Performance

Chapter 3 - The Incident

5 YEARS AGO

The victory was mine.

I wrapped my arms around my horse before sitting up and raising my helmet towards the sky. The crowd responded eagerly and cheered as loudly as I've ever heard before, the lights illuminating the stadium so beautifully at night. I looked around, thinking how this could get any better. A woman winning a male dominated class, a woman who works for everything she has. This felt surreal. After taking a few pictures with the class sponsors, I walked out of the ring with the biggest smile on my face.

I dismounted and was quickly hugged, lifted from the ground and spun. "Congrats congrats congrats!"

Once on my feet, I turned to face him. "Thank you Teddy!" I beamed in return, unable to hide my excitement. He still had his arms wrapped around my small frame before I quickly noticed my dad watching us. I turned around and broke free from his grasp.

"Dad!" I ran towards him, jumping in his arms. He chuckled and wrapped his arms around me tightly. "Congratulations honey, you deserve it!" He let go and put his hands on my shoulders. "I'm so proud of you." His eyes bore into mine as I absorbed his words.

We were quickly interrupted by someone with a wooden clipboard. "Hi! Congratulations on your big win today miss Lodge!" The woman pipped in. "I'll need you to come with me so we can have your horse, Indigo, drug tested. We all hate it, but it's the rules!"

"Of course, just give me a second." I chimed in, offering her a smile. She nodded and turned around. I looked back at my father grinning, "I still can't believe it!" I jumped up, clapping my hands like a child.

He chuckled at my stance. "I can for sure. You've been working so hard for this Livi, you deserve every single ounce of that prize money." He offered a sly smile before proceeding, "Okay, let's go. They're waiting for us!" He said, gesturing the women with the wooden clipboard. She stood beside a few of her co-workers.

I put the reins over Indigo's massive ears and made my way to the small group. They all turned around and stared at Indigo, examining him from top to bottom. "He's even bigger in person!" One of them said, completely aloof. Indigo is one of the last bigger boned horses to be bred in Poland before the lighter horses became more popular. He stood at a hiking 17.3 hands high. His dark grey dapples amplifying his silky, white coat, made him look stunning. Although he acted like a chestnut mare, he wore the colour grey quite nicely from time to time.

Indigo snorted as I walked him into the boxed stall, which held an abundance of shavings. I took off my equipment, hoisting a cooler on his back. I closed the stall door, and left the rest of the work to the veterinarians. Teddy eyed me while I leaned my saddle against a wooden bench hidden behind a tree not far from the box stalls. He walked towards me, a smirk plastered on his face.

"Hey you." He greeted before sitting down beside me. "You did amazing out there!" He boomed, his smile showing off his perfectly white teeth.

I looked up from my boots and stared into his eyes. "Thank you." I returned a friendly smile and nudged his shoulder playfully. "You better impress me next week in Wellington if you want to start beating me in the bigger classes once Titan is back out jumping the big sticks."

He chuckles lightly before breaking eye contact and looking into the abyss of stalls that covered the show grounds. "The vet said only 3 more weeks of light flatting left until I can kick ass again." He smirked.

"That's awesome!" I chirped, flashing a smile. "You're lucky my dad even let's you ride him- let alone show him."

He frowned, turning his head to look at me again. "Why do you say that?" He pondered, his fingers fiddling with the rings he wore around his fingers.