Rescued [[Nicola Philippaerts]] #wattys2017

Spruce Meadows: The EnCana Cup

[ N I C O L A ' S P O V ]

Everyone was devastated at the loss of Cherry. Me especially.

If only I hadn't have been so lazy, Chelsea wouldn't hate me and she would still be happy.

My dad lent her H&M Challenge to compete on in the Spruce Meadows: EnCana Cup and she said she was going to look out for a new horse online or something.

I stood there lost in my thoughts until my dad napped me out of it. Yeah. I had to work HARD to persuade him to let me compete.

"Nicola let's go. You're last to load up." Dad said. I snapped out of my daze and led H&M Harley to the horsebox and loaded him next to Challenge.

Dad wasn't competing this year because his knees were aching and also, he thought Chelsea needed a shot at a being given a title. I have one title that sums her up...

Bitch.

Yeah I felt guilty for making her put Cherry down but she should have, in all fairness, topped up his water before she lunged Alaska.

I climbed into the cab and guess what. I was stuck next to Chelsea. I thought about saying something but dad stopped me.
"Nicola. Don't even go there" he warned. I thought about it and decided to give her a break for the ride because A) she had her music on and B) She paid no attention to me whatsoever and if dad cancelled me out again, I'd go nuts.

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When we arrived at Spruce Meadows, people were already warming up for the 10:30am class which was the under 10's category.

Me, Chelsea and Jason were competing in the under 25's whilst dad and Olivier would be watching from the side-lines. I wish Olivier was competing instead of Chelsea but oh well. Shit happens.

I unloaded Harley and then Chelsea unloaded Challenge and finally, Jason unloaded Chilli. Me and Chelsea tied up on one side of the horsebox whilst Jason tied up on the other. We had hours until our competition so we decided to bath our horses until the time we had to mount up.

TIMESKIP

[ C H E L S E A ' S P O V ]

"Now entering the ring, contestant number 851: 18 year old Jason Mordishma riding a horse owned by the Philippaerts family, H&M Chilli Willi." Jason was up first followed by Nicola and finally by me. We watched as Jason jumped the course but his turns were too wide and he was half-halting constantly to slow Chilli down. Subsequently, he knocked two rails and had a time penalty for his fearfulness.

"Next, Number 852, please give a warm welcome to 21 year old, 2011 Longiens Global Champion, Nicola Philippaerts riding H&M Harley VD Bischop." The crowd erupted into applause and I watched as Nicola jumped the course in 52.4 seconds with no faults anywhere. The time allowed was 62 seconds. Jesus he's won it. I thought as I rode into the ring.

"Our final contestant for the 2017 Spruce Meadows: EnCana Cup Show Jumping competition is number 853, 17 year old Chelsea Acer. Ladies and Gentlemen, she is also our youngest ever contestant to compete and she is riding 4 times Olympic medallist Ludo Philippaerts horse, H&M Challenge." I looked at the course and as soon as the bell went, I nudged Challenge into a canter.

He flew around the course and jumped every jump without hesitation and choosing his own striding. I just sat there and told him where to go. He obviously wanted to beat Harley and Nicola so I let him take his own pace and didn't interfere with his mouth or striding.

As the final jump approached, Challenge upped the pace, jumped and practically galloped through the line. I dared not look at the clock but the crowd went absolutely nuts.