[Entry 1/3] Neighvember Mini Show - Dressage

Amaranthine steered the blue-tinted mare towards her waiting sister at the edge of the warm up area. Blue’s ears flicked forward upon spotting Kassandra, steps lengthening to get to the edge faster. But Kass had no treats for the expecting mare, not right before their show. Instead she produced a clean cloth to wipe away the foam and froth starting to build up around Blue’s mouth.

“Just a few minutes until you’re up. How’re you feeling?” The oldest sister asked, glancing up at a nervous looking Mare. 

It took a moment for Mare to answer, but finally she glanced down at Kass, before returning her eyes to the current horse and rider out in the dressage arena. “Fine, fine. I think I remember everything. It’s a short routine, only part that’s remotely tricky I think is the part right after the twenty-meter circle, where we have to do the extended trot down the longside but then halt square in the middle. We were improving back home but here-”

“Mare, breathe!” Kass interrupted, placing a hand over Mare’s gloved one. “Remember what Ona said? You just have to use a little more heel when asking for leg extensions.”

Taking a breath, Amaranthine nodded. Her sister was right; the two girls from the neighboring ranch had come over when she was practicing the routine and had a plethora of helpful tips and tricks. And Ona had let Mare borrow her spurs to help. “You’re right, no point getting into a tizzy over it.”

“Now calling Amaranthine Cliffdale and I Dream In Blue to the dressage arena!” 

“You’re up!” Kass smiled up at her sister, handing over the long whip. “You got this.”

Mare nodded, turning her mount out of the warm-up arena and towards the main arena.

“Right Blue, we got this!” she whispered, smiling briefly as the mare snorted in response. Blue almost always responded with some sound or another when spoken to, and each time it made her smile.

After nodding to the judges panel at the far end, Mare nudged the blue Loshenka forward, right into a trot. Blue glided forward, ears flicking forward. Suddenly Mare’s mind went completely and utterly blank. ‘Oh no. No please, come on you silly cow’ Mare chastised herself, trying and possibly failing to keep the panic off her expression. However Blue started angling herself towards the left, so Amaranthine gently steered her left, pushing her into the corner so as not to cut any space. ‘Okay but what next?!’ The woman glanced ever so subtly to her left towards her sister and friends in the stands, eyes wide in a panic.

Immediately, her gaze found Ona on the end, who was making a circle with her index finger.

‘What is she-OH! The ten meter circle!’ Mare smiled, steering Blue around in the tight circle towards the center of the arena. 

At the edge, when Blue was facing the spectator stand, Mare glanced up again at Ona. Now she was mouthing something. 

‘Can? Cater? CANTER!’ Excited now, Mare asked Blue for a rocking canter once they completed the circle. It took one extra stride of trotting before she moved into a canter, rocking forward and back in almost slow motion. The next part Mare managed to remember on her own, changing the rein by doing half a twenty meter circle and ending up back at the outer edge. But after that?

Another glance towards the stands found Ona doing the can-can with her fingers. ‘What? I don’t know what that–Oh! The extended trot after the circle!’ Smiling genuinely now, Mare steered Blue around in the circle, before asking for the extended trot with her spurs. 

Blue’s ears flicked back briefly, before she snorted into the extended trot as if it was an everyday occurrence. The mare moved her legs somewhat gracefully, kicking up a lot of extra sand but otherwise pulling off the trot rather nicely! Amaranthine could see from the corner of her eye Ona giving a subtle thumbs up, while Sabine had her head in her hands. Her own sister was shaking her head, but smiling regardless, undoubtedly ready to tease her later for forgetting the whole routine. 

With a few more strides of the trot, Mare turned Blue up the center line and into a square halt. The Loshenka ended up taking one extra half step but otherwise stood while Mare nodded to the judges. As soon as that was done, Mare dropped the reins and gave the blue mare huge pats on her neck and shoulder. “You did so good!” Blue stretched out, doing a full body shake before walking towards the exit.

Kass met her at the exit with Ona and Sabine. All three opened their mouths but Mare beat them to it. “Not one word!” she quipped, effectively silencing the three. “Not one mention of this, ever!” 

But Mare could see in all three sets of smiling expressions that her request wasn’t going to be met. The girl sighed before dismounting. 

“You did really good!” Sabine burst out, as if she couldn’t hold it back. 

“Yeah, excellent job of reading Ona’s hands!” Kass snorted, taking a hold of the reins. 

“It still looked great! If you weren’t us, you wouldn’t have known you’d forgotten anything,” Ona spoke, nodding encouragingly. 

“Let’s just hope you remember the show jumping course tomorrow, right?”

Mare nodded at her sister, worry already starting to set in. “Right…”