Cross Creek Equestrian Academy (Completed)

Chapter 18

Hello! I'm going to start making goals. I will set goals for reads/comments/votes and I will not publish another chapter until I reach that goal. 😁 Hoping that this will get my reads more consistent. As well as the fact that I'm planning on adding a bit more of a romance factor... hello! Who doesn't love a little romance?! I know I do, so without further ado, ready, set, read!   XOXO - Affinity💕
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I did actually give her time to back out. A week to be exact. I had already worked Taboo and explained that I had homework to do. A week went by, and I'm finally able to give Sarah the lesson.
"So you're the famous Blaire Grant, huh?" Sarah said with an edge to her voice.
"Yep!" I answered happily with a smile on my face, hoping to appear cheerful,"And you are?"
"I'm Sarah DeVeete. So you're going to show me how to ride?"
"Yeah, I guess I am," I turned to Dillian and grumbled,"I better be getting extra credit for this."
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We walked down the isles, halter in hand, and began the search for Bubba. He wasn't to hard to find, as he was the last stall in the first isle. I went into the stall and said hello to the giant beast of a horse, and quickly put the halter on. "Here, take the lead rope. Stay on the left side of the horse," I instructed Sarah as we walked down to the grooming area.
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When Bubba was all groomed and tacked up, I checked the girth and led Bubba to the mounting block. I held him while Sarah mounted. "It's your first ride, so we'll take it easy. Start at a walk and go around the whole pen, and then you will try to post at a walk."
"What the hell is posting?" Sarah said with a snotty tone of voice.
It was hard to believe that some people don't know what posting is. "It's standing and sitting while your horse is trotting," I answered her question with as much patience as I could muster,"The saying is 'Rise and fall to the leg on the wall' it's easy enough to remember."
When she had gotten all the way around one time, I asked her post,"Stand. Sit. Stand. Sit. Stand. Sit. Don't sit so hard. Imagine yourself as a feather when you go to sit back down. That's right. Much better. Stand. Sit. Stand. Sit. Ready to try it at a trot?"
"Is the trot fast?" She asked like a little child afraid of going too fast.
"Not really. It's only a little bit faster than the walk."
"Okay, I guess."
"Lean forward, tighten your reins, and use your core to push Bubba up into a trot. Not that far forward. You can tighten your reins a little bit more. Use your whole body. Hips, core, booty. Get him engaged. Okay, good! Stand. Sit. Wrong diagonal! Sit two beats!"
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Once she had figured out the posting trot, I had her walk to cool down. "That will be it for today. We can work again tomorrow if you'd like. Do you want to stick around and watch me jump my horse, Taboo? Maybe you can watch how I do it." I said, hoping she'd stay and take mental notes of how to ride.
"Yeah, I guess I'll stay," she responded quickly without hesitation.
"Alright. I will walk down to put Bubba up with you and then you can come with me to grab Taboo. Sound good?"
"Yeah."
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Taboo was tacked up and rearing to go. It had been a couple days since I had last worked Taboo. She was already jumping again like she'd never been hurt. Nothing too big, but she was back to 3 feet. Sarah was sitting on the deck. I mounted and quickly started the warmup. Walk, funeral walk, extended walk. Trot, jog, extended trot. Switch leads. Repeat. Jump cross rail.

After the warmup, I dismounted to put the cross rail up to 3'6". I was going to try pushing Taboo up today, and see how it went. It was a Sunday, so I was the only riding in the arena. Most students spent Sundays at the café, but I have avoided it like the plague since Jayce and I broke up there.

I hadn't set up a complicated course, and Taboo breezed through it like it wasn't even there. When we came to the 3'6" jump, I had to put in an extra amount of push to get her over, but she cleared it. We went through a couple more jumps and I threw in some counter-canters and other dressage moves. Taking two birds out with one stone. After I felt that Taboo had had enough, we cooled off by going through the trots and walks again.
"Nice ride," I heard a male voice say.
I looked up and saw Dillian standing on the deck where Sarah had once been.
"Thanks," I said. I could feel the heat coming to my face,"Where did Sarah go?"
"She left a while ago. Said she was bored and had stuff to do."
"Oh okay. So..."
"So."
A moment of silence while I lead Taboo to the gate and tied her up in the grooming area. "Blaire, do you happen to have anything to do tonight," Dillian burst out.
"I... I don't think I do."
"Do you want to go on a trail ride with me? We can take the lesson horses. I already cleared it with Rosen. I mean, as long as you want to," the words rushed out of his mouth like they were burning him when he held them in.
"I'd love to," I said with a small smile.
"Alright, meet here at 8?"
"Sounds good. I'll see ya then." I exited the barn, and when I looked back, I couldn't help but smile.
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There it is! Hope you guys liked it! My next goal is 420 (😏) reads and 50 votes. I think we can do it soon :) So get to it! Tell your friends, family, neighbors, classmates, horse, dog, goldfish's best friend's cousin's sister's father's brother's cat's aunt's mother-in-law's owner's best friend's friend, Joe! Haha - thanks babes 💕 XOXO - Affinity