Best of the Best

The smell of horses flooded her senses. Her body immediatly relaxed, and she sighed a sound of relief. Kaiylean walked over to the board that told the students who had to use the academy's horses what horse they were on for the day. She scanned the list of names. Kaiylean Hendren: Sancho

Yes! That was her most favorite horse. Sancho was a sweet, kind, pretty thoroughbred gelding. He loved to jump and do dressage, which was Kaiy's favorite thing to do. She walked to his stall and scratched behind his ears. He nickered a soft welcome to her. He loved being scratched behind the ears. "I love you!" She greeted him. She heard the footsteps of someone else coming into the barn.

Marni smiled as she entered the barn, glad to finally be here. She couldn't have tolerated the car ride any longer listening to her mom harass her about some paper she had to turn in for English back at school. It was the weekend and she was ready to enjoy her Saturday at the barn. She one of the other girls in her lesson down the aisle at Sancho's stall, and turned to the board to see who she was on. When she saw Snickers written next to her name, her stomach flopped. Snickers was only a pony, but he got very fast, especially over jumps. Trembling, she walked over to the little bay pony's stall.

You're so stupid, she scolded herself angrily. The more advanced horses to things like buck and bolt, and you're scared of a pony cantering a bit fast? You're such a wimp. But she didn't feel any more confident. In fact, these days, she was rarely confident. As happy as she was to be at the barn, lately she had been dreading her lessons. She always seemed to get scared or mess something up. 5 years of riding hadn't taught her anything about being brave.

Kaiy saw Marni go to Snickers' stall. Kaiy saw a frown on Marni's face for some reason. Snickers was a fun little pony, and Kaiy loved him. Snickers liked to canter really fast, and it was fun to be on him. He was a great pony to jump too! But Kaiy would always love Sancho the most. Her big boy. He was excellent in dressage and sometimes he tried refusing the jumps but he was getting there in jumping as well.

"Hey! I see you're on Snickers today." She smiled to Marni, and was glad she had made it to the lesson today. Kaiylean wondered who else would show up as well. Kaiy's phone buzzed. Who was it now, she groaned.

Hey. I had been looking at some horses for sale. You should come by after your lesson and see the ones I like the most her text message read. It was from one of her friends from school. She was getting a new horse, and wanted Kaiy to help her pick out one. But Kaiy didn't feel like it today. She just wasn't in the mood.

Tia walked into the academy. She was very lucky cause she was able to ride her bike to the academy instead of having her mom drive her. Tia went in and smelt all the luscious smells that the barn held. Now this is living Tia told herself. Tia walked over to Oreo's stall. Oreo was her horse. She was a Welsh Cob and TB cross. She was white with little black spots all over her body. She wasn't very tall but Tia was able to ride her. "Hey girl. Did you miss me?" Tia asked Oreo. Oreo shook her head up and down. Oreo actually answered some of Tia's simple questions. Tia looked down the aisle and saw two other girls that rode at the academy. She didn't really even know their names and never talked to them. Well to think about it Tia never really talked to anyone.

Tia went and got some grain for Oreo for breakfast. Tia walked into Oreo's stall with the grain. Oreo tried to push through her to get to the grain faster. "Oh come on. Stop it you trouble maker." Tia placed the grain in Oreo's dish and watched her eat. Tia had a better connection with horses and other animals then she did with other people. Tia patted Oreo and then after walked out so she could let her eat. Tia went over to the board to see what time she was riding. She was riding at 11 am. It was now 8am so she had three hours before her lesson.

Tia did cross country. She loved it cause of the speed and jumping. Also to do cross country you had to trust your horse and your horse had to trust you and that is what Tia was all about.

Reluctantly, Marni led Snickers out of his stall to the crossties. She gave the pony a pat and headed to the tack room to get some brushes. When she returned, she saw Tia arrive. Tia was everything Marni wished to be. She had her own horse and could ride whenever she wanted. She got to take cross-country lessons and was brave enough to actually jump over the huge, solid cross-country jumps: logs and bushes and fences! As she brushed Snickers, she wondered what it was like to do that. The thought scared her, but excited her too. Tia was so cool... Marni had never spoken a word to her, but Tia was too cool for her anyway. People like Tia, who had their own horses and jumped over big fences, weren't the type of people who talked to people like Marni, who came twice a week for lessons and were scared of jumping.

Tia herd a whinny down the aisle. Oh what is her name? Tia asked herself. She was walking out Snickers. One of the ponies at the academy. Tia laughed in her head thinking that the girl was in a ride for her life. You either loved Snickers or you hated him. Oreo didn't like Snicker very much so Tia didn't. Tia trusted Oreo's judgement. Oh yeah, her name is Marni.

"Hi Marni." Tia said down the aisle and gave her a wave. Tia had never seen Marni show before so she was curious if she was any good. Marni seemed like a good rider although she seemed a little skittish sometimes on certain horses.

"Hey! Stop that sancho. Silly boy." She giggled, as sancho kept nudging her.

"Good morning Tia" Kaiy said, peeking out of Sancho's stall. Kaiy usually never used cross ties, because you could just groom right inside the stall.

She grabbed a curry brush and went over sancho's soft coat. Next brush she used was a hard brush, making sure she got all the dirt off. Then she picked his hooves, combed his mane and tail, and went to get his tack. She got his pad, saddle, bridle, girth, and his martingale and took it back to his stall.

"Hi" Tia replied. She was trying to remember the girls name but it just wasn't coming to her head. Tia got Oreo's halter on and lead her out to the cross ties. Tia knew she didn't need to use them but did just incase Oreo decided to act out or something spooked her. Tia went down to her locker that was in the tack room and starting going through her stuff to find her brushes. For some reason they were missing. Hmm. Could have sworn I left them here.. Oh wait thats right I brought them home to clean them.
"Hey Marni do you have an extra curry and hard brush I can use? I left mine at home."

Marni turned to see Tia enter the tack room. "Well, I don't have an extra curry, but you can use mine while I pick out Snickers' hooves. Then, while I curry, you can use my hard brush." She passed Tia the currycomb and immediately scolded herself in her head for talking too much. She always seemed to make a total fool of herself in front of other people. She started to head out of the tack room but she felt bad not saying more after Tia was clearly trying to be friendly.

"So are you excited for your lesson today? I thought I might come out and watch after my lesson."

Kaiylean gently rubbed sancho on his face. She heard Marni and Tia talking to each other. She wondered what they were talking about and hoped it wasn't about her. Oh stop that. Your not a little kid anymore Kaiy. she scolded herself. Sancho nudged her and she almost fell down.

"Oof. Sancho!" She whined looking at him. He snorted, and looked away. "Alright!" She said, going back to petting him calmly. She looked at the time. 9:00 Already! Her lesson was at 9:30 and she was pretty sure, marni was in that lesson too.

Kaiy always had a good attitude towards everything. Sometimes she wished, that she had her own horse, but she knew that was never going to happen. She would never earn enough money. Everyonce in awhile she might be jeolous of some of the girls who had their own horse, like Tia, And Mac.. But most of the time she was just glad she could ride. She walked to where marni was grooming. "Aren't you in the 9:30 class?" She wondered.

"Yes I am very excited for my lesson. I am starting cross country and very very excited. Oreo is good at jumping and keeping gait, and all that good stuff needed for cross country so I was like, what the heck why not?"
Tia took the curry brush Marni leneded her while she picked out the hooves of her horse. While Tia was getting Oreo's coat ready the other girl asked Marni a question.

Marni finished grooming and began tacking up. "Yeah, I'm in the 9:30 lesson... we should head out soon." She did up Snickers' girth and then pulled the bridle on over his head. Tia had actually spoken to her and now the whole day looked better. Maybe she would like Snickers. Maybe they'd get along and have a good time. She hadn't had a good time in a lesson in a while.

Kaiy went back to sancho's stall and grabbed his bridle, put it on and led him out. On the way out she put on her helmet and grabbed a crop in case. She usually never needed it with sancho but you could never tell.

As she passed marni she smiled. "Im going to head on out. See you out there." She said before walking out to the arena. She was excited about riding today, hoping she could jump 3 ft again today. Sancho was a really good horse to jump over 3 ft fences so kaiy always wanted to jump 3 ft's when on him. She led him over to the mounting block.

She checked his girth, pulled down her stirrups and flipped the reins over his head, grabbing them in one hand, putting the other hand on the back of the saddle and swinging onto his back. She asked him to move forward and walk to get out of other peoples way.

Cameron walked in slightly apprehensive, but excited. The stables were exactly what he dreamed they would be like. He took a deep breath in, and began to soak in the sights and sounds of a working barn.
As he walked along the stalls, he began to feel a little self conscious in his new but cheap breeches, and paddock boots. He wandered along looking into stalls, until he reached the bulletin board. He searched for his name, looking for the name of the horse he would be riding on for his lesson today.
"Titan." He read aloud. He turned around and then went back down the stalls, searching for the correct name plate.
As he found it, he stepped up, getting a good look at the horse he would be riding. It was a tall palomino thoroughbred, with white socks, and Cam nearly laughed out loud. This was almost exactly the horse he had hoped he would be riding as a young boy.
Cam had grown dreaming of being able to ride horses, and recently when his dad had gotten a big promotion at his work, he had finally been given his chance.
Cam reached out toward the horse, trying to greet him the right way. Titan sniffed and then snorted at him, walking closer so that Cam could pet him. "'Atta boy." Cameron said aloud, reaching into his pocket to offer a sugar cube. He smiled and was about to enter the stall when a clatter of hooves startled him. He saw one girl walking out a horse, another grooming a horse in the cross ties and another about to saddle up as well. He wondered what their names were.

As Marni began to lead Snickers outside, she saw a guy enter the barn. She hadn't seen him around before. He looked new, but his clothing was nice. Maybe he's an eventer, she thought enviously. I bet he's in the later lesson with Tia. She considered stopping to ask, but she was late enough for her lesson as it was. She hurried up to the ring, where she mounted quickly. Snickers walked along calmly. Marni was nervous but she didn't show it as she guided Snickers out along the rail. "Alright, girls," her instructor called from the center of the ring. "Trot your horses, please. When you get to the next corner, stretch up into your 2-point position to warm up."

Tia looked over and saw a guy walk into the barn. She didn't see him here before. She watched him as she went over to Titans stall. "Thats a good horse to be riding just to let you know." Tia told the new guy. She wasn't sure if he was new so she thought she would tell him just in case. "My name is Tia. Nice to meet you." Oreo bumped Tia in the back pushing her forward. "Oh ya and I almost forgot, this mare here is Oreo. Say hi girl." Oreo shook her head up and down and put her lips apart as if to make a smile. "I taught her that a couple years ago. People really seem to like it. Whats your name? Have you rode here before?" Tia was very curious about this new guy. He seemed really excited and was really cute too.

Cameron smiled as the girl introduced herself. "Hey I'm Cameron." He said, shaking her hand. He watched as Oreo also said hello, and smiled as her lips parted, like she was smiling. Titan also shook his head and gave a little snort to greet the mare, who greeted him in return with a nuzzle.
"Yeah, I'm new around her." He said, petting Titan's head. "Its actually my first barn, I'll only be starting to learn to ride..." He said a little bit more quietly.
He quickly glanced at his watch, noticing he had about an hour until his private lesson, and resumed his conversation. Although excited to get going and to learn, he was a little apprehensive, he had no idea exactly what he was about to get himself into.
"What about you?" He asked, "How long have you been riding?".

"Well welcome. You have chosen a great place. I have been riding for 2 years and been competing in cross country/eventing for 1 year. What class are you riding?"
Tia could hear Oreo nicker to the stallion, Titan. Titan was a very beautiful horse. He was greatly built for his breed and everyone just adored his white socks.
"Its ok if you just started out. If you need, I can help you with stuff like during free time. I'll even let you practice on Oreo here cause she is great with beginners. She tells you when you make a mistake and everything. But its up to you."
Tia was really hoping that Cameron would take up her offer. She knew what it felt like to be the new person and knew it wasn't a good feeling at all. She wanted to make him feel more comfortable here. "When is your lesson? Mine is in an hour and a half."

Cameron smiled at Tia's offer. It was really nice for someone to offer their horse when he needed a little extra time to practice.
"Sure!" He said with a smile, giving Oreo a pat on the forehead.
"My lesson is in almost an hour." He said, checking his watch again.
"It's just basic stuff, learning the beginnings, and getting a foundation set up so I can start jumping later. I have private lessons for now, until I can catch up to your level, I guess." Cam replied.
Titan nuzzled his arm, asking for some more attention, and Cameron reached into his pocket to give him a peppermint. He was already happy to be here, and definitely happy with his lesson horse.

"Well you are more then welcome." Tia laughed as Titan nudged Cameron with his nose to get more attention. "This one will be a bugger if you leave him alone to go see another horse." Tia moved over and pat Titan on the nose. "Don't feed him too much either. He needs to loose some weight." Titan nickered at what Tia said as if he understood her. "Yes I am talking about you big fella."
"Well if you want some company I can ride Oreo in the ring while you are being taught. The instructor here is pretty nice I've herd, but its up to you."

Cameron laughed as Titan nudged him again for more attention. He turned and stroked his forehead, and began to massage his neck. Titan closed his eyes in appreciation and seemed to relax a great deal.
When Tia offered to go with him to his lesson, he felt himself tense up a bit. He didn't know anything about riding, and didn't want to look stupid in front of her.
"Umm actually" Cameron started, "I would prefer to have my lesson alone if you don't mind. I kinda need to focus and have them alone for a while. I still am learning the basics.." Cameron said, glancing at the ground. His hands started to clam up a bit, and he continued to focus on Titan's shoulder, massaging away the tight spots.