Kingston University for the Gifted

Chapter 6: Sinking In

I yawn and drop the reins, stretching my arms above my head. Since Kiera's not here, I don't have to worry about perfect riding right now. I can just... be.

"Hey, any idea where this path goes?" Opal asks, trotting Timbuktu up beside Prim.

I smile and shake my head. "No clue."

We decided to go on a trail ride after breakfast today. It's Sunday, so there's no classes or training today.

Bucky shakes his muscled black head and dances away from a bird's nest in the bushes. Opal turns him around and lets him investigate, while I hold my prancing mare in place. As it turns out, both of our secondary mounts are skittish on the trail when traveling at any speed slower than a gallop, which is not so great for eventing.

"I wonder how long it's going to take to get them used to this," Opal says. She looks tiny and delicate on a Friesian, even one as small as Bucky.

I shrug and sit a playful buck from Prim. "Not sure. Sol's just fine on trails. In fact, he'll keep going all day."

"Mm," she sighs happily. "At least we're not training. I could use a break."

"Me too." I nod enthusiastically. "Kiera's already caught me sleeping in Sol's stall. I was just so exhausted..."

Opal giggles. "You slept..."

"Uh huh."

She shakes her head, smiling. "It's all right. I'm lucky that I can follow dressage instructions in my sleep; otherwise I'd be dead by now."

"They keep telling us that we'll get used to it. It's been three weeks already," I complain. "I'm not as tired as I was the first full day, but that's not saying much." I point Prim down a path that I hope leads back to campus.

Opal nods sympathetically. "So," she says, changing the subject. "We haven't had the chance to really talk for a while. How are your horses?"

"The best I've ever ridden!" I grin. "I don't know how I'll be able to stand holiday breaks riding boarders' horses back home. Sol's nothing like the stallions I've ridden before. He's calm and intelligent." I give her a smirk. "I think I got the best primary, for sure."

She narrows her eyes, a smile dancing on the corners of her lips. "Is that so? I think Whisper's taken that prize. I couldn't ask for a better partner. And Bucky? He gets better every time I ride him."

I nod. "I know what you mean. Riding Prim is so much different from riding Sol. Prim's so inexperienced compared to him, yet she's still a better horse than any I've ridden before. She's so... mischievous, though. Sometimes I have to stop my self from cracking up in front of the rest of the team."

Opal looks at me questionably. "Mischievous?"

I hold back a laugh. "For example, on Thursday, I was giving her a hose down outside, in the station at the end of the row. Justin was hosing down Doc next to me, and he had all of these fancy shampoos and cleaning tools in a satchel."

"Why am I not surprised," she comments.

"He put it down and went to fetch something. I tied a quick-release knot to keep Prim in the station and jogged down to the tack room to get a scraper. I came back and Prim had gotten loose and was trotting away with the satchel hanging from her teeth, with poor Doc whinnying after her."

Opal starts laughing. "I'll bet Justin was pissed."

"Livid."

I stop Prim and wait for her to stop Bucky. There's a field with a practice cross country course between the end of the trail and the stable yard.