Deer Hill Riding Academy

Chapter 6

It's my second day at DHRA, and I've got to say, that bed was super comfy. I'm currently tacking up Cherry for a showjumping class. She seems excited, which isn't usually her demeanour, but I don't mind that much. I check my girth on the new saddle, which looks stunning with the pale yellow saddle pad I have.

"Everybody ready?" Our teacher, Mrs. Helen, calls out. Most of the kids in the stables say yes, including me. "Alright then, let's go."

I hop on Cherry and follow the class. Luckily for me, Clara is in most of my riding classes so I'll get to talk to her when I'm waiting for my turn.

"Okay, class, for showjumping we usually split up students into groups, so I've set up a 1m course. If you can't jump this high, we can always set the jumps down to 80cm, but it will place you in a lower group." Mrs. Helen says, pointing at the course. It doesn't have difficult or spooky jumps, just tall oxers and cross rails.

"First though, I'll need you all to warm up." She says, opening the gate into the arena.

...

After the warm up, she calls a couple of my classmates names to go in.

"Clara Husken!" Mrs. Helen calls out. I watch Clara with interest. Her horse, Spider, doesn't look as tall under her long-legged frame, which makes it look a lot easier.

Clara flies over the jumps easily on Spider, and I can see the bond between the two. After all, Spider had technically been raised by Clara and her family.

"Good, Clara. I'm sure that will get you into a high group." Mrs. Helen nods to Clara in approval. "Now, can I have Taya Windell?"

Taya enters the arena on her horse, a beautiful chestnut gelding with a blaze. She gets over the jumps pretty easily, but she clips the second-last oxer. After Taya finishes the course, she pats her horse and walks him out.

"Remember to be really careful with his strides, Taya." Mrs. Helen instructs her. "Now, can I have Max Windell?" She says. Max nudges the horse that Taya said was Wendigo into the arena.

As he sets off towards the first jump, he has a literal group of girls cheering him on. I have to admit, his riding is very in sync with his horse. Max and Wendigo clear the jumps without blinking an eye and as he trots out, I can see his smirk directed at another guy with a pissed expression.

"That was amazing, Max, you and Wendigo are definitely going places." If anything, that made the pissed dude even more pissed. He spits at Max as he walks out of the arena, resulting in Max ducking and laughing at him. What a jerk, provoking somebody like that.

"Lastly, can I have Elise Harvey?" I gulp with nervousness as I turn Cherry into the arena. She pushes herself forward with excitement and bounds over the jumps as I try to keep myself in rhythm with her. We end up clearing the whole course, and I hug her as we can walk out.

"Good girl, Cherry." I whisper to her.

"That was pretty good, Elise. Room for improvement, still, but more than I expected from you." Mrs. Helen says. I don't know whether that's a compliment or not...

...

It's 6:50pm, and Clara and I are checking our laptops for the results.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Elise, look!" Clara says, spitting out the water she was drinking. I glance over her shoulder and gasp.

Dear students,

Here are results for today.

Beginner group:

Molly Newton
Annabelle Hall
Jack Bell
Amelia West

Intermediate group:

Taya Windell
Olivia Hirst
Belle Greenhouse
Wyatt Mersey

Advanced group:

Max Windell
Clara Sun
Elise Harvey
Holly Todd

Thank you all for attending the tryouts, and I expect you all to accept your positions.

Best wishes, Mrs. Helen

Clara and I hug each other tight, and I can tell she's crying from the wetness on my shoulder.

"I can't believe I finally got in!" Clara cries, her face red and mouth curved into a grin.

"You deserve it! I'm so happy I got in with you too!" We continue hugging each other until we finally break apart.

"This is so good! We're in the top group for our year level!" Clara exclaims.

"I know right!"

"Girls, it's dinner time." I hear Taya say from outside the door. Clara wipes her eyes and we walk downstairs to the cafeteria.

I walk towards the table where we sat last night after I get my food, but Clara pulls me away.

"We have to sit with our group tonight so we know each other well." She tells me. I sigh, and follow her to a table near the window where Max and the girl whose name must be Holly are sitting. I can already tell Holly is mooning over Max even though I've just sat down.

"Hey guys, this is Elise." Clara introduces me. Holly looks at me, then returns to giggling about whatever Max had said before.

"Hey, Elise, I'm Max." Max says, paying not much attention to Holly.

"Nice to meet you." I reply.

We sit down and eat dinner until Clara and I finish, and then we wait for dessert to be handed out.

"So, do you guys just do showjumping?" I ask.

Max shakes his head. "No, I also do cross country and dressage, but showjumping is my favourite." Holly waits till he is finished to reply.

"Yeah, all I do is showjumping because I already get enough ribbons from it. I mean, I can't hog all the titles." She rolls her eyes at me. I cringe a bit, but force myself to smile.

"What're your horses called? Mine's Wendigo." Max says.

"Max, you should already know mine, babe. It's Princess." I try to hold in my gag.

"Mine's Spider." Clara says, nudging me to tell me to act normal.

"Oh, uh, mine is Cherry." I say. I think my cheeks are red from trying not to laugh.

"Such basic names. Seriously guys, you should get better names for them." Holly says. I don't have the heart to tell her that her mascara has rubbed off onto her eyebrows from all the eye rolling she's done.

We eat dessert, and then me and Clara leave quickly to go to bed as it's already 9:00pm and the teachers get angry if we don't go to sleep before 9:30pm.

Remember to vote and comment! Also, what do you guys think about Holly and Max?

Xoxo, Hannah