Blue Spring's Riding Academy---Starting New

The Ghost of Our Pasts

Blair's POV.

I sighed, walking into the dorm. Did I really want to do this? My biggest and most hidden secret. And yet, here I was, about to tell this old competition my biggest mistake. It's one thing if you mess up a little bit, but costing the life of my best friend.............that's something on a completely different level. God I shouldn't have pushed her that day.

I snapped out of my thoughts when we got back to our dorm room. I unlocked the door and pushed it open. Walking in, I saw Olivia and Jonah cuddled up on the couch watching The Office. Both of them turned to look at us as we walked in. Jonah's body immediately went into "protective little brother" mode. Olivia just had a sly look on her face. I don't know what was making Jonah so stand off-ish at Payton. I looked at him and mouthed "I'm telling him." Jonah's eyes flashed with worry, but I sent him a smile, grabbed Payton's hand and bolted down the hallway to my room. I opened the door and walked inside, letting go of Payton's hand.

"Take a seat." I said, gesturing to my room. I didn't wait and see where he sat. Instead, I walked into my equestrian closet and grabbed my most important picture. I ran my finger down the side and smiled sadly. "I'm so sorry baby girl. It's time I tell someone who would remember you." I whispered to the painting. I turned around and walked out. Holding the frame in my hand, I took a seat on my bed. Payton hadn't really moved, so he came and sat down across from me on the bed. I looked up at him.

"Payton. Do you remember the horse who's show name was Ghost of Our Past?" I asked. "Yeah, I remember Ghost. The 2 time champion of the Advanced JR Nationals. I don't think anyone has forgotten her or her rider yet." He said. "Patyon," I sighed "Ghost was my horse. I was her rider and won both of those JR titles for my stable, me and Ghost." I looked at him and took another breath.

"The day I lost her, it was completely my fault. Ghost and I were in the barn practicing after I had gotten into a fight with my parents because of my "poor" performance the day before at a show. My trainer and I both knew what would happen if I didn't practice and perform better at the next show. I knew Ghost needed a day off to rest but my parents forced me to go and practice that day." I paused and showed him the photo I took of Ghost in the field. "Ghost and I were jumping, when one of the neighbors dogs ran into the outdoor arena. She ran right past Ghost and she spooked. I tried correcting her back to the jump and we got over it and also knocked 2 rails down. I immediately dismounted and checked her for heat. She seemed fine but I walked her around just to be sure. Turned out she had a limp and I called my instructor over to check it out. Ghost tried to break our fall with her right front leg, but she instead fractured her cannon bone. We put Ghost back into her stall and called the vet. They came as soon as they could but Ghost couldn't stand up after a little bit. I was wrapped in Jonah's arms, sobbing as they tried to get Ghost to stand up and walk so they could see how bad it was. I ended up having to put her out of her misery by euthanizing her." I took a shaky breath and looked up at him, knowing there were tears going down my face.

"Ghost didn't have much of a chance coming back from that serious of an injury. My parents pretty much told me that it was all my fault for the following weeks. I prayed that I would figure out how to please them, so I asked and they told me that I would be riding in the next show and if I got first place, they would forgive me for such a stupid mistake. Like it was my fault anyways." I let out a shaky laugh. "They put me on one of their horses and forced me to ride that day. I actually dropped out of the show because of the pressure. I ended up screaming at my parents that night and ran out to Ghost's stall. She wasn't there but it was my safe place. I sat in that stall for hours, crying and wishing for my horse to come back." I brought my hand up to wipe away the tears.

"My parents decided to ship me off to a ranch down in Tennessee to find a new horse. One that they promised would be a million times better than Ghost. I knew they were lying. No horse could've been better than Ghost. Turns out I was wrong. It was at this ranch that I met Titan. A survivor of a local barn fire. The second I spotted him I was mesmerized by him. One of the barn hands was free jumping him and he had an insane scope. He was jumping with almost no effort and was clearing the 2 meter (6 feet) high jumps with at least 2 feet under him. I was pushed into the house to find my room. There were other people there and that's where I met Sabrina. Sabrina wanted Titan almost as much as I did, but when she asked to ride him and they let her, she was clearly not a match for him. Apparently, all the horses she's ever ridden were push buttons. (For those of you who don't know what that means, it's a horse who does everything without a command and you're just there for the ride.) Sabrina had no idea what she was doing. She just sat there, and then queued him into a walk, then a trot. When she asked for a trot, he threw a little buck, but she stayed on. He threw her off when she asked for a canter though." I smiled at the memory.