I always do a long warm up, before training with Blaze or any other horse for that matter. I do it for two reasons. One, I want to make sure that she is not injured. So in the winter, I can easily spend 20-30 minutes warming up. First walk, where I do some different exercise to loosen up her muscles and try to see what kind of mood she is in, if it is windy she sometimes get really unfocused and if she is that I do a lot of different things too make her focus on what we are doing and not on the trees. I do the same thing in the trot, but if we are jumping that day, I like to trot some bars that are on the ground. In the gallop, I always try to work in a different kind of speed and the transition between a fast and slow gallop. I also work on her balance, since it is important in show jumping. When warming up I always have my rains a little bit longer, so she has a little more room to stretch her neck and warm up her muscles.
Since the weather is good today, though a little too warm in my opinion, I don't have to worry about her being too unfocused. So I start with my normal warm-up and when I am about to go into the trot Juan rides into the field. I wave at him quickly, getting a wave in return before giving Blaze signal to a trot.
Juan and I finish warm-ups at the same time. Juan doesn't warm up at long as I do and I don't blame him, more than one time people have told me that I warm up unnecessary long, I know that Blaze doesn't need that long of a warm-up, but I like to be on the safe side and since I really like to ride, it doesn't matter if I walk 10 minutes more than what people normally would do.
"It is good that the people before us put the jumps down after using them. I had totally forgotten to check them before going out." Juan stopped beside me, where I was assessing the jumps.
"The people before us didn't put the jumps down I did." I smiled at Juan, he really should know that I don't forget that. The first thing I do when I arrive at the barn is taking Blaze inside and then checking the jumps if I am going to use them that day. I always take Blaze inside first so she can cool down a little before we go out riding. I also make sure that she has time to drink some more water before heading out with her if it is very hot outside. Most of the time in the summer I try to ride in the afternoon where the temperature is a little lower, but if that is not possible I only do a light workout with her, before heading inside again.
"Of course, you adjusted the jumps. I really don't know how you always remember to do that, before you groom Blaze" Juan gave me a half laugh and a slight shake of his head, in disbelief.
"I remember because I know what I want to do before I go riding," I answered smiling at him. Juan's only answer is to send a funny face my way.
"How high do you plan to jump today?" Juan asked, now getting a little more serious.
"I was thinking about the 140," I said, thinking about what my trainer told me at our last lesson.
"I havejust started to jump 145, with my trainer, and I actually don't feel confident enoughto do it without him to supervise our jumps and stuff." I looked over at Juan with a shrug of my shoulder.
"well, if you don't feel confident doing it, you shouldn't. That only means that you are not fully ready to jump that high and it will only end up going wrong if you are not 100% sure about it." From somebody else that could appear condescending, but with Juan it didn't. Because one time he did jump higher than what he and his horse were ready for and he ended up getting injured. The horse, thank God, was alright and got away with only a few scratches. "Exactly." I smile back at him. "Now, let's get this show on the road, instead of talking"
"You and your smart mouth" Juan laughed. "But you are right, let's get to it."
I love jumping with Blaze. It gives me a feeling of flying, of being free. The intense teamwork you have to make work, before being able to jump probably. The trust you have to have in your horse. You have to believe that it will jump. But before you can trust that, you have to trust that your work before the jump was good. And when you are flying... When you can feel the horse under you when you can feel the work it put into the jump.
We jumped and did some different exercises for the next 45 minutes. And then decided to ride a walk in the forest, since the weather was nice and we had the time.
"So what time are you leaving on Sunday" We were walking slowly towards the forest. Since our horses were tired from the workout.
"Well, my plan is to leave around 11:30, I have to start at 14:00"
"How long is the drive," I said while we were making our way toward the road. We had to follow the road about 600 meters to get to the forest trail. There are fortunately not many cars on the road, as it is not a big road and there is a little trail, where we can ride so we don't have to be on the road.
"The drive is about 45 minutes if there is no queue," Juan said before stopping where we had to cross the road.
"That is not too bad," I saidwhile looking both ways before crossing the road first. When Juan and I rode outside the training field together I almost always rode first over to the forest, because Castor sometimes got really nervous if he was first. The trail was big enough for us to ride side by side, but then the horse towards the road got close to it, and there were some sharp turns, so the cars sometimes have trouble seeing us. So we always rode after each other. There have been some cars that drove really fast, so we put up signs to warn them that there could be horses out and they, therefore, should slow down.
"No, it is not, I have been further before"
"Me too, it really can get annoying if you have to go too far" I looked back at him while we were rounding the last turn before the forest trail would appear.
"me too" Juan smiled. "CALLA WATCH OUT" he suddenly screams. I quickly swing my head back around and see a car driving toward us with to much speed. An then it is like everything slows down. I pull in Blaze's rein to get her away from the car, but she was spooked by Juan's voice, so she doesn't react fast enough. The car is still going straight towards us and is just starting to slow down. Now only a few meters from us Blaze begin to rear and then it slams straight into us. I get thrown violently of her and into the ground so fast that I am not able to react with my hands and slam into the ground head first. Blacking out a little before hearing Juan's frantic voice yelling. I don't really understand what he is saying because my head hurts so much that I really can't think. The only words I can hear is hurry and accident. My vision is also wired. Everything is blurry and it is like the whole world is spinning.
I can slowly feel that I am losing consciousness since I have a hard time keeping my eyes open and I feel tired.
But even though everything hurts, the only thing I can think about is Blaze...
And that is also the last thought I have before I drift into the black oblivion. "I really hope Blaze is alright..."
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A/N
Another chapter, done :)
Today I found out that my book is number 8 on the rank for showjumping. I am so happy, I never thought that it would actually rank.
That my book is actually ranking really makes me want to write and update it. I am already halfway done with chapter four and have ideas for chapter five.
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To Be Flying Again (completed)
Random(not edited) Calla, who has a fierce passion for horses, gets in an accident and is hospitalized. When She wakes up she gets the news, that she lost her beloved horse. With her spirit broken at the loss of her best friend, the once happy and lively...
