Horsewoman Book 1: Best Of Equitation

Chapter 17

After checking on Freedom, I went to tack up Misty for jumping. I entered the tack stall and took the gray-blue cover off of the Wintec saddle, which I slung over my arm. With a bridle draped over my shoulder, I stepped into the grey mare's stall and put the saddle over the door. I paused for a minute and scratched Misty's soft cheek.
"Busy day," I sighed tiredly. I took a granola bar out of my pocket and ate it quickly before saddling Misty. "Let's go get a win, okay?" I said to my horse and led her out of the stall. I mounted and started at a slow walk towards arena 8-B. When I made it into the line of horses, a familiar black Friesian head nosed my jodhpurs. I looked over my shoulder to see the one and only Jasmine, sitting in an easy position on Mina.
"Guess you're gonna have some hard competition, Jas!" I said. Jasmine, who didn't know I was there, jumped up in a quick post.
"Cris! I didn't know you were jumping Misty!"
"Yep," I replied. "It's her first year competing in jumping. How's Mina doing?"
Jas stroked the mare's neck lovingly with her gloved hand. "Great. I got a new saddle, do you like it?" She asked, gesturing to the shiny chestnut-colored saddle underneath her.
"I like it, but what happened to your favorite old Dover?" I asked. Jasmine was in love with her scuffed Dover saddle.
Jasmine's face fell. "Starry Night, the new Palomino, got out of her stall somehow and into the tack room, where she chewed up my saddle."
"Aww, that's sad!" Was all I got out before I was called into the ring. Misty seemed to sense what was going on, because her neck was arched proudly, and she pranced in place. The judge gave me signal to start, and Misty lunged forward. As she approached the first two-foot jump, I tightened stride, and we were up and over! I noticed she was off-stride for the three-foot bush jump, so I lengthened and again we soared over. I curved around a sharp turn and tackled the four-and-five foot jumps. Misty stumbled a bit on the five footer, but other than that she did amazing for her first jumping competition.
"Good girl," I said, patting her sweaty neck. Exhausted, Misty slowly walked over to the queue of competitors who had already jumped. Soon, Jas joined me, and we started chatting about the day. "Secretariat ll won expert jumping," exclaimed Jasmine. Secretariat ll was the Baines family's prize Thoroughbred gelding. He was a beautiful horse; bay with a jet-black mane, 19 hands. Secretariat ll was named after the great racehorse, Secretariat. I grinned. "Awesome!" "I thought of something fun we could do tonight," said Jas. "Oh?" "I was thinking we could have a sleepover in my barn! I've already invited Nicole, Melanie, Mariana, Amy, and Izzy. Can you come?" I checked my busy schedule in my head. "Yeah, of course! What time?" "Six," said Jas.
"I'll ask my mom," I said, "but I should be able to come. I haven't seen Izzy in forever! I thought she moved to Illinois!" "The move didn't work out," said Jas. "Luckily. Izzy's mom couldn't bear to part with the farm, so they never left. And Izzy just got her own colt, named Hawkeye. He's really cute! He's a grey with a star and two white socks and-" I cut her off. "Slow down, Jas! They're announcing the winners!" We happily trotted out of the arena, with our tie-second place ribbons clipped onto our horses' bridles.

After jumping, I unsaddled Misty. After a quick grooming with a dandy brush, I went to Sweetie's stall to get her ready for halter. When I approached her stall, I couldn't see her curious face peeking out over the door. I leaned over the bottom half of the door and gasped. Sweetie was there, lying down, rolling and nosing her stomach. I flung open the door and knelt down next to her. I wrapped my hand around her muzzle and grabbed her forelock with the other and gently pulled Sweetie to her feet. I led her out of the stall. With shaking fingers, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Dad's number. One ring, two rings, three rings... "Dad, please answer," I muttered. Finally, I heard a familiar voice. "Dad?" I asked. "Nope, this is Mom. What do you need?" "Sweetie's colicked. I need you here right now. Should I call the vet?" I asked.
"No," Mom answered, alarm in her voice. "Keep walking her down the aisle until I get there." With that, I hung up and started walking Sweetie slowly down the aisle. "Come on, Sweetums, you can do it," I whispered. Just then, Mom sprinted to us and knotted a rope around Sweetie's neck. She clucked gently and soon had Sweetie in a slow trot. After about a half an hour, Sweetie was back to her normal self. I breathed a sigh of relief. "You handled that like a champ," said Mom, nudging my shoulder. "Thanks." "You really are my horsewoman."

The End

AN: Hey everyone! Hope you enjoyed my story! Chapter one of Horsewoman Book 2: Summer Camp will be out in the next couple weeks, so stay tuned! Thanks to everybody who read and supported my book, it means a lot to me! I hope the next book will be just as good!

Siempre,

Miriam