After circling the arena once at walk, Sarah asked Prince to trot and go on the bit. He had lost his fascination for the bleachers and was listening to her, his ears flicking back in her direction as she communicated to him with her aids. They had just passed the judge’s booth a second time when she heard the high-pitched ring of the judge’s bell—the signal to begin. The announcer spoke into the microphone: “Number 21 is from the Brookmeade Farm team, Sarah Wagner riding Crown Prince.” Sarah shortened her reins again and tried to clear her head of everything except the dressage test she had committed to memory. At the arena’s entrance, she turned down the centerline, her eyes glued to the letter C, her target for a straight line.
Later Sarah wouldn’t remember riding all the parts of her test, but she did recall that her transition from canter to working trot at A was slightly late. She remembered his last trot extension vividly. When she asked Prince to extend his trot across the diagonal, he responded with a wonderful burst of energy, his stride long and elastic. Finally she sat the trot as they turned up the centerline and halted at X in the center of the arena. Sarah dropped her left hand and nodded her head to salute the judge, who, in keeping with protocol, returned the salute. Sarah noticed that the judge was smiling at her, probably a good sign. She let Prince’s reins slide through her fingers as she rode him out of the arena.
The test was over, and she felt an amazing relief, as if a hundred-pound boulder had slid from her back. She laughed when Prince jumped sideways in response to loud clapping from the crowd. They’d liked what they saw! Kayla and Tim came down from the bleachers and ran to them. “You aced it!” Kayla squealed.
“Oh, no,” Sarah protested. “There were a few stumbles, but we got through it. Prince was listening to me the whole time!” Sarah suddenly felt very tired, and she fell forward to hug her horse’s neck.
When she sat up, Tim gave her a thumbs-up. “Unbelievable!” he said. “For a horse just a year off the track, he was fantastic.”
Sarah slipped from the saddle and ran up her irons. “Let’s go back to the big top. Now it’s Rita’s turn. Maybe we can help her get ready.”
Kelly was holding Chancellor as Rita stood on her stool braiding him when they got back to the tent. Chancellor’s black coat glistened like ebony. He tossed his head repeatedly while Rita worked on him, prompting her to snap at him in frustration. “Jerk horse!” she complained.
Sarah led Prince into his stall. The day had turned hot, and she couldn’t wait to shed her show coat. Kayla held him while she hung the coat in the tack stall, slipped into her jeans, and exchanged her tall boots for barn sneakers. When she returned, Kayla had removed Prince’s tack, and they took him outside for sponging. When Prince was back in his stall, they went to check with Rita.
“Anything we can do to help?” Kayla asked. Kelly gave Kayla one of her signature dirty looks, but waited for Rita to respond.
“Naw, you’d just be in the way,” Rita said. Kayla and Sarah looked at each other, shaking their heads. Rita turned to them from her braiding. “Remember that Jack wants the team to meet back here at three-thirty. He might want to critique our tests before we walk the cross-country course.” Sarah swallowed hard at mention of cross-country. She had been so focused on her dressage test that she hadn’t been thinking about cross-country. Time to switch gears, she thought.
Kayla motioned to Sarah. “We’re not needed here,” she said. “Let’s split for the snack bar.” The air was filled with the aroma of hamburgers and onions on the grill when they reached the food booth staffed by volunteers from a local church. After waiting only a few minutes, the girls got wraps and water. They carried their lunches to the dressage arena bleachers, where Sarah heard some nice comments on her dressage ride from everyone. She wasn’t surprised when Mrs. DeWitt gushed over her test, but Mr. DeWitt, usually quiet and reserved, praised her. “I can’t wait to tell Hank Bolton what a wonderful job you’ve done training his horse,” he said. “Oops! Your horse,” he added, chuckling.
It was almost time for Rita to ride, and the rest of her team waited for what they expected would be one of the best tests all day among the thirty-two riders. When Number 28 exited the arena, the announcer introduced Rita: “The last rider from the Brookmeade Farm team is Number 29, Rita Snyder riding Chancellor.” Rita began her walk around the arena, Chancellor looking proud and majestic, each of his steps strong and deliberate. His jet black coat shimmered in the sunlight, and Rita was well turned out with the best attire and tack money could buy.
Chancellor entered the arena shortly after the judge’s bell rang, beginning an impressive ride. With every transition precise and his movement lovely to behold, Rita accurately rode her horse through the various movements, culminating with a spectacular extension of his trot. Although the crowd had been urged to withhold applause until a horse had exited the arena, the spectators roared their approval with loud clapping.
Kayla’s brows were knitted into a frown when she spoke to Tim. “Have they posted any of the scores yet?” she asked.
Tim shook his head. “I think Jack is going to get the final results before coming back to the tent to meet with us. The organizers know that everyone is eager to see them, so I bet they won’t waste any time posting them. And not just individuals—they’ll probably list the current team rankings.”
Later, with their horses resting in their stalls, the team members sat on the grass outside the tent while they waited for Jack. He hurried over when he spotted them. Jack sat down, and after he pulled a pad of paper from his pocket, it became very quiet. He fished out his glasses and put them on. “Here’s the scoop,” he began. “Rita has made us all proud by earning the highest score of the day. You’re in first place, Rita,” Jack said, smiling as the other clapped their hands.” Rita smiled smugly, also clapping.
Jack paused to look at his pad again. “Tim is also to be congratulated for being in fourth place out of 32 tests. Rhodes was marvelous today! You beat out some exceptional rides, Tim.” Again clapping.
“And now Sarah….” Jack said, scanning his pad. “This is remarkable,” he said, looking up. “In his first time to compete since he arrived at the farm from the track a year ago, Prince and Sarah put in a ride that puts them in ninth place.” Sarah covered her face with her hands as the others clapped for her. Oh, my God! she thought. She’d expected to be happy with her score, but not to beat out so many other riders! She could hardly wait to call her parents! And she wanted Derek to know, too. She’d hoped the Alexanders would show up, but so far, no sign of them.
It became quiet as the group waited to hear Kayla’s score. “Kayla and Fanny had a few slips in their test today. I know they’ll shine tomorrow, though. Currently they’re in twenty-fifth place.” Kayla hung her head. She had been expecting a low score, but not this bad. “There’s something to be learned from what happened to Kayla today,” Jack continued. “She was riding quite well until Fanny misread her cue and picked up a wrong lead. Unfortunately, Kayla appeared to give up, as if her entire test was ruined by one mistake. Actually, the way dressage tests are scored, only that one movement would have received a low score. If Kayla had put that mistake behind her and focused on the remainder of the test, she would have done a lot better.”
Jack paused to let this sink in before continuing. “And ’tis important to apply this lesson to your remaining jumping phases. If you have a rail down in show jumping, put that behind you and ride the rest of the course as if you have a clean round. The same goes for cross-country.”
“What about the team standings?” Tim asked.
“I can’t imagine you’d be interested in that,” Jack said, grinning as he paused. “The good news is that Brookmeade Farm is in third place!” Everyone cheered as Jack stood up and pocketed his glasses. “Grab your course map out of your packets, and let’s go walk the course.”
CHAPTER 26
On Course
JACK AND THE FOUR RIDERS strode across the field, their cross-country course m
aps in hand. The grass had been mowed short to provide good footing for the horses that would be galloping over it the next day, and two jumps had been set up in a warm-up area. When they reached the three-sided starting box made of white pipe, they stopped to look toward the first obstacle, an inviting brush jump.
“When it’s time for you to begin,” Jack said, “the starter will count down the seconds from ten. So your horse doesn’t get antsy standing in the box, wait until the count is down to five before you slide inside. When the starter says go, you’ll be off.” Just hearing Jack say this sent chills down Sarah’s spine.
They looked down at their maps. “Wow!” Tim said. “There are twenty-one obstacles on this course, and it’s a lot longer than anything Paige and I rode last year.”
“’Tis a bit on the long side,” Jack said. He looked off in the distance. “This valley is surrounded by mountains. If there are several hilly stretches on the course, the top placing riders may be those who brought fit horses. To avoid time penalties, you’ll have to move at a good clip. I hope all of you have been conditioning your horses as I suggested.” His eyes scanned over them.
As the group marched toward the brush, Jack made some comments. “This jump is straightforward, as the first obstacle should be. You’ll have plenty of time to get your horse moving in a balanced hand gallop before you reach it, just as we’ve done when schooling at the farm.”
Following the course mapped out for them, they continued across the field toward the second obstacle, a log pile, followed a short distance later by a woods trail. Along the path they met a slatted coop, a stone wall, and a large log. “Your horses will probably be a bit strong at this point, fresh out of the box, but don’t let them gallop on so fast you’ll have trouble getting them balanced and off their forehands before the jumps,” Jack said. “You’ll also need to save something for the hills.”
They came to a point where the trail turned sharply right, taking them out of the woods and toward a sizable bank that was followed a few strides later by a telephone pole jump. Across the field they could see the next obstacle, a pig pen—a square made out of fencing they would have to jump into, and without taking another stride, immediately jump out of. “This is like the bounce we did in class,” Kayla remarked.
From here, the map took them up a long, steep hill in the field, which had the riders short of breath when they reached the top. “I’m glad Chance is in better shape than I am!” Rita joked.
“Where do we go from here?” Sarah asked, looking around. She was anxious to see the ditch that was listed on the map. Prince had overcome his fear of the ditch at the farm, but how would he react to a different one? She swallowed hard as she searched the trail ahead.
“This way,” Jack said, pointing to some whiskey barrels at the treeline. “This will be challenging to your horses because you’re jumping from light to dark, and horses can’t quickly see what’s ahead of them. Their eyes must adapt, and they’ll have to trust you. Ride strong into this fence, to be sure.”
A short way after the whiskey barrels a park bench was waiting for them. The trees grew closely together here, making the trail dark and shadowy. I hope the ditch isn’t on this trail, Sarah thought. Who knows what monsters Prince might imagine are in a ditch in the woods!
Sarah was glad when they came into another field. There was a vegetable stand loaded with all kinds of fresh veggies, plus farther along, a Chinese puzzle and a double-drop heading down a hill. At the foot of the hill, a brook had been dammed up to make a water obstacle. They would have to jump a big log into water, gallop through the water, and jump a narrow vertical two strides out of the water. “You’ll have to ride accurately to avoid missing the vertical,” Jack warned them.
After they consulted their maps once more, the riders looked at each other in disbelief. Their route followed a path up another hill, although this one wasn’t as long or steep as the one before. Obstacle 14, a wagon loaded with bales of hay, was in their path once the terrain leveled off, and a large rolltop was in the distance. Kayla took a deep breath. “We must be near the end,” she said.
“I’m afraid not,” Jack replied, shaking his head. “There are quite a few obstacles ahead of us.” He pointed off in the distance to a rustic table perched near the treeline. After the table, they jumped a cordwood pile that brought them into the woods again. As they continued down the trail, Sarah saw flags on either side, but nothing solid between them. This must be it!
The ditch was a lot like the one at Brookmeade—wide, with its walls revetted with telephone poles, except this one had leaves and sections of tree branches scattered along its bottom. She caught Jack’s eye after they’d looked into it. “You’ll ride it just like the one on the farm,” he said. “Keep your eyes up, and with your aids, tell him ’tis a go.” The other riders didn’t give the ditch much thought, but Sarah couldn’t get it out of her mind. She’d dream about it that night for sure.
A coop bringing them out of the woods was closely followed by a sharp right-angle turn into a narrow post-and-rail fence. “You must ride the turn accurately, or you’ll miss the second fence.” Jack said. They continued by a copse of trees and into the field where Sarah and Kayla had seen the giant spools and the dollhouse. Another hill followed, and Sarah stopped and pointed. “Look what’s on the top!” she said. It was the finish flags, and tomorrow a timer would record their times when they went through them.
Jack looked up the last hill. “’Tis here you’ll know if your horses have heart, that quality that makes them strive on even when they’re spent.”
This hill was not as long as the others, nor as steep. But except for Rita, the riders were all thinking how demanding the course would be for their horses. “Chancellor is so strong behind,” Rita said. “He won’t have any trouble pushing up these hills. He zooms up the hill we have in back of my barn.”
Tim looked at her quizzically. “There’s a difference between running up one hill and doing three all at once on a long course with twenty-one obstacles along the way.”
“I’m not worried,” Rita sniffed. “As a matter of fact, anything but first place isn’t on my radar screen.”
Later that afternoon, once they’d returned to the dorm, Sarah and Kayla took their second shower of the day and changed for dinner. They met Tim, Rita, and Kelly in the dining room. “I hope we’ve all gotten rid of the cobwebs on our brains and can ace the Equus Quiz questions tonight,” Tim said, grinning.
Sarah frowned. She’d forgotten about the quiz and had planned to go back to the event grounds after dinner. She wanted to walk Prince and let him have some grass. But it was a team activity, and she didn’t have much choice.
“It’s too bad we don’t have Paige here,” Kayla said. “She reads horse stuff all the time. She’d probably know all the answers.” Sarah noticed Tim frowning when he heard Kayla mention Paige.
After they’d eaten the buffet dinner, which featured strawberry shortcake for dessert, the teams moved to a large meeting room. Everyone seemed to have fun playing the game, and the Brookmeade team members didn’t disgrace themselves. On Sarah’s first question, she was asked the name of the Native Americans who first bred Appaloosas. She was happy she remembered it was the Nez Perce tribe. The team that drove such a long distance, the Riverton Riders, must have been studying during their long trip, because they finished in first place. For a prize, each member got a leather lead shank.
It was almost half-past nine when the quiz ended, too late to return to the event grounds. Sarah and Kayla went back to their room and pulled their cross-country maps out to look at the course one more time. “What do you think?” Sarah asked Kayla.
“I’m afraid Fanny might spook at some of the strange-looking obstacles, like the dollhouse. There’s a lot out there our horses have never seen before.” She stretched out on her bed to study the course map more closely.
“I just hope Prince won’t freak out at the ditch,” Sarah said. “And those hills are going to slow every
body down. Thank goodness for the old orchard trail!” She’d been making it her conditioning ride at least three times a week, and sometimes they’d galloped up the ridge to the top.
Kayla put her map down to look at Sarah. “There are some hills in the preserve where I ride, but they’re not nearly as steep as the ones on the course.” Her eyebrows scrunched up with concern. “I guess I just won’t push Fanny tomorrow. I want to go clear, and I’m not going to worry about time penalties.”
“Yeah,” Sarah said. “This is our first event. I’m more interested in not stressing my horse than bringing home the Wexford Cup.”
Kayla banged a fist on her bed. “The team is in third place. I wonder where we’d be if I hadn’t blown the test!”
“Forget about today,” Sarah said. “We need to think about tomorrow. Let’s go over early enough so we can walk the course again.”
* * * * *
The next day dawned bright and clear—so far, their luck was holding on the weather. When Sarah and Kayla arrived at the event grounds, Tim and Kelly were already there, but there was no sign of Rita. Tim was changing his shoes, getting ready to walk the course. Kelly had fed the horses, and when Sarah went to check on Prince, he was cleaning up the last of his grain. He was quick to leave the bucket to come to her for the carrot she offered. After she hugged him and stroked his face, Sarah went back to Tim.
“Kayla and I want to walk the course again. Mind if we come with you?” Sarah asked.
Crown Prince Challenged Page 27
