Back in the Saddle

by Catherine Hapka

  Haley shot her a look, wondering if the older girl was being sarcastic. But Riley had already turned to watch the next rider enter.

  Jan hurried over to meet Haley as she rode away from the ring. “Well done, Haley,” she said. “Saw your bobble at the beginning, but you recovered well.” She patted Haley on the knee, then gave Wings a rub on the neck.

  “Thanks, but we definitely could’ve done better,” Haley said.

  “You can always do better.” Jan raised an eyebrow at her. “If not, why even bother competing?”

  “Yeah, I guess,” Haley muttered.

  Just then a woman over by the results board called Jan’s name, and the trainer looked that way. “I’d better see what she wants,” she told Haley. “You okay?”

  “Sure.” Haley forced a small smile, and Jan hurried away.

  Andrew dismounted and led Turbo over to where Haley and Wings were standing. Kyle rode after him. “Good job, Haley,” Andrew said. “Your transitions were really accurate.”

  “Thanks, but I know we messed up.” Haley sighed, giving Wings a pat. “It was totally my fault. I spaced out when we came in and, well . . .”

  She let her voice trail off. Kyle shot her a sympathetic smile. “It’s okay,” he said. “You know you’re still going to beat me by at least fifty points.”

  Haley smiled weakly as Andrew chuckled. Beating Kyle wasn’t what she’d had in mind for today. Her gaze wandered back to Riley, still standing ringside.

  Andrew followed her gaze. “I know that Riley girl looked good in dressage,” he said. “She’ll probably win this phase. But who knows if that fancy horse of hers can even jump, right?”

  “Yeah.” Haley felt a twinge of hope. It was true—there were still two phases yet to come.

  “You and Wings always kill the jumping phases,” Kyle reminded her cheerfully. “Especially cross-country. That’s what Jan says, anyway.”

  “It’s true,” Andrew told him. “I mean, you’ve seen them in lessons. Wings is a cross-country machine!”

  Their comments made Haley feel a tiny bit better. Because they were right. There were still two phases left in the competition. Two phases that happened to be the ones she and Wings were best at. She’d never come out on top in dressage in her life, and that hadn’t stopped her from winning in the past. In fact, she’d never failed to improve by several places by the end of the day, since at least some of the top dressage performers usually had faults in the jumping phases.

  “I just wish we’d been able to show what we can really do,” Haley said. “We’ve been working so hard in dressage, and all it took was one tiny mistake to throw us off, you know?”

  “That’s eventing for you.” Andrew squinted toward the ring. “Hey, Kyle, better get back over there. Aren’t you next?”

  Kyle pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket and consulted it. “Nope. There’s two more after this one before it’s my turn.”

  “That must be one of them.” Haley watched a girl around her own age riding toward the ring. Her horse was an attractive and kind-eyed bay mare with four white socks.

  “Hey, I know her,” Andrew said. He waved as the girl passed them. “Good luck, Claire!”

  The girl, Claire, glanced down at him briefly. “Thanks,” she said without slowing down.

  Soon she was in the ring beginning her test. “How do you know her?” Haley asked Andrew.

  “She rides with a trainer I took a few dressage lessons with before I started going to Jan,” Andrew said. “She’d just started when I was there last summer, actually. She’d been riding for a couple of years but was brand-new to eventing.”

  Haley watched the mare round the far turn and begin her first trot circle. “Her horse has a fancy trot,” she commented.

  Both boys nodded, and they all watched in silence for a moment. The bay mare’s gaits were lovely and steady, and the rider wasn’t making any major mistakes. However, Haley couldn’t help noticing that their circles weren’t exactly round, and a few of the transitions were early or late.

  At least that’s one more rider Wings and I will probably beat, Haley thought, trying to make herself feel better about her own ride.

  When Claire rode out of the ring, she paused to talk to her trainer, a lean man wearing a sweatshirt with a stable logo on it. Then she rode over to Haley and the others.

  “It’s Andrew, right?” she said, glancing at Turbo, who was grazing on a bit of winter-brown grass. “Is that the same horse you had before?”

  “Uh-huh.” Andrew gave the thoroughbred a pat. “He’s come a long way, right?”

  “I guess.” The girl glanced at Haley and Kyle. She had bright blue eyes and a sharp chin. “Hi. I’m Claire.”

  Haley and Kyle introduced themselves. “Nice ride, Claire,” Kyle added.

  “Thanks.” Claire smiled rather smugly. “My trainer says Bella always wins the dressage. She used to compete at intermediate before I bought her.”

  “Really?” Haley knew that intermediate was the second-highest level in eventing. No wonder the mare was so fancy!

  “Yeah, her owner was maybe going to try her at advanced, but my dad made him an offer he couldn’t refuse, because I just had to have her.” Claire patted her horse. “Come on, Bella. Let’s go celebrate with some nice carrots, hmm?”

  She rode off without saying good-bye. “She’s . . . interesting,” Kyle commented.

  “I don’t know her that well. But I heard that her family is pretty rich,” Andrew said.

  Just then Jan bustled over. “Heads up, Kyle,” she said briskly. “You’re on deck, so look alive.”

  “Okay.” Kyle shortened his reins, waking his horse from what appeared to be a quick nap. “Here goes nothing!”

  Forty minutes later the last of the beginner novice riders had finished their dressage tests, and the judge’s scribe was shuffling through some papers, standing in front of the big wooden bulletin board near the ring. Haley and her teammates watched from a polite distance, Haley’s fingers crossed in the pocket of her breeches as she waited, more or less patiently, for the scribe to post the dressage scores. Had the judge noticed her mistakes? If so, how much would it bring down her score?

  “Okay, they’re up,” she told Andrew and Kyle as the scribe finally pinned several sheets to the board. “Let’s go check out the damage.”

  Haley hurried over, with the boys on her heels. Her heart sank when she immediately spotted Riley’s name at the top of the list. She scanned down, hoping hers would be right below it. And down, and down . . .

  “I got eleventh.” Andrew sounded delighted.

  Haley glanced at his name, then finally spotted hers a couple of spaces below. “Thirteenth for me,” she said, trying not to sound as disappointed as she felt.

  “There’s me, number twenty-two,” Kyle said cheerfully. “Hey, at least I beat a few people!”

  “Including the one whose horse jumped out of the ring and got the big E,” Andrew joked, giving Kyle a playful punch on the arm.

  “Hey, I’ll take what I can get,” Kyle retorted with a grin.

  Haley couldn’t muster a contribution to their banter. Instead she just stood there staring at her name. Thirteenth place? That was pathetic. How was she supposed to win the division after a start like that?

  Unlucky thirteen, she thought with a grimace. Is the universe playing an April Fools’ Day prank on me?

  “Ow,” she blurted out as someone pushed past, knocking her aside and almost stepping on her foot.

  “Excuse me, excuse me!” It was Claire, bullying her way to the front of the group of riders gathered around the results. She scanned the list of names and scores and let out a gasp. “Ninth place? What?” she exclaimed. She whirled and scowled at Andrew as if he were somehow responsible for her results. “But we did much better than that, don’t you think?”

  “That’s eventing for you,” Andrew replied philosophically. “You win some, you lose some.”

  Claire frowned at him. “Bella doe
sn’t lose,” she snapped. “At least she shouldn’t, not after how much Daddy paid for her!”

  She stormed off without waiting for a response, almost bowling over an elderly man as she went. “Wow,” Kyle said. “She seems kind of bummed about her score.”

  “Yeah.” Haley was a little annoyed that Claire had beaten her, though she guessed the mare’s fancy gaits might have had something to do with it. But Haley did her best to shake that off. Claire wasn’t her competition—Riley was. And Haley was going to have to stay focused if she wanted to make up enough ground to beat her. “Come on,” she told the boys. “Let’s go find Jan and give her the news.”

  Jan was back at the trailer helping an adult student tack up her horse. She nodded at the news about the scores.

  “Okay, so now you know what you need to do on cross-country,” she told Haley, Kyle, and Andrew. “There’s nothing out there you and your horses haven’t seen before, so just ride your plan and think forward. It’s a nice, flowing course, and you can all do it.”

  “I know Augie can do it,” Kyle joked. “I just hope I can hold on for the ride.”

  “Don’t be silly,” Haley told him. “You’ll do great.” She was already feeling the thump-thump-thump of excitement inside her as she thought about the course. Jan was right—it was nothing she and Wings couldn’t handle in their sleep. Doing some quick calculations in her head, she figured out that Riley would have to incur only a couple of jumping faults and maybe some time penalties, and Haley would be breathing down her neck by the time they hit show jumping.

  And all Wings and I need is to get close, she thought fiercely, and we’ll be able to psyche Riley out and win!

  CHAPTER

  5

  THE START BOX for cross-country was in a broad, sunny field with a view of most of the rest of the course. Haley glanced out, mentally riding the whole course as she waited for the starter to count down her time.

  Log to roll top to brush to coop, she thought. Then we’ll have to be careful at the ditch. Jan thought it might ride a little funky if the sun’s too bright and the horses have trouble getting a good look at it. . . .

  Since the course was essentially a big loop around the property, the finish line was just a few yards off to one side of the start box. As Haley circled Wings, making sure he was on the aids and paying attention, a man galloped in on a sweaty chestnut horse.

  “Whew, that was fun,” the rider exclaimed to no one in particular. He brought his horse down to a walk, gave it a hearty pat, and then glanced over at Haley. “Watch out for the brush near the beginning,” he called to her. “It’s easy for them to want to stop right after coming up that steep hill.”

  “Thanks,” Haley responded absently. She’d just spotted Riley hand-walking her horse around in circles while chatting on her cell phone. The older girl had just finished her cross-country course, and Haley couldn’t help wondering how she’d done. Haley squinted, trying to read the expression on Riley’s face—excited? content? maybe a little disappointed?—but the girl was too far away.

  “Ready?” the starter asked, holding up his watch. “Ten seconds.”

  “Ready. Thanks.” Haley rode into the box and turned around, keeping a tight hold on the reins so Wings wouldn’t burst out early. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Riley fiddle with her horse’s bridle.

  “. . . three, two, one,” the starter said. “Go!”

  Snapping back to her own ride, Haley urged Wings forward. He was ready, leaping out of the box and almost immediately surging into a brisk canter.

  “Easy, easy,” Haley murmured, sitting up and half-halting to bring him back a little. Wings was fast, and Haley never worried that they’d get time faults for going too slowly. But at beginner novice level, you didn’t get any extra points for going faster than everyone else. In fact, you would be penalized if you came in too far below the optimum time.

  The first obstacle was just a few strides away now. Wings pricked his ears and sailed over the big, round log jump easily. Haley just caught a glimpse of the jump judge giving her a thumbs-up from her lawn chair beside the log, before the judge fell out of view as Wings cantered off toward the next obstacle.

  “Good boy,” Haley murmured.

  She glanced forward at the roll top coming up halfway across the flat field. But it was still a good distance away, and as Wings cantered easily down a slight hill, Haley’s mind wandered to Riley again. Haley wished she’d had enough time to find out how the other girl had done. Then she’d know exactly what she needed to do.

  Wings jumped the roll top perfectly out of stride. After that the course veered off to the left, along a dirt trail through a small grove of trees, and then up a steep hill leading up to another big, flat field alongside the dressage and jumping rings.

  “Go on, Wingsie,” Haley muttered, feeling the pony’s gait falter ever so slightly as they neared the trees. The bare branches formed a lattice of shadows on the hard-packed dirt below, and Wings was giving the odd-looking footing a hard look.

  But a kick and a cluck were all it took to send the brave pony forward again. Soon they emerged from the shadows and faced the steep hill. Wings attacked it eagerly, and Haley glanced at her watch to see how they were doing on time so far.

  Except she immediately realized, with a stab of dismay, that she’d forgotten to start the timer on the watch while she’d been in the box!

  Oh, man! she thought. I was so busy worrying about Riley that I totally spaced.

  Wings surged over the lip of the hill, and Haley blinked, forgetting about her watch as she saw the brush jump coming up fast in front of them. Yikes! No wonder that man had warned her about this one. It had looked like an easy five strides when she’d walked it with Jan and the others earlier. But Wings had decelerated as soon as he’d crested the hill, staring off toward the horses and spectators over by the rings, and she’d be lucky to get to the jump in six strides with enough impulsion to make it over.

  “Get up, Wings!” she cried, giving him a stout kick with both legs. “Keep moving, buddy!”

  The horse snorted and surged forward. But at the same time he shook his head and humped his back as if thinking about tossing in a buck.

  “Quit!” Haley growled, booting him again.

  He leaped forward but stumbled, lurching forward and scrabbling to stay on his feet. He recovered quickly and cantered on, but Haley instantly realized that the stumble had really messed up their striding. They were going to meet the brush on an awkward half stride. The jump wasn’t that big, and Wings should still be able to make it over if she could convince him to take the long spot. . . .

  She kicked frantically, but Wings had had enough. He tossed his head again and skidded to a stop right in front of the jump.

  No, no, no! Haley thought frantically, already adding the points for the refusal onto her dressage penalties. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the jump judge make a note on her score sheet.

  She pulled Wings to the side and kicked him into a brisk trot before turning toward the brush jump again. Wings pricked his ears forward, then pinned them back and started to slow down.

  “Go, go, go!” Haley cried, reaching around to tap him behind her leg with her crop.

  Wings let out a grunt of surprise—Haley rarely had to use her crop on him—and shot forward. He met the brush jump at an awkward spot again, but this time he kept going, leaping up and over the brush jump but twisting in the air to keep his front legs from hitting it. He landed hard on the far side, and Haley felt herself flying through the air. . . .

  Oof. She landed on her left shoulder and rolled onto her back. “Rider down!” the jump judge cried into her radio, leaping to her feet. She was a fortyish woman with a motherly look about her. Soon she was on her knees beside Haley. “Don’t try to move yet, dear.”

  “I’m okay,” Haley said breathlessly. She rolled into a sitting position and looked around for Wings. He hadn’t gone far before stopping to nibble on a shrub off to the side
of the course.

  “I’ve got to get my pony,” Haley said. But as she struggled to her feet, legs shaking, she saw someone dart out from the spectators and make a beeline for Wings. It was Kyle. He grabbed the pony’s dangling reins and led him toward Haley.

  “I’m sorry, dear,” the fence judge said, patting Haley on the arm. “I’m afraid this means you’re out.”

  “I know.” Haley’s heart sank as she accepted what had just happened—how everything had gone all wrong in the blink of an eye. She’d fallen off, and she knew what that meant. The big E. Elimination.

  She moved forward to meet Kyle and Wings. At the same time Jan appeared out of the crowd and dashed over.

  “Haley! Are you okay?” the trainer cried. “What happened? Did you hit your head?”

  “No, I’m fine.” Haley flexed her left arm just to make sure. “Landed on my shoulder.”

  “Okay.” Jan still looked worried. She glanced at Kyle. “I’ll take Wings,” she said. “Thanks for catching him.”

  “You’re welcome.” Kyle glanced at Haley, as if expecting her to thank him as well.

  But Haley didn’t say a word. She couldn’t. The disappointment had just hit her, far more painful than the minor bumps and bruises she’d sustained in the fall. Her event was over. Not only had she failed to win, but she hadn’t even completed. There would be no show jumping for her and Wings later. No ribbon. No enjoying the look on Riley’s face when Haley beat her.

  How could this have happened?

  “How does this look on me?” Kyle grabbed the light blue tenth-place ribbon hanging on a clothes rack near Jan’s trailer and held it up against his shirt like a tie. Haley looked up from folding coolers and stuffing them into a trunk.

  Andrew grinned and grabbed the ribbon out of the other boy’s hand. “Hey, give it back,” he said. “Turbo and I earned that thing fair and square!”

  “I know, I know,” Kyle said with a laugh. “Who knows? Maybe Augie and I will get our own ribbon someday. In about a billion years. If I’m lucky.”

  “You can have mine if you want a stupid ribbon so much.” Claire sounded grumpy as she tossed her own brown eighth-place ribbon at the boys. She was leaning against the next trailer, watching Jan’s group pack up. “It’s definitely not the color I was expecting.”