Back in the dorms, I changed into the Chesterfield riding Uniform, to be worn every Monday. I braided my hair into two long Dutch Braids, slipped on my Evergreen Chesterfield Equestrian Academy Polo, jumped into my tan breeches, pulled on my helmet, tied my riding boots up, and zipped up my half-chaps.
"How do I look? I asked Luna, shooting a playful grin.
"Well, like someone rocking their uniform, who else agrees?" Mari yelled from the "living room".
Shaking my head at my ridiculous room mate, I grabbed my crop and walked out the door, and to the stables.
I still couldn't believe the grandness of Chesterfield Academy, even though I had been here for a weekend already. Debating whether or not to use Dino for Dressage again, I decided to give her a break, and instead test out my new mount, Athena. Still not believing how magical she was, I whistled for her, and she bounded towards me. I clipped her halter on, one of the many things she had come with, including the lead rope with which I was leading her out with. Tacking her up in the cross ties of the huge stable, I curried her, brushed her, and even braided her tail. I have to say, even though she had been turned out, she was as spotless as after a groom. I chose the cheaper of her leather saddles and bridles, and I used the cheapest one of her girths. Smiling, I lead the perfectly groomed giant white mare into Dressage arena number 10, where I was the first one in. I warmed her up with transitions, trots, and even canters in both directions. Her lead changes were like none-other, her strides so perfect, and through it all, she was just willing to please me.
Soon after, other riders started to file in, and I was curious to see two riders walk in without horses. However, I soon knew why.
"Hello everybody! I'm Coach Parker, and as some of you may know, I am the intermediate coach. The Shakespeare family will be coaching you normally along with your designated coach as soon as you get your levels. I'm sure you guys are are just bursting to know all about this program. First though, let us start with horses!" At that moment a beautiful Strawberry Roan horse walked in.
"This is Song of the Mira, barn name Bella. She is a nine year old 15.3 hands height Quarter Horse, very calm, loves to jump. She makes a very successful eventer, although if you want to go endurance, she is capable of that too. No sass, but playful and loving. Emily Munn, say hi to your new horse!" Coach Parker smiled.
Emily almost ran to Bella, and she led Bella back, the whole while praising her like mad. In the meantime, a stunning tobiano paint came in.
"Now this is Takes Two to Tango, barn name Champ. He is a Warmblood Stallion, yes a stallion, a six year old imported from Ireland. Don't let the fancy things fool you, he is just as good as Bella here. Great dressage horse though, perhaps even better jumper. He is every bit of sass as he is handsome, so be careful! Irene Fonte, please come and greet your new horse!" After giving him a pat, Coach Parker handed him off to Irene.
After getting seated on their mounts, Coach Parker began again.
"In the program, we have teams and levels. The levels are for training for teams. I am sure you have heard of try outs next month. Correct?" Everyone nodded their heads.
"Good, because to prepare you for try outs, we are going to test you for different levels of training. There is beginner, novice, intermediate, senior, advanced, supreme. These will ensure you get the correct level of training to be picked on the correct team. Now, we all now there are no beginners here at Chesterfield, in fact, the lowest level in this academy is jumping 3', or moderate dressage. So with that being said, over the next couple of days we will be testing you on your ability. Results will be posted by Saturday." Coach Parker paused.
"However, in a months time, if you do not make a team, you will join one of the levels, and your schedule will stay the same as the schedule you just got this morning. If you are on a team, you do not get to choose your schedule. Also your horse must not be worked over two hours each day. They must not be ridden, and I mean ridden in lessons for more than five days a week, although we are aiming for three to four times a week. With that being said, you may use one of the school horses, they have a chart, and will be removed from it once they have exceeded their work per day or week. Riders who do not obey these guidelines will be expelled from the academy." I was shocked by how the tone of Coach Parker's voice suddenly turned serious.
"At all times, rider and horse safety are to be taken into account. There will be a strict no misbehaving when riding rule that may lead to suspension and if extremely serious, expulsion. Are we clear?" Coach's voice boomed through the arena. We all nodded quickly.
"Good, now working walk on the right rein please!" His tone turned back to normal so quickly, that I'm sure we all ran to the rail.
I finally got the chance to look at our class, there were 6 riders including myself. Just at that moment though, a sharp order barked through, making me concentrate.
"You! On the Grey! what are you doing day-dreaming?" Embarrassed, I straightened my back.
"Chestnut, heels down! Steel grey, give the poor horse some rein, you are practically ripping his... Hey! I saw that, you on the bay. Why were you spurring him? Come into the middle." I listened to every word of Coach Parker's criticize, and I came into the middle with all the others.
"So sorry you guys, but I forgot to do attendance. Miriam Grey?"
"Here!" Miriam, a pretty girl with auburn hair, who was riding the chestnut waved.
A couple names later, I knew that the steel grey's rider, Amanda had brown hair and brown eyes. I knew that the bay's rider had perfect silvery-blonde hair, blue eyes, and wore designer clothes.
"Erin Parks?" Coach Parker looked around, the last name on the sheet.
There was no answer. How strange, I thought, how really, very strange. Suddenly, I snapped back and I remembered that Erin was my room mate. I nervously played with my polo collar.
"Samantha, aren't you Erin's room mate?" I stopped fiddling.
"Yes," I nodded.
"Okay, well I need you to go back to your dorm, see if Erin is in there, and bring her back here. I trust your horse is warmed up?" He reached for Athena's reins.
Nodding two times, I ran off to find the red head.
In our dorms, the lights were off, and the blinds were shut. How strange, I thought, I could understand the lights being off, but the blinds? I turned the lights back on, and I looked in the bathroom, nope! No one there. There was also no one in our living room, so I went over to Erin's bed. Right away, I spotted a mound under her horse comforter.
"Erin?" I gently peeled back the comforter, "It's time to get up, Coach Parker needs to know where you are." I shook her shoulders a little, and she opened her eyes.
"What time is it? Oh no, I overslept. I knew there was no time, no time." Erin started bawling.
"It's okay, Coach Parker will understand. Don't cry Erin, it is seriously not a bit deal," I sank into her bead and placed my hands into hers. "C'mon, let's go!"
About five minutes later, I had brought Erin to Coach Parker, and like I expected, it really was no big deal. I helped Erin catch Freddie, and together we speed tacked him up. Within minutes, we were on our mounts, and Freddie was getting warmed up. It seemed strange though, how Erin mostly did walk transitions, although eventually she did some trot and canter. I had seen her ride during orientation, and she looked a lot better than today.
Coach Parker turned out to be a pretty demanding coach. Athena had not done as much Dressage as I would have liked for her to do, but still, she beat Dino's dressage (Dino's normal Dressage). She only needed the smallest of aids to get her going. Still, I watched Erin's Dressage, and it was a bit upsetting for me to watch her preform like that. Erin was just not there, and at one point in her extended canter, she halted her horse, and came into the middle, practically in tears. Coach Parker sent her back to the dorm immediately, and we continued on with our lesson, with me worrying about Erin's strange behaviour.
YOU ARE READING
To Let Go
General Fiction13 year old Samantha has loved and competed on horses for as long as she could remember. So when she gets accepted into the world's most elite equestrian academy, she couldn't be more pleased! However, with a top notch equestrian academy like Cheste...
