Jest was confused. Nadia was walking towards him holding a halter and lead rope but it was only 8 am. Riding started at 9 am, it wasn't time to gallop across the fields yet. Nadia greeted him with a kiss on the nose and a sensation of happiness and hope, the way she always did. She vaulted up onto his speckled back & walked him leisurely to the fence where she hopped off then tied him up to a piece of light blue bailing twine. Jest watched with curiosity as Nadia walked into the tack shed before emerging with a long whip. He snorted and tossed his head as if to say "What's this?" Nadia tapped it softly on his nose before letting it graze softly over his body so that he wouldn't be scared of it.
"Alright buddy," Nadia said to Jest boldly as she tightened his girth. "Today we do dressage." Jest turned around and nickered & Nadia laughed. "Yeah, I'm not too sure about it either." Nadia and Jest had figured out the basics of flatwork, flexion, collection and leg yields but that was it. They preferred to be free, not controlled by rules and steps. Nadia pulled her helmet over her head and clipped it around her chin before putting her foot in the stirrup and mounting onto the saddle. She walked Jest on a long rein out to the dressage arena, letting him stretch out his muscles & stay relaxed. After warming up with circles of walk, trot, and canter, Nadia opened up her phone and quickly skimmed over the test she would be riding at the competition to get the outline of it into her head. At first, she took Jest through the test all at once so they could both have it stuck in their minds before she broke it down into pieces to work on more specific things like transitions and extended trots. When Nadia was able to get Jest to stay collected in transitions from trot to canter & canter to trot, keep his head down while extending in the trot and remember the test she cooled him off before letting him graze in the paddock.
The rest of the day Nadia spent cleaning tack, ordering feed & dreaming of what was to come. She pretended that money wasn't an issue, she pretended she and Jest weren't inexperienced and she pretended that she wasn't scared.
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bravo, jest
General Fiction#1 IN HORSE LOVE 13.6.19 #6 IN TWEEN 13.6.19 MEDIUM LENGTH CHAPTERS Nadia and her horse Jest have grown up together ever since Nadia saved Jest from being put down when he was a foal. Over the years they have created an unbreakable bond & seem to...
