Clearwater Bay 1- Flying Changes

by Kate Lattey

  I take his advice and ride firmly towards the jump. True enough, Finn is unperturbed by the notion that pigs might fly and jumps cleanly over without a moment’s hesitation. A left hand curve towards the double, and I collect her firmly on approach. She slows down and we come into the combination on a very collected stride. I’m concentrating so hard on keeping her steady that I realise almost too late that we’re too close to the jump, and sure enough, Finn hits the back rail. I hear it rattle in the cups, but can’t tell if it’s fallen, and I can’t turn to check with another jump only two strides away. I push her on for the second fence and she lengthens her stride and takes off a mile away from it, but somehow gets over cleanly.

  I sit up and gather her together as we double back in the corner and approach the penultimate jump of rustic poles. Finn barely blinks at them and jumps easily over, and we canter the last five strides to the final jump in a steady rhythm. Up and over the ascending oxer and we are through the flags. I stand up in my stirrups and pat her neck enthusiastically. That’s the best round we’ve ever jumped, despite the problems we had at the double.

  “That’s a clear round for That’s Final, which make this combination the first to go through to the jump off. Next to jump, Amy Fairfax-McLeod riding Gemini’s Sunbeam.”

  I walk Finn back to the gate as Amy trots in. Finn pins her ears at Topaz as Amy grins at me. “Nice round.”

  I smile back. “Thanks! Good luck.”

  I slide off Finn’s back and loosen her girth, then stand by the ringside holding her as I watch Amy jump a clear round to join me in the jump off. There are another twenty riders to go so it takes a while, but I recognise a lot of the ponies and riders from other shows. I’ve competed against at least half of them before. It certainly is a small world around here.

  Natalie jumps a clear round on Spider, much to everyone’s astonishment, not least of all her own. Alec is next and true to form, Dolly spooks madly at the picket and refuses, putting herself out of contention. Tegan enters the ring with her usual boundless confidence, but goes on to knock down both elements of the double, losing both her stirrups over the second fence as Nugget stag-leaps it. The black pony takes advantage of her instability and launches himself into a series of big bucks, making Tegan swear loudly at him and earning her a stern warning about inappropriate language from the judges.

  Finally it’s time for the jump off, and I remount. Now that she’s out of contention, Tegan is determined that I’m going to win.

  “Nobody else is going to cut those corners so sharp,” she insists. “Finn can turn so tight. I wish I was in the jump off. I’d carve it up out there. Besides, all you have to do is beat Pushbutton and the Spaz, and we already know you can do that.”

  “There are more riders than just me, Natalie and Amy in the jump off,” I tell Tegan, but she dismisses my comment with a wave of her hand.

  “Nobody decent though. You should win this easily.”

  I feel uneasy in the face of her optimism, but as we watch the first pony go around the course, I start to feel hopeful. It’s a skewbald pony that I’ve seen before called Te Atiawa Showtime, and while it jumps clear, its time is very slow.

  “This isn’t the slow-munters,” Tegan says loudly. “Pick it up a notch!”

  I feel my face going red and turn Finn away to keep her moving. We’re jumping off in reverse order, so I’ll be last but one to go.

  “That round’ll be a piece of cake to beat,” Tegan assures me. “The pony practically fell asleep out there.”

  The next two riders both take rails, and then it’s Natalie’s turn. She canters Spider in front of the flags, and then heads through on her bell. For once she’s actually riding forward, and meets the first jump on a good stride. She clears the second and then cuts across in front of number three, taking a tight line to the picket. Spider seems to have hardened up a bit as he barely spooks at it, jumping easily over. Then, much to our surprise, Natalie turns in front of number five and takes the short line across the ring to fence six. That’s the cunningly tight line that Tegan had assured me no-one else would even attempt. Not only does Natalie attempt it, but Spider clears the jump and canters strongly on to the double. He jumps neatly through and she turns him tightly to race towards the last jump.

  “Too fast,” Tegan assures me. “She’s gonna knock it down.”

  But Natalie collects Spider a few strides out from the last and he clears the jump neatly, dashing for the finish to record the first clear and actually fast round. Tegan is left speechless. Natalie rides out of the ring to much clapping from the spectators, and meets my eyes as she passes me.

  “Beat that,” she says snottily.

  “I will, don’t worry,” I snap back.

  “Holy cow.” Tegan is still in a state of shock. “Someone’s taught her to ride.”

  A little dun pony called Flea jumps next, and the tiny rider on board is a clear crowd favourite, being so small and cute up against the bigger ponies. The combination start well, but when the kid tries to take the same line as Natalie into number six, the pony swerves out to the side and the girl goes over the jump alone. She starts crying and the St John’s people rush into the ring, delighted to have something to do. My heart starts pounding at the sight of the medics, but the kid isn’t hurt. Her mum drags the pony over and tells her daughter to quit bawling and get back on, despite the medics’ desperate attempts to strap her to a headboard.

  “There’s nothing wrong with her, she’s fine. Come on Lauren, get up and get back on.”

  She practically throws the still sobbing girl back into the saddle as the fence stewards rebuild the jump and the mum yells at her kid until she tries the jump again. Flea runs out again, Lauren almost comes off over his head, and the judges ring the bell and send the kid out of the ring before her mother can torture her any further.

  Next in is Amy on Topaz, so I take Finn for a canter and jump her over the practice jump one more time. She comes in on the wrong stride and hits it with her front feet, sending it crashing to the ground. I look over to see Amy urging Topaz through the combination, and know I have no time to have another shot at it. It’s now or never. I trot Finn back to the gate and watch Amy race through the flags.

  Tegan is looking stunned. “She went clear too. It’s like topsy turvy day. All the crazy ponies are jumping clear, and Nugget’s taking rails.”

  I laugh at her as I ride into the ring and congratulate Amy on her way out.

  “Here we go,” I tell Finn as I canter her around the ring. “Let’s show them all how it’s done.”

  The bell rings and Finn surges forward. I aim her at the first jump and she rushes to it and springs over. We race on to the second, making the distance in only six strides, and she flies that one too. I realise suddenly that I’m supposed to collect her for the turn, and sit up quickly, fixing my eyes on the next jump and opening my right rein. Finn slips a little on the sharp turn and then sees the scary picket in front of her and backs right off. I give her a little kick and growl at her.

  “Geddup!”

  She bounds into the air, clearing it by miles, then shoots off on landing. I realise too late that we won’t be able to make the tight turn, and curse my stupidity in not collecting her for the corner properly. But we’re clear so far, and if we go like the clappers around the rest of the course and leave all the jumps up, we still might make it. Finn is way faster than Spider, and I can’t let Natalie beat me at my last show. Finn races towards the pig jump, flies over it and we head towards the double, where I’m forced to steady her or send all of the poles flying. I sit up and ask her to slow down, and she throws her head up but steadies her stride. We make it over the first fence, one stride, two strides, and we’re clear over the second. I turn her the moment she lands and race her to the last jump, all the way on the other side of the ring. Three strides out I start to steady her, but she picks this moment to ignore me again, and we approach at speed. I hold on tight and trust to luck as Finn gets in deep, but she
jumps big and soars over without rattling a pole. We gallop for the finish and it takes me half a circuit of the ring to bring her back under control.

  “That was clear in a time of…” The announcer hesitates and my heart almost stops beating in anticipation. I have to have beaten Natalie’s time, I have to be in the lead. “46.02 seconds for That’s Final, putting this combination into second place.”

  Dammit! I trot Finn out of the ring with a rueful shaking of my head, although I’m still delighted at how well Finn jumped. Moments later I’m back into the ring and I position Finn in the line-up between Natalie and Amy, with the skewbald pony having ended up fourth.

  “She’s jumping well,” Amy comments to me and I rub Finn’s neck.

  “She’s improved loads,” I agree. “I stuffed up that line into number six though.”

  “Oh well, there’s always a next time,” Amy says, then shakes her head. “But you’re leaving, aren’t you? What are you going to do with Finn?”

  “I’m selling her,” I admit, then a thought occurs to me. “You want a new pony?”

  “I do actually,” Amy says. “But Finn looks a bit hot for me. I’m not much good with flighty sensitive types. She needs a nice quiet rider, like you.”

  I glow with the compliment as the judge comes down the line, tying ribbons around the ponies’ necks. She congratulates Natalie, telling her “Well ridden”, which I never thought I’d hear someone say about Pushbutton, then turns to me.

  “You’ve got a very quick pony there,” she says as she ties the blue ribbon around Finn’s neck. “These jumps are child’s play for her. I look forward to seeing you in Ring 1 next season.”

  I thank her, not bothering to explain that there will be no next season for me and Finn. I sit proudly on my pony’s back, pleased with our success and thinking how much more satisfied I would be if Natalie hadn’t had to win the class. The judge is still trying to award Amy third place, as Topaz is running backwards and pretending to be scared of the ribbon. Amy kicks her in the guts and tells her to get over herself, and the judge eventually manages to shove the ribbon into Amy’s hand and move down the line to the skewbald.

  “Whose pony are you calling flighty?” I tease Amy and she laughs.

  “Which is exactly why I’m handing her down to Bee,” she replies. “Then I won’t have to deal with all this anymore, and I’ll get myself another nice sensible gelding.”

  Natalie leads us on a lap of honour, and Finn leaps into canter right behind Spider. Natalie looks over her shoulder at me as we pass the double, just in time to see Finn pin back her ears and try to bite Spider’s rump.

  “Hey, watch it!” she yells, totally ruining my enjoyment of the moment.

  We bring the ponies back to a walk and head out of the gate. I have two more classes today, a 90cm speed class and the metre Championship, which I only entered on a whim. But now I’m determined to beat Natalie in both of them if it kills me.

  About an hour later, Tegan and I are back on board our ponies, watching Alec jump Dolly in the speed round. She’s very nippy and good at tight turns, but not so good at jumping without much run-up, so she’s not much of a speed pony. She gets around clear in a very smart time though, and Tegan and I both drop our reins and clap loudly for him as he comes out of the ring.

  By the time it’s my turn to jump, there are only three riders left to go, and unbelievably, Natalie has jumped another fast clear to be sitting in third place. Tegan has disappeared with Nugget, furious at the sixteen fault cricket score he notched up in his round. Finn is excitedly tugging at the reins as I circle her before the flags. The bell rings and I point her towards the first fence, full of determination.

  Less than a minute later, I ride out of the ring with eight faults and a sweating, jibbing pony. She went so fast that I couldn’t make the tight turns I wanted to, and I’m bitterly disappointed. I dismount and walk her back to the truck to commiserate with Tegan.

  “I can’t believe that Pushbutton is beating us! Both of us!” Tegan is adamant that something fundamental has gone wrong with the universe. “I swear, the fates have conspired against us. Maybe God is punishing you for leaving! That must be it. You have to stay, you can’t let Natalie beat you at your last show!”

  I dump Finn’s saddle on the ground and grab a sponge bucket. “Guess she finally found the right button.”

  Tegan huffs at that. “Meanwhile Nugget’s buttons are all malfunctioning. I need a stiff drink.” She disappears into the truck as Abby Brooks rides past on a big grey horse.

  “Hi there,” she calls out to me. “How’s the pony going?”

  “Okay,” I reply. “She was second in her first class but we stuffed up the speed round.”

  “Well done! Speed classes are always a bit touch and go. I’ve got one now. See ya round,” and she rides off. Tegan comes down the ramp with a can of beer in her hand.

  “This is the stiffest I could find. You would think this family would have more booze. Who were you talking to?”

  I grin at her, knowing that she’ll be furious she missed the chance to introduce herself to Abby…again. I’m about to tell her when I see Brooke Westcott come trotting past us on Zeke, a red ribbon around his neck. Natalie and Amy are walking their ponies behind her, Natalie with a fourth place.

  Tegan laughs out loud. “Looks like Pushbutton got beaten by her little sister.”

  Natalie overhears, as I’m sure Tegan intended.

  “Well you two aren’t much competition,” she replies.

  It’s not much of a comeback, but it’s painfully true, and Tegan can’t think of a suitably cutting response. Alec jogs up on Dolly, feet out of the stirrups, a blue second place ribbon around her scrawny neck.

  “At least Alec beat her,” I tell Tegan, but it’s small consolation. “Come on, let’s go watch the pros.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  The day drifts on. We cheer Abby on loudly as her grey horse beats Steph’s little chestnut in the speed class. Steph gets her own back by coming first and second in the Young Rider event, forcing Abby aboard Final Chance into third place. He jumps beautifully though, and I can imagine Finn flying the high jumps in the big classes. Alec jumps Lucky in a metre-fifteen class that Amy wins on Sputnik. Sarah jumps Mickey in the same class but he has two refusals, and she retires him for the day with some excuse about the ground being too hard.

  Before we know it, it’s time for the Open Pony 1m Championship - our last class of the day and my last class on Finn, ever. Tegan is in two minds over whether to start Nugget, but I tell her she might as well have a crack at it.

  “If he starts smashing poles into kindling, you’ll know it’s time to upgrade him.”

  “Don’t even joke about that,” she mutters as she tightens his girth. “I’m so glad my mum’s not here today. She’d be having a field day, telling me that Nugget is useless and I should sell him and buy a proper pony.”

  “I was kidding,” I assure her as I swing onto Finn’s back.

  “I know.” She pulls Nugget’s legs forward to smooth out any girth wrinkles and mounts up. “I think he’ll do better in this class. I have a good feeling about it. Those other ones were too small for him. He was bored.”

  I have my doubts, personally, but I don’t disagree with her. The last thing I need is two people who won’t speak to me. We ride down to the ring and start working the ponies in. Finn’s excited after the thrill of the speed round, but after a few circles at sitting trot, she settles down a bit. I try to suppress my nervousness. This is our final attempt to win a show jumping class. Part of me just wants it to be over, and part of me is utterly determined to do it right this time, and go out with a bang. Tabby comes over and holds the ponies for us while we walk the course. It’s quite twisty, but that suits Finn as it keeps her mind on the job. Somehow, Tegan is again swaggering with confidence and telling me that she’s going to shoot herself if one of us (preferably her) doesn’t beat Natalie this time around. I look around the ring and po
int out to Tegan what I noticed earlier.

  “I don’t think Pushbutton’s even entered in this class.”

  My suspicions are confirmed when the announcer reads out the starting order. There are only twelve competitors left in this event, as there’s rumoured to be a big car accident on the southbound highway and lots of people are heading home early in an attempt to avoid the delays. I warm Finn up and put her over the practice jump a couple of times. She jumps it brilliantly, and suddenly I can’t wait to get her into the ring. My nervousness is all but gone, replaced by eagerness. I’m ready to get out there and have a crack at the course.

  Alec is in the ring on Dolly and I watch him clear the last three fences, then trot out the ring with only a brief nod to me as I ride Finn through the gate. Forget it, I tell myself. Don’t worry about that now. Just concentrate on this last chance.

  The bell rings and I canter Finn through the flags. She flies the first jump and we make a graceful curve to the second. She is steady and balanced, her neck arched and her strides smooth beneath me. We clear the second jump and take our time on the tight rollback turn to the third.

  “Steady as she goes,” I tell my pony and she flickers an ear back in response to my voice.

  She accelerates slightly on approach but clears the jump easily. Despite the extra ten centimetres on the jumps, she’s jumping better than ever and so far, so effortless. We turn left for number four, blue slanted poles, and she jumps them neatly and canters quickly on to the fifth, a brick wall. Never one to be fazed by solid jumps, she flies over happily and we swing around to the one-stride double. She leaps over the first, takes the stride, then seems surprised to find the second element so close. I curse myself for not preparing her better as she chips in an extra half-stride before launching herself over the upright. I hear a gentle tap of her hooves on wood but the jump stays up as we turn to the right and approach the planks. She picks up her feet well over these, clearing the jump easily. Six strides on is a huge Swedish oxer that looked enormous on the course walk, but Finn takes it in her stride. One jump to go, and I refuse to dwell on the fact that we’re clear so far. We swing around to the right and approach the wide triple bar of black and yellow poles. Finn pricks her ears, lengthens her stride and soars over the jump. We land smoothly and canter through the flags. A clear round. We’re in the jump off, and with the way she’s jumping today, we’ve actually got a shot at winning this class.