Two Strides (Show Jumping Dreams ~ Book 30) by Svendsen Claire

Author:Svendsen, Claire [Svendsen, Claire]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2016-05-30T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

I could see something bad was about to happen before it even did and I knew I was too far away to do anything about it. A couple of little kids came running down the beach with a kite. Esther’s Paint mare freaked out and spooked, bumping into the bay gelding who flew backwards, reared and then lost his footing in the slippery sand. I watched as they fell in slow motion, both Hanna and the horse. And then they were down. All I could see were thrashing legs as the horse tried to right himself and I couldn’t see Hanna at all. Then the horse was on his feet and galloping towards me and Bluebird.

“Easy boy,” I said, thrusting my heels down and grabbing a handful of mane in case my own pony decided to do something stupid.

Fear bred fear, especially in horses and they fed off one another. Bluebird wouldn’t know why the bay horse was fleeing from danger, he would just know that there was some kind of danger and his instinct would kick in. That adrenaline rush of fight or flight and horses were flight animals through and through. They’d run every time. But my pony trusted me. Instead he went rigid and snorted as the bay horse blasted past us and that was when I asked him to follow. Esther could help her niece. The least we could do was catch the horse.

The bay was fat and unfit and my pony was faster. We galloped after him but he was already slowing to a canter by the time he approached the rocks that were blocking his path.

“Easy boy,” I called out to him. “It’s okay. Easy.”

He trotted around us in uneasy circles, his eyes wide and sides heaving. I kept talking to him and let my pony approach him quietly and calmly. They sniffed noses and snorted and then I was able to reach out and grab his reins. For a moment he started going backwards again and I thought that maybe he would pull me out of my own saddle but then he hit the end of the reins and stopped.

I walked both horse and pony back to where Esther and Hanna were standing. The girl didn’t look any worse for wear. I think the soft sand had cushioned her fall. She was lucky. An arena wouldn’t have been so forgiving.

“Is he okay?” she said as she snatched the reins from my grasp.

“Are you?” I said.

“Of course.” She checked her horse over for injuries but he seemed okay.

“Nice save,” Esther told me.

“I should have stayed with you guys,” I said, feeling guilty even though Hanna hadn’t been hurt. “I shouldn’t have ridden off like that.”

“If you’d stayed, maybe your pony would have been the one to freak out,” Esther said.

“Not Bluebird,” I said. “Like you said, he’s dependable and that’s not a bad thing.”

As we headed back to the barn, I was glad that my pony had miles of experience and I had logged hundreds of hours both in the saddle and bareback.

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