Whipped by King Annika

Author:King, Annika
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2023-09-04T00:00:00+00:00

***

My right leg jiggled up and down as I watched Saxon and Mateo from the stands. My back was aching from sitting on the edge of the uncomfortable plastic seat, and my fingers were white from gripping on as though it was trying to tip me off onto the floor.

I always found it a difficult experience to watch any of our horses competing. I imagined it must be how parents feel when watching their children playing their first football match or riding their first bike. It's a mixture of nerves, excitement and an overwhelming sense of helplessness.

The competition so far had proved fruitful for Mateo, though the lack of top riders was obviously in our favour. Don’t think about it, I said to myself. All the top riders were in Amsterdam. Don’t think about it. Brussels still had plenty of talented competitors riding. Don’t think about…Amsterdam, where Cole was. Fuck!

‘Come on,’ I hissed under my breath. Saxon was snatching at the reins and fighting Mateo as they headed towards an enormous set of planks.

Saxon looked absolutely immaculate. His coat shone in what little sunlight was peeking through the soft grey clouds overhead. He looked like a true quality animal in comparison to the many homebred and second-string horses that made up nearly half the entries.

Mateo schooled him around the course to a steady clear. A low hum of chatter and applause came from the rest of the stand but it was a polite rather than overwrought acknowledgement. It was a speed class after all and Mateo had just tootled round in a solid but unimpressive time.

That wasn’t the point, though. Mateo was allowing Saxon the chance to settle into his surroundings and give the pair of them their first opportunity of riding together in a competition arena. Tomorrow was the big class and, knowing Mateo’s competitive spirit, he’d be stepping up to full throttle and going for the win.

I typed a quick e-mail to Tori to let her know how well things had gone, adding that Mateo was in great spirits with the main class still to look forward to.

The crowd had dwindled as the early evening light started to dim. There was still one more class after this one, they’d have to crack on if they didn’t want to finish the day under floodlights. But it was a joy to find myself sitting here, surrounded by a world I loved on a cool but pleasant spring evening.

I could feel a wave of tiredness slowly take hold of me. It had been a long day after all but a successful one nonetheless. It had been just what I’d needed. My work was something I could always count on. It had a way of being so consuming that whatever else was going on in my life, I could rely on my work to restore a sense of balance within me.

And yet, as I was sitting there watching the final rider trotting into the arena, there was something hanging over me. Or rather, something inside of me that didn’t used to be there.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.