Byrne Preparatory - Twists And Turns

Chapter Three

26 January, Friday

The morning sun was forcing its rays around the curtain. My eyes opened and I looked around. Not a dream. I thought. Groggily rolling out of my bed, I mumbled about how stupid waking up was. Glancing over at Paige I could see her slim figure rising and falling in sleep. Heading over to the closet I pulled out some beige riding pants to go with my white short sleeve polo and black riding boots. My helmet would still be in the bag I shoved by Angels stall. I went into the bathroom and had a shower, applying minimal makeup and doing my hair in a dutch braid. I walked out to find Paige fluffing up her pillows. I made my bed whilst Paige got changed. Her fashion sense was amazing. There were so many career paths for this girl! I thought. Today was skirt and tank top day, with some ankle boots and a cute hat to top it off.

"Ready?" She asked.

I nodded and we headed outside for the cafeteria. It was 8 in the morning and the campus was coming to life. Birds chirping, animals scurrying around. The quiet swish of trees made a lovely background noise. The cafeteria was still fairly quiet as we grabbed some fruit, yogurt and apple juice with sparkling water. Sitting down we chatted some small talk, trying to get to know each other better. After finishing our food we parted ways. I found my way to the stable and headed inside. I was heading for a B line to Angel, but all the horses and new, interesting things made me slightly distracted. Finally I made it to Angels stall.

"Hey girl," I said in a baby voice.

Angel looked up from her hay net, neighing a soft greeting. I pulled the stall gate open and came inside, wrapping my arms around Angels neck.

"I have to unpack my bags, but I'll be back to come ride with you," I said, my voice muffled in her mane.

Pulling away I squeezed back out of the stall. A tack trunk sat next to each stall with our names etched into them. In the main stables since most stables were outside, the stable had a tack room. Here we had a tack trunk and racks on the wall in front of your stall, in case you had more tack. Personally I kept my show tack inside the tack trunk to keep it cleaner. Outside my stall I have three bags, two with tack and one with horse gear. Taking out my show tack, travel gear and pasture gear I organised them into one side of my tack trunk. I folded all my blankets on the blanket rack and took my everyday work tack and put it on the racks as well. My grooming, washing and horse show products all fit into the other side of my tack trunk, nice and organised.

After lugging my tack to and fro my arms were exhausted. Grabbing my empty bags I headed to the stable locker room where I dumped my bags inside my locker. Inside my locker was the key to my tack trunk. I grabbed the gold key and hung it onto the key chain with my dorm key. The night before I have hung a small horse charm on it to make the key ring more personalized. After all of this was over I checked the time on my phone, 11. I remembered to put my phone on silent before tucking it away back into my pocket. Phone sounds could spook the horses, and that's dangerous. I walked slowly back to Angel, patting all the other horses for a second time around. I turned the corner and reached Angels stall. I wanted to take her out and do some training, or at least lunge her. On Sunday I had my riding test to place me into Beginner, Novice, Intermediate or Advanced. Tomorrow we had a riding team meeting to discuss how things worked around the stables. I headed out into the burning Sydney sun. Technically the school wasn't directly in Sydney, more the very outskirts of it. Far away from the city. My boots crunched on the stones as I walked towards the office. Knocking on the door I heard a faint come in so I entered.

"Hello, what can I do for you young lady?" Said an older looking man. He was short, but muscular. His hair was grey and he was clean shaven.

"Well Mr..."

"O'Riley, riding instructor,"

"Right, sorry. I was wondering if I could ride my horse in an arena, or maybe at least lunge her?" I asked.

I hated talking to people. Okay hate is a strong word, I just dislike social interactions. Introvert all the way!

"Ah, new girl. Let me see....Blaire Willows!" Mr O'Riley smiled up at me.

"That would be me!" I said.

"Right. Well unfortunately until I know your riding ability I cannot let you ride by yourself. Although I have heard very highly of you, safety regulations say otherwise. I can indeed give you permission to lunge though. Lunging lines are in with the grooms equipment,"

"Thank You," I blushed at the compliment.

I was slightly disappointed I wouldn't be riding.

"No problem, any other questions don't be afraid to ask me. I will see you in tomorrow's meeting," Mr O'Riley waved goodbye.

I waved and headed back outside, going straight to the stable hands corner. Right where Mr O'Riley told me, was the lunge line. I slung it over my shoulder and went back to Angel. Unhooking the lead rope I clipped it to her halter before leading her outside to the round pen. I switched over to the lunge rope, slinging the lead rope over the hook on the fence. Entering the arena, I extended the rope, allowing plenty of rope so Angel could have as much space as needed. I folded the lunge line into my left hand before signalling Angel to move around the ring in an anti clockwise rotation. After being cramped for so long in the trailer yesterday, she was more than ready to run wild. Knowing this I made sure she still knew I was in control, no matter what. After straining a little she finally listened to me and slowed to walk.  After having a few years of practice I no longer found myself getting dizzy when I lunged. We did a few circles before I clicked my tongue and said trot. At my command Angel broke into her smooth, steady trot. When I first rode Angel I had fallen in love with how easy her gaits were. They were easy to sit in, but posting was also a simple up down pattern which everyone who had ridden her had easily fallen into. For the next half an hour we transitioned from walk to trot to canter to walk before changing direction. I found beads of sweat form on my hair line and saw Angel become shorter in her strides as she got tired. I asked for her to halt and come in before rubbing her neck.

"Good girl, I'll have to find a carrot for you won't I!" I laughed as Angel nodded her head up and down, as if she could hear me.

I fell into a walk by her shoulder before changing back to her lead rope. I led her back to her stall, letting her cool down before putting her in. I returned the lunge line before heading to the locker room. Inside was a fridge full of horse treats, another cabinet for the non refrigerated treats. Finding a carrot I snapped it in two before heading back to Angel. I shoved one into her food bucket full of grain before feeding her the other half. As I said goodbye and left I could hear her shuffling her muzzle into the food, searching for the carrot.

***

My stomach grumbled as I stepped into the cafeteria line. I grabbed myself a salad to go before leaving to find a place to sit. Over by the dorms there was small gardens in between the two rows. I sat down at one of the picnic tables there and broke open into my salad. A foldable and reusable plastic fork was inside. As I ate my lunch I watched a few students pull bags as they moved in or came back to their dorms. I finished up my lunch at 1:30 and decided to head inside and see if Paige was there. To my surprise she was. On her desk was a two screen monitor. As I entered I heard a squeal of excitement. Looking up and seeing me she laughed.

"Sorry, my video just finished rendering. Do you want to see it?" She pointed to one of her computer monitors.

"Sure," I said, pulling up my desk chair.

I chucked the fork on my desk and the container in the bin on my way over. Paige clicked play and the room filled with music. It was then I realised Paige must be a vlogger. She was vlogging coming back to Byrne Prep. Her video style was cool and unique, showing cinematic and artsy shots along with the typical vlog style. When it finished I clapped.

"Amazing," I said.

"Thanks, I just started. I didn't want to bombard you so I didn't vlog you yesterday," She said.

I watched her type up her upload before heading back to my bed and looking at my horse filled Instagram feed.

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