The Eventer's Club 2: Junior Year

Chapter 8:

Ashleigh's pov

"They'll take care of you both, don't worry" Louise smiles before instructing as what to do next.

"You girls can do what ever you like today, but just watch out for other riders before you do anything. You'll have to warm up these boys first before you do anything else. If you decide you want to take them for a sprint, then again, watch out for other riders and be careful" Louise says emphasising the 'careful' as she gives me a leg up.

"Thank you" both Eve and I say for the hundredth time.

Wow, we were actually going to ride these horses.

Initially I was worried when I heard they were stallions. Even though I've come across many that don't give anyone trouble, there's still that nagging voice in the back of my head. Lighting's head was held up high as he looked around curiously. Thunder was no different. As Louise says her goodbyes we take the two stallions onto the track.

Eve decides to set the pace at a trot. With Thunder's ground covering stride, I had to urge Lightning into a quicker trot. Unlike the jockeys you see at race day, Eve and I kept our stirrups longer. We had it at our usual show jumping length so we had an easier time getting into two point position. As we made our way around the track I had adjusted to Lighting's bigger stride quickly. Venus always had a naturally shorter stride, however with extra time riding bigger horses I had no problem with the change.

"You want to take them into a canter" I call to Eve as we kept a nice distance in between each other.

"Of course" she says excitedly.

In didn't take any encouragement for us to have the boys go into a canter. Both were fretting about who had their head in front of the other. The sibling rivalry amused me and I couldn't wait until we galloped. After the canter we slow the horses into a fast paced walk. The sound of their footsteps was calming and something I really needed after the gruelling Monday.

The biology test was stressful to say the least and I knew I wouldn't be graded well. Before I left the teacher glanced through it and told me to sit back down. I assumed many of my answers were incorrect which was later confirmed when she talked me through the whole thing. Since I was new she helped me through the questions I answered incorrectly. That way I would pass the practice test. It was so humiliating when I was the last person left and being spoken to like an idiot. Here I was surrounded by all these intelligent people, and yet again I'm at the bottom of the class.

I was determined to study and gets good marks in school. I needed them if I wanted to go to university and do veterinary science. Just like my sister in high school, I always struggled with getting good grades. But after seeing it was possible for her to achieve that goal, I was motivated yet again to chase that dream. We were completely the same much to my parents dismay. We both love horses. We both love competing. And we both wanted to do veterinary science and specialise with horses.

And that's exactly what Alyssa is doing as we speak. With my sister close to achieving her dream, now it was up to me to pick up the slack. I needed to work just as hard as she did in her final years of school. Then maybe, I might just get the marks.

"Aren't you just the biggest show off" Eve laughs as Thunder arches his neck and starts walking on the bit with perfect form.

"Someone wants to be a dressage horse after retirement" I laugh.

"Maybe so" Eve giggles as the stallion lets out a loud snort.

"At the next furlong do you want to have a race?" I challenge.

"Your on" Eve responds gathering up her reins.

"We'll pick up a canter and stay side by side, then when we get to the furlong we go. We'll pull them into a canter at the finish line before cooling them down. Sound like a plan?" Eve explains as we start trotting.