Timber Creek Academy

~21~

"Drop your heels Williams! And don't let the reins flop against his neck - this isn't Flappy Bird!" Mrs. Banks yelled at me. I cringed, then focused on shoving my heels down as far as they could stretch, while attempting to keep the reins steady as I posted the trot - without stirrups.

"Better! Keep it up," she said to my surprise, and a small smile slid up my face. Despite the aching and burning sensations in my calves and thighs, any praise from Mrs. Banks felt good.

The Timber Creek Advanced Equestrian team was in full out preparation mode. Our upcoming show was just around the corner - two weeks! It was the Saturday before Thanksgiving break. Although break was coming up quickly, it also meant us students had a total of 2 weeks to cram for end-of-quarter assessments.

I twinge of worry sparked in the midst of my thoughts. Civics. Man oh man was that assessment going to be hard. At least I won't have the pressure of either doing the clinic this winter or not depending on it, but I still had to do well so I could keep the B+ that I worked oh so hard to get.

Shake it off, I thought to myself. Now is not the time.

I had a show to prep for.

"Canter ladies!" Mrs. Banks called, her voice reverberating off of the indoor ring's walls. It was getting colder each week, and today was no exception. Ugh, I wish it was.

I shivered in my wool vest as I squeezed Leo into a canter, relief flushing through my legs, and allowed my legs to relax as I absorbed the motion with my seat.

"Don't let your legs flop Sabrina!" barked Mrs. Banks. I silently screamed, then pressed my tired legs back on to Leo's sides. "I know you girls are tired, but that's no excuse to be sloppy," Mrs. Banks disciplined. I caught Rachel's eye as she smirked at me, then proceeded on with clean equitation and a steady lower leg. Showoff, I thought.

"Take a break girls, and put your feet back in the stirrups as I set up a course of jumps," Mrs. Banks said, and I easily brought Leo down to a walk, and let gravity pull the stirrup irons back down where they belong, off of Leo's withers.

Leo had made a full recovery from his past injury, so I had no worries about the 2'9" - 3'0" course that Mrs. Banks set up. We were back, and better than ever! Also, this was the height that I was planning on showing Leo at at the show, so it would be good to practice.

"Rachel, you're up," Mrs. Banks said, and I saw Rachel's eyes flick over the straight forward course. Outside line, diagonal, outside line, diagonal. Not sure why we were doing such a simple course, but oh well.

Luna's steely gray legs popped against the turquoise polo wraps that clung to her legs. The pair headed to the first fence, and popped over it with ease that I envied. Although jumping a full course is easier said than done, Rachel and Luna made it look easier done than said. They were a competitive team.

They finished the course without a hitch, then Brooke and Colonel were up. As they cantered up to the first fence, I remembered her saying how she needed to work on show jumping.

By the end of the course, I did pick out a few things she needed to work on.

"You need to communicate with Colonel in between the lines. Don't let him decide whether to take the long spot or not, you tell him that. And focus on keeping him straighter to the fence," Mrs. Banks said. Those were two things I had picked out, too.

Brooke nodded, then brought Colonel back in line.

"Sabrina, you're turn," Mrs. Banks called, and I squeezed Leo's sides, and we took off at a trot. When we were a safe distance away from the group, I cued him to canter, and I set the pace, then pointed him at the first jump. I counted down the strides, and then lifted into 2 point. Leo bounded over the jump. Excited after the jump, Leo took 2 big strides, and I had to half halt him a bunch to get him back to the pace I set him at, and luckily, we fit a somewhat even 5 strides into that line.