Faith

Chapter 19: Back In The Game

Imani's POV

Its been a few weeks since I woke up and I've healed pretty fast. My scratches are now just scars, some very hard to see while others are very visible. I've been put out into a pasture with Sparrow a few times so I could stretch my legs and get some exercise and get some air. I still don't know why Miraculum giggles every time me and Sparrow are with each other but every time I ask her about it she just says its nothing. I don't think I'll ever know the reason.

Today I was in the pasture with Sparrow. The sky was clear of clouds and was a beautiful baby blue. The sun beating down on us was hot but when you add the soft breeze its just perfect. I grazed close to Sparrow, my ears perked as Myla and Eric caught my attention. They were walking over to the fence with Miraculum ahead of them. I quickly pulled my head up and trotted over to them with Sparrow following behind me. I stopped at the fence where Miraculum, Myla, and Eric all stood. I lowered my head to Miraculum greeting her with a soft nicker before I lifted it to Myla's level. "Are you still up for the contest?" Eric asked as he stroked Sparrows neck. Myla stroked my muzzle as she looked into my eyes, reading my thoughts. I was still up for this 'contest' if Myla was. "What would you say if I said yes" she smirked as she turned to look at Eric who returned her smirk with a smile. Something came across Myla's mind for her smile faded. "Myla?" Eric's smile turned to a frown. "What would my parents say" she asked. "They didn't want me jumping let alone riding before" she sighed as she looked at the ground. "I'm sure they would say yes. Before they were scared because you couldn't see and they didn't know if they could trust Imani" Eric assured her. "Now they do know they can trust Imani" Eric smiled again. "I guess your right" she looked at me again. Miraculum whined as she stood on her hind legs, her front paws on the fence. She was at least to Myla's chest when she was standing on her hind legs. Myla and Eric both laughed as Miraculum whined and wagged her tail. Miraculum scratched her head between her ears. Miraculum seemed to enjoy that scratch since she closed her eyes and was wagging her tail frantically. Myla smiled and turned to me. I nickered as I looked towards the riding arena then back to her. She got the hint and her smile grew brighter. She looked to her left at my lead rope, grabbed it and climbed over the fence before she attached the lead rope to my halter. Eric smiled as he got Sparrow's lead rope and did the same but he took the gate. They led us out of the pasture and to the barn. Miraculum followed with her tail held high and wagging, her beautiful white coat shining bright with the suns rays. Eric tied Sparrows lead rope to a hitching post before Myla tied mine to the same hitching post. They both left into the stable and Miraculum stayed with me and Sparrow. I turned to look at her. "Hey Sparrow, what event are you doing?" Miraculum asked as she cocked her head. I turned to look at Sparrow my ears perked. All this time I forgot to ask what event he might do. "I'm doing dressage" he said proudly. "Dressage? Sounds complicated" I stated. "Well, it is at first but once you know the signals for the steps then its easy" he nickered. That sounded pretty cool even though it sounded complicated to me. Myla and Eric came back with our tack. Myla placed the tack onto another near by hitch post as she brushed out my coat and cleaned my hooved. It felt great to have my coat brushed free of dirt. The tack looked different then usual. My tack looked polished and well cleaned. The saddle pad was a nice black and Lapiz blue. Lapiz blue... The same color as Ash's eyes. It hurt a little to remember how long I've been away from him. The saddle was a polished black, same as the bridle. It didn't have a bit which I'm thankful for. The leg wraps were a Lapiz blue as well. It was a nice set of tack. When Myla put the brush down, she began tacking me up. First she put the saddle pad on, then the saddle. She didn't tighten the girth to much. She put the leg wraps on next until finally was the bridle. She placed the reins around my neck and slid the halter off my face before she slid the bridle on. This tack was comfortable and wasn't as heavy as I remember. When I looked over to Sparrow, he was already tacked as well. His saddle pad was a snowy white, same with his leg wraps. His saddle and bridle were black.

Eric grabbed Sparrow's reins and led him towards the riding arena with me and Myla beside them. Miraculum was leading the way, her tail held high. I laughed a little and so did she. When we arrived at the arena, Myla tightened the girth strap before she mounted. The jumps were already set out, all I had to do was warm up. Myla had me trot two times both ways around the arena before she had me lope once each way. Once that was done, we were ready. Eric was on Sparrow and watching us. Myla motioned me towards the smaller jumps. When she clicked her tongue, I went into a trot then to a lope. I sized the jump, found my jump and landing point, and jumped it with ease. We did this with two more smaller jumps before we moved onto the medium sized jumps. There looked like five of them and each was a different width. I did the same with them as I did with the smaller jump. Myla leaned forward as I jumped over the first medium sized jump and leaned back as I landed. Her back matched mine so it was as easy as if she wasn't on my back. We jumped the medium sized jumps almost as easy as the small ones. Now came a jump that was called a Parallel Oxer. It was pretty wide like the tree I jumped in the wild and was just about as tall. I snorted as I pinned my ears and picked up speed into a gallop. This scared Myla at first but she smiled as she looked straight at the Oxer. I could hear Eric screaming at us to stop. Sparrow was calling for me to slow down. I ignored them. I knew how to jump! I sized this jump, found my points, leveled my speed, and jumped! We flew clear over it, it felt like I was flying. The wind in my mane and face, it felt amazing. I felt free. Myla's back was leveled with mine and her hair flowed in the wind. I landed with ease and slowed down to a lope. As I turned I looked behind me to make sure Myla was still on my back, and there she was. Sitting in the saddle, a huge bright smile on her face that it could light up the dark. She slowed me down to a walk and we walked over to Eric and Sparrow. Both of the boys were silent and their faces full of shock. Miraculum walked in the arena from the fence and looked at their faces only to lay down on her side dying with laughter. Me and Myla joined Miraculum in the laughing at the boy's faces. It was hilarious!

Once the boys snapped back to reality was when us girls to catch our breath. "How....Did...." Eric kept taking long pauses as he searched for the right words. It was funny to see his reaction."trust, and skill" Myla answered his question as she smiled and patted my sweaty neck. "And not a pole nocked down. You two are very skilled at this" Eric said. "You sure you haven't been secretly riding her?" He joked, him and Myla laughed as she said no. I nickered happily as I shook my mane. "Great jump Imani" Miraculum complemented, her tail wagging as she laid on her belly. "Yeah, your really good at those jumps. Only profesional jumping horses and pro riders can jump an oxer" Sparrow nickered his ears perked. "Thanks" I nickered. "How did you know you could jump that and keep Myla on your back?" Miraculum asked with a bit of concern in her voice. "Well, I've jumped a large fallen tree larger then that and I could sense that Myla was ready for the jump." I answered. "If she wasn't ready, I would have slowed down and turned away" I added, putting Miraculum's worry at ease. "Your definitely ready for the contest" Eric said with a smile. "You think so?" Myla asked as she looked down at me. "Yup, if you can jump a Parallel Oxer with ease like that, then you can jump and jump thrown at you and Imani" Eric said. This grew Myla's confidence when it came to this contest thing. "Why don't you show me what you and sparrow got" she said as she had me move to the side to watch. Miraculum came and sat down beside my from left leg as Eric took out his phone and seemed to look for something. Then, a song came on and it had a great beat. He paused the music, moved Sparrow to the middle of the arena where there were no jumps and got ready before he rewinded the song and began.