A Medallion

Chapter 20

Win's ears pricked up as he saw we were headed for something other than a tiny crossrail.  I closed my fingers slightly, warning him not to rush it.  He listened, albeit begrudgingly.  

One.  Two.  Three.  Four.  I counted in my head.  My hands flowed with his head as powerful hindlegs propelled us up and over.  I savor the brief moments of flying. 

The force of his hooves hitting ground is like a pebble being thrown into a still pond.  It sends ripples through my very being.

As we canter away, I feel like something is... missing.  For a moment, I can't put my finger on it.  But then I realize:  I'm not thinking about the next jump, how fast I can get to it, the number of strides I need to make.  

When was the last time I jumped for fun and not practice? 

Tessa passes me in canter on Challenger and I turned to see what she was doing.  She was aiming for a brown colored vertical. 

I could see Challenger wanted to back off a little, but Tessa wouldn't hear of it, keeping her eyes up and forward.  Shocker passes across on the other side of the jump going across to an oxer.  But Tessa doesn't waver in her line.  

Challenger springs lightly into the air just as he did the first time I saw him, clearing the rail well above what was needed.  After landing, Tessa gave him a small rub on the neck in praise.  

I turned my attention back to where I was going.  With four riders in an arena, going wherever they wanted and jumping what they willed, things were quite chaotic.  I needed my wits about me.  

I picked out my next jump which didn't look to be in anybody's way.  I wasn't sure about our stride, but I knew that it would be somewhere between six or five.  

I knew Win could get us out of the jam if needed, but I hated not being able to see it.  I clucked to him, asking for a longer stride to see if we could make it in five.  

We made it in five longer strides.  Win jumped slightly flat because of it, but that wasn't of much concern with this smaller height.  

Again I took in my surroundings, calculated, and picked out my next jump, which I decided would be the red vertical.  I couldn't tell our stride until we'd rounded the turn.  

I realized it would be a short four, or a long three?  I couldn't tell, so I opted to try and shorten.  Win didn't like this idea and resisted me, plunging ahead instead. 

This set us off and we reached the jump at an awkward distance.  We could either 'chip in' or jump long.  Neither option was a good one. 

Win made the choice for me and chose a long jump.  Because he was already somewhat flat, he jumped even flatter.  I winced as I heard a solid rap.  

As we turned and Win changed leads, I looked back.  Mr. Wellen was putting back up the dropped rail.  

I narrowed my eyes as I began to turn Win to head for that red vertical again.  It was not going to get the best of us.  

I sat up and leaned back slightly, telling Win he'd better start collecting himself.  He listened and shortened his stride.  I could feel that it would be a five stride.  

Sure enough, it was five.  This time Win jumped more round, and we cleared the vertical with ease, just as we should have the first time.  

I didn't have much time to rejoice in our triumph however, because coming right up in front of me was Lacy and Russo on the way to another jump.  I didn't want to interrupt their line, so I leaned back and forced Win into a tight turn.