I tapped my crop to my helmet, settled in the saddle and the bell rang. We cantered towards the first jump and then we were off. It was a winding course for a speed class and there were not a lot of places where you could flat out gallop but we did anyway. The vertical to the oxer, the double combination to the fan jump.
There was a small water jump and my pony stretched out across it like he was seventeen hands high with legs that went on forever. Our rollback was the tightest of anyone I’d seen go so far, our track well inside the other hoof prints that had been left in the footing. There was a moment when Bluebird saw a long spot and went for it. I clung to his neck, willing us to clear the black and white jump. Trying to adjust him and make him find a shorter distance would only be a recipe for disaster. I knew it was too late for that. I silently begged the poles to stay in their cups but I didn’t have to worry. Bluebird never even touched them. We galloped across the ring to the final fence, a blue and teal vertical with the cutout of a fish swimming beneath the poles. We were over it and through the finish line clear.
As I patted my pony with tears in my eyes, I knew that it didn’t matter if we won or not. We’d done our best. We were fast and clean. That was all anyone could ask. And as I rode out of the ring there was my family, Dad and Jordan both on their feet, clapping and cheering. Shelby was next to them doing the same and there was Rae, a smile on her face. She knew that we’d done our best.
“Nice round,” Missy said, her voice laced with arsenic. I hadn’t seen her standing by the ring but there she was, glaring at me.
“Thank you,” I said as I rode past without stopping.
“You won’t beat us,” she called out after me.
“Okay.” I shrugged.
CHAPTER FIFTY TWO
Bluebird was taken back to the barn and given a nice cool bath. Julio did it himself. I sat on an upturned bucket in front of a fan, watching my pony get pampered and trying not to throw up. I still felt sick. I’d definitely picked up a stomach virus or that deadly food poisoning that Shelby had been telling me about.
“Thank you Julio,” I told the groom as he applied a thick layer of poultice and brown paper and then wrapped my pony’s legs.
“I owed you, remember?” he said with a wink. “Now we are even. Besides, you look a little green.”
When Bluebird was tucked into his stall, I went in and hugged him, whispering my thanks. He was already eating his hay. He didn’t care about things like thanks. He just cared about food and jumping and me.
“It’s almost time for Missy to jump,” Jordan said.
He’d run back to get me and was out of breath, his face red as he clutched his side.
“I don’t care,” I replied.
“Don’t you want to see?” he said.
“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t.”
We sat together in Bluebird’s stall. Jordan had fetched me some ginger ale. He said it was good for upset stomachs. I sipped the bubbly liquid slowly and tried not to sneeze. In the background I could hear the crowd, through the noises of horses and people, the beat of a horse’s hooves and the sharp rap as he hit a rail.
“I think she had a rail down,” Jordan said.
“I really don’t care,” I said again, laying my head on his shoulder. “We did our best and now I just want to go home.”
THE END
COMING SOON
SHOW JUMPING DREAMS #33 PUSH BUTTON
Emily has survived her experience on the road, travelling with an up and coming show jumper. She’s learned how much hard work it can be but also that the rewards are great and it has only cemented her desire to continue on the road to her Olympic dreams. But for now she is content to be back at Second Chance Farm, building their business and helping clients.
So when a new girl comes to board and train, Emily thinks this will be a good thing for Faith and Falcon. Faith needs someone her own age to ride with and Falcon needs focus. A little friendly competition never hurt anyone. But when friendly competition takes a turn in the wrong direction, two little girls will put their ponies lives on the line just to prove who is the best.
And things aren’t all sunshine and roses at home. Emily is avoiding Jordan because she still isn’t sure what she really feels for him. Hanna is still mad at her because she got sent home and Emily didn’t and Esther has a new horse for Emily to ride, one which Hanna thinks should belong to her. And as the horse drives a wedge between the two girls, Emily learns that sometimes blood is thicker than water but that there are exceptions to the rule.
PUSH BUTTON: CHAPTER ONE
We won the speed class. I’d wanted to cheer and jump up and down but I’d felt too sick. I was barely able to keep down the ginger ale that Jordan had fetched for me and I just wanted to curl up in a ball and die.
“Food poisoning,” Shelby said with a nod. “I told you so.”
She handed me the big blue ribbon and the satin sash that would have been hung around Bluebird’s neck before we made our victory gallop. I’d been too sick to do so and Bluebird was already settled in his stall. The look on Missy’s face would have been priceless, especially since she had a rail and didn’t place at all but revenge didn’t seem so important anymore. Instead I just felt sorry for her and for Socks and I wanted to go home.
Dad packed up my stuff and eventually we said our goodbyes. Shelby hugged me and said that maybe she’d see me next year. I nodded but I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next month let alone next year. It seemed so far away.
“Thank you for the wonderful experience that you’ve given me,” I told Rae.
She had her phone in her hand as always but for once, when it rung, she didn’t answer it. Instead her full attention was on me.
“You’ve done well,” she told me. “And I’d like to think you’ll be back again but I suspect you’ll be competing against me instead.”
“I doubt that,” I said, my face flushing red.
“Don’t doubt,” she said. “Believe. I didn’t think your pony had it in him when I first saw him but you proved me wrong. You both did. Good luck to you.”
She shook my hand like I was a grown up and then her phone started ringing again and she was gone. Julio handed me my pony.
“You’re a hard worker,” he said, his voice gruff. “And you’re welcome to come back any time.”
“Thank you Julio,” I said.
I wanted to think that for a second I caught sight of a tear in the old groom’s eye but I knew he was too tough for that.
“Ready to go?” Dad said, taking Bluebird from me.
“Yes, I’m ready,” I said.
As I walked across the show grounds, I felt sad. The summer had been so hot that showing had almost been unbearable and yet I knew that as soon as I got home I’d miss the smell of crushed grass and sweet hay. The horses nickering to one another as grooms fed them. The sleepy eyed riders in the warm up ring, working their horses while it was still dark out and then the hustle and bustle of the classes, riders galloping to win, ribbons and dirt and excitement all rolled into one.
“You coming?” Jordan called as I lagged behind, not sure if I needed to throw up again or not.
“Yes,” I said.
And I remembered that there was something that they hadn’t told me. Something had happened at home, I just knew it. So I ran after them, helping to load my pony and willing the journey to go quickly so that I could find out what was happening at home.
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.
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COLLECT THEM ALL
Other books in the Show Jumping Dreams series by Claire Svendsen
#1 Secret Rider
#2 Pony Jumpers
#3 Winter Blues
#4 Star Pupil
#5 Sale Horse
#6 Last Chance
#7 Hunter Pace
#8 Turf Wars
#9 Beach Ride
#10 White Horses
#11 Trick Pony
#12 Off Course
#13 Winter Wonderland
#14 Gift Horse
#15 Half Halt
#16 Young Riders
#17 Show Time
#18 Beginner’s Luck
#19 Chasing Ribbons
#20 Double Standards
#21 Stable Vices
#22 Jump Off
# 23 Dark Horse
#24 Boot Camp
#25 Second Chances
#26 Barn Sour
#27 Heart Horse
#28 Catch Rider
#29 Lead Change
#30 Two Strides
#31 Summer Rider
#32 Show Days
(COMING SOON) #33 Push Button
Show Days (Show Jumping Dreams ~ Book 32) Page 11
