Watch Me

Chapter Five

"You did what?" Harley almost choked on her smoothie. She stared at Tara and repeated.

"I ran into Mindy. I'm going to get back at her by entering the Kingsley Classic at the end of the school year."

Harley raised her eyebrows. "That's only two months away."

Tara nodded. She was now determined to prove that she could be just as good, if not better than riders like Mindy. She sat down the night before and wrote out a training schedule to get herself and Jewel in shape. She set aside hours in each day to ride and exercise. She was determined.

Classes flew by and Tara rushed to her bus, briefly stopping to wave goodbye to Harley. The ride felt longer than usual. Tara sat there drumming her fingers on the seat in front of her. She watched out the window and waited. Finally, the bus came to her stop and she practically ran down the steps and down her driveway.

Jewel met her at the gate. She seemed ready to go herself, her head bobbing and muscles twitching. Tara grabbed the rope hanging on the post and draped it over Jewel's neck then walked her out to the barn and began cleaning her up. She tacked her up and then slipped into her mom's old tall boots. They were half a size too big, but they just had to do.

"We're working on gates and lead changes today." Tara spoke as she rode Jewel out to her new practice field. She let Jewel stretch her head out and waited until she lowered it. Once the mare lowered her head, Tara pulled slightly on the bit and brought Jewel's head up to vertical. Jewel responded quickly and kept walking happily.

After warming up, Tara asked for a trot and she spent a good thirty minutes working on getting her diagonals and sitting the trot. She then moved on to cantering. At first, Jewel didn't exactly understand what Tara was asking for, but she eventually got the hang of lead changes. She changed smoothly, occasionally hopping on her hind a bit. Tara praised Jewel for trying and decided to work on jumps for a while.

Tara's mom walked out and leaned on the fence. She watched Tara ride around and jump the logs and bales. She sat back and smiled. "How about we do a little course?"

Jewel slowed to a walk and stopped in front of Mrs. Douglas. "Start with the small log then the wall, around to the bales, up to the oxer, and end with the yellow flower cross rail."

"Uh, okay." Tara walked Jewel and ran the pattern through her mind before asking for a canter. Jewel bounded over the small log and turned sharply to the wall. Tara held her back so she could safely make the bale jump then gave her some rein for the small oxer. She made the turn for the cross rail too sharp, causing Jewel to jump sideways to miss the post. Tara sighed and patted her shoulder. She gave her a moment then went back to start the short combination again.

Jewel locked onto the jumps and tucked her legs tightly. She snorted happily when she completed the course perfectly and Tara praised her with many pats and rubs. They were making excellent progress and Tara could tell that Jewel was really enjoying herself. She liked to be in the air.

"That was good! Now try the oxer to the double log then fern bales and end with the water."

Tara looked at the course and turned back to her mom. "I have to go over the ground poles?"

Her mom nodded and said "It'll get you used to transitions."

The jumps were all fairly easy, but this course was tighter than the other. Jewel was capable of the sharp turns, but could she get the power for the jumps? Tara cantered and started the new combination, looking towards the next jump and guiding Jewel between the other jumps. She transitioned smoothly down to the trot, but Jewel missed her cue and had to hop over the bales, causing Tara to lose her seat slightly.

"Brush it off, go around again." Her mom walked along the edge of the course and watched with her hands on her hips. She adjusted her baseball cap to shield her eyes from the sun. Tara started the combo over and focused on getting the canter to trot to canter transition. Jewel still missed it, but Tara praised her for her attempts.

Her mom stopped Jewel and held her reins as Tara swung off. Tara loosened the girth and pushed her stirrups up, feeding the leathers through. She took the reins from her mom and walked with her back to the barn. They made small talk while Tara untacked and groomed Jewel.

"I want to enter her in the Kingsley Classic."

Mrs. Douglas' eyebrow shot up. "You know that's only..."

"Two months away, yes." Tara was constantly running that little piece of information through her mind. She worked at a sweaty spot on Jewel's side. "I think Jewel can do it."

"She will be at a terrible disadvantage." Her mom picked at a knot. "She has ten years on all of those horses and she's never been trained like those horses. She's also just a lot smaller. She's barely a horse."

Tara frowned and worked the brush around Jewel's legs. "She's catching on real quick, though." Jewel turned her head and listened to the conversation behind her. Her dark brown eyes watched Tara move quickly and her ears swiveled to capture their voices.

"Tara, I'm not saying you can't do it," Mrs. Douglas pulled Tara close to her, "but it would require a lot of work, effort, and time. It may be a bit too much for Jewel. She is as old as you are."

"I know." Tara leaned into her mom's arms. She looked at Jewel over her mom's shoulder and whispered "I know."