Mounting up

Chapter 13

*Video of Eleanor's advanced jumping round*

My hands shook as I tightened the girth. Today was the first show day of nationals. Elle whinnied, causing the saddle to slide. "Elle! Not right now!" I yelled at her, scaring her. She took a side-steep and accidentally steeped on my foot. Shooting pain went up through my foot, "Damn you horse!" I said through clenched teeth. I tightened the girth finally and steeped back.

I glared at the saddle. It was back wards. "Oh my god." I said angrily as I switched the saddle around and tightened the girth again. Elle halted and gave me a death look with her brown eyes. I shook my head and dragged her out of her stall at the show grounds and lead her into the open sunlight. She grunted and tried to apologize to me. "Elle. Shut up." I commanded, jerking the reins to the  stadium jumping arena.

After warming up, I mounted Elle and waited patiently for my turn. The dinged and the announcer said into the loudspeaker "Entering the ring is #140, Eleanor Hastings on Purely Eleagance"

Elle took off into a rocky canter and I struggled to get her under controls. I heard boos from the crowd and Mr.Rossi pointed out from the fence that I had accidentally used my western riding boots with the spurs on them. Sighing, Elle and I headed for the first jump. We made it over, barely. We struggled to make it over the next few jumps.

We clipped a rail on the second to last jump and we also clipped a rail on the last jump. All in all, our round sucked. As I left the stadium, the loudspeaker crackled to life "final score for Eleanor Hastings is 49 seconds and 8 faults."

Mr.Rossi approached me, looking stern.  "Miss.Hastings. I put you on the senior varsity team because you are a good rider and never lost your cool, may I ask, what the hell were you doing out there?" He says, his voice cold and stern.

"I-I don't know... I'm sorry, Elle was getting on my nerves and I let it get the best of me, I'm sorry."  I stuttered, ashamed. "It's not like we can fix it now. I except to see better results next time." He said gruffly.

"Yes sir." I nod quickly and walk away slowly, confused at why he was mad. He never usually gets the competitive. Ah well. It's probably just national nerves. I shrug and walk into the stable. Elle was munching on some hay, oblivious to my problems. She gave me a look of contempt disgust, and I immediately hugged her neck. "I'm sorry baby doll. I was stressed. I'm really sorry." I cooed softly and she shook out her mane and nickered.

I smile slightly and wipe the sweat off her face. "At least we still have the advanced category to do good in." I whispered to her and myself as I re-did her braids. My fingers aching from being braiding for so long, I stand up and stretch 15 minutes later.

"Ready to go?" I asked gently, and snapped my helmet back on. With my game face on, we left the stable and we headed for the advanced show jumping arena. I mounted her and waited until the loudspeaker crackled to life "entering the ring is #140, Eleanor Hastings on Purely Elegance." She took off into a smooth trot as we entered the arena.

I checked myself. No Spurs, no nothing. She shook her head proudly and bolted into a smooth canter. She, well we bounded over jumps, going over every thing smoothly. Finally, the day was going our way. With a grin, I focused on the last jump. It was 5"5 feet and it was a tough one.

3, 2, 1. I gave Elle the cue to take off and we bounded over the jump. The loudspeaker came to life "final score for  Eleanor Hastings is 39 seconds and 0 faults." We trotted out of the ring, and this time Mr.Rossi came with a huge smile on his face. "Way to go champ." He patted my back proudly. Before my next class, I decided to go to the ribbons ceremony.

Meanwhile, as I was getting my intermediate show jumping ribbon, Meghan was busy destroying my bridle. Meghan cackled softly to herself as she snipped my bridle in half and and hung it back on the hook, in pieces. I grabbed the ribbon, said thanks and hurried back to the stable, where I found my bridle laying in tattered pieces , scattered around my stall. Instantly, anger began to infuriate me. Who did this?

As if I didn't realize it. This type of thing had Meghan's signature written all over it.

"MEGHAN!"