Kinswood Academy: Jumping Princess

Chapter 15:

The twins may have looked identical, but their jumping styles weren't vastly different from each other.

When they had first arrived in a blue, rust coated trailer that afternoon, I was surprised to see Lacy was dressed in all white, except for her tall boots, gloves and helmet. It made her fair skin look even darker and her dark brown hair look raven coloured. 

Macy was dressed the opposite, in all black, which made her grey eyes pop out and her skin look lighter than Lacy's.

" Our parents say that wearing polar opposites is easier to tell us apart when riding " They had joked to Briggs and I.

I had been wondering why the horses they rode couldn't do that for their parents, but remained quiet about it, not wanting to chase them away by accident.

It was lucky I had kept my mouth shut, because as their horses came backing down the trailer, all eighteen hands of each, they were the exact same looking chestnut with no other markings, and both were also geldings.

Lacy's horse was named Raven-ironically, as his chestnut coat gleamed in the sunlight, the opposite of a black raven. He was a tall gelding, perfect for someone like Lacy and Macy, who were both very tall despite being only fourteen (Briggs had thought I was joking when I had told him before they arrived)

Macy's horse was called Dutch, as he was a dutch warmblood. Macy explained that she had been eating dutch chocolate when she had come across his ad online and considered it only right to name him so. He was also tall, maybe an inch taller than Raven, but it would probably have to be measured to be sure.

After showing the twins and their parents to their stalls, Briggs and I went to the outdoor arena to finish setting up the jumping course we had been working on before they arrived. It was a copy of the course that we would have to jump during the show and we tried to match every detail as best as we could.

When the girls emerged from the barn with Raven and Dutch tacked up, Briggs and I sat down on the bleachers with their parents, watching their warm up.

" We cannot thank you enough for this opportunity for the twins " Their mother whispered to us. She was obviously from Indian, as she wore the traditional clothing and spoke with a distinct accent.

I smiled at her, wondering if her husband, the twins dad, would speak up as well, but he remained quiet and stone faced as he watched the girls warm up.

I turned my attention back to the twins, I had my eyes on Lacy, while Briggs watched Macy.

Lacy and Raven worked in perfect sync. She was light in the saddle as she posted to his elegant trot. It almost seemed like they should've been in dressage instead of show jumping, but then I remembered some advice y dad had once told me.

' Every horse needs dressage. You walk before you run, and in a horses case, you flat before you jump. Dressage is more than just dancing horses, its flatwork '

The memory made me smile.

Briggs leaned over to me and our shoulders touched, making me blush, but he was still watching Macy so luckily he did notice.

" Macy is the polar opposite of Lacy, look "

I turned my gaze to Macy and saw that Briggs was right. Where Lacy was soft and elegant, Macy and Dutch moved with power and purpose. Dutch snorted as Macy circled him around a few jumps, he seemed very eager to get to the jumping part of the tryout.

" Tighten your core Macy! " I jumped as the twins father yelled out. " You look like a sack of potatoes up there! " 

I saw Macy look down before tightening her posture. Dutch shook his head when she did so, and the nice twenty meter circle he had been trotting in fell through.