he backed up," called Tessa.

I shot her an annoyed look. "I was not."

She looked heavenward. "No Vanessa, you were. He put himself so nicely on the bit for you, but you didn't give your hand to him, so he assumed you wanted him to back up."

I wrinkled my forehead. "Okay..."

I asked him to walk forward again, thrusting my hands forward so I wouldn't catch him. I had asked lighter than before, but still he went off in a fast walk, although not as fast as before.

I resisted the urge to pull back. I didn't want to get stuck in that backing up thing just yet. We could work that out later.

I shortened up my rein so I could have a better contact with his mouth. Almost immediately his step slowed, although he didn't quite stop.

I asked him to keep walking, but this time I was prepared for his quick step forward.  I closed my fingers to catch his surge of energy.

Instead of coming to a good walk, his head bobbed down and he kept the fast walk, but with his head down. I had the sensation of him puffing up under the saddle.

I didn't really know what to think about this, but I did know it was better than before. I liked the feeling. I stretched up through my back.

Suddenly his head tilted to the outside, but he started walking left. We were no longer going straight.

Annoyed, I gave him another sharp tap to try and straighten him out.

He swished his tail and stepped forward straight for a couple of steps, but then he was going sideways again. His head was still down, but far enough back I didn't have any contact on the reins.

"Don't shorten your rein-" Tessa's advice was too late. I grabbed more of the rein and Challenger started to do that backing up thing again.

I was starting to get a little mad. I gave him a real kick, albeit a small one. Instead of bolting forward like usual, he kicked out at me.

"Stop!" But Tessa's cry was too late. I gave him another kick. And that was Challenger decided he'd had all he could take.

He put his head down forcefully, it took all my strength to not let the reins get pulled out of my hand. He lunged forward in a huge buck.

I'd sat more than a few bucks in my time, and while this rattled me, it did not unseat me. Challenger shook his head, hating my firm pressure on the reins. He bucked again, and this time it was enough to take the reins from me.

Finding the pressure on his mouth gone, Challenger stopped dead. This threw me off more than anything else and I was shoved forward by momentum. I grabbed for his neck but didn't get a good enough grip. I ended up dropping onto the ground on my rear end facing Challenger. Not my worst fall.

But definitely my most humiliating one.

I heard quick footsteps as I righted myself. Tessa grabbed Challenger. "Shh baby, shh," she murmured.

Then she glanced down at me. "Do you understand now?"

AN:  Well...  That went just about as Tessa expected it to   😬  

Oh, a little bit of sad news here regarding this book.  Either this week or next week I'm not going to be doing double updates.  I just cannot keep up with them right now.  

BUT there is a reason, and I think it's a good one that you'll agree with, however I can't say what it is just yet. 

See you next Sunday!