With The Labels

Chapter Twenty Five

Chapter Twenty Five

Today, on this chilly October Saturday morning, I will be witnessing Blake's first ever ride on an English horse. And if I am lucky I might even get him to jump. Our deal was that since I rode western a few weeks ago he will ride English.

Walking around the arena, Blake guides trusty Mellow and I am on Penny. There are a couple of jumps set up, ranging from cross rails to towering oxers, and I plan to con Blake into jumping while I take Penny over a few things. She has had the past couple of weeks off to just be a horse and it was time to get into work for the fall.

In November Honeycomb will be hosting its 8th annual horse show and I plan to enter it with Penny. It is a big step up for me. I haven't done any showing since dad died. I really missed showing and this one would be good to test the waters again. If all goes well there, maybe Penny and I can enter a few other shows. The Honeycomb Horse Show was completely casual and unrecognized. It had a bunch of different classes, both for western and English, and I was entered in the 4' jumpers with Penny. It was the biggest jumping class they offered and will definitely draw the largest crowd.

Even Blake was entered in the reining class with his horse, Night. I was surprised when I found this out since he said that he gave up showing after Bentley died, but apparently he has competed in the show ever since it started. It is his annual tradition and the only glimpse into his past life he allows himself to take.

"Alright, Blake, take a deep breath. You are as stiff as a board." I walk on an inside track to him, making laps around the arena.

He takes a deep breath and his body loosens a little. "Sorry." He mumbles.

I laugh at him, "Don't be so nervous. It is like you have never been on a horse before!"

He glares at me from under his cowboy hat. Even in English tack he couldn't ditch his western hat and boots. "I don't like this one bit."

I chose to ignore his comment, squeezing Penny into a trot. Posting easily to her smooth stride, Blake is falling behind. "Come on!" I shout back to him, "Just like western. Squeeze Mellow into a trot, but instead of sitting, you post. I have seen you do it before, just not in this type of tack." Eventually Mellow is trotting and Blake guides her around the arena. The longer he rides her the more relaxed he gets. They make circles around the jumps and change direction. For a cowboy, Blake fits right into the English riding style, minus his hat and boots. But hey, one step closer.

As Blake rides, I work Penny hard until froth forms under her saddle pad and in the corners of her mouth. The sun pokes out from behind the clouds and it actually is pretty warm outside. We practice our transitions through all three gaits as I work her over some trot and canter poles. Blake slows Mellow to a walk after a couple minutes of trotting and watches me and Penny. In the corner of the arena I swing my outside leg back, asking for right lead canter. Sitting deeply to her rocking horse canter, we leap over a small two foot vertical both directions as our warm up fence. She takes the jumps with ease, ready for more. I look around the arena at a combination. The first jump in the combination is a four foot vertical three strides to a four and a half foot spread oxer. The jumps are big and the combination is tricking and it is definitely the hardest fences we would have tried in years, but I was ready and so was she. It is finally time to really start working again and get back into the swing of things. Penny is hungry for the jumps.

Taking a deep breath and settling myself in the saddle, I point my horse at the first jump in the combination. Ears pricked forward and my legs secured tightly around Penny's sides, the huge fence is only strides away. Counting down in my head, I soften the reins two strides out. One stride out I suck in my breath. Penny flys over the jump, snapping her knees with inches to spare. I make sure to maintain my perfect equitation as she lands on the other side. But it wasn't time to cheer so quickly because there was still one more even bigger jump in the combination. On the landing side of the vertical I sit back in the saddle and use my driving legs to get right up to the base of the oxer. She needed to take off perfectly or either of us could get seriously injured. With jumps this big there was no room for error. Over the oxer I squeeze my eyes shut and I am pretty sure Penny does the same, however there was no reason to even be nervous. Penny was so game and launched over the oxer. Mid air I could hear Blake cheering from the other end of the arena. One of the coolest feelings has to be when you are soaring over jumps because for a split second it truly feels like you are flying. I never got that feeling when jumping the smaller fences but when I moved up it always felt like that. When we land I can't help but laugh. I tear my hand off the rein and give Penny a big pat. Sides heaving, I slow her down to a walk and loosen her girth several wholes.

"That was insane!" Blake says excitedly, trotting over to my side. He reaches over and pats Penny on the neck.

"Thanks!" I grin at him, "We are finally, after several months out of it, back in the swing of things and I couldn't be happier."

"I can't wait to see you guys in the Honeycomb Horse Show next month. You will win, for sure. Maybe even the whole show!" Each division at the show has a champion and reserve champion. The champion of that certain division, whether it is dressage or jumpers, gets a ribbon and a few prizes. However, the judges crown a champion of the entire show. That overall champion gets a huge trophy and prize money. The prize money is determined by how much money they get from entries, and this year they had a ton of people enter. Because of this the prize money is worth $10,000.

"I wish I could win the whole show." I daydream a scenario where I won and got to take home that prize money. With that money I would finally be able to purchase my own car. Maybe a nice used Ford F150. Something not too expensive but still nice. However, no matter how much I wanted to win it would be damn near impossible. Over 200 people entered in over ten classes and competition would be stiff, even at a small unrecognized show. I might be one of the best show jumpers there but there were many other good riders with better chances at winning than I had. I would like to win but that is not why I was going to the show. I was going there to kickstart my show career for the first time since dad died. Not to win but the learn how to be happy again.