Three more days.
Hollen thought with a smile, securing her helmet over her long, auburn hair.
"Three more days..." She whispered into her horses neck, holding him in a tight hug.
Tryouts for the last spot on the Grandview Equestrian Team were just around the corner, and the nerves were beginning to get to her. Her trainer has been pushing her harder than usual, in attempt to get her prepared. Unlike her, Hollen's horse Alfie wasn't phased.
Sometimes Hollen wondered if it was all a dream. Qualifying for the team was shocking enough, and actually receiving a place didn't seem realistic. Up until two years ago, she hadn't even shown on any sort of circuit. Let alone team.
If it was all a dream, Hollen hoped that she'd never wake up.
"Five minutes!" Hollen's coach, Heather, called down the barn isle. Hollen bit her lip. She was (again) running late for today's lesson. Nervously, she scurried down the hall in search for Alfie's bridle.
"Yes!" She cried to herself, after finding her horse's tack, and jogging back to her stall.
"Late again?" Hollen's best friend Darcy, asked. Darcy stood beside her horse Peter Pan, a bay swedish warmblood, who she rode in the junior hunters. She wore a pair of navy Tailored Sportsmans, and a grey, long sleeved pullover with a while collar popping up from underneath. Lastly, her tall boots, gloves and her long blond hair tucked underneath her Samshield, with pearly accessories on her ears and neck. Hollen thought she looked like she stepped right out of a Dover catalogue.
"Shush." Hollen muttered, sliding the bit into the chestnut's mouth.
Hollen couldn't help but compare herself to Darcy. She wore a pair of grey Tailored Sportsmans, a black Tailored Sportman belt, and her favorite white long sleeve polo from lacoste. Underneath her Speed Air, her auburn hair hung in a long ponytail down her back. She didn't have any fancy collars or pearls anywhere, but thinking about how unreliable Alfie could be sometimes: she decided that might be for the best.
"Are we jumping today?" Hollen asked, sliding the reins through the martingale.
"Yup. In the grass outdoor. You forgot his boots." Darcy answered with amusement.
Hollen swore underneath her breath, and quickly began doing up the straps.
Alfie was her Eq horse. He was a huge chestnut german warmblood, with a head the size of Hollen. A large contrast to Hollen's petite frame. He had unusual white markings, on his legs, barrel and face. Alfie was fairly head strong, and needed a confident and experienced rider. Heather always rode him once or twice a week to keep him performing at his best.
If she was successful in snagging a spot on Grandview's famous show team, she planned on taking Alfie, and her hunter with her to New York to train. The mere thought of training with the famous Jackson Gray is enough to give her shivers.
"'Kay! I'm done! Let's go!" She announced, grabbing Alfie's reins and heading out the barn door.
Hollen and Darcy's coach, Heather, was setting up jumps in the outdoor when they arrived.
Hollen loved riding outside. The outdoor was huge, and surrounded by trees and grass. Behind it, stood the large grey barn, and fields of school horses.
The newly sprung spring ensured a warm sun, and a soft breeze for the riders. Shades of greens were beginning to pop up everywhere, and the horses were beginning to shed their winter coats.
There were normally four riders (including Hollen) in Hollen's Saturday lesson. Darcy and Peter Pan were an obvious pair. But there was also Abby and her horse, Jackpot, and Stella and her lease, Tigger. All four girls have been best friends since they could walk.
Hollen didn't like to think what might happen if she'd have to leave.
The girls hopped on to their horses and started the usual warm up. Alfie was being a saint. He was soft, smooth, and listening to her leg. Alfie was sometimes quite unreliable, and could be a complete ass if he didn't feel like working. Hollen worked harder on him than on any other horse.
She asked for a canter transition, and he bounced forward excitedly and into the contact. Rising up in the saddle, Hollen let him open his stride and stretch.
They did some warm up jumps, before Heather decided they were ready for the course.
"Today is all about control. If you don't have control you have nothing. So I hope you girls worked on your transitions, because you're gonna need them... And that means you too, Hollen."
The girls laughed when Hollen jokingly scowled at Heather.
Heather explained the exercise. It started with a long approach to a single, roll back to a five stride line-but with a walk transition in between-roll back to an oxer, hand gallop to a single, and then a halt.
The other girls had many difficulties with varying parts of the exercise. Darcy could only get Peter to trot in the line, and got a funny distance jumping out. Abby got a refusal in the second jump of the line, and Stella kept going to wide for the rollbacks, and couldn't get the halt on time. Hollen decided her weakest link in the coarse was the walk transition and the tight rollbacks.
She gathered her reins and asked for him to move forward. After circling, she angled Alfie to the first vertical. His ears shot forward and he started quickly gaining power.
"Easyyy." Hollen spoke under her breath, as they reached the take off spot for the jump. Alfie collected himself in the air while Hollen was already preparing for the roll back. They landed, and she was already blocking with the outside aids, planning for the tight roll back to the line. Jumping the first jump, she sat up tall and asked for the walk transition. Alfie responded to every cue swiftly and smoothly.
Hollen was grinning from ear-to-ear when the pair walked back to group after finishing the course. She had never been able to ride him like that, and felt more prepared than ever for the Grandview tryouts later that week.
.
.
Meanwhile, on the other side of North America, Jackson Gray was heading outside to teach his weekly show team lesson.
Jackson wouldn't particularly consider himself as "picky", so much as a "traditional" sort. He enjoyed a clean, neat look, his riders have learned to incorporate into their riding. He didn't like heavy or unnecessary tack, and preferred Thoroughbreds to Warmbloods. He liked people who got straight to the point and knew what they wanted. All of this meant, five years ago, when he met Violet Washington for the first time, he immediately liked her. She knew where she wanted to be, and she knew how to get there.
You could say Jackson Gray was effected the most by the turn of events. But, that wouldn't be entirely true. He saw himself in Violet, and taught her as rider, rather than as a student. He knew that she wouldn't stay in one place if it wouldn't affect her five year plan. When Jackson Gray recruited her to his elite team of riders, Violet had promised she wouldn't be staying long. And Jackson had agreed.
Other than Jackson and Violet, not many others had known about Ms. Washington's tight five year plan. Which means, the other team members all had they're own way of dealing with the loss.
Leo Midwinter, aboard his mighty stead "Mint" took to anger. Backlashing against Jackson's teachings and storming out of lessons, while Penelope Hill took to a more quieter version of dealing with it. Bently Fairchild tried to act strong for her team. She tried to be the glue that kept the team together, while Chandler Hightower never even bothered to show up.
I guess you could say they were the textbook definition of a mess.
