Changing Leads

Chapter One

 It was still early, the sun only just rising, as I pulled on some thick woollen socks and tip-toed out the back door, halter in my hand. I pulled on my old, scuffed leather short boots and ran down the gravel driveway towards the paddocks where I knew my horse would be waiting. I let out a shrill whistle and climbed over the fence, looking out over the farm as the hills took on a golden tint. The air was filled with the sound of thundering of hooves, and I saw some of the other horses raise their heads from the grass, as my jet black gelding Dante galloped up the paddock to meet me. He skidded to a stop and snuffled my hands with his wet whiskers, droplets of dew remaining on my fingers.

“Hey boy. Want to go for a ride?” I asked putting the halter on his head and taking off his summer rug, slinging it over the fence. I led him over to the trough, before leaping gently off the trough onto his back and cantering him back down the paddock towards the rest of the farm.

I got back to the house just after eight. Mum and Jake were still asleep, so I headed to the lounge to watch TV, glad I had it to myself and could choose what to watch instead of having to watch the stupid shows my older brother always wanted to watch. I constantly nagged him about when he was moving out, he was 21 already, and being 3 and a half years younger than him meant I was constantly the main victim of his teasing. That’s not to say we didn’t get along. Most of the time we were best friends, apart from when he was around his girlfriend Hannah. She seemed to bring out the worst in him.

 Jake was a show jumper just like me. We had been riding since we could walk and always had a few horses to our name. None of our ponies came easily though. We worked hard for them, all of them being cheap OTTB’s or the typical crazy unwanted nag that actually just needed some tender loving care. Our mum, Lydia, broke in the horses and used us as crash dummies. Often the horses she broke in were sold on to make a profit, or if they have showjumping potential, we would keep them and sell them on once they have proven themselves round the circuit. Jake gets first pick of who he wants and I am always left with the ones he dubs as ugly, useless or having a weird jump, but that suited me just fine and I loved my little team of jumpers.

 Jersey shore was on and I made myself comfortable, stretching out as far as I could and propping myself up with a dozen pillows. In the ad break I made myself a milo and put some toast in the toaster, sitting cross legged on the floor in front of the couch once it was done.

“Hey squirt, pass me the remote.” I turned around as Jake plopped himself down on the couch. I snorted and stared at him.

“No way.” He stared at me, a small smirk on his face.

“Fine then.” He lent over, grabbed a piece of my toast and started eating it, as I went to grab it back he snatched the remote off the table and quickly resumed his spot on the couch.

“Oi, no fair.” I yelled at him before putting my plate on the coffee table and jumping on him, ripping the remote from his grasp.

“Save it for Hunter.” He winked and my mouth dropped open.

“Ew, don’t bring my boyfriend into this.” I said glaring at Jake.

“Stop bickering.” We both turned around to see mum in her dressing gown walking into the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee. “Steve is coming around in about an hour, so you two should probably get ready and go out and ride your horses.” Steve was my mum’s current “partner”. They had been seeing each other for a few months, and I wouldn’t mind her seeing him, if he wasn’t the father of my enemy. Laura Perkins was well known in the show jumping community, not only for her perfect push button horses, but also for being the most snobby and competitive rider around. She always got what she wanted when she wanted, and if something didn’t go her way everyone soon knew about it. Both Jake and I were horrified when our mother said she was going on a date with Steve Perkins, and three months into it, we still weren’t pleased but we put up with it to make mum happy.