Show Jumping Water

Gwen stood outside the stables of Whitehorse Farms, her hand resting on the blueberry colored side of Uiscefhuaraithe as she watched the other horses and riders.

“How on earth did I get talked into this?” Gwen murmured as she brushed the soft side of the seventeen hand tall mare beside her. 

Uiscefhuaraithe nuzzled at Gwen reassuringly, their blue eyes calm and relaxed even in the unfamiliar setting as they turned to munch on some of the freshly fallen leaves around them. 

“I don’t suppose you have a preference, do you?” Gwen asked Uiscefhuaraithe as she considered the different competitions. She wasn’t a bad rider. She just wasn’t a great rider either. “Just please, not dressage.” 

Uiscefhuaraithe made a sound something akin to a horse’s equivalent of laughter and nipped affectionately at the edge of Gwen’s trousers before turning back to her grazing and occasional shuffling of the leaves around her. 

Gwen went to say something else but whatever thought she had was promptly lost as she watched Uiscefhuaraithe play in the leaves that were scattered around. The white stockings of the horse’s front legs and the white sabino markings stood out beautifully amongst the colors of the fall. And the blue of her coat was a lovely contrast. 

Uiscefhuaraithe danced a bit and pushed Gwen towards one of the courses. 

Gwen glanced at the course and then back at Uiscefhuaraithe. “Show jumping? Really?” 

Uiscefhuaraithe huffed and turned back to her grazing, her point having been made and now more interested in the leaves that crunched under her feet and the grass of an unfamiliar field. 

“If you’re planning on getting a case of the zoomies here, could I suggest waiting until after the competition?” Gwen murmured as she started checking the mare’s tack. Of all of her horses, Uiscefhuaraithe was likely the easiest to handle, but that didn’t mean the tall loshenka couldn’t get up to mischief when the occasion warranted it. 

Uiscefhuaraithe gave Gwen a look that could be interpreted a variety of ways and either in Gwen’s favor or not. 

“That’s not helpful.” Gwen managed not to smile, not overly worried about it one way or another. She’d been talked into coming to the competition by a friend of hers and it was always a nice break and a chance to spend time with someone she loved, and this time she wasn’t worried about messing up while representing someone else. This time she was riding for herself, so if she hit the dirt, she hit the dirt. 

Uiscefhuaraithe swished their long, curly blue tail without so much as glancing up as they started to follow a particularly brilliant yellow leaf as it blew along the ground. 

Gwen almost halted the mare, but instead decided to drift along with her and enjoy the scenery for a bit. Though that drifting along soon found her standing at the start of the show jumping course, a fact that she wasn’t sure if it was chance or some kind of sorcery. 

Uiscefhuaraithe looked at Gwen expectantly. 

“Yes, it’s our turn. You’re right. I don’t know how you pulled that off, but it seems we’re jumping.” Gwen laughed as she mounted the horse and straightened her blue tunic. It wouldn’t stay neat, but there was no reason it shouldn’t start that way. Or at least that’s what she told herself. In reality it was more of a nervous habit. 

Once she was mounted and it was almost time to start, Uiscefhuaraithe became all business. Their muscles tensed and their focus narrowed in on the course ahead of them, clearly interested in performing well. Gwen only hoped she could keep up; well, not fall off. 

As soon as it was their turn, Uiscefhuaraithe was polite enough for Gwen to give her the signal before somehow setting her own pace for the first jump. Mercifully it was a brush jump, and Uiscefhauraithe knew her work well enough to make the entire approach and jump look graceful. 

Gwen settled into her seat better and smiled, keeping a tight grip on the reins for all she wasn’t actively instructing the mare in much of anything at the moment. Most of her riding was still just for fun along the trails of her home and rarely if ever any kind of formal competition, so the exact ins and outs of this were beyond her. She figured on treating it like she would any other jump along a trail, but Uiscefhuaraithe seemed to have more of a plan. 

The mare turned them towards the next jump, a wall of some kind that clearly wasn’t quite a part of the landscape. It was tall enough to give Gwen a moment’s pause, which mercifully didn’t translate to Uiscefhuaraithe as the blueberry sabino mare took the jump in stride and cleared it neatly. Though Gwen’s landing was a bit rougher. Clearly she needed to take lessons from her mare, she thought with a silent laugh as they turned for the next obstacle. 

The next obstacle on the course was a triple combination. This time Gwen was a little more ready and managed to help guide Uiscefhuaraithe across the jumps. There wasn’t much space in between them, just enough for a few strides, but they worked well together and this time Gwen managed to look almost as graceful as her mare. 

The course turned, almost doubling back on itself as Uiscefhuaraithe slowed to allow them both a chance to adjust before picking up the pace again to make it over an ascending oxer, the mare’s skill helping Gwen feel not quite so out of place amongst a lot of far better equestrians. 

The next several jumps went well enough, though Gwen nearly fell off on the joker and toppled the both of them over. She’d tried to help Uiscefhuaraithe judge the height of the jump as there was little to go off of, and clearly failed at doing so. They’d clipped the top of the jump harder than anticipated and only a stroke of luck had landed Uiscefhuaraithe back on her feet. 

“I’m sorry, girl.” Gwen patted the mare’s neck and looked towards the last few jumps as they rounded the last part of the course. “Maybe I should just let you drive from now on.” 

Uiscefhuaraithe tossed their head, but didn’t seem upset by the misstep. Instead they focused on the last bit of the course. A hogsback, a liverpool, and an open water jump. 

The leaves crunched as they made their way over the hogsback and the liverpool with ease, Gwen well aware her job was now solely to stay in the saddle and let the mare manage the rest of the event. 

Unfortunately on the open water jump, Gwen misjudged her seat on the landing and before she had any time to react found herself sitting in the water of the jump. The landing hadn’t really hurt and as Uiscefhuaraithe turned to regard her, nuzzling her with a worried snort, Gwen found herself laughing. 

Reaching up to pet the jagged streak on the mare’s nose, Gwen carefully got herself to her feet, a handful of leaves that had been sitting on the water now stuck to her clothes. “I’m fine. No need to worry. Though I suppose we’d… well… I’d better practice jumping a bit more. You’d think I’d be better at it, but clearly not.” 

Uiscefhuaraithe snorted and with a gentleness surprising for an animal of her size, nuzzled Gwen as if offering a support to lean on. The mare’s blue eyes were so full of worry that Gwen hugged the tall Loshenka’s neck reassuringly. “I promise, I’m okay. The water cushioned the landing beautifully and the air isn’t so cold I’m going to catch a chill.” 

If this reassured Uiscefhuaraithe at all, it didn’t show in the way the mare hovered over her. 

Ignoring the crowd, and a lingering sense of embarrassment, Gwen brushed at Uiscefhuaraithe’s neck. “Really, girl, I’m okay. Come on, let's get off the course so the next rider can go and give these people an idea of what this jump is supposed to look like. I’ll make sure I watch so that next time we do this I can live up to your standards.” 

Uiscefhuaraithe bumped against Gwen as if letting her know that talking down about herself just wasn’t appropriate and then stopped, regarding Gwen’ pointedly. 

“What? You performed beautifully. But we can have this discussion somewhere NOT in the middle of the course.” Gwen tried to lead Uiscefhuaraithe off the course, but the mare dug their heels in. Instead the mare tossed her head and moved into a position that suggested she wanted Gwen to mount. 

Gwen sighed, and rather than argue with the mare that significantly out weighed her, climbed on. Without any real indication as to intent, Uiscefhuaraithe turned and set them up for the failed jump, much to the delight of the crowd. This time it went smoothly and the pair landed comfortably and gracefully on the other side. 

Uiscefhuaraithe gave a pleased sounding knicker as she finally let Gwen guide her off the course and towards the stables and turnouts. Once clear of the course, Gwen dismounted and gave the mare a hug and a small ginger treat from her pocket. “You’re a remarkable horse, aren’t you?” 

Uiscefhuaraithe tossed their head in acknowledgements and after nuzzling against Gwen affectionately, turned their attention to another yellow leaf that had drifted into the area.