bravo, jest

♘ chapter 5

After Nadia had wiped her tears away and sat with Jest for an hour, she fed him & while he was eating, set up some show jumps in the back arena. She spaced out cavalettis on the left side of the arena & placed a 3 jump grid on the right side. The cavalettis were just high enough so that Jest had to pick his feet up & the grid ranged from 60-80cm. An hour later Nadia was cantering Jest around the arena, warming him up so that he didn't injure himself while jumping. She sat tall and deep in her saddle, gave her reins a firm but gentle half halt and slowed Jest to a steady walk, loosening the reins. She walked him up to the cavalettis and jumps, letting him observe them and learn that they weren't going to eat him. 

"Nadia!" a voice called.

Nadia turned around to see Blair by the fence. 

"Oh hey!" she exclaimed.

"Are you jumping today? Can I watch?" Blair asked excitedly.

Nadia laughed. "I don't know how it's gonna go, but if I fall you have to get it on camera."

"Oh stop it! You'll do great."

"Let's hope so."

With that thought in mind, Nadia shortened her rains and nudged Jest forward into a calm canter. She directed him in a straight line towards the cavalettis which were spaced to match his canter strides. As they approached them, Nadia half halted and sat deeper in her seat so that Jest knew something was coming up. Jest was uncertain but raised his knees up over the cavaletti and pricked his ears forward at the sight of a second one. Eager to please, he took a large leap over the next one, not leaving enough room to properly do the third one. Nadia laughed as Jest crow-hopped over the last cavaletti, springing her slightly out of the saddle. The next time they went over it, Nadia made sure to half hat & use her seat more in between the cavalettis so that Jest wouldn't spring over them. When she was satisfied with how they went over it, she slowed him to a walk and turned him in the direction of the grid. Jest was a good jumper and Nadia knew this because of his performance on the cross country course, but he rarely did showjumping so his strides, lines, and turns were all over the place. A grid was a good place to get both Jest and Nadia used to each other while showjumping. Once the pair were ready, Nadia cantered Jest in a circle before riding him in a straight line into the grid. The first element of the grid was a pole in the ground before the first jump that was placed there so that Jest would be able to space his strides out correctly. Jest didn't skip a beat & hopped right over it before proceeding to do the same for the jump after it. He picked his knees up perfectly before going over two more canter poles & jumping over a larger jump. Jest flicked his tail over the last jump before putting his head down and kicking his two hind legs up as if to say, "Look at what I just did!" Unseated, Nadia ended up on Jest's neck but quickly reseated herself & laughed. 

"Someone's happy!" she said, laughter edging her voice. "Just don't do it again please." Jest whickered in agreement. After doing the exercise 3 more times, Nadia put the jumps up so that the second one stood at 1.10m. They had jumped over this high in cross country, but not showjumping so Nadia began to feel nerves bubbling in her stomach, mixing with the smoothie she'd had for breakfast. She sat deep in her saddle, pushing all the worry into her heels that weighed down into the iron of her stirrups. Jest shook his head & she half halted, keeping him under control so that he didn't rush into the jumps the way he sometimes did during cross country. Over the first jump, Jest tucked his knees perfectly before lengthening his strides so he could maneuver himself over the poles. He was hesitant to go over the big jump that loomed closer to him & flicked his ears back to seek guidance from his rider. The click of a tongue and the slight nudge of a boot in his side gave him all he needed and he leaped over the blue and white poles.

"Good boy!" Nadia yelled as they landed, patting the inside of his neck that was covered in the sweat he had worked up in the unusual heat of the morning. Slowing down to a walk, Nadia decided to leave it at that for the day. She loosened her reins and slid her feet out of the stirrups before cooling Jest off. Blair hopped over the arena fence before running up beside them, making sure that Jest could see her approaching so that she didn't startle him. 

"Nadia you won't believe what I've just found out!" she exclaimed.

"Pigs can fly?" Nadia said sarcastically.

"Not quite yet," Blair said, shooting Nadia a look. "I was looking at the competitor list to see what numbers we were, I'm 12 and you're 15 by the way, and guess who's competing against us!"

Nadia groaned. "Really?"

Blair nodded with a grimace on her face. "Really. Stephanie's in our age group on a new horse that her Dad bought earlier this month. I researched & he's a real beauty. Deep chestnut, solid build & looks as though with the right rider he could go really far."

Nadia was barely listening at this point. All she could think of was those beady blue eyes and the straight blonde hair that had caused her so much pain during her teenage years. Just when she thought Stephanie was out of her life, she came back.