Stone Creek Academy: Faith

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Beep! Beep! Beep! I reached over and turned off my alarm clock. It was show day! Immediately a surge of adrenaline rushed through me, and I sprang out of bed. Rushing to my closet, I picked up the show clothes I'd set out last night and pulled them on.

Halle, Lily, and Beth all emerged from their rooms at the same time as me. We were all dressed in our best show clothes, ready to put on a spectacle. Of course, we all wore hoodies and sweats on top to keep everything nice and clean, but other than that...

Nervous chatter brought the common room to life as we prepared breakfasts. Beth treated us all to some amazing smoothies, while Lily surprised us all with a box of Dunkin Donuts she had stashed in the refrigerator the night before. Breakfast didn't last long, of course. It was two o'clock in the morning, and we had to be down the road in an hour.

I quickly departed to my room, grabbing my backpack full of supplies, helmet, boots, and garment bag. Once I was sure I had everything, I left my room and started towards the stables.

The entire campus was alive with movement. Lights were on everywhere, students rushed past in all directions, and the sounds of horseshow preparation could be heard from anywhere. Keeping my focus on myself and my work, I made a beeline for Beau's stall and immediately stepped inside. Personally, I loved the commotion, and since I could see Beau wasn't awake enough to mind it, I kept him in his stall.

"Today's the day pretty boy," I whispered eagerly as I ran a brush over his seal brown coat. His braids were still in perfect condition, so I applied a thick layer of hairspray and left them alone. Even his tail wasn't stuffed with shavings, so I knew Beau had been kind enough to sleep standing up for me.

In what felt like five minutes, the grooms were calling for everyone to load up. I led Beau out, and followed Pablo to a four horse trailer. The other three spots were taken up by horses I recognized with a smile: Lily's hunter Phairymagick (Fairy), Halle's jumper Tinseltown (Tinny), and Beth's hunter Rock The Stage (Ritz).

Beau loaded without a fuss, and soon I was nestled in the back seat of the pickup which was driving our horses beside my friends.

----------------------------------

"We're there Regina!" I snapped awake as Beth shook my shoulder excitedly. We bounced into the parking lot, parked, and began unloading the horses. After sitting perfectly still during the entire three hour drive to the showgrounds, it felt good to stretch my legs.

Suddenly, Coach Mike arrived, and whisked us all into a single stable aisle which we would be using for the day. After settling the horses and listening to a brief overview of the day and class order, we were handed a schedule of which classes we would be competing in and told, quite sternly I should mention, to be ready and warmed up on time, or else!

I was riding at noon in a 1.20 meter jumper classic. Lily and Beth were riding in their classes in the morning, so I spent a couple hours helping and watching them. After they had ridden (Beth won and Lily brought home third), Halle and I treated them to a delicious (note use of sarcasm) food vendor lunch.

Once our lunch was over (we had it at about 10:30am), I had to go get Beau ready. The handsome gelding was waiting for me with a look on his face that clearly said, Where have you been all this time? I've been waiting for you for hours!

"Sorry buddy, but it's go time now!" I cheered eagerly as I got him ready in record time. Brandon was riding in a different class and so were all the other people I knew, so I was on my own.

Minutes later Beau and I were trotting around the warm up ring, and shortly after, cantering. He felt fantastic, and even better once we popped over a few warm up jumps.

"Ready?" Coach Mike asked, patting Beau's rump to send me into the ring. The announcer alerted the crowd to my identity as I trotted across the sand footing. Twelve jumps stood between me and victory. I was last in my class, so it was all riding on me.

"Let's go!" I cheered to Beau as we cantered strongly through the timers and over a green and white striped vertical. A hard right brought us to two navy blue ascending oxers one stride apart from each other. Beau soared over them confidently, and after that we bounded over a huge white Swedish oxer.

Next was racing over a water jump, then over two brown verticals set in a tricky bending line. We were making fantastic time. I collected Beau for a skinny vertical with a rolltop filler, then we jumped a stone wall. Three jumps left, a triple combination.

Up and over the first element we went, black poles flashing by beneath us. Two strides. My hands tracing the motion of the bit in a perfect out-of-hand release over the second element. One stride. Flying over a huge triple bar. Touchdown. We did it.

Cheers sprang forth from the crowd. No jump off was needed. I was the fastest and I was the only one clear. Leaning down, I hugged Beau tightly. Tears rolled down my cheeks. To my old self this would've been a small, pointless victory. But now, it meant so much more.

This moment marked true comeback. I couldn't thank Beau enough for teaching me to ride again. Six weeks ago, today had looked impossible. Six weeks ago I would never have dreamed of riding again. Six weeks ago I didn't have Beau. Or Brandon.

"Thank you!" I whispered to Beau's sweaty neck as we left the arena, a blue ribbon hanging from his bridle.