The Saddle Club: Next Generation

Chapter 1

The black horse galloped through the wide open field, her long mane and tail flowing in the breeze. She was tall and elegant, and a bright white line crisscrossed her noble face, like a bolt of lightening extending from between the eyes to her velvety nose. Two white front feet flashed high and proud as she scanned her surroundings under a stormy sky.

Sliding to a stop to a stop, the mare stretched her neck and flaring her nostrils. Looking towards a stretch of trees, the mare noticed a small human figure appearing from the shadowy woods, a young girl with long brown hair tied back in a long braid. The young girl opened her arms towards the mare, whose ears pricked up in her direction. Whinnying with recognition, she cantered towards the girl.

Suddenly a loud crash of thunder reverberated, and the dark clouds began to gather threateningly. Small hands reached out towards the mare, the girls her small face contorting with worry. The mare snorted uneasily as large rain drops began to fall. The girl tried to run towards the mare, but no matter how hard she ran it seemed like she couldn't get any closer to the animal, who stood frozen with fear as the rain began to turn to hard pea size hail. She shook her mane frantically, as if trying to rid herself of the hail like a barrage of pesky flies.

"Lauren!" The horse called to the girl "Lauren!" Though as is stuck in a deep pit of mud, Lauren's body couldn't seem to break loose.

"Lauren!" The horses voices frantic voice sounded more exasperated than afraid now... but wait, that voice was somehow familiar to Lauren. Also, horses didn't talk. Lauren opened her eyes and stared up at the white ceiling of her own room, with its plastic glow in the dark stars. The exasperated face of her mother, Lisa, appeared over her. Lauren tried to pull the covers up over her head, to return to her sleep, but the covers were suddenly ripped from her grasp and tossed to the foot of the bed.

"Mom!" She cried, sleepily and with annoyance.

"Lauren your alarm clock has been ringing for the past hour, and I've called you three times." Lauren rolled over and stared at the clock, which read 8:45.

"But it's a Saturday." She muttered, curling up in a ball and holding a pillow over her head "Yes, and what happens at 10am on Saturday?" Asked her mother. Saturday. 10am. That did sound familiar. "Oh my gosh." Lauren suddenly sat bolt upright in bed, fully awake.

"If I'm late for lessons again Maxine is going to make me pick the back paddocks all week." She practically exploded out of bed, grabbing and examining various items from her piles of clothes on the floor. Her mother sighed and shook her her, than moved to stand in the doorway with folded arms. She seemed about to say something, then paused a moment as if rethinking it.

"I know getting up on time is difficult for you, but didn't we discuss how laying out your riding clothes the night before would help?" They definitely had discussed that...more than once. She had really meant to do just that, but she'd been so caught up in playing online games, and reading her new fantasy series, that she stayed up way too late and fallen asleep with her book falling open on the floor.

"I'm sorry mom..." she lamented. It's not that she didn't care about the class, riding was one of her favourite things in the world, she just couldn't seem to keep everything organized in her brain. Her mother crossed the room and pulled her into a hug, kissing the top of Lauren's head affectionately.

"It's ok sweet heart, we'll get there in time. I'll make you some toast to bring in the car." Her mother smiled encouragingly then made her way downstairs to their kitchen.

"Thank you." Lauren called out as her mother left, hopping on one leg as she tugged on a pair of riding breeches. opening her closet she threw on a sweatshirt, then looked in the mirror of her bedside table at her bedraggled brown hair and sighed. Her mother Lisa was punctual, organized, and seemed to have everything planned to make life go smoothly. However, Lauren struggled to manage her time, keep in task, and was always in danger of not maintaining a passing grades. Conversely, her mother had graduated medical school with ease, and ran her own practice as a general practitioner in their small town in Virginia.