Red Oak Academy Book One: Mount Up

Chapter Thirty Two

A few days later I hopped out of bed at seven. Rachel and I had made plans to go riding one last time before I left to head back to ROA. I slipped on a pair of teal breeches and a black Nike hoodie. Since the indoor was heated, I would be comfortable. I grabbed a banana from the counter along with a red Gatorade.

I scribbled a quick note to my mom before grabbing the car keys and heading out the door. I picked up Rachel on the way and we headed out to Maple Ridge.

"Are you scared of the revenge Shae promised you?" Rachel asked me.

I laughed, "No. She's all talk and no bite. I don't believe she'll do anything."

Rachel shook her head, "I don't know Ri, Shae has changed a lot since you left. She's much more active at school without you there to stick up for people."

I shrugged, "Either way, I'm not scared." The road changed from smooth paved roads to a bumpy dirt one as I turned onto the lane leading to Maple Ridge. I stopped in front of the barn and we hopped out. Rach dusted off her dove breeches and tucked her arms closer to her body.

"Let's get inside!" She exclaimed.

"I agree!" I shivered in the cold December air.

We hustled inside the barn where we welcomed the warm air meeting us inside the doors. We grabbed the same horses as before and had them tacked up in no time. I headed back to the tack room once more to grab a helmet and ran into Shae. She looked up from the saddle she was cleaning and glared at me.

I smiled, "Have any good pizza lately Shae?"

"Oh you just wait, I'll get you back for that," she swore.

"Mhm, 'kay," I replied. I pulled my phone from my waistband and set it in a locker with all my other stuff. Grabbing a black helmet off the wall, I left Shae behind, scrubbing the crap out of the saddle.

Rachel and I led our horses into the indoor where Matt was already cantering in circles. When he spotted us he stopped and came over to us. "How about after you guys warm up we do a few flatwork exercises then we can take the course," he pointed to a far corner of the arena where a fairly easy jump course was set up.

Rachel and I nodded in agreement as we all split off to do our own stuff. I walked Seagrass to the closest wall where I picked up a trot. After a few laps at this speed, I asked for the canter. Seagrass jumped forward, taking the bit in the process. I sat deep in the saddle and slowed him back down to a trot. A few strides later I asked again and this time he picked it up nicely.

I did some circles and serpentines and Seagrass did very well. Of course, he was nothing like Dandy but he was no average lesson horse either. After about thirty minutes, I decided to head to the center of the arena and do some bending. First, I put a little pressure on Seagrass's mouth with my right hand and in response he turned his head to the right.

When he did well with light pressure, I pulled a little harder. This time he started walking in a circle to try to take pressure off of his mouth. I kept my hand steady until he stopped walking then I let off on the pressure. After a few more times to the right, I repeated the process to the left.

I let Seagrass rest while I watched Matt and Rachel. You could tell they had both worked really hard since I left. Rachel sat to Ribbons smooth trot as Matt did leg yields with his mare. "Rach keep your hands low," I called out as she moved into a posting trot. She nodded and lowered her hands.

"Matt, tighten your lower leg, she isn't responding as well." He did and his mare instantly responded, rounding her neck and framing up nicely. After running through a few more exercises we all met in the middle of the arena.