His Second Chance

Chapter Four

TWO WEEKS LATER

"Tighten your reins, you know he tries to cut the corner if your reins are too loose."

I sighed with annoyance. This was my third lesson within a week with Buck, and for some reason, he hadn't been very good. He had been very tense and hadn't been responding to any of my requests. He had even tried to throw me off several times, which was very unlike him. I walked him up to Chloe and said," I don't know what's wrong with him, he's being so naughty."

She nodded as she looked up into his eyes. "When was the last time you took him out for a long run? I mean, a really long run? Made him work?"

"Quite a while ago," I replied," I take him out for walks every other day, but not for a run."

Chloe smiled slightly and said," I think he just needs to remember how to be a horse again. Go and wait by the trail into the woods while I get Fly. They could both let off some steam."

I raised an eyebrow, but did as I was told and walked him out of the school. He was excited, as we didn't often go through the woods; he knew it was a long trail where he could run.

It took Chloe minutes to bring Fly out in his old tack. He was just as jittery as Buck, as he hadn't had the chance to get out for fun for weeks since his last race. We didn't know how much longer Chloe would let him race professionally for, as he was ten years old, almost eleven, the usual age for racehorses to retire. But his love for running would never die.

Chloe kept him under control until she reached Buck and I at the edge of the trail. Surprisingly, the two stallions got on very well; they were best friends, and loved going out together. I turned to Chloe and asked," How far do you want to go?"

She grinned and said," As far as they will take us."

Before I could question, she leant forwards and tapped Fly into a fast canter. Buck followed quickly after them. Faster and faster we ran through the thickening woods, finally catching up to Chloe and Fly who were gaining speed quickly. I watched as she popped him over some fallen trees and old bracken jumps. Buck and I hadn't started jumping together yet, as he was still quite young and I was still quite new to horse riding, so I had accepted Chloe's offer at teaching him herself. For now, I was happy running through the woods after Fly. Of course, Buck wanted to follow his friend, but I wouldn't let him. Instead, I continued to let him run faster and faster until he was at a flat-out gallop. Of course, Fly was bigger, stronger and faster, so I didn't expect anything less.

After a while, I could feel Buck beginning to tire, so I called to Chloe to get her to slow down, but she didn't hear. I had no choice but to let Buck keep going. But as we continued, I realised what Chloe meant when she said Buck needed to learn to be a horse again. This was what he lived for; the wind in his mane, the thunder in his hooves and the pumping of his heart and muscles working in perfect sync.

After around ten minutes of all of this running, I saw Fly slowing in front of us. In response, I slowed Buck down, until we caught up to Fly and Chloe. We slowed both stallions down until they were at a comfortable walk. They were both sweating and panting heavily, but they were both happy as we continued to walk forwards. After a few moments of silence, I said," I've never been this far into the woods before, where does it lead out to?"

"You'll see."

I shook my head and tutted, but didn't question, as I knew I wouldn't get anything out of her.

This was a pretty part of the woods, coloured like a painters inks; a mixture of pinks, blues and greens dotted around the trail. It was rather picturesque and I was happy to ride through here forever, but like all things, the trail came to an end, and I presumed that we would turn here and go home, but no. Chloe continued up the trail that started to go up a hill.

"How much further are we going?" I asked.

"From what I remember, it shouldn't be that much further," she replied as she reached the top of the hill," Yep, just over there."

I joined her at the top and followed the direction of her gaze. I smiled slightly to myself as I looked down across several more hills and saw the sea, crashing up against a large sandy beach. The cove was protected by two headlands on either side, protecting it from anyone who didn't know it was there.

"How long have you known about this place?" I asked.

"Oh, a long time," she replied," We always used to come here for family picnics and stuff. No one knows about it. But come on, we're burning daylight. Let go!"

She pushed Fly into a canter down the gently sloping hill towards the beach. I followed with Buck all the way down to the sand, but Chloe didn't stop there. Fly galloped straight towards the water and threw himself into it up to his belly. With a laugh, Chloe removed his reins so he could stretch his neck in the water.

"I didn't realise he loved the water so much!" I called with a laugh.

"Come on!"

I grinned as I let Buck launch himself into the water after Fly. He knew instantly that he had made a mistake and quickly ran out again. I let myself slide off and followed Chloe's example by taking his reins off; he wouldn't run away. I joined Chloe and Fly in the water, and we laughed as we watched Buck gingerly trying to step into the water to join us. It was the middle of summer, so the water was warmer than normal, and rather refreshing. Fly certainly thought so as he splashed around like a young colt. I could see that Buck desperately wanted to join him, but his fear of the water overlooked his desire to be with his friend. He started calling for Fly, who ignored him at first, but like the rest of us, grew tired of his moaning and got out of the water.

"Hungry?" I turned to Chloe who was wringing the water out of her shirt.

"I could eat," I admitted, suddenly aware of the groaning of my empty stomach.

"The nearest beach is a half an hour ride, that way." She pointed to the left. "There's a nice fish and chip shop on the sea front if you want to go."

"But we haven't got any money," I pointed out.

"Nah, they owe me a favour or two, we can get it for free," she replied, and then with a shrug," If not, then I'll pay extra next week."

I nodded. "Fair enough. Will the boys make it though?"

"Course they will," she said," Between us we have a thoroughbred and mustang-cross, they're built for running long distances and walking all day. Besides, they should be working for a living."

"Fly does work for a living!" I cried as we mounted the horses.

"Buck doesn't!"

"That's not the point!"

"Then what is?"

I laughed. I couldn't win. We spent the best part of the afternoon wandering over to the next beach where we would stuff our faces with the fresh catch of the day wrapped in deep-fried batter and a side of chips. Of course the thing was drowned in ketchup. We left the horses waiting impatiently outside where they ended up knocking over the postbox and eating the flowers, giving us the signal to leave promptly. We ended up shoving all of our food into the takeaway boxes and eating them on the backs of the horses who were in charge of getting us home.

Of course, Chloe finished before I did and threw her rubbish in a nearby bin. I carried on slowly with Buck, still eating.

"How's he feeling?" she asked from behind.

I looked down at Buck. He was certainly tired; he had never walking this far in one day, but I could tell that he was enjoying himself.

"He may need to be stuck back together with duct tape tomorrow," I replied with a laugh, turning to look at Chloe.

But my expression quickly changed when I saw hers. Her face was paling, her eyes were wide and her mouth was hanging open.

"Chloe?" I halted Buck quickly.

"Oh my God, Amy, look up there, on the top of the cliff!" she cried.

I did as I was told and quickly turned to look at what had shocked my cousin. I gasped.