Jump Off (Show Jumping Dreams ~ Book 22)

by Claire Svendsen

  She held out her hand and Arion licked it. I wanted to pull his face away but I didn’t. This was all working out wrong. Four was the horse that was going to be sold and the one I’d be willing to give to Frankie. I couldn’t give her Arion. That would be like giving away Bluebird. We’d already been through so much together and after rescuing him, I just knew that I was his forever person.

  “Four is the one who is looking for a new home,” I said gently.

  She glared at my other gray horse who was trying to eat his purple ribbon through the bars of his stall.

  “Good luck,” she said. “Who would want a horse like that?”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I was trying to be nice to Frankie. Thinking of giving her one of my horses but the more I got to know her, the less I liked her and I certainly wasn’t about to give a mean and ungrateful girl any horse of mine.

  “Well I have to warm up,” I said.

  I rode off, leaving her behind. I didn’t even ask if she wanted to come and watch me. In fact I was hoping that she wouldn’t just like last time but I caught her out of the corner of my eye, trailing behind us. She was talking to my father. Pointing at Arion and he was nodding his head. If he was telling her that my horse was for sale, he’d have another thing coming because Arion was most certainly not for sale and definitely not to Frankie.

  I didn’t even wait for my father, I just rode into the ring and started warming up. After Four, Arion was a perfect gentleman. He’d been to a few shows now and he knew the ropes. He didn’t freak out when a horse dumped off its rider and came galloping past us or when trainers yelled at their students. And he was better at his flatwork here than he was at home, working in a frame and moving off my leg. When Dad finally got us a turn at the vertical in the middle of the ring, my horse cantered willingly over it and then came to a stop quietly and calmly.

  “Nice,” Dad called out. “Again.”

  He raised the fence up a little and we cantered over it again. I was patting Arion’s neck, telling him what a good boy he was when I saw Frankie leaning on the fence with a dreamy look on her face. She was falling for my horse, only she was falling for the wrong one.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Arion’s class was being held in the same ring that Four’s was. It was basically the same course of jumps only they’d been raised up a little and they added a double and a few bending lines. I went in feeling pretty confident. Arion knew what he was doing and unlike Four he actually liked to jump. I didn’t rush him because he liked to get quick if I let him. I just stayed relaxed and calm and I didn’t think about anything except the next jump and the one after that.

  We went clean and I patted his neck as we circled and waited for the bell to signal that we could start our jump off round. I almost didn’t want to do it. I knew that asking Arion to go fast would mess up this whole quiet, calm thing we had going on but I didn’t have a choice. This was what jumping was all about and when I closed my legs around his sides, he took off like a rocket. We cleared the first three jumps but Arion was gaining speed and getting excited. He hit the yellow vertical with a resounding thud and from there on it was all downhill. We came out of the ring with twelve faults and since it was a big class there wasn’t much chance of a ribbon.

  “Sure you don’t want to ride the one that actually placed?” I asked Frankie as I gave Arion a consolatory pat on the neck.

  “He tried his best,” she said, reaching out to stroke his nose. “It wasn’t his fault.”

  “You make excuses for him but not for Four?” I said, shaking my head.

  “Why do you keep trying to push that other horse on me?” she said. “Your dad said that any horse is for sale for the right price.”

  “Not Bluebird and not Arion,” I said.

  “That’s not what your father says,” she said as we walked back to the stalls.

  “Well he’s wrong,” I replied.

  Everything was getting messed up. I was only trying to help Frankie and now she was trying to get my father to sell her Arion? No way. I wished I’d never invited her to the show in the first place.

  “I have to go and watch my friend ride,” I said after I’d cooled Arion off and put him away.

  “I’ll stay here and watch him,” Frankie said.

  “If you like,” I replied.

  I slipped through the crowd, glad to be rid of the girl I’d wanted to come. The idea of her falling in love with Four had been a real one, something good I thought I’d be able to do. Now it was ruined, just like my family.

  I found a spot in the shade and sat down to watch the Talent Scout class. I’d told myself that I wouldn’t. I’d even told Andy that I wouldn’t but I couldn’t help myself. Those riders were my friends and enemies but more than that they were my peers. The group of people that I competed against show after show, through rain or shine we were there with our horses battling for that blue ribbon. Watching would be torture but not watching would be worse.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  The Talent Scout class went off without a hitch. No one crashed and burned. No one even fell off. It was like everyone had their a-game on because this was their last chance to show the judges that they deserved to win. But at the end of the day it all came down to the fences and the clock. One you had to conquer, the other you had to beat. Those were the only things standing between you and glory.

  Andy went clear. So did Jess. In fact there were five riders in the jump off. I watched as Andy navigated his big gray horse around a very tight jump off course. There was a particularly nasty line with a double oxer combination and a tricky one stride that seemed just a little too short. Andy and Mousse made it look easy. They went clear and I couldn’t help jumping to my feet with the rest of the crowd and cheering at the top of my lungs. Andy had a red face as he patted Mousse on the neck. He was shy and I knew that he didn’t like the attention but Mousse did. He kicked up his heels and the crowd laughed.

  Jess was next. She rode into the ring looking focused and determined, touching her helmet to salute the judges before nudging her horse into a canter. Valor was a big bay with a long stride and powerful jump. He looked every bit the part of a talented show jumper. People nudged each other and whispered praise for the horse as he powered over the jumps. If I’d been riding Bluebird all I would have got was snarky whispers and maybe a few laughs. But Jess didn’t have to deal with any of that and on Valor she was good. Really good. She’d gone to train in Europe over the summer, living my dream and somehow it had made her a better rider. I didn’t know who she was training with now that she was back but none of her old habits had crept back in. Not yet anyway.

  They went clear too. In fact there were seven people in the jump off. People had really prepared for this class. They knew what it meant and so did I. Bluebird was back at Fox Run in his stall, still getting medication for whatever had been wrong with him. Dad said it was probably just a virus but I couldn’t shake the thought that he got better after Dr. Brown gave my pony the anti-toxin and how if he had been poisoned, Jess was the one who would have done it.

  “So there is a jump off then?” Dad said.

  He came to stand beside me.

  “Yeah,” I replied, feeling a bit downtrodden.

  “They’ll be other classes,” Dad said. “You’ll get another chance.”

  “I know,” I said.

  But watching the guy’s move the jumps around for the jump off, it didn’t feel like there would ever be another chance. I could see the two judges sitting in the box across the other side of the ring and I wanted to run over there and tell them that I was really good and I deserved another chance but I was blowing it. Even my non Talent Scout horses were performing poorly. Four was last. Arion didn’t even place in his class. How could I try and convince them I was good when I didn’t even have any blue ribbons? Socks was the last chance I had to redeem myself and I knew that I should have been warming him up for his speed class but I just had to see who won the Talent Scout class.<
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  “You didn’t really tell Frankie that Arion was for sale, did you?” I asked my father.

  “No,” he said. “Well, maybe.”

  “Because he’s not.”

  “I know. You have to keep every horse you’ve ever owned. I get it,” Dad said, rolling his eyes. “But that is not how this business works.”

  “I know,” I said. “I want her to have Four. That was the main reason why I brought him here but it’s totally backfiring. She doesn’t even like him. She likes Arion and he’s the horse that I can’t sell.”

  “Why doesn’t she want Four?” Dad asked. “Both horses are gray, they have a similar build. I thought Four went quite well for his first time out.”

  “You did?” I asked, starting to feel a bit better.

  “As good as any green, fresh horse would do at their first show and you didn’t fall off or lose your cool. I wasn’t too happy to find out that you entered him without my consent but it turns out you made the right call.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “So how can I make Frankie fall in love with Four then?”

  “I don’t think you can,” he said. “You either click with a horse or you don’t. You can’t make someone love a horse just like you can’t make someone love a person.”

  I thought of how my dad had brought my mother back to Florida. Was that what he was trying to do? Make her love him again? Because if he was then it wasn’t going to work. And what about Missy? Didn’t he love her anymore? They’d been living together all this time. Raising Owen and me. We’d been one big happy messy family. But they weren’t married. They weren’t bound by any kind of contract except the unspoken one that they would love and cherish each other. I couldn’t bear the thought of my own mother tearing all that apart because I knew in my heart that it would never work out and then my father would just end up heartbroken and alone again.

  “It’s starting,” Dad said as the first rider came into the ring.

  “I think I’m going to go and get Socks ready,” I said.

  “You don’t want to watch?” Dad said.

  “You tell me what happens,” I told him, already walking away.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  I’d always had a soft spot in my heart for Socks, and even though he wasn’t my horse, he sort of seemed like he was. Missy rode him at the barn but she never took him to shows anymore so it was sort of like he was my horse and Missy just rode him. But if my dad left Missy, what would happen to Socks? Would she move out and take him with her? And what about baby Owen? I wasn’t the biggest fan of babies but Owen was my only sibling. What if I never saw him again?

  “You have to really try and win today,” I told Socks.

  I had him in the warm up ring, which we practically had to ourselves because everyone had gone off to watch the Talent Scout jump off. There were cheers as someone blazed around clear and then groans when the next rider had a rail. I heard the thud and hoped that it was Jess and Valor but that horse was a machine. If any horse could win her that class it was Valor. He must have cost a fortune, come from a top trainer in Europe. And to think, there I’d been all smug because I had Hashtag and Jess didn’t but the truth was that she didn’t even need him anymore. Valor was the better horse. He was the best horse. The rest was just down to Jess staying out of his way and luck.

  I cantered Socks a little and let him hop over a small cross rail but mostly we worked at the trot, loosening up his muscles and keeping him focused and calm. Too many warm up jumps and he’d lose his mind before we got in the ring but this was a speed class. Maybe it was better for him to be pumped up. I cantered him over the oxer that was next to the cross rail and didn’t try to stop him when he took off at a gallop. After all we were there to win. I couldn’t come away from the show without any blue ribbons at all.

  Afterwards I walked Socks over to the big ring. They were presenting the awards. I wanted to know who had won but I also didn’t. As I stared into the ring, blinded by the bright sun, I saw a big gray horse step forward to claim his blue ribbon and silver cup. It was Andy on Mousse. I let out a sigh of relief. Next to him was Jess. She’d placed second. She hadn’t won. At least that was something.

  “You missed an exciting jump off,” Dad said, having made his way over to me through the crowd.

  “I don’t care.” I turned Socks away.

  “No one likes a sore loser,” Dad said.

  “I’m not a loser. I didn’t even get to compete. How is that being a sore loser?”

  “I think you know how,” Dad said. “You have to forget about the Talent Scout class. It’s over now. If you go into the ring thinking about what could have been then you won’t give this guy the ride he deserves. The ride that will win you a blue ribbon.”

  “I know,” I said.

  And I knew Dad was right. I had to forget about the fact that I was cheated out of winning that cup and take solace in the fact that Jess hadn’t won it either.

  “Think you can bring home the blue?” I asked Socks.

  He tossed his head and snorted as a little girl walked by carrying a giant stuffed pony.

  “That could be you if you don’t win,” I whispered.

  But I patted his neck and told him that he was a good boy because I knew that he was and if we messed up, it would be my fault, not his.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  The ride on Socks was different than it had been on Four and Arion. Socks knew what he was doing. I didn’t have to baby him or make sure that I wasn’t going to overwhelm him. This time my partner was as raring to go as I was.

  Dad was standing by the fence but I didn’t need him. If the show had taught me anything it was that I was capable of going it alone.

  The course was clear and winding, which meant that going fast and clean was a challenge and the fastest round won so we didn’t have a choice. Socks opened up after the first fence and I never checked him at all. He was talented enough to get over the fences and fast enough in-between that I had a really good feeling. There was a deep spot in the footing where a lot of horses had dug in and I felt his left hind slip out from under him.

  “Come on,” I said, feeling like I was practically lifting him over the fence myself.

  He clipped the top rail but it didn’t fall and we finished to a round of applause.

  “Nice,” Dad said as we came out of the ring. “Very nice.”

  “Did you see him slip?” I said.

  “I saw you save him,” Dad said, patting my leg like I was a horse. “If you’d have panicked, he would have knocked that rail down.”

  I grinned. That was about the best praise you could get from a man like my father who didn’t like to dish it out unless you’d done something spectacular.

  “Now that’s a nice horse,” Frankie said, walking next to us as we went back to the barn.

  “Forget about it.” I grinned back. “This one is not for sale either.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  We returned to Fox Run with one blue ribbon, three tired horses and the promise made that Frankie could come out to the barn to ride any time she wanted.

  “I have got to get to the bottom of why she doesn’t like Four,” I said, propping my feet up on the dashboard.

  “Hey.” Dad glared at my rainbow colored socks. “Feet off the dash.”

  “But I took my boots off,” I said. “My feet hurt.”

  “I don’t care.”

  “Fine,” I said, letting them slip to the floor.

  “Maybe she just doesn’t like him. Haven’t you ever met a horse you didn’t like?” Dad asked.

  “No,” I replied, looking at him like he was crazy.

  “Of course you haven’t.” He shook his head but he was laughing.

  We’d left the show in good spirits but it was like each mile we inched closer and closer to home, this black cloud descended on us. I didn’t want to face my mother and it almost seemed like my father didn’t want to either. Maybe by the time we got back they would have given up and left already.
Gone to stay in some motel. There was hardly room for them in our house. We had one couch and no spare beds and I wasn’t sharing with Cat. No way.

  By the time we got back it was after six. The sun was low in the sky and we took the horses into the barn, Dad leading Socks and me with Arion’s lead rope in one hand and Four’s in the other.

  “Why don’t you toss them out to stretch their legs a bit,” Dad said. “It looks like a nice evening. Not too many bugs out.”

  “Alright,” I said.

  I bent down and pulled their shipping boots off while my two horses tried to drag me to the nearest patch of grass. Then I opened the gate to the big field and let them loose. Four galloped off and let out a loud neigh, telling all the other horses that he was back. Arion just dropped and rolled.

  I hung on the gate and watched until they settled down, my two gray horses grazing together like a ghost horse and his shadow. I’d been proud of Four today and I’d be sad to see him go. He hadn’t disgraced himself as a jumper just yet and even if he didn’t have massive amounts of talent he’d still shown that he could go in there and get the job done. Maybe I was being hasty in just giving him away. Maybe with a little more work there would be someone out there who would actually want to buy him. I’d seen the look on Frankie’s face. She didn’t love him. She didn’t even like him. I couldn’t let her have him until I figured out why.

  I went into the barn to check up on Bluebird. He was stuffing his face with a big pile of hay and only looked up long enough to acknowledge me. He didn’t come to the bars to say hello but that was okay. I was just glad that he was acting like his normal, greedy self again and not all sick. He’d scared me half to death and I still had nightmares about what would have happened if he’d taken a turn for the worse.

  Chantilly, Bandit and the foal were all in their stall together, the foal looking sleepy.