“It’s okay,” I said. “I can wait.”
And I could. I had Bluebird to ride and pony jumping competitions to enter and if Harlow was going to be sound then that meant Esther would keep him around after all. Everything at the barn was perfect and as long as I had that to hold onto then I could forget about the horrible things happening at home.
“I can’t wait for winter,” Mickey said later as we tacked up Hampton and Bluebird for a trail ride.
“Me either,” I said. “Winter is going to be awesome.”
THE END
COMING SOON
SHOW JUMPING DREAMS BOOK 3: WINTER BLUES
The winter show circuit is in full swing and the only thing Emily Dickenson cares about is winning the Snowball Cup. It’s the highlight of the show season and the winner will walk away with two thousand dollars and a private weekend jumping clinic with renowned show jumping legend Miguel Rodriguez. With her mom putting all her savings into the winter wedding of doom to scumbag Derek, Emily needs that money to pay for Bluebird’s upkeep. And the jumping clinic could certainly help her deal with the way Bluebird almost smacks her in the face every time he takes a jump.
The only problem is that Jess is more determined than ever to see Emily fail. She has her own super pony that jumps just as high and fast as Bluebird, without all the theatrics. And with Ethan abandoning Fox Run Farm and defecting to Sand Hill Stables, if she can ruin the farm Emily loves in the process, all the better.
So when Jess’s dirty games end in Esther being temporarily deported back to Sweden, the Sand Hill crew is left to fend for themselves. Can three kids really run a farm and win their blue ribbons at the same time? And will Emily still have time to talk her mother out of marrying a monster?
WINTER BLUES : CHAPTER ONE
“Remind me why we are doing this again?” Mickey groaned.
She was sitting on the back of Hampton at the in gate, a brisk breeze blowing in from the North. Bluebird was tied to the trailer because even though we’d rented him a stall at the show, he wouldn’t go in it. I could see him now, his butt to the wind and face stuffed in his hay net.
“Because we are winners,” I said.
“Are you sure about that?” Mickey asked and pointed to the ring where Ethan had just flattened a triple combination.
He came out of the ring, red faced and sullen but still managed to pat his stocky chestnut Wendell on the neck.
“It was my fault boy,” he said.
“Yes it was,” Esther snapped.
She was wearing her best breeches and boots, even though she wasn’t riding. The influx of cash from the new students who enrolled in lessons after summer camp had allowed her to purchase polo shirts and sweaters with the Sand Hill logo on them. It was supposed to be two sand hill cranes majestically flying over a horse barn but we all thought it looked like a rainbow over a pile of manure.
“Why do you kids always need perfect weather to do well? Back in Sweden we rode in the gales and the snow. Sometimes I could hardly see the jumps through the snow flurries but guess what, I jumped them anyway. That was dedication, something you are all sadly lacking.”
Mickey leaned down as Esther walked away.
“She’s such a liar. All the barns have indoor arenas over there. She had it better than we do.”
“I think she’s just trying to inspire us,” I said.
But since the summer, Esther hadn’t been herself. She’d snapped at us a lot more than usual and once I thought I heard her crying in the bathroom.
“Don’t forget,” I said. “She runs the barn all by herself and we are basically the product of all her hard work. If we don’t do well, it reflects badly on her.”
“Well I’m going to nail it,” Mickey said as they called her number. “Want to know why?”
I nodded as I gave her boots a final wipe.
“Yes, do impart your wisdom upon us oh mighty one,” I teased.
“I’m going to leave Hampton the heck alone and let him do is job for once.”
“Good luck,” I said.
But leaving Hampton to his own devices on a blustery, cold day was obviously the wrong decision. He spooked at a sweater that was flapping on the rail and a bunch of fake roses that launched into the air like a missile as he was flying over the last vertical. The top pole came down with a resounding thud.
“It’s not your fault,” I told Mickey as she came out of the ring looking crestfallen. “A horse would have to be half dead not to freak out at all the stuff blowing around out here today.”
“Bluebird seems all right,” she pointed to the trailer.
“Well I guess there is still hope then,” I said.
The pony jumper class was the last one of the day and Bluebird was the only pony from our barn competing. If I didn’t place then I wouldn’t qualify for the Winter Blizzard Challenge, a series of three shows ending in the Snowball Cup. The prize was two thousand dollars and I really needed the money. My mom was spending all her savings planning the wedding of the century. It was something I preferred not to think about but either way Bluebird needed a new blanket for the winter and they didn’t come cheap. If I didn’t win the money he would be spending the whole winter outside in his paddock, freezing his little butt off.
“He’s all hairy,” Mom had said when I tried to talk to her about it. “I don’t see why he needs clothes.”
“He needs a blanket because I have to clip him,” I said, pushing her wedding magazines out of the way. “If I don’t clip him then it will take too long to cool him off after I ride and he’ll catch a chill.”
“It’s Florida Emily, don’t be so dramatic.”
When it came to horses, my mother didn’t understand and now it was even worse. She had Derek, nodding in the background and agreeing with everything she said. He didn’t even like animals at all. The only thing he seemed to care about was his cars, all five of them lined up on our driveway like some kind of fancy limo service.
“What does he even need five cars for?” I asked.
“He just likes them,” Mom said.
But I could see the way she glared at them as she had to park in the street. Our place was barely big enough for me and Mom. With Derek moving in there just wasn’t any room at all. We were like sardines packed into a can and any day now we were going to blow the top right off. It wasn’t a question of if it happened but rather a question of when.
“You want a blanket so that you’ll stay all toasty and warm this winter, right?” I asked Bluebird as I brushed him.
He didn’t answer.
“Hope you brought your hockey mask,” Jess snapped as she walked by, dragging her new pony Stardust behind her. “One of these days that little monster is going to break your nose.”
I didn’t answer. It was better just to ignore Jess, even though she was infuriating. It wasn’t enough that she and her sister had amazingly talented twin Hanoverian mares which they won consistently on but after giving up Bluebird because she was unable to ride him, Jess had talked her father into buying a new pony just so she could beat me in the pony jumper classes. Stardust was the tiny mare we’d found tied up in Jess’s barn over the summer but one call to animal control later and Jess had found a new way to torture her mount. Lunge her until she was practically half dead. As they walked off I could see the sweat dripping from the poor pony’s stomach. With any luck by the time they got to the ring, Stardust would just flat out refuse to jump and dump Jess on her butt.
“Too bad we can’t rescue all the ponies,” Mickey said, leaning against the trailer with a steaming mug of hot coffee in her hand.
“Yeah but I don’t think Jess will be sending that one to the kill auction any time soon.”
It had only been by sheer luck that I’d managed to rescue Bluebird from the dog food men and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the help of Ethan and Sally, the girl who once owned him.
“I wish she could have come to see us jump today,” I whispered into Bluebird’s man
e.
But Sally was back at Twin Spires, an elite boarding school for young riders. She’d sent me a text that morning wishing me good luck and telling me that I’d better not let that awful Jess beat me. When I told Mickey, she just grinned.
“See, I told you there were perks to getting an evil stepfather,” she said. “You got a new phone, didn’t you?”
“I’d rather just go without the phone,” I grumbled. I didn’t need another father. The one I had was good enough, even though I didn’t know where he was.
“You ready to warm up?” Esther appeared, also holding a cup of hot coffee.
“What’s with all the hot drinks?” I said. “Where is my coffee? I’m cold too you know.”
“Win your class and you can have all the coffee you want,” Esther said.
“Fine,” I grumbled. “Torture me why don’t you?”
Only I was kind of glad I didn’t have the coffee churning around in my stomach because by the time I got to the warm up ring there was a bunch of ponies sailing over the warm up jump. It seemed like everyone in a hundred mile radius had brought their ponies to qualify for the Blizzard Challenge and no one was going to go down without a fight.
“Watch it,” a girl on a pretty gray called out as she and another girl tried to take the jump at the same time.
“I was here first,” the other girl snapped.
“No you weren’t.”
“Yes I was.”
“Really?” Esther shouted at them. “Are we in preschool now? Can you just get on with it so my student can have her turn? And where are your trainers?”
Both girls pointed to a lean man in breeches who was standing next to Jess and Stardust. Andre, the Fox Run Farm trainer. He was good and he produced winners. Once upon a time I’d dreamt of being noticed by him at one of the shows and having him take me under his wing. Now I wasn’t so sure. If we were an example of how Esther taught, then Jess was an example of how Andre taught and there was no way I was going to end up a spoiled brat who didn’t care one bit about her horse.
“This is ridiculous,” Esther said as more riders tried to take the jump together. “Think you can get by without a warm up jump?”
“Sure,” I said. “Bluebird knows what he’s doing.”
“Good, then go down to the end of the ring where it’s quiet and work him on the flat for a bit. Not too much though. I don’t want him getting all worked up in this weather.”
I took Bluebird down to the far end and pushed him into a working trot. He was eager and supple beneath me. I’d been riding him every day and we both had the muscles to prove it. I let him canter for a minute and then slowed him to a walk.
Andre had taken over the warm up jump and was directing his students to take turns one at a time. I watched as Jess kicked her heels into her pony’s sides and Stardust dug her heels in right at the last minute. Jess sailed over the pony’s head and landed on the pole with a loud crack.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Claire Svendsen fell in love with horses at age two when she got her first pony. The only trouble was that it wasn’t a real horse, it was a rocking horse. From that day on she begged, pleaded and bribed for lessons, riding clothes and a horse of her own. She had to wait and work really hard to finally get her first real horse but when she did, it was a dream come true. Over the years she has trained horses, given lessons and even run her own stable.
No longer able to ride due to injury, Claire lives vicariously through the characters in her books. When she’s not busy writing, you’ll find her hanging out at the barn with her retired Thoroughbred Merlin who loves carrots, apples and bowing on command.
STAY CONNECTED
To keep up to date on all the Show Jumping Dreams news and to learn about horse and pony care, you can follow my horse Merlin on Facebook. He is the only one with the inside scoop. Plus he’s really cute!
https://www.facebook.com/showjumpingdreams
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
COMING SOON
WINTER BLUES : CHAPTER ONE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
STAY CONNECTED
Pony Jumpers (Show Jumping Dreams ~ Book 2) Page 11
