MSRA ↠ Back Again

24 ↠ xena

"Xena's a quiet little thing, but she does her job well," Anne explained. "If you like her, you can lease her. If not, we can try another horse. But ride her for a couple days and let me know what you thing."

I looked at the small dark bay morgan cross that Anne was holding. She was about 15.1 hands, and was small but stocky.

"Okay," I said. I was able to mount from the ground and adjusted my stirrups once I was settled. Anne and I stopped by a ring which had a few jumps set up in it and she allowed me to warm up. She had a smaller stride than I was used to, but a powerful jump that she used to easily soar over the obstacles.

"How does she feel?" Anne asked once I brought Xena to a stop near her.

"Honestly," I started. "Nothing special. But she'll do just fine for me."

"I think she'll be good for you to ride for a while, either until we know what's up with Moose or a more advanced horse comes around," Anne explained. "All right, lets head to class."

Cross country was interesting to say the least. Xena was on the slower side, but had rockets over jumps. Her little stride made her a lot more adjustable, but also threw me off a bit. Anne said we looked good, but it was hard adjusting to a horse that was so different from your own.

"Apparently this little horse is killer at dressage," I said as Noah walked with me to dressage. "We'll see."

"Are you liking her?" he asked as he patted her neck.

"I'm not sure yet," I said. "I mean, I'm super thankful Anne is letting me use her but she's just not what I'm used to."

"It's okay to not click with a horse," he explained. "Not every horse is perfect for everyone."

"Yeah, I guess," I agreed. I adjusted my weight in my stirrups and fixed my reins as I brought Xena down to a halt. "I just feel bad."

Dressage was amazing. Xena knew her stuff. Her shorter stride was a lot easier to sit, and her comfortably canter made life so much easier. My instructor was impressed with the little horse, and I have to say, I was too. But, dressage wasn't really my main focus - cross country was.

Show jumping also went a bit better than expected. She was easy to maneuver through the tight course but lacked the speed I was used to.

-

"How was she?" Anne asked as I entered the barn after show jumping. I think the look on my face told her everything. "Not impressed, huh?"

"She's so different from Moose," I explained. "She's cool and all, but there's nothing like riding your own horse, you know?"

"I get it," she nodded. "Let's hope for a speedy recovery for Moose, whatever his issue is. Oh, that reminds me. Doctor Sharon should have the results in the clinic by now."

"Oh, really? That's great. I'll head over right after I'm done with Xena."

"Go ahead now, I can take care of her."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "I can do it."

"No. Go check on your boy and make sure he's okay."

"Thank you, Anne. You're the best," I smiled at her before handing her the reins. I took my helmet off and put it away before heading off to the clinic.

So sorry for the short, crappy chapter!! Another one will be coming soon!