Red Oak Academy Book One: Mount Up

~Chapter Nine~

My legs shook as I pulled myself into my saddle at 5:15 Monday morning. Mr. Jones had emailed us and told us our first practice was in the morning at 5:30 AM.

It was my first lesson with the advanced team and I was really nervous. I started warming up around the outside, weaving in and out of jumps. A few minutes later, Raelynn walked in. I glanced at her and she gave me a quick smile before starting to warm up. One by one, everyone started filing in and warming up.

Mr. Jones strode into the center of the ring at exactly 5:30. He was wearing a Navy polo with the school's emblem on the heart in silver, the school's colors and he was carrying a clipboard. We lined up in front of him silently.

"Okay," he started,"Since today is your first lesson, we will be doing something a little more fun than we would usually be doing."

We perked up and he continued,"We will be going in pairs over the two sets of jumps." We looked at the jumps set up in the arena and ,sure enough, there were two lines of identical jumps side by side.

"I will be pairing you up and you and your partner will have to try to stay together and go the same pace. This will teach you to pace yourself accordingly and it is pretty fun. I want you to remember your equitation: eyes up, heels down, shoulders back. Are you ready to start?"

We nodded and he consulted his clipboard,"Okay then the first pair going will be Raelynn and Cody."

"Lucky!" I mouthed to Raelynn. She smiled then focused on the course.

She and Cody looked at each other to figure out when to go. They paused like that for a few seconds before Raelynn said,"Okay, I'll count down from three then we'll go."

Cody nodded and Raelynn started counting down,"Three. Two. One. Go!"

They both went into collected canters and headed toward the first of the four jumps. They focused on finding the right pace and Cody crept in front of Raelynn and Blitz but Raelynn fixed her pace before they went over the jump.

They were so focused on the next jump that they each forgot to stay with the other. Raelynn cleared the jump a half stride before Cody and Kitkat. When they landed, Cody caught back up and they continued onto the third jump together.

They took off and landed in synchronization. They went over the final jump at the same time and made their way back to the group.

"Good job for your first time. On that second jump you got a little spaced but you did a great job of fixing it. There were a few equitation things but we will work on that in the future so overall, great job," Mr. Jones praised them.

He looked at his clipboard again,"Okay, next will be Regina and Rilee."

What!?! I couldn't be stuck with Regina! She would make me look bad on purpose!

Regina just smirked and headed toward the course at a canter. I quickly regained my composure and sped after her. I slowed Dandy when I reached even with her. We went toward the first jump and cleared it.

When we landed, Regina slowed her horse just a bit so if you were watching you wouldn't be able to tell. I tried slowing Dandy to keep with her but he took the bit and continued at the pace we were going before, leaving Regina a stride behind when we cleared the jump.

Then she sped up and inched a foot ahead of Dandy and I. I let the reins out a touch and let Dandy reach even. However, right before the jump, Regina slowed drastically and I tried to stay with her but Dandy had a different idea.

He lept and I was thrown back. I stayed on but it was by far not a pretty sight. On the other side of the jump I regained my balance, paid no attention to Regina, and cleared the final jump. I rode back to the group with tears in the back of my eyes.