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Flame and the Rebel Riders

Page 13

by Stacy Gregg


  “I’m sorry, Issie,” Stella said wiping her eyes, “but it just seems like a bit of a come-down, doesn’t it? One minute you’re off at a professional stable jumping over huge fences and the next you’re at Avery’s house again trotting over poles like being back at kindergarten!”

  Issie took their laughter with good humour. She didn’t even mind when Stella and Kate told Dan and Ben about her trotting pole sessions and they joined in on the joke. Dan even laid his whip down on the ground and dared Issie to leap over it. “If it’s not too high for you,” he added before bursting into fits of giggles.

  Things got more serious, however, when the senior ride headed up to the jumping arena after lunch. Avery set the fences at one metre. It was a short course, but there were some tricky combinations, including a double with a bounce stride in between the jumps and a very wide oxer to finish. As Dan, Ben, Stella and Kate all took their turns around the course, Issie sat and watched. When it was her turn, Avery called her over for a few last-minute words of advice.

  “How does Flame feel?” Avery asked.

  “He’s been great all morning,” Issie said. “He was lovely to ride with the other horses in the dressage training. He’s been a superstar so far.”

  “Excellent,” Avery agreed. “Now here is what I want you to do, Issie. I want you to take him into the showjumping ring, and ride him around the same course that the others have just done. Keep him at a steady working canter…” Avery looked at her, “…but don’t go over any of the jumps.”

  “What?” Issie was confused. “What do you mean?”

  “Just ride around in between and near the fences, to make him think he’s going to be jumping. But don’t actually jump. Give him a steady canter around for a couple of rounds and then we’ll finish up for the day.”

  “You mean he’s not going to jump at all?” Issie groaned. “Ohmygod, Tom! This is worse than the poles on the ground!”

  “Issie, today is a vital part of Flame’s rehabilitation,” Avery said. “You need to think about the jumps here at the pony club as nothing more than an extension of his lessons at home. It’s all part of the training, Issie. Even the competitions are nothing more than fancy schooling sessions with prizes. Don’t ever lose sight of that.”

  Issie seemed to accept this, but she still had a question. “How is he ever going to learn to jump if I never do any jumping?”

  “Flame already knows how to jump,” Avery told her. “What he needs to learn is how to control his stress, to stay calm when he’s confronted with jumps. I want him to canter around that show ring without having to jump a thing, so he can figure out for himself that there’s nothing scary about showjumps.”

  Issie looked over at Stella, Kate, Dan and Ben sitting on their ponies on the sideline waiting to watch her take her turn.

  “Taking big jumps might impress your friends,” Avery agreed, “but that’s not what Flame needs.”

  Issie nodded. “I understand, Tom.” She smiled. “We’re ready to do our round now.”

  Flame cantered around the jumps beautifully and Issie concentrated on staying steady and still in two-point position as she rode past the jumps without taking a single one of them. She had to laugh as she left the arena that day and saw the puzzled expressions on her friends’ faces.

  “Well,” Dan teased, “I suppose technically you just got a clear round in there. You didn’t stop and you didn’t knock down a single rail.”

  Avery, however, was genuinely happy with her progress. “Nice round,” the instructor told her. “He went perfectly.”

  Issie had hoped that Avery’s praise for Flame’s performance at the pony-club rally would translate to some actual jumps when they were back at Winterflood Farm the next day. But no. Once again, Avery asked her to school the big chestnut over poles on the ground. It was the same on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The North Island show was on Sunday and by Saturday Issie couldn’t control the urge any longer. She finally asked Avery if there was any chance at all that they might actually be doing some real jumps at training today.

  “Oh,” Avery replied airily, “I don’t think we want to overface him the day before the big show, do you?” He smiled at Issie. “Just take him for a gentle hack today. No point in being in the arena—he’s learnt everything he needs to know.”

  “You can’t be serious!” Issie was stunned. “We’re competing tomorrow! We haven’t jumped a single jump.”

  “I’m totally serious,” Avery replied. “You and Flame are ready to win. And tomorrow—you’re going to prove it.”

  Chapter 15

  Flame looked every inch a champion when Issie unloaded him from the horse truck on the morning of the North Island Championships. With his mane plaited and his coat buffed to a deep copper shine the chestnut gelding certainly had an air of winning glamour about him.

  The horse looked brilliant, but it was what was underneath the surface that had Issie worried. Flame was still unproven. In the past two weeks under Avery’s tuition Flame hadn’t jumped a single fence. Issie couldn’t help but be concerned that their reschooling efforts so far had amounted to nothing more than poles on the ground. Hardly adequate preparation for the level of competition they would encounter at the showgrounds today!

  Issie felt the knot of nerves in her tummy tighten as she looked over at the main arena. Avery had entered Flame in the one metre qualifier class. This was the final chance for Flame to be graded and continue in the competitions this season. More importantly than that, however, Cassandra Steele would be in the stands. Avery had spoken to Flame’s owner on the phone last night and she had made it quite clear that she would be watching them today to assess his progress.

  “Nervous?” Avery asked as he emerged from the horse truck.

  “A little,” Issie had to admit.

  “Don’t be,” Avery said firmly. “Flame went brilliantly at the rally the other day. He’s ready for this.”

  Issie boggled at Avery’s confidence. “Tom! All he did at pony club was canter around a bit! We didn’t jump a single fence, and those fences out there are a metre high!”

  Avery brushed aside Issie’s concerns. “He’ll be fine. Just get him nicely balanced, responsive and calm, and trust me, the jumping won’t be an issue.”

  Issie shook her head in disbelief, but it was clear that there was no point in arguing. She had to have faith that Avery knew what he was doing. And so she continued to groom the horse while Avery busied himself doing up the buckles on Flame’s tendon boots and pulling on his bellboots.

  “That’s a lot of bandaging you’re doing,” Issie observed as she watched Avery move on to the hind legs and use gamgee and gauze to wrap the tendons at the back.

  “Flame needs protection on his legs,” Avery said. “We don’t want him getting spooked if he bangs a rail.”

  As Avery finished the leg bandages, Issie tightened the girth one more hole on the Pessoa saddle. “Shall I put the hackamore on now?” she asked.

  Avery shook his head. “Leave the halter on for now and give him a hay net to keep him occupied while we walk the course,” he told her. “We’ve got ages before the competition begins.”

  It was busy in the arena during the course-walk session. There were around twenty riders in Issie’s class that day, and most of them were in the arena checking out the jumps and learning the course off by heart.

  Issie loved walking a jumping course with Avery. She was amazed at the difference it made to see the jumps through his eyes. This time, Avery particularly focused on a combination fence with two elements that he clearly thought would cause problems for the competitors.

  “You must make sure you come in with a very straight line right down the centre and push on hard in order to get two strides in…”

  “Well,” a voice behind them said, “I must say it’s nice to see you two back together again!”

  Issie turned around to see Araminta, Aidan and Morgan, all dressed in their competition shirts and their
best white jods.

  Araminta smiled. “You know, everyone on the circuit is gossiping about it. I hear that Cassandra Steele handed over one of her best horses to you, Tom. I’ll bet Ginty’s absolutely fuming!” Araminta looked amused by this. It was pretty clear that she wasn’t a member of the Ginty McLintoch fan club either.

  Standing next to Araminta, Aidan looked distinctly uncomfortable. While Araminta and Avery were talking he sidled over to Issie and whispered to her. “Can I talk to you for a moment? Alone?”

  They walked away from the others, but riders kept jostling past them. The middle of a showjumping ring wasn’t exactly the most private place to have a deep and meaningful conversation. “Maybe we should talk later?” Issie said.

  “No, I’ve something to say and it can’t wait,” Aidan replied. “I feel awful about our fight, and the things I said to you the other day…I want to say that I’m—”

  “No!” Issie said to him. “Don’t you dare tell me you’re sorry. You were right, Aidan. I was being a bad friend—not just to Stella and Kate, but to you too. I made a big mistake trusting Ginty, but I want you to know that I’ve sorted it out now. Things are back to normal again.”

  “I can see that,” Aidan smiled. “I just wanted to let you know that no matter what happens, I’m always there for you, OK?”

  Issie smiled. “Thanks.”

  “Issie!” Avery shouted out to her. “Stop dawdling. We’ve got a course to walk! There’ll be time to chat to your boyfriend later!”

  Mortified with embarrassment, Issie blushed. “I don’t think that you’re my boyfriend,” she told Aidan. “I don’t know why Tom said that.”

  Aidan gave her one of his killer smiles. “Well, I guess I was your boyfriend once upon a time. And I suppose…I could be again. That is, if you wanted me to be.”

  Issie felt her heart beating like mad. “Aidan, please…not now. I can’t think about whether I want to be your girlfriend today. Not with the competition and everything that’s going on.”

  “I know,” Aidan nodded. “We’ll talk later, OK? Maybe go for a ride together?”

  Issie smiled. “That would be really great.”

  As she walked back to the horse truck with Avery, Issie felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Now that she and Aidan were friends again, Issie could totally focus on the competition ahead of her. For the first time she actually found herself starting to feel excited at the prospect of riding Flame. It was less than an hour to the first event. As they were walking past the main arena, though, she had a moment of doubt when she caught sight of the familiar silver and gold logo of the Dulmoth Park horse truck.

  “Ginty’s here,” Issie said. “She’s parked just over there by the main arena.”

  “I know,” Avery said with an unconcerned air. “I saw the truck when she arrived. The good news is it looks like she’s only got two horses here today—Tokyo and Tottie. And neither of them will be entered against you—they’re both in the next class.”

  However, Avery’s confident demeanour didn’t last. He returned from the judges’ tent a few minutes later holding a piece of paper, positively fuming.

  “That woman is a serpent! I can’t believe she’d stoop to this!” Avery ranted.

  “What’s wrong?” Issie asked.

  “Take a look at the running order for the first event of the day,” Avery said, thrusting the piece of paper at Issie. “There are a few surprises.”

  Issie looked at the list and scanned down for her name to see where she was in the running order. She found it almost at the end, but directly above was another name that she hadn’t been expecting to see.

  “Natasha?” Issie was confused. According to the list Natasha Tucker was also riding in the one metre qualifier class—on Tottenham Hotspur!

  “But Tottie shouldn’t even be in my class!” Issie said. “She ‘s been jumping over a metre twenty all season!”

  Avery groaned. “I’m afraid Tottie still qualifies for the one metre class, so Ginty has every right to drop her down to compete in your ring.”

  “But that’s not fair! Tottie’s far too good.”

  “Ginty knows the rules and she knows the loopholes too. She knew that we’d be riding in the one metre class today. She’s done this on purpose so she can beat us and crow about it in front of Cassandra.”

  Issie looked at the list of riders. “Natasha is riding just before me.”

  Knowing that she was competing against Natasha gave Issie an awful sinking feeling. She had thought that their love-hate relationship was finally sorted out. No more silly rivalries. Had she been wrong? Did Natasha know she’d be up against Issie today and all that stuff about being friends was just part of her game?

  Avery sighed. “We can’t afford to worry about Ginty’s dirty tactics. You have to keep your mind on Flame. We need to convince him that this is nothing more than another rally day at the pony club.”

  Flame, however, already seemed to realise that this wasn’t the case. He had seen the horses warming up around him and he could smell the tension in the air. As Avery held the big chestnut ready for Issie to mount up, Flame raised his head high and gave a loud whinny. His blood was up and Issie could sense his excitement.

  “He’s OK,” Avery insisted as Flame began to crab-step, jogging around like a racehorse while Avery clung on to the reins. “Keep him on a loose rein and walk him about to calm him down. He’s a little hot, but that’s to be expected. As long as you can stay calm, he’ll be fine. He’ll pick up on your energy. It’s up to you to keep your cool.”

  “Shall I take him over the practice jump?” Issie asked.

  Avery shook his head. “Not yet. There’s plenty of time. Let’s settle him in with some walking and trot work first, try and get a rhythm going.”

  With Avery instructing her, Issie spent the next twenty minutes working Flame in. He had such beautiful floating movement. Issie could feel the quality of his bloodlines expressed in every step. His quality showed through in his paces and his attitude and she could already feel the change in Flame as he responded to her now without fear or tension. Under Avery’s guidance they had made so much progress in the past two weeks. And there was so much more still to do! When Issie caught sight of Cassandra Steele standing on the sidelines watching the ring, she suddenly realised that if the millionairess didn’t like what she saw today then she’d take Flame away from Avery and he’d be returned to Ginty’s stables. All the hard work they’d done to reschool the horse would be undone by Ginty’s awful methods. Issie couldn’t stand the thought of losing Flame like that. He had such a fantastic personality and he was trying so hard for her! She owed it to him to go into the arena and win.

  “He’s looking good, Issie.” Avery’s voice shook her back to reality. “I think he’s ready. Ride him back to the truck and grab your showing jacket. I’m going to walk over to the practice fence, so meet me there.”

  At the horse truck Issie tied Flame to his hitching hook and unlocked the main door, climbing into the back of the truck. Her jacket was in the closet next to the tack box. She had packed it in a drycleaning bag to keep it safe. As she unzipped the bag and slipped it on, she felt a tingle of excitement. I need to keep calm, she told herself, act like it’s an ordinary day at the pony club, and Flame will stay relaxed…

  She took a deep breath and buttoned up the jacket, pausing for a moment to glance at her reflection in the mirrored door of the truck before she stepped outside once more. Flame was standing there waiting for her, but there was someone else beside him.

  “Natasha?” Issie could see that she was in floods of tears. “Ohmygod! What’s the matter?”

  “It’s Ginty!” Natasha sobbed. “She just fired me!”

  “What?” Issie couldn’t believe it. “How? Why?”

  “I was getting Tottie ready for the event,” Natasha sniffled, “and everything was fine until Ginty came over with this injection she wanted to give her. So I asked her, ‘Is it bute?’ and
anyway she just went bonkers at me and said she was tired of being questioned by know-it-all grooms. Then she said I had to prove myself as a professional rider. And she gave me the needle and told me to inject Tottie.”

  Issie was appalled. “Did you do it?”

  “Of course not! I told Ginty that bute is illegal when you’re competing, but then she told me that she wasn’t interested in hearing my opinions and I didn’t know anything…and well, I lost my temper at that point and said a few things…and she fired me!”

  “But if she fired you,” Issie said, “then who is riding Tottie?”

  Her question was answered by the announcer’s voice over the Tannoy. “There has been a change to the next combination in the arena today,” the announcer said. “Instead of Natasha Tucker, Tottenham Hotspur will be ridden in this class by Penny Greville.”

  “Typical,” Natasha said darkly. “I should have known Penny would take the ride. She’s too much of a coward to stand up to Ginty.”

  The girls both turned their attention to the arena where Penny and Tottie were about to ride through the flags to take the first jump. Despite having just been assigned the last-minute ride on the dapple-grey mare, it seemed entirely likely that Penny would get a clear round. She had ridden Tottie many times before so she knew how to handle the mare. As for Tottie, the jumps were kindergarten stuff as far as she was concerned.

  Sure enough, the jumps seemed a piece of cake for the duo. Tottie rattled a couple of rails as she took the double, but nothing fell. “She’s going to go clear,” Natasha said through gritted teeth as she watched Tottie clear the sixth fence and then pop neatly over fence number seven.

  Tottie was on her way to take fence number eight when Issie heard Aidan shouting out her name. He was cantering Fortune over and waving frantically at Issie as if something was wrong.

  “What are you two doing?” Aidan asked as he pulled up beside them. “Natasha? Shouldn’t you be in that ring now?”

 

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