The New Girl with History **Free Rein Fanfic**

"It's just you and me boy"

Ryder gave his horse a tap of his boot and the horse galloped forward. The dark bay took on the course and was ready to fight. He let out a loud snort and lowered his head. I could tell by the way his ears twitched at every sound and how energetic he was that Ryder's horse loved what he was doing. As they galloped towards the first jump which was a bounce jump in a sequence of three, Ryder slowed his horse from the gallop to a fast paced canter. After clearing the jumps in a great time, it was on to the downhill gallop. Downhill gallops were dangerous and only riders with a lot of trust in their horse could do it, one misstep from your horse and it could be dangerous. Ryder didn't slow down, he kept pushing his horse forward as they climbed down the hill and towards the lake. The horse gladly jumped into the water, his large body weight splashing water all over Ryder himself. They headed towards the large jump that sat in the water, one jumper had already fallen from this jump and if Ryder falls, Branwhick will most likely win. But I couldn't wish he fell as much as I wanted to, I wanted him to do the best he could. Ryder's stirrups were getting slipper. His boots were struggling to stay in the stirrups. I held my breath as he clung tight to the saddle making the biceps in his arms flare. 
"Looks like your boyfriend's about to fall" Grace snickered beside me. 
"He's not my boyfriend and he's a better rider then you think if you think he's about to fall" I snapped back turning my attention back to Ryder and his ride. Ryder stayed in the saddle and landed safely on the other side of the jump. He raced towards the finish line and cleared it with 47.8 seconds. The best ride of the day. 

The rest of Holloway did well, nobody came off their horse and they all rode well. Holloway took the lead and Grace was pushing us for perfection. 
"Make sure you beat your boyfriends time!" she ordered me. I rolled my eyes at her comment and mounted King. As we stood by the starting line, I looked back to my team, Grace stood there glaring at me and I took a deep breath. My only focus was on King. I leaned forward and rubbed his neck, he nickered at my gesture and let out a soft snort. 
"It's just you and me boy" I said softly. 
"Just breathe" I told myself. The horn blasted loudly and King took off in a gallop. I held on tight as he pushed with all his might to get to the jump sequence as fast as he could. As we began to get closer to the jump sequence I slowed him to a slower canter, I needed to turn his focus from the time to the jumps. He pushed off of the ground and soared over the first jump landing softly on the grass. 

'1' I told myself a small escaping my mouth. 

He launched over the next jump and without hearing a 'click'  of his perfectly oiled hooves on the pole, I released the small breath I had been holding. 

'2'  I whispered to myself. 

King snorted as he launched over the final jump. In less then a second we were on the other side galloping down the steep hill. 

'3'  I finally mumbled feeling my chest lighten knowing I was getting closer to the other side. 

The gallop downhill had me leaning back in the saddle, to make sure I wasn't hovering over King's neck. I braced myself to launch into the water. I pushed lightly on the stirrups making sure I didn't lose grip of the stirrups, refusing to give my feet a chance to slip and slide in the stirrups. King hit the water with a loud splash sending water all over me. I could feel the lake water covering from my jodhpurs to my face. I was drenched. The wind sent a chill down my spine as we galloped through the water, every step was making me colder. The water jump sat still on an awkward angle I hadn't realised before. King's splashes were making it harder to see and my saddle was beginning to get slippery. I turned King towards the jump, the jump sat on a 54 degree angle. We took a sharp turn and I felt King bite hard on the reins. 
"Sorry buddy" I whispered to him as I realised how hard I had pulled on the reins. King snorted in response and pulled himself over the jump. King's body began to tumble as we landed on the other side of the jump, there was a hole in the sand. I pushed my boots out of the stirrups knowing if I didn't King could simply drown me in the water if I landed on the bottom of him. King took a quick response and quickly regained his balance. With my feet dangling by his side, I clung tightly to the saddle. King galloped to the finish line, I clung to his neck as he galloped through the paddock, not giving a moments thought to his rider clinging to him like he was her life support. 
"Brooklyn Harris on King with a final time of 47.6 seconds taking the fastest time of the day" the announcer called. I slid off King's back and hurried to his face. I noticed his neck had white foam in blobs. I looked at King's eyes and I knew he was mad I had pulled at his mouth, I was mad I pulled at his mouth. 
"I'm so sorry" I whispered rubbing his neck avoiding the foam that was starting to cover my hand. 
"My turn" Grace chirped mounting her horse. 
"Grace wait!" I called to her catching her attention. 
"What?" she glared at me as if I had interrupted her whole ride. 
"There's a hole in the sand just after the water jump, it's really dangerous, be careful" I warned her. 
"Whatever" she mumbled giving her horse the signal to move forward. I began to lead King towards the stables to cool him down and care for him.

The stables were quiet, there was not a soul in sight apart from the horses that filled the aisles and the few stable hands. 

I quickly untacked King dumping his tack over the gate of his stall. I lead King to the wash bay on the other side of the stable leading him with one hand while carrying his sponge in the other hand. I heard the sound of running water coming from the wash bay and as I turned the corner I spotted Pin. He shared a glance with me before turning back to Elvis who carefully sponged down. I clipped King into the cross ties and dropped my sponge beside the wooden fence that sat between Elvis and King. I slowly turned the hose on, being careful not to spook King. I ran the water over his back following close behind with my hand making sure I soaked every hair. 
"You rode well" Pin stated breaking the silence between us. 
"Are we on speaking terms now?" I asked. 
"It's hard watching my best friend ride for another team" he shrugged. I began to run the sponge over King's body going from head to toe. 
"I'm sorry" I shrugged. 
"But I never seen you ride so well" he added. 
"If we win, I'm not going to internationals" I shrugged. 
"What?" he asked. 
I turned to face him letting the water run over King's back. 
"I don't enjoy it anymore" I shrugged. 
"That would be a once in a lifetime opportunity!" he exclaimed. 
"They can give it to someone who deserves it" I shrugged. 
"They're only going to win because of you!" he raised an eyebrow. 
"Olympics was your dream" he said shocked. 
"It still is" I shrugged. 
Pin and I dropped the conversation after that. After washing King down I lead him to his stall. I placed a light cotton rug on him. I placed his special ice boots on and I checked his water and feed were filled and I hurried out of the stall. I took one last look at King before I turned on my heel to leave the stable and watch the rest of the riders and I ran straight into Ryder. 
"Can I help you?" I asked raising an eyebrow at him. 
"Hi" he said quietly, almost a whisper. 
"Ryder? What's wrong?" I asked placing my hand on his arm. 
"My dad... he's here" he whispered, his eyes finally shifted from the floor to my eyes, his blue eyes were filled with tears. 

Oh Ryder...

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A/N

Hey guys! 

Let me know what you thought of this chapter! It hasn't been edited . A lot of you are asking who Brooklyn is going to end up with, I have an idea of how the book is going to go but it's a secret. You have to wait and see :) What do you think of Ryder and his dad, yes I'm making everyone's dads suck deal with it. I love you guys so much and I just wanted to tell you, thank you for all the support and love I'm receiving you guys melt my heart! I love talking to you guys, it makes my day it really does! I'll get started on the next chapter and stop writing stuff that half of you probably skip over! :P 

My favourite quote right now is: 

~You are enough just as you are~

I don't know about you guys but I forget this sometimes but writing and seeing how much you guys love my book kind of reminds me that I am. And I just wanted to remind you guys the same thing. 

Okay I'll leave you alone now. 

LOVE YOU XO