Road To Victory

Irresponsiblity

Heey everybody. Thanks to everyone who reads my story. x'D I really appreciate you guys. (: 

I hate to say this and burst everyone's bubble, but this will be the last update for like .. 3 weeks. I'm leaving to a forgien country for vacation/family. So savor this. :P Read it sloowwllly. Really slowlllyy. 

Dedication is for my lovely Rebecca, aka iflyonangelswings. she finally has a wattpad. :D ♥ yeah. she's my editor. & best fraanndd. loove you becca bee. (:

______________________________________________________________________

“So, do you like him?” Rachel asked me, raising her eyebrows. I bit my lower lip, hoping I hadn’t made it obvious that Dynamite wasn’t exactly the horse of my dreams.

“Well, I guess,” I muttered. I had to cave in at some point and really tell someone how I felt about him.

“You don’t sound very convincing, Katherine,” she said, pressing on. 

“Okay Rachel, I don’t! He scares the heck out of me! He’s out of control! Everyone expects me to be so confident, Rachel. I almost kill myself jumping, and then Lauren goes out and gets me a horse like this!” At least she was getting the confession she wanted, even though it had gone into a full-fledged rant. “He’s a big confidence booster, isn’t he?!” I muttered sarcastically, angrily ripping his halter off the small black hook it was resting on.

“Well, I hope your ride goes well today,” she sighed, her face genuinely caring. I smiled, appreciating her effort to make me feel better.

Dynamite seemed in an extra crabby mood today, because it was a struggle to just get his halter on. He ducked his head; tossed his head – did anything he could to get away from it. Finally, however, I was leading him out into the cross-ties. I brushed him in circular motions all over his flank with a curry comb. It was probably the only part of the day he enjoyed apart from feed.

But the second I took the saddle out and placed it on the two pads I had placed previously over his withers, he went biserk; side-stepping and moving back.

Annoyed, I gripped his halter, pushing him forward and dropping the dark tobacco saddle on his back.  

“Can’t wait to see you bridle him,” Rachel commented from behind me, smirking. 

“Trust me – I’m not too excited about that either,” I sighed back, flipping the reins over his head. Dynamite’s eyes danced with a mischievous look. He really loved getting under my skin.

I slowly unclipped his halter, sliding it off. “I’m just going to bridle you,” I crooned gently holding his nose with my free arm.

Shoot, I thought. Maybe I should’ve left the halter and slid it down his neck!

It was too late now, because obviously my arm strength was no match against 1000 pounds of spirit and muscle. I desperately reached for the reins which were the only things that could help me keep him from bolting away.

“Whoa, boy!” I called, gripping his mane nervously.  He pranced in placed and turned his head, avoiding the bit at all costs.

“Rachel, hold him for me!” I yelled out, trying to wrap my hand around his nose again. Dynamite whinnied out again, tossing his head. Jeez, I muttered to myself. All this work just to bridle a stupid horse.

“Easy there,” a voice crooned comfortingly. I knew it was directed at the horse, but I relaxed as well. Someone took the bridle out of my hands, skillfully pulling it up on Dynamite in a matter of seconds. And of course, it had to be David. He adjusted the holes and tightened the noseband, offering me a small grin.

“I could’ve done that myself,” I snapped harshly, pulling the reins back over Dynamite’s head and into my gloved hands. “I just needed someone to hold him.”

With that, I clucked to Dynamite, marching away with him. The chestnut gelding finally compromised, accepting defeat with tacking up. But riding was just going to be round two.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'

“Lauren said she’ll be down in like 20 minutes. She wants you to warm him up yourself and try jumping him around while she fills out some papers,” Rachel informed me, taking a seat in the skybox.

I shifted uncomfortably in the seat of my saddle, stroking Dynamite. I hoped it would calm him down and get him used to my touch. So far, his head was lowered and he looked very docile, but then again we were only walking. After a few more laps around the large outdoor arena, I had mustered up enough courage to trot him. Squeezing with my calves around his side I winced at what would come next. But to my relief, he easily broke into a working trot. His head was lowered and accepting the fact that I was the dominating teammate here. Dynamite quickly got on the bit and I changed direction. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all. Or maybe his ground manners were horrible, but everything else was fine.

“That’s your 5th lap, Kat,” Rachel called, sounding almost impatient from her seat. I eased Dynamite back into a walk and looked at her. “Your point is?”

She shrugged and looked down at her boots, kicking the wood that the skybox was made out of.

I licked my lips and decided that made I should try to canter him. Bringing him into a corner, I brought my leg back and squeezed gently. Before I could even make any vocal commands, Dynamite was cantering away, charging towards a jump.

Immediately I shifted my weight, partially throwing myself off balance, but it helped him avoid the jump that I was in no mood to go over. Dynamite whinnied loudly, giving a quick buck as he ran forward in an extended canter. I circled him tightly, but that only brought him down to a slightly smaller canter.

“You wanna play like that?” I hissed, pulling back on the reins. He bucked again, but my legs were wrapped around him tightly. I could give this horse a taste of his own medicine! I kicked him, sending him flying forward.

“Slow down, Katherine!” Rachel called worriedly, looking out at us.  “You’re going too fast!”

I sharply turned him to the right, his neck bending in an almost unnatural position. I felt him fight the bit, but my leg reinforced him and he leaped over the jump I had been directing him too. Once again, I turned him sharply, making him whinny. It was probably out in pain, but I was thinking irrationally and decided he was trying to fight me back.

I kicked him forward and he was in a full galloped, thundering over the tall jump.

“How do you like this?” I snickered to him, suddenly pulling back on the reins. He came to a sliding stop, breathing heavily. But I wasn’t letting him off the hook. Oh no. Not yet.

I kicked him twice, and he responded by breaking into another canter. I pointed him towards a jump that was right to our side, but he went over it when I harshly opened the rein. We were now galloping on the rail, occasionally going over jumps. He bucked at each one.

“KATHERINE COLLENS,” an angry voice boomed as I was jarring back on the reins again while Dynamite fought me and went forward.

My gelding stopped at the voice, moving the bit in his mouth as his breath came out in quick, ragged snorts.

I was watching a very angry Lauren stride over to me. “Get off. Now.”

Her voice was deathly serious and I hopped off, crossing my arms. “Never, in my 30 something years of teaching, have I seen someone ride a horse so irresponsibly. And especially coming from you, Katherine! How can I let you show now, after seeing that?!”

“I hate him Lauren, can’t you tell? I’ve never been so intimidated by a horse!” I cried out in my defense, tears swelling in my eyes and blurring my vision.

Lauren was saying something back to me, but I had blocked her out. I stared at Dynamite, hatred flaring in my eyes.

“I don’t want anything to do with him, Lauren,” I said, wiping a few tears from my eyes as they choked my words. “Please understand.”

She sighed and looked at him, rubbing her temple. “I-I’ll work something out.”