Scout's Destiny (A Free Rein Fanfiction)

Chapter 2

Scout woke up to Zoe in his stall, putting some food into his bucket. 'Morning, boy. Mia is going to ride you today...I'm sorry, there isn't anything I can do about it. Her dad owns the stables and everyone basically does what he says...' Zoe whispered sadly. 'I need to go practice with Raven, so Marcus will tack you up.' She said. 'Talking to those horses again, Zoe?' A voice called from the stall door. 'It's not like they can understand you or anything.' Zoe sighed. 'How do you know, Mia? Maybe they can.' Zoe said, patting Scout. Mia laughed and rolled her eyes. 'You are stupid, Zoe. Anyways, get that horse ready.' She said before walking off. Scout didn't like Mia at all. He hated the thought of being ridden by her. Zoe walked out of Scout's stall and into Raven's stall. Then, a guy walked into Scout's stall. He pinned his ears back and whinnied. 'Woah, Scout, calm down.' He said. He was carrying a saddle and bridle. Scout figured that this was that Marcus that Zoe was talking about. Scout realized that he wasn't a threat and stood still. 'Good boy.' Marcus said, patting his neck. He started to brush Scout and then tacked him up. 'That's it, Scout.' Marcus encouraged, leading the red bay gelding out of the stall. 

They walked to a small field, where Mia was waiting. 'Here he is, Mia. Be careful with him, though. He's had it bad and might not be so used to being ridden. Just walk and trot for now.' Marcus called out to Mia. 'Whatever. I can handle him, I'm a good rider.' Mia said dismissively. She got up on Scout and kicked him on. She had only been in the saddle for a few seconds and Scout already didn't like how she rode. Mia rode with too tight of a rein, making Scout toss his head constantly to escape it. She felt heavy on his back and kicked with her heels too much. Scout only needed a quick squeeze to know what someone wanted of him. 'Give him some more rein, Mia!' Marcus instructed. Mia did as he told her. Scout gave a sigh of relief. They moved up into trot. They started jumping over some small jumps, something Scout loved. 

After awhile, Mia slowed Scout to a halt and dismounted Scout. 'Well done, today, Mia. Can you go untack him?' Marcus said as he patted Scout's neck. 'I can't right now. I need to train with Firefly for the competition. This horse just won't be ready in time.' Mia said, before walking off. Marcus sighed and led Scout to the pasture. He untacked Scout and led him inside the field. He took off Scout's head collar and the red bay stallion cantered away. He'd never galloped freely before. He saw Zoe and Raven in the arena next to the paddock. He trotted to the fence to watch. He wished he could jump like that. He dreamed of jumping in a competition like Zoe and Raven. When they were done, he whinnied softly. Raven whinnied back and Zoey chuckled. She dismounted and led Raven over. 'Hey, Scout! I guess you and Raven are friends now?' Zoe said, petting Scout's nose. Raven reached his head over and touched noses with Scout. 'Were you watching us, boy? I'll get you jumping like Raven, maybe you'll even be in the competition...'