Stone Valley Equestrian Center: #1

Chapter 4: It's Only Noon

When I got to the barn, I walked straight into some drama. Nikki stood in the aisle, accusing Daisy of something.

"How could you have done that? Clearly, I didn't want you touching my bridle!" Nikki gestured to her shiny bridle, crop in hand.

Daisy, frizzy red hair up in a ponytail and wearing a loose tie-dye Stone Valley shirt, just shrugged and continued walking.

"Hey, Stella! Here's your jobs for today's shift," Daisy thrust a clipboard at me.

It had a laminated page with the same professional header as in my booklet. My name was typed at the top and a numerically ordered list read:

1. Hack Penny and go over the cavaletti (her profile is on her stall)

2. Take care of Penny

3. Organize yourself for tomorrow

Penny was a 16 hand Paso Fino mare with a rich, dark colored coat. She was 4 years old and training to be a dressage horse, though she needed some work, so therefore I was hacking her. She nudged me and blew warm air into my shirt.

I led her out to the mounting block 20 minutes later and found Daisy riding a dappled grey Arabian.

"Is this the arena we are supposed to ride in?" I called out to her.

"Yeah, we hack in the training arena," she responded, patting the horse. "This is Jewel, an off-the-track racer who we are training to be a jumper. I haven't really ridden her much, but I'm supposed to be hacking her, so whatever."

"Nice. She's cute. Where are the other people in our shift?"

"Lana is lunging a pony jumper in the round pen and Alex is checking over the cross country course," she called over her shoulder as she led Jewel into a working trot.

...

Penny was hard to ride, partly because she spooked at everything, and partly because I was already tired from my earlier lesson. After I took her over the cavaletti, I took a short trail that circled back to the barn to cool out, Daisy and Jewel behind me. I gave her a good hosing and groomed her well before giving her a peppermint out of my pocket. By 4:30, I was on my way to June's office to check in.

Raising my hand to knock on the door, it swung open and narrowly missed my eyeball. It seemed to be a thing at Stone Valley, opening the door before someone knocks so their fist flies through the open window. Wouldn't they want to avoid being punched?

"Miss Bronson?" June's voice woke me out of my thoughts as I stood in the doorframe.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, I just zoned out," I recovered from that mild episode of embarrassment.

"It's okay, dear. You must be tired! Come on in," she motioned for me to take a seat on the chair in front of her desk, closing the door behind us. "How was Penny?"

"She was pretty good, although she was quite spooky," I recalled.

"Yes, she tends to be that way. If you've already taken care of her, why don't you go and organize yourself for tomorrow?"

"Okay, thanks," I called over my shoulder.

...

I went to bed on a full stomach after some casserole for dinner. The next morning my alarm clock went off at 8:00 and I sat up straight in bed, trying to remember what day it was.