Heart over jumps.

Making a foe

 Haley and I had agreed to meet the guys on the oval at recess. The boys weren't there yet but we soon spotted them approaching with another guy who seemed to be in deep conversation with Trent. I quickly studied him and smirked a little as I noted to myself that he looked like the type of guy Trent would be interested in.
But before they got to us the stranger pulled away from them and went on his way.
"Who's the cutie?" I teased as Trent sat beside me.
He immediately began to blush "A guy in our class, his name is Blake".
"You could have invited him to hang out" I giggled at his reaction.
Trent just shrugged but Seth replied "He had to go check on his twin sister. You guys should see his horse Whisper, he's the most stunning colour, almost golden but he's a double pearl gene".
"They're a great team! Blake said his parents were Olympic rider and coach but then went on to breed horses, he said many of their horses are of uncommon colours" Trent added.
They told us all about their dressage and cross country lessons until the bell rang, Haley and I had jumping and then dressage lessons so we headed for the stable only to find Bandit and Vanity already tacked and ready to be mounted.
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We rode to the first jumping arena, the first thing I noticed was that the jumps weren't half as complicated as the tryouts which made sense. Now we were extending and improving on our abilities, learning new techniques which meant focusing on what we'd be learning so having easier jumps would help.
The first person to go was Stephanie. She cleared most of the course but clipped the last jump and it fell, everyone still applauded but she just groaned. OK I admit she was a good rider but Stephanie and her horse had no connection, she was pushing him too hard and wasn't focusing on the course, possibly due to her big ego. When you let your past wins get to your head you stop trying your best and your focus can stray, even I used to do it.
"Good ride Steph" Our teacher, Mrs Young said.
"Yea right, Champ knocked that last jump! He should have cleared it" Stephanie scoffed. I hated when people blamed their horse or others for their own mistake.
"Eden, you're up" Mrs Young waved me on.
I gave a small nod and asked Bandit to move on. As always we were in perfect synchronisation, Bandit flew through the course. "Way to go boy" I grinned and patted his neck as I went to line up again. The class applauded me.
"Way to go, you and Bandit are an amazing team" Mrs Young congratulated.
"Thank you" I smiled.
"Oh please that horse is such a push button, I bet a beginner could clear that course on him" Stephanie began.
"Bandit and I have worked hard to reach the level we're at, it has been a long process, he may be calm but that's due to lots of training and bonding" I responded.
"Maybe if you rode a real horse like Champ" She mocked.
"Bandit is as much of a horse as Champ is, he may not be impeccably breed but he puts everything he has into whatever I ask" I defended.
"Stephanie if you think that Bandit is such a push button then why don't you swap horses for a round?" Mrs Young crossed her arms.
Everyone looked at us hoping we'd accept the challenge. "Fine" Stephanie said as she dismounted.
"Alright, as long as I can take Champ for a few laps around the arena to get used to his gait, I suggest you do the same" I nodded and dismounted Bandit to hand his reins to Stephanie. I already knew their gait and stride where very different.
"As if I need to".
Champ snorted as she shoved his reins towards me, I took hold of them and gave him a pet on his nose. "Hey boy" I whispered to him. He lowered his head to my touch further which made me smile slightly "That's it" maybe he wasn't so high strung after all.
"Are you going to mount or what?" Stephanie asked.
I rolled my eyes in response and mounted Champ, I'd estimate him to be around 18 hands in height. As I centred myself in the saddle Champ tensed beneath me. "It's alright boy, you don't need to be so tense" I gave him a pat on the neck and gave the reins a bit of slack before walking him on.
Soon enough we had worked through the paces and I had got a feel for him and the commands he best responded to. Already he had relaxed a lot since I got on him and was listening to what I was telling him. I couldn't help thinking that he had tuned into me more than he had with Stephanie.
We returned to the group to cheer on the other riders.
"Eden, would you like to go first" Mrs Young asked.
"Sure" I said and set out for the first jump. Champ was an amazing jumper, his movement had become more fluid and he relaxed over the jumps which in turn made the jumps effortless. We cleared the course in good time and without fault "Good job" I congratulated him with a pat before dismounting.
"Yeah well watch this" Stephanie said as she kicked Bandit up, I grimaced slightly, she had no need to kick him so much he was very responsive. Bandit was great with his take off times and the proper speed.
"She's going to fast" One of our classmates noted.
"Bandit won't let her" Haley smirked. As if to confirm that Bandit slid to a stop at the first jump.
Stephanie turned him around and tried again, this time he refused to go fast no matter the amount of kicking she gave him and cleared most of the course, with a few bucks. I hated watching, she didn't need to be so harsh on him. But again the last jump was knocked. She dismounted and walked toward me.
"You need to listen to your mount and work with them" I told her as I went to hand her back Champ but she stormed past and out of the arena.
"Wow, great horsemanship" Haley sarcastically stated.
"I'll defiantly be having a word with my sister. Stephanie just isn't ready for this, she has talent but no horseman ship" Mrs Young sighed as she came to take Champ from me.
"Your sister?" I furrowed my brow.
She nodded "Stephanie is my niece".
Bandit walked over and nudged me I turned and gave him a hug "Sorry about that boy. But you sure proved her wrong huh?" I giggled and he nickered softly as if to agree.
We each had a few more runs of the course until the bell rang, marking the end of today's class "Eden, I do hope you'll be trying out for the schools jumping team. You and Bandit make a great team and you've proved that you have good horsemanship" Mrs Young complimented before I left the arena.