Summer with the Queen

Chapter 18

It was around 7:00am by the time I got out to the stable to get Locket ready for today, I had a million things to do before we left like; wash down Locket, brush him down, plait and dress him and make sure his hoofs were fine.

Dan had already started washing and brushing down Locket, all I had to do was plait, dress and check the hoofs.

I walked out the door with my riding uniform bag and walked over to the Ute to put the bag on the back seat.

 I was wearing my warm up gear which consisted of a dark grey pair of riding pants, long sleeve white skivvy and a dark blue rain vest with a simple pair of boots. My uniform consisted of cream coloured riding pants, knee high black riding boots, white long sleeved riding shirt and a long black blazer with a black helmet.

I spotted Dan walking towards the float when I walked over to him.

“Hey, how did you sleep last night?” I asked him.

He turned around to see who was talking to him before answering;

“I slept fine actually, the bed was rather comfy, or I was so tired that I fell asleep with no trouble” he said back sarcastically.

“That’s good to know; were there any troubles with Locket during the night?” I asked concerned.

“Nah nothing, everything was fine” he said casually.

“Phewf, I was worrying last night about him” I said trying not to look nervous.

“Ah I see the nerves are kicking in, don’t be nervous you are an awesome rider trust me” he said reassuring.

“Thanks, I best go plait Lockets tail and get him ready” I said walking away from Dan and walking towards the stable where Locket and all the other palace horses were.

 It didn’t take me long to do all the tasks before we left which was good timing for me.

We arrived at the Arena and gardens where the event was held in about 20 minutes, thanks to the less traffic on the road.

I got out of the car and went to sign in while Dan went and settled Locket into his stall for the day.

I reached the sign in tent and waited in line, it wasn’t long before it was my turn.

“Name and country please” the lady sitting behind the table said smiling.

“Uh Reagan Garnier from Australia” I said back to the lady who simply nodded and handed me my package for the event.

Inside the package was the event time, categories I was entered in, some energy bars which I would give to Dan because of my diabetes, and my riding number.

I walked out of the tent and headed towards the stalls. I walked into the stalls and saw Locket straight away since he was the only white and black horse here.

I gave Dan the trainer’s package which had similar things to my package, and headed towards the Ute to get my riding gear out of the back seat.

Placing my riding bag on the ground outside the stall, I asked Dan if he wanted to come for a look around before I started my warm up, he agreed and we were off walking around the event and working out where everything was for today.

We were near the entrance to the arena when my iphone buzzed in my pocket revealing a new text message from mum;

Hey sweetie, good luck today, we are here already and have our seats in the arena see you soon xx

I smiled and showed Dan the message before quickly typing back;

Thanks, when you say we, who does that include?