Race With the Wind

Chapter 35

I throw my head high as I enter the first jump of the course. Sarah has brought me out to showjump. She sits light in the saddle. She keeps a short rein but a soft hand. I canter into the jump. 1.20cm. Big enough. I speed up a few strides before the jump and I take the leap. Sarah leans forward as I jump. She sits secure in the saddle already looking at the next jump. I look at the next jump too as we land. Sarah gathers me up again. She takes me to the next jump. It's a huge spread. The jumps are spread 60cm apart. Sarah keeps me collected. I canter into it and I speed up. I jump high and long. I clear the jump. Sarah uses her weight and legs to turn me. We approach to the next jump. It is a combination. We canter into the three jumps. We jump the single upright and take two strides. We then jump the spread and when we land, we took one stride and take off. We clear the single upright and canter away from the combination. Sarah scratches my shoulder. We turn to the next jump which is a water jump. Sarah sits in the saddle and gallops me into the jump. I take off. I stretch my legs as far as I could. I clear the water jump with centimetres to spare. Sarah collects me again. She seems calmer than now. She has a soft finger as we approach the last jump. A triple bar. It stands at its highest. 1:30cm. I canter down to it. Sarah lets me look at it. I speed up as I approach. I get closer and closer. Sarah prepares for takeoff when we reach the last stride. I takeoff. I tuck my legs as far up as I could. Sarah gives me rein as jump. She leans lightly on my neck as we jump. I jump over the jump. I jump with great power, tucking in my legs. We land with a thud and Sarah slows me down to a trot. She pats me and pets me. I breathe heavily. The past week of training was intense. The big race is coming up. Sarah and Leona are going to Galway to a horse market. Leona wants to see what horses they could rescue. They are heading off tomorrow. I get a day off. Sarah's riding has now become much better. She is calm and confident. She galloped me around the gallop every morning. The beautiful morning sky. Pink, purple and blue. The bright sun in the sky rising. The cold, wet mist feels nice when I'm galloping. It cools me down. Sarah gives me a long rein as we walk around the arena. It feels different to jump than gallop. ''That was a brilliant round. Her muscle really developed and her jumping skills. I think you should take her in''. Leona says smiling. Sarah nods her head and walks me out of the arena. She washes me off and she dries me off with straw. She sticks a rug on me and I'm put out into the field. I graze with Sam and Glic. The two of them seem to be really close. I have a feeling Sammy got his chance to impress Glic by doing something good or ridiculously stupid. I laugh to myself. He can be a dope sometimes though. The other day, we were galloping around the field and it ended up like dominos. Of course, Sammy being a show off, he was galloping in front of us all and he just had to fall face first. We all came down with him! We all got up laughing our heads off. Sammy walks off embarrassed. Glic though sticks with him. She told him it was quite funny when we all cane down him. He had a grin on his face for the rest of the day. It's fun to have a laugh with all your friends.

Sarah's P.O.V
''Get up!''. I say to Leona while kicking her. She groans and then roles off of the bed. We really hate sharing a bed. Amanda is still using the spare bedroom. I walk around to Leona who is wrapped up underneath the warm covers of the duvet. I give her another kick to annoy her. ''Yo! You getting a horse today or not!''. I say laughing. I crouch down to tickle her foot then she ends up kicking me across the room. Jesus! She should start football with a kick like that. I land with a thud. I get up leaving Leona who is still on the ground sleeping with a smirk on her face. I walk out of the room and into the kitchen. I flick the switch of the kettle and make a pancake batter. I make a tower of pancakes and set the table with maple syrup, nutella and fried bacon bits. I pour Leona a cup of peppermint tea and myself a coffee. I take a deep breath. ''Get up or I will eat all the pancakes!''. I shout. I hear thudding on the wooden stairs. Leona races through the door and shouts,'' Noooo!''. She sits down and digs into the pancakes. I sit down and I have my pancake with fried bacon and maple syrup. I'm very odd but I have a sweet taste. Leona's pancakes are almost drowning in a sea of maple syrup. She also has a VERY sweet taste. ''I'm not surprised you got up''. I laugh. Leona takes a bite of her pancake and answers, ''I'm hungry''. I finish my pancakes and coffee and I head to my room to get changed.

We are in the horse carrier. I drive and Leona is reading the newspaper. I see the front of the article. It is Miranda. ''What's Miranda doing?''. I ask. ''She's just bragging about her 'Super Mare'. I hate that child. She better not insult you in this article''. Leona says. I stop the truck at a traffic light. I pull up the brakes. I grab the paper. Miranda says every jockey is going to take Scooter and I down. Scooter doesn't have high odds. My shoulder is 'injured'. She also says that The Sky Princess is definitely going to win. I feel rage rise in me. I give the paper back to Leona. A guy is beeping behind me. The traffic is green. I pull down the brake but stay in the same place. I smile. Leona looks at me like she's going to murder me. I wait for the lights to turn orange. I do so and drive on slowly. The guy behind us is still honking his horn. The light turns red and he has to stop. I laugh my head off as I honk the horn back. ''I have a horn too buddy!''. I shout. Leona almost murdered me. She punished me. She was now to drive while I sit laughing my head off. I love driving. Lets hope we come home with a horse today.