15 year old Stella Grace Walker is a renown junior dressage rider. While taking a break from competing, Stella, her brother and her parents move back to the little island off the coast of England with her beautiful palomino named Aurora, along with...
I wear a short sleeved high collar white shirt with my cream jodhpurs, as I stand in the arena, my helmet in hand, and wait for Marcus to bring my horse to me, my mum already here.
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Moments later, the Greenbridge leads Aurora into the arena and up to me. He tells me, "You'll be fine. I know you will."
"Thanks, Marcus," I say, taking Aurora's reins. He spares me a smile before leaving the arena.
I was practising for the dressage competition.
"Alright, Stella. Mount and warm up and we'll start with your trot pacing.
I was training for the County Show, as I usually do dressage, not Showjumping.
I do a fifteen minute warm up, walking, trotting and cantering, while doing the occasional circle, before I pull the palomino into a a collected trot. We go around the arena, then I pull Aurora back into a medium trot. I push her into a collected trot, then rein her in for medium. This goes on for ten minutes.
"From walk to canter," Mum calls. I Erin Aurora on for a walk and we continue for a few paces. Then I kick her sides and she enters straight into a canter. We repeat this move a few times around the arena.
"Trot leg yield," Mum calls. I reach the side of the arena and slow to a trot. Then I press my right leg against Aurora's side to make her trot sideways across the arena. We get to the left side and trot around to the right before doing the same move.
I do this four more times.
"Walk pirouette," Mum states. I reach the left side of the arena and in a walk, I turn the palomino around in place, doing a perfect pirouette. I do another before I walk Aurora to the bottom of the arena when we do two more pirouettes.
We reach the right side and do another two before Mum calls for us to do a canter shift. I kick Aurora into a canter and we head around the arena while doing the same technique a few times, from walk to canter.
After an hour, we call it a day. I dismount and turn Aurora towards the gate.
I go to ride Aurora to Pin's house. We canter leisurely through the forest until we reach the hill with Pin's house on it. Aurora whinnies as we near the crate and I dismount, tying her up next to the Haflinger.
Elvis is a chestnuts gelding with a flaxen mane and tail.
I pat both Aurora's and Elvis's necks before heading for the larger crate, where the injured moor pony is, taking off my helmet as I do.
"Hey," I greet, seeing the Hawthorne sitting by the moor pony.
"Hey, Stella," He says, smiling at me.
I go in and sit beside him as I say, "I was just training for the County Show."
