Oak Valley Stables

Chapter six

Gale leaned over Vlad's stall door.
"Hi, Vladdy," She smiled. It was the class' first riding lesson. She was wearing her black and purple jodhpurs with her dark pink rugby shirt and short riding boots. She had her body protector and helmet on.
It was her third day at the school and she was beginning to get to know some of the other students. On the first day of school, she only knew Victoria and Jake but now she knew five other people. Of course, she'd met Jackson but she had also made friends with Triss, Ryan, Courtney and Hannah.
Triss McLeno was pretty girl, with long strawberry blonde hair and green eyes. She was tall but petite with pale skin. Triss was wacky but fun and seemed really nice. She had a 17 hand heigh Rocky Mountain horse named Irish Clover, or Clover; he had a black coat and a golden mane and tail. Triss owned him before she had come to Oak Valley and he was a great jumper.
Ryan Moora was from Portugal and owned his own horse too. He had thick curly brown hair, brown eyes and freckles covering his olive coloured skin. His horse was a iron grey Lusitano, who stood at 15.3 hands heigh. His name was Julio Estaban Rosa but Ryan just called him Estaban. He was excellent at dressage; Ryan's family all specialised in it.
Courtney Miller and Hannah Smith were best friends before they came to Oak Valley. Courtney had fair skin and was quite short. She had short black hair and lilac eyes. Hannah had tanned skin and was very tall. She had brown wavy hair, dark eyes and a beauty mark under her eye. Neither of them owned their own horses but they now had horses to look after, Courtney's new horse was a 15.2 hand heigh Norwegian Fjord. She had a Dun coat with black and white mane. Courtney had called her Chasing Stars, or Stars. Hannah's new horse was 16 hand heigh American Paint. She was a pale coloured skewbald. Hannah had called her Amazing Grace, or Gracie for short.

Gale finished tacking up Vlad and lead him into the yard. Jackson was outside, with Goldrush tied to the fence beside him. Victoria and Jake had already mounted their horses.
"Hey, I'll hold Vlad's reins while you get on," Jackson smiled.
"Thanks," Gale blushed. She put her foot in the stirrup and swung herself onto the saddle. She picked up her reins and sat up straight. Jackson untied Goldrush and got him ready to mount. He swung himself into his seat using the horn on his western saddle. Gale watched him with a smile. He was wearing jeans with leather chaps and a checked shirt. He had his cowboy hat sitting on his head, leather gloves and long boots.
"Follow me, class," Carol trotted past and the students all fell in behind her.
Once in the indoor arena, Carol got the class to stand in a horizontal line. Gale got Vlad to stand beside Victoria and Triss.
"Okay, class. To start off this term, I'd like us all to tell each other what discipline and what events we do best," Carol told the class. Gale wasn't really listening; She was too busy looking at Jackson. Triss leaned over and gave her a nudge when Carol wasn't looking.
"You love that Cowboy, don't you?" Triss smirked.
"He's not a Cowboy. His name is Jackson," Gale joked. Triss raised an eyebrow. "Okay, so he's Jackson the Cowboy," Gale corrected. They both laughed under their breath.
"That wasn't my question, Gale," Triss smiled.
"Okay, so... I might love him a little bit..." Gale fiddled with her reins, blushing.
"Okay, Victoria, you're up first!" Carol called.
"I ride English and I'm best at jumping," Victoria spoke, loudly.
"Jake?"
"I ride English and I'm best at racing," Jake replied.
"Triss?"
"I ride English too. I specialise in jumping," Triss answered.
"Courtney?"
"English and jumping, miss,"
"Ryan?"
"I ride English and compete in dressage shows,"
"Gale?"
"I ride English and jumping is my speciality,"
"Hannah?"
"English riding, mostly dressage,"
"Amber?"
"I only ride English but I'm the best at dressage,"
"Jackson?"
"I ride Western. I'm best at barrel racing," Jackson finished.
"Very good, class. We should all know each other better now," Carol looked at her watch. "We've still got sometime to show off our skills. Jackson, you can be up first, as you're the only barrel racer," 
Jackson nodded and kicked Goldrush on. The palomino walked into the centre of the arena. Carol had already set up two barrels. Jackson clicked his tongue and Goldrush broke into a canter. He kicked him into a gallop and they darted around the barrels, in a figure-of-8 pattern. Jackson slowed Goldrush into a trot and then a walk.
"Very good, Jackson!" Carol smiled "Now, we'll look at the racers!"

After a small race, which Jake won, Ryan, Hannah and Amber showed off their dressage skills. This was all a lot easier for the people who'd already owned their horses, as they had already trained them properly.
Next was jumping. Triss had been first, clearing the jump with flying colours. She'd made it look easy. It was only a two foot high jump.
Victoria had gone second. Shadow had hesitated, slightly, but had jumped over. Next up was Gale.
She gripped onto the reins and kicked on. From what she could tell, Vlad had never jumped before. On Dmitry, this would have been easy but she wasn't sure about Vlad.
She kicked him into a canter and headed for the jump. Vlad's canter was fast and his strides were long. As they reached the jump, Vlad flatten his ears and he sprung backwards. He throw front legs forward and reared up into the air. Gale leaned as far forward as she could and clung onto the reins. Vlad finally put his hooves back down onto the ground and dart to one side of the jump. Gale pulled the reins back and stopped him. She could hear Amber giggling.
"Don't worry, Gale. You've only just started riding him. He's never jumped before," Carol reassured her as she rode Vlad back over to Victoria and Triss.
"Better luck next time," Victoria told her friend.
"Yeah, he just needs some training, that's all," Triss added. Gale sighed. Great, another thing Amber will hold against her.