ahh.. so this is it. i'm finally here. the whole academy looks like a castle! a small pond out front, tons of acres of feilds at the back, stables, arenas, cross country, dressage. anything, you name it! i opened the car door and gently opened up the back door of the trailer. i led her out and went round the back to the stables, it was a closed in area, with tons of horses. it was so beautiful i couldent believe my eyes.
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i gave diamond a nice stroke and then put her into the stables. i was cuddling with diamond until i heard something to the left of me- "hiya!" Oh my goodness! my heart fell out my chest! why did she have to scare me like that? "oh, hey!" i said, in a pretty loud voice so she could hear me. "your mare is a beaut. this is ringo, my quarter horse! he's a real gentle giant. i'm lizzy, you?" "i'm rosemary, but you can call me rose for short. this is diamond, i rescued her" she gasped "your bringing a RESCUE into the academy.. oh no..!" she exclaimed "what?" "it's just- well..- rhia hates cobs.. and rescues.. just be ready for anything she says to you." uhhh okay.. not a great first impression! but we live! "oh- uh- i'm just gonna go to my dorm now. bye!" i said, whilst unlocking her stable door. i wonder who this rhia girl is.
i arrived to my dorm and was warmly greeted by lia and lisa. "hey! i'm lia!" "and i'm lisa!" "we're twins!" they both exclaimed, at the same time. "nice! i'm rose!" "soo are you gonna do the tri level awards?" that made me curious. what is a tri level award? "pardon?" i said. "a tri level award is a competition that we do every year where we do dressage, showjumping, and cross country, and whoever runs clear will go to the finals. once you get to the finals, you all will compete in an extreme showjumping course." woah. could i even do that? "wow! i'm not sure, are you doing it?" "duhhh! like everyone in the school is silly!! i mean obviously rhia always wins, but you know, you could give it a shot!" "who is this rhia girl anyway?" "a bully. she bullies everyone! just because she's rich and her daddy's got money. she has a top level showjumping horse who is pretty much unbeatable. her horse competed in the pentathlon!" i don't know what a pentathlon is, but i'm just guessing it's a competition or something. "woah" i said. acting surprised. "well, we better get to bed. all the way from america, you must be jet lagged." wait. how did she know? "how do you know?" "um- girl- you have an accent-" "i do?"
we were awoken bright and early simply by a loud knock on our doors. a teacher came in with a basket full of uniforms. "madame, go into the bathroom and try each uniform on. see what ones fits." "okay." i took the basket off her and went into the bathroom. i browsed through what the uniform looked like, and they had beautiful breeches that had a little pattern down the side that was matching the tie pattern. classy. they gave me brand new, shiny tall boots, and a show blazer. "gal you look lush!" "i'm just gonna assume that means nice." "yea yea. anyways, what is your first period on your timetable?" "uhh.. showjumping class?" "you must be in the same class as rhia. shame. i have horse studies. ugh.." i opened the door, "well i'll see ya!" i yelled, sorta loud so they could hear. all i heard was a faint "quiet!"from a teacher.
i got diamond all tacked up, got on her, and started walking to the outside jumping arena. it was huge! i saw what looked like rhia, and lizzy, and a few other girls i didn't know. rhia gave me a cold look. "okay class. today we are going to be doing showjumping practise, we will do a little height competition today. i'll continue to put up the jump, and if the horse knocks it, or refuses it, your out. but first, warm up in open order." after we warmed up for a while, we started doing a small vertical. everybody cleared it, of course. she put it up a few times but nobody was budging. "you guys are good. i'm gonna make it bigger and make it a spread." some people started knocking it. but me, rhia, lizzy, and another girl hasent. she kept raising it until it was taller than height of diamond. now it was only me and rhia. rhias massive horse took a try at it, but just knocked it. "ugh! dumb horse!! i'm telling you guys! he's better at cross country! there's no way this stupid, fat, ugly cob will do this jump! no way!!!" that hurt my self esteem. i was sure that he wouldent do it. maybe dressage was my thing.. i was about to give up when a voice appeared in my head. i remember what my father told me. "don't let anybody chose your path. do what you love, even if the path has obstacles, you will push through it and it will all be worth it in the end, my love."
we can do this. i gathered a decently fast strong canter and cantered up to the jump.. and then...
