Riding: an obsession.

Chapter 5.

I wake up to thick moonlight shining through my big picture window. I groan as I sit up and glance at the time. 3:35am.

I click on my lamp and wander into the kitchen for a cool glass of water. I down it in 10 seconds and refill. I hop onto the counter and remember that we leave for the Houston Rodeo in less than 5 hours. "Ugh."

I slide my half asleep body off the counter top and mozy into my glowing room. As I walk in, I look at my ribbons from showing my old Shetland pony, Candy Kisses.

"Blue, red, white, yellow, pink, green..." I sigh. I have won at least one of every placing when I was younger.

I crawl back into bed. I let the warmth that I had left behind engulf me. Chandler rolled over in his sleep and wrapped his arms round me as I snuggled closer. I smiled as I turned off my light and quickly fell back to sleep.

~

The next morning, I walked into my bathroom to shower. I shiver in the coolness of the house as I twist the nozzle to the shower to 'hot'. I undress and slip into the thick steam and relax my muscles. I let the heat sink into my tired shoulders.

Sooner in than out, I turn off the steady flow of water and towel the majority of the water off my body and throw my hair into another towel. I glance at the bathroom clock above the closet and it reads 6:29.

"Perfect." I say out loud. Just enough time to be ready and leave at 7:00. With my hair still wet, I walk outside into the crisp morning air. What a perfect day... I think to myself. The birds are singing and the horses are grazing peacefully.

I grab my morning smoothie of kale, spinach, apples, and bananas and follow the path to the stables. I remember my conversation with Megan about the rodeo circuit. The circuit starts in Houston, goes to San Antonio, to Austin, to Waco, to San Angelo, to Fort Worth / Dallas area, to Lubbock. A Rodeo Queen is chosen by attending the most places on the route and achieving the most titles during that time. Rodeo Queen...could I fit that title? I thought to myself. I mean I guess so...if I'm a good enough rider and get in the top 3 in both my events, and make all the cities I could probably earn the crown.

As I reached the stable entrance, I slide open the giant doors and flick on the lights. The horses whinny at my arrival.

"Good morning babies!" I shout. I walk over and greet them both with a kiss. They know that food is on the way.

I open the feed room door and begin to fill the buckets. Both horses have their own color that also coordinates with their tack colors. Dixie is red, white, and blue, and Capriole is Camouflage.

I clip each bucket onto the hook in each stall and listen as they munch away happy as can be. I return to the feed room and grab the wheelbarrow. I gently place 4 flakes inside. 2 flakes each for each horse. When I arrive with the hay they nicker softly. Hungry, but patient.

As the sun peeks just above the horizon I jog back the the house to finish getting ready.

At 7:00 am I jump into my blue 2010 Chevy Silverado and back it up to the horse trailer. After I hook up, I load both horses load up the tack, feed and supplies, and turn around to see Chandler finally making his way to join me on the trip. I double check the locks and chains on the gate, escape door and the hitch to make sure everything is safe. I give Chandler the go ahead, and we jump in the truck to make it to Megan's on time.

Author's note.

Hey everyone! Even though I'm at work, I totally rocked it and focused on this chapter. 

I'm so glad I got chapter 5 out of the way. Now for the fun stuff!

Sierra, xoxo