A Medallion

Chapter 19

Vanessa's POV:

"That's better," Tessa commented.  "But what if I wanted to let the rein go a bit, what would she do?"  

Tessa thrust her hand forward, creating a small loop in the reins.  Medallion immediately picked up speed.  Her walk was now that jigging jog that I hated.  

"What if I take it back?"  Tessa said as she restored her hands to their original position.

Medallion slowed down, though not as dramatic as before.  

"How interesting," murmured Tessa.  She halted Medallion in front of me and let the rein out.  "She seems-"  

Medallion started walking out as soon as she felt the contact on the rein had gone.  Tessa reached down and pulled her into a one-rein stop.  "Now that was naughty," she said.  "Has she done that before?"  

I shrugged.  "I usually never got her stopped, and if I did it was on a tight rein, so she's never done it with me."  

Tessa let Medallion have her head back.  This time the mare stood still.  "Alright, back to what I was saying."  

"From what I can tell, this mare is very responsive, which is good.  And she likes to go, which no doubt makes her a prime event horse."

"But what is causing a lot of problems is her mouth.  She seems extremely touchy about it.  She despises contact.  Having seen you ride, I don't think it's you that started it, although you might have made it worse.   But at some point I would think she's been ridden in the mouth harshly by someone other than you."

"She just will not trust herself to my hands.  I can feel it.  She holds herself back.  I wouldn't be surprised if she's curling behind the vertical."  

"She is," I interjected.  

Tessa nodded.  She fingered a piece of Medallion's mane. "Eventually, she could be retrained to accept the bit better and be more confident with it. But it'd take a lot of patience, tact, and time."

I bit my lip. I wasn't sure I had enough of any of those three. "But you do think... You do think she's rideable?"

"Absolutely, especially if you ride her more from your seat, and less from your rein."

I knew what Tessa was indirectly saying. She was asking me if I was willing to try again with Medallion.

I nodded. "Okay." I wasn't sure if I wanted to commit to that or not.

Tessa slid off of Medallion. "She just needs someone to listen, Vanessa, and to respect her dignity." She handed the reins to me as she took back Challenger. "If someone could do that for her, I think she'd go to the ends of the world for them."

She looked me in the eye. "And we both know that's what makes a great event horse."

I nodded and led Medallion back to the stable. We only had a little bit of time to ride before they would have to leave, so I handed Medallion over to a groom to be untacked.

As I walked back to the arena, I resolved to put all of my conflicting feelings and thoughts aside for the moment. I wanted to enjoy this time with my fellow riders.

It wasn't often that I rode just for fun, much less with other riders. And surprisingly, I found myself looking forward to it.

Tessa's POV:

In some ways, I had felt Challenger while riding Medallion. But in others I hadn't. He had never curled behind the vertical at the touch of the rein, or slowed down so quickly when I took up contact.