Heartland

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen: Competition.

Today was Friday. Tomorrow I had my first jumping competition since I moved to Canada. Amy, Mallory, Maisie, and I are entering. Maisie was in the beginner class. She would only have to jump over about a foot. For practice she's been jumping two feet. Amy and I are in the advanced class, we will have to jump four, five, and six foot jumps. The course would be outdoor and indoor. Mallory was in the novice class. Her class would be doing simpler three, four, and five foot jumps.

I woke up in my attic bedroom. It was so different living up here. I missed the loft. The smell of the horses and the breeze through the cracks helped me fall asleep at night. Now all I have is the smell of dust, and a lot of heat. Maisie was already awake. I saw her and Mallory riding off down the driveway. I got dressed and ran downstairs. I threw my boots on when Lou said,
"Woah there you need to eat." She made chocolate chip pancakes. I went to the table I took two pancakes and put peanut butter between them. I ate it like a sandwich and then ran outside.

I ran into the barn and saw Amy tacking up Spartan.
"Don't worry the arena is yours. I'm going to ride to Briar Ridge to see Ashley. She wants to train together today," she said.
"Cool thanks," I replied. I got Sky out of her stall and saddled her quickly. I led her out to the arena. I set up all the jumps at five feet. Amy rode Spartan out of the barn and yelled,
"Don't push it!" I mounted Sky and started her at the right pace for the jumps. She flew over all of them with ease. After we were done I saw a strange man leaning against the fence. I rode Sky towards him.
"You're the famous Tara Cohan huh?" He asked.
"I guess I am," I replied.
"That's a nice horse you got there," he admired.
"Thank you sir. She's a prize show jumper," I bragged.
"I can see that," he said with a laugh. I didn't really know who this guy was. "Sorry I'm Jeremy Hughes. Amy's been working with my horse. I'm a show jumper myself."
"Cool," I replied.
"I'll let you get back to training," he said as he started walking towards the barn.
"Amy went for a ride. She went to train at Briar Ridge. She's not here," I yelled to him.
"I'm just here to see my horse," he yelled back. After that I continued practice.

I kept jumping for another hour when I decided to be done. I started riding out of the barn when I saw a gorgeous white horse grazing up the driveway a bit. I trotted Sky up to the horse.
"Hey boy," I said sweetly as I dismounted Sky. The horse let me pet him. I grabbed Sky's lead from off the fence and tied it around the horses' neck. I led the horse and Sky to the barn. I put the horse into the round pen and led Sky to her stall. I unsaddled her and put her in. I left her tack on the ground and ran outside. I went into the round pen with the horse. Ty came out of the barn.
"Who's that?" he asked.
"Jeremy Hughes," I replied.
"No the horse," he said with a laugh.
"I just brought him here. He was grazing by the pen. I don't know where he came from," I replied.
"I got to go to work I'll see you later," he said. Like I cared. He left.

A few minutes after Ty left Amy came riding in. She tied Spartan up to the hitching post.
"You caught him," she said.
"Yeah? You've seen him before?" I asked.
"He wandered here yesterday. I figured if I left him alone he would go home but I guess not." I was petting the horse.
"What should we name him?" I asked.
"Phoenix," Amy suggested.
"I love it," I replied.

We all went into the house, everyone was hungry from a long days work. We sat at the table, Lou had salad and bread out and ready.
"Has anyone seen the lasagna I made," she yelled from the kitchen.
"I never saw you make one," Jack said.
"I did," she urged.
"Maybe you forgot to," Peter said.
"That happened to me after pregnancy too Lou. I forgot things," I butt in. Lou stormed in.
"I am not loosing my mind!" she shouted.
"Relax Lou. I'll help you make some sandwiches," Amy said as she stood and went to the kitchen.

We all ate sandwiches, salad, and bread for dinner. After dinner I went to the barn and saddled Sky for a late night practice. I set all the jumps for four feet. I jumped Sky over all of them with ease. She was so graceful.
"I'm sorry," I heard someone say by the fence.
"Ty?" I asked. I rode Sky to him.
"I don't want you going into tomorrow while I'm there, thinking about what happened. I wanted to give you closure," he said.
"I wasn't going to think about you. Why would I think about you?" I asked snottily as I turned galloped Sky towards the jumps.
"Tara you're going too fast!" Ty yelled.
"Whatever!" I yelled. He was right. Sky threw me off and I flew right over the first jump. Ty was by my side in seconds. "Don't touch me!" I yelled.
"Tara-."
"I don't need your help!" I yelled. I stood up and led Sky to the barn. I unsaddled her and brushed her till her coat shined.