Woman in a man's world

The next day

Norah was up early and in her zone, she gave the horses their food and then started to plan the day. Toby and June joined her soon after, they walked the horses for a big and Norah had breakfast. Mick joined her.

"Are you nervous?" He asked, Norah was a bit tense.

"A bit, I haven't done this in so long, I just don't want to mess it up." She said, looking at her plan for the day. Both horses would compete in different classes, everything needed to be perfect for it to work.

"You won't, it'll be fun. The boys are excited."

"When are they coming?"

"They're a bit slow in the mornings, they'll be here soon I think."

"Okay, you have a responsibility to keep them in check. I can't both compete and be a mom." She laughed, Mick nodded. The horses soon came back and then it was time to prepare them, make sure everything was spotless and fix their mane. During that time the boys joined, it was a good feeling in the stable even though Norah was nervous.

"I have to go walk the course, will you join me Mick?" Toby had all hands full getting Monty ready, Mick gladly followed. The boys too.

"Okay i really need to focus, can you stay here and Mick walk with me. You know how this works. Sorry." norah didn't want to be mean but this was important to her, they boys just nodded understandingly. Mick and Norah walked into the big arena and walked the course. When they walked the boys wondered why Norah did all sorts of calculations, angles, turns and different pointing.

"What is she doing?" Dennis asked.

"No clue mate," Clement said. After a while Mick and Norah made their way back but before exiting the arena Norah stopped and closed her eyes. With her hand it looked like she painted something, then she turned around and did the same thing.

"Cut off into number five so I can go inside number two and then straighten out to number six. Level up the canter before I start and then go for six strides instead of seven, he's big he can make that." Norah was utterly focused, Mick walked beside and just listened. They boys joined quietly not to disturb them although they had a million questions.

"How does it feel?" June asked when they came back, Norah petted Monty who was the first one for today.

"Feels alright, tricky course but i'll manage. Monty's the best so we can do it."

"You can do anything Norah, you won the GP last week. You can win this too!" Toby supported his friend. Norah chucked a bit then walked away to get her things. She came back with a black show jacket with red, white and green details. Brown boots and a helmet in the same colour.

"Could you watch this, I must have it before I enter the arena." Norah looked at Dennis who gladly took the jacket. The team decided that June would get Monty ready so Norah could watch a few other riders before she'd go.

Norah and Monty were warmed up and waited for their turn to go into the arena. Dennis handed her the jacked, she answered with a quiet "Thank you darling". When she put it on he saw that it matched with the saddle pad that monty had, they looked so perfect and well coordinated. Dennis quietly said good luck to Norah who returned a warm smile. When it was her turn she took a deep breath and walked in, then got into a canter. All of her friends were standing on the grandstand, nervous. Her round was smooth and fast, nothing that seemed wrong for the unknowing friends. When she got over the last fence a big smile spread on her face, she started petting Monty who kept cantering. She kept smiling and petting her horse until the next rider came in, she trotted out to meet her friends.

"You are unbelievable Norah! That was amazing!" Toby said and petted the horse. Norah laughed and smiled even wider.

"He's amazing, god have I missed this feeling." Norah jumped off and hugged her horse, she looked at him and kissed his nose. Pure happiness in her eyes, Dennis hadn't seen this side of Norah before. She looked peaceful.

"Well from a non horse perspective it looked really good, it looked easy." Marcus said, everyone agreed. Norah laughed and thanked everyone. She hugged Mick and they shared a few words in German, you could almost see tears forming in her eyes. The whole group walked back to the stable to get the next horse ready.

Norah was once again waiting for her turn to enter the arena, this time on Ferrari. Now she had a forest green jacket that also matched the saddle pad. This horse was more restless and didn't really want to stand still so Norah was thankful when it was her turn. She locked eyes with Toby and shook her head with a small smile. This horse had ten times the energy but Norah rode just as carefully as last time. Again when she got over the last fence her face lit up, Ferrari was proud of himself and kicked a few times but Norah didn't care. She looked up to the big screen and saw "Norah Wellington, Place 1", she threw up her fist into the air and laughed.

"She won! She did it!" Toby almost screamed, everyone smiled and cheered for Norah. A bit later she entered the arena again, now with a big ribbon on Ferrari's bridle. The same happy and peaceful look on her face as before.

"To the winner of the 145 Grand Prix, Norah Wellington who just a few days ago won the Monaco Grand Prix too in Formula one. She is truly unbelievable, give her a big applause" the commentator said.

The rest of the weekend flew by, it was fun to have a group of friends along. Norah also managed to get another win with Monty later in the week.