Champions Until the End

Chapter Eighteen

Parker up top.

The first jump was a bridge. About four feet in width, three and a half in height, it was to be jumped horizontally. Although I had no doubt that Duchess could clear it easily, I kicked her onward. It was always a good idea to make the first jump a good one, otherwise it was likely that the rest of your run wouldn't be very good. In my experience, anyways.

As expected, Duchess cleared the bridge like it wasn't even there. Again, I marveled at her jumping ability. I was honestly shocked that an amazing horse like Duchess wasn't some sort of professional eventer, instead of an advanced lesson horse at a small stable in Kentucky.

Well, she's going to be a professional eventer if we make it to the Five-star. Which, by the way, depends ENTIRELY on this run and our dressage test! I shook my head, snapping back into focus. A jump was coming up. It was a large ditch, exactly like the one I had fallen into when I lost my lower leg, and like the one my dad had died in. I took a deep breath.

Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. I thought, trying not to lose my cool. My accident happened not that long ago, and I certainly hadn't jumped very many ditches since then. I made a mental note to practice them more back at Pine Road Stables.

Counting Duchess's strides in my head helped me focus, and I counted down to the moment that she would lift off from the ground.

Three, two, one....NOW!

As I had that thought, Duchess picked up her front hooves neatly, pushing with her powerful hindquarters to lift herself off the ground in an amazing leap. Yes! I cheered in my head as she hit the ground on the other side, leaping clean over the ditch as if it were a mere crossrail. This horse had some serious jumping capabilities.

Twenty jumps later, we approached the twenty-third jump. There were twenty-five in total on  the course, and I didn't want to mess up now. Our time was important, and as far as I can tell, we were precisely on time, meaning that it would be touch and go on whether we finished on time. A single misstep would mean time faults, and probably my chance to compete at the Five-star. Not to mention the dressage later.

Three strides later, Duchess cleared the monstrous hedge of a jump, though I could feel and hear her dragging her hind hooves across the top. The Akhal-Teke's stride had slowed a minor amount, probably due to the hard galloping across rough terrain for so long. I had known that it was inevitable for Duchess to begin to get tired, but I had hoped that it would be a bit later in the course, maybe the twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth fence. We were already cutting it close on time.

I was having to push to keep Duchess going at a fairly consistent pace, though her stride was gradually slowing. I knew that I would have to probably let her slow down and just make it to the finish line, but I didn't want to give up like that just yet. "Come on, Duchess, run! Please, girl!" No matter how much I encouraged the mare, she was flagging, and I could feel the decrease in her speed. She scrambled over the twenty-fourth fence, taking off a bit chaotically, but still managing to clear the bed of the truck.

I could see the twenty-fifth jump, a ring. It was basically just a golden hoop that your horse had to jump through. I had jumped plenty of these before on Lady, and even a few on Faith, but never on Duchess. There wasn't a jump like it to practice on at Pine Road, anyway. At least not that I knew of.