Blue Arrow Equestrian Centre: Book 1

Chapter 3

One word to describe BAEC: gorgeous. The large American style barn is modernised and shiny. Very, very shiny. The outside is painted white, with grey trim. The long aisle connects to one of (there are multiple) the indoor arenas, which is currently occupied by a few riders. To the left of the building is a large outdoor school, and another indoor beside that. On the right are several round yards and holding pens.

I gape at the beautiful sight around me.

"Like what you see?" A confident voice brings me back down to earth. In front of me stands a short woman, probably in her early thirties. Her blonde hair is pulled back in a ponytail, and her gum-boots are caked with mud and sawdust.

"Ah, you must be Eliza! We're the Morgan's, this is our daughter Belle," mum holds out her hand to shake, and Eliza takes it kindly. Her smile is warm, like honey.

Eliza's eyes travel down to me, and her smile widens. She's only a couple inches taller than me.

"Hi there Belle! I'm Eliza, I own this place, I'm also an instructor," Eliza's voice is welcoming, but also proud.

"Eliza? Should I feed Teddy as well?" A girl strides up behind Eliza. She has cocoa coloured skin, and a pair of adorable heart earrings in her ears. The girl's features are soft, and her smile is happy. In her gloved hand is a feed bucket.

Eliza spins around to face her.

"That would be awesome Harper! How about you take Belle here with you? In sure she would like a tour!" As if only just noticing me, Harper looks at me with surprise before grinning.

"Coming?" Harper calls as she walks past us. My parents squeeze my shoulders as if to say 'you'll be alright'. After a second of hesitation, I jog to catch up to the tall girl. 

We fall into step together, both silent. Harper is the first one to break that silence.

"My name's Harper. But I'm guessing you picked up on that!" Harper chuckles softly. Around us people are bustling about, tacking up, grooming, chatting, or just spending quality time with their horses.

"Oh...yeah. I'm Belle. I just moved here. Like literally. We got here yesterday," I ramble, but Harper looks at me with interest.

"That's cool! Where have you come from? How old are you? What type of rider are you? Do you have a horse?" I flick at that last question. Usually when I'm asked that question I talk about Madonna, but now I can't.

"Well, I've come from Pakenham, I'm thirteen years old, I don't really know what kind of rider I am, and...no. I do not have a horse," I answer all questions at once. Harper leads me out of the building and towards the paddocks.

Harper talks a bit about herself, and I learn that she is also 13, she competes grade 4, and she has an Arabian mare called Jigsaw.

"So...who's Teddy?" I ask. We walk past many horses. All of which are graving or sleeping.

"He's a new horse here! He got here last week, and he's so pretty! Not as pretty as my gorgeous girl Jigsaw, but still stunning," I start to imagine him, tall, sweet, very cute.

"Here he is!" Harper exclaims and guides me towards a paddock. Harper was very right. He is gorgeous. Teddy's coat is a dappled grey, with a spot of pink on his muzzle. Dark chocolate orbs stare at us, framed by a dark forelock.

"He's beautiful! What's his breed? How old?" I ask my new acquaintance excitedly. He stands at around 16.2hh, much bigger than Madonna.

"Well, I'm pretty sure he's mostly Thoroughbred but I think Eliza was talking about him having Percheron in him as well," Harper concludes, opening his gate.

Realising that the water bucket she's holding actually has food in it, I follow her in and walk towards the feed bucket on the ground.

Teddy spots us, and starts to walk over. He's only wearing a cotton rug without a neck, so I can see his coat well. It looks soft, like silk, and shiny, like metal. He stops at us, reaching his nose out towards me.

I hold out my hand, and Teddy sniffs it. Then I start to stroke his forehead, and he obviously enjoys it. Teddy leans into my touch when I start to scratch his ears.

I'm already in love.

~

Eliza corrects a riders position with her strong voice. I'm watching Harper's lesson, getting a taste of BAEC. So far I can already see Eliza's teaching approach working. My parents left a little while ago, saying that they'll pick me up whenever I'm ready.

The group moves into sitting trot, showing off their balance and impeccable seats. Harper trots gracefully on Jigsaw, the chestnut mare listening to her every command. They obviously have skill, I think, as I watch them bend around a corner.

"Canter between A and K" Eliza calls out. Harper prepares herself, sliding her outside lower leg slightly behind the girth, before executing a beautiful transition.

"Don't let her get to fast Harper!" Harper half halts and Jigsaw slows down a notch. A stride later, the mare is already speeding up again, but this time Harper cues her to slow down earlier and catches her before she loses control.

"Good, now prepare to trot, aaaaaand trot"

Eliza continues to give the group orders before asking them to cool down.

I glance in Harper's direction and smile. My new friend is looking at me already. She comes closer, and I hold my hand out as if it were a stop sign. Harper gives a soft tug on her reins and Jigsaw stops.

"You were awesome! Jigsaw works really well with you," I compliment Harper, telling the complete truth.

"Thanks! When I'm done, do you want to help me untack?" Harper's voice is low, so that she doesn't disturb Eliza and another rider's conversation.

"Sure" Harper moves off and continues cooling down. I'm so glad that I've met her, I never really had a friend back at my old stables. I was so shy when I first started riding there that everybody thought I was stuck up, and then Madison started to spread rumours about me. School wasn't much better. I had a few friends, but none were interested in horses, and they didn't think of me as a close friend.

My face scrunches up into a scowl at the thought of school, which I start tomorrow. It will be my first time changing schools before, since my old school was prep to year twelve. I hope I'm welcomed, the last thing I want is to be alone.

Hopefully Harper goes to my school. I feel like we're going to get along superbly.
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Hello! This is chapter 3, I hope you enjoyed, so far I've got a basic plot down, so please keep on reading so that I stay inspired to write! ❤️