[Entry 3/3] Neighvember Mini Show - Cross Country

Touching down on the other side of the log, which Mare had argued was more of a twig to her sister before they’d started, Blue snorted loudly before cantering away.

‘“First jump is always the hardest, the rest will be easy!”’ Ona’s words filtered through her mind as they slowed down. After the one stride of canter, Blue settled into a speedy trot, which Mare almost preferred. 

The water feature was the second obstacle, which consisted of downslope into a small lake, or a large puddle depending on how you looked at it. In practise, Blue hadn’t minded water that much, but she didn’t want to spend longer than she had to in it. So as they slid down the slope, Mare was ready for the loshenka’s little hop into the water, with a long, bouncy trot stride through the liquid. There was a small uphill on the far side, which led to another stretch of green before the next obstacles.

After trotting up the hill, Mare managed to convince Blue to stretch into a canter for a few strides, albeit a very slow canter. The third obstacle was the narrowest of all the obstacles, consisting of a rounded bush with orange tree-trucks acting as the standards. Blue stared hard at it as soon as it came into view, dropping back into a trot. But she took the jump well, landing steadily on the other side in a canter even. 

The way the course was built allowed for more focus on taking the jumps well than having to remember the order of the jumps. White, temporary fencing guided them towards a grassy table obstacle, Blue almost leaping up over it instead of simply stepping up. Slightly unseated, Mare gripped with her legs to steady herself, which made Blue leap off the table on the other side.

“Woah!” Mare cried out, jerking the rein on instinct. The blue-tinted loshenka immediately slowed after getting all four hooves on the grass, nearly walking before Mare pressed her heels in again. “Sorry, Blue,” she apologized, noting the mare’s twitching ears. “Right, let’s keep going!”

The middle of the course went fairly well, having cleared all the obstacles smoothly without fuss. Mare had taken time to praise the loshenka, trying not to jerk or pull on the reins again. The next few obstacles were more logs, cut to look like they’d naturally fallen in a field. Mare could breathe easy over these, Blue taking them in stride. But the last set of jumps were what worried the rider.

Glancing over at the small crowd gathered around the most difficult obstacle in the beginner’s course, Mare smiled slightly as she spotted Kassandra and Sabine clearly. They’d discussed where to stand before Mare had started the course, Kassandra wanting to be close to the end so she could meet Mare before they finished. This was the obstacle that also worried her big sister the most. And Mare wouldn’t say it, but it had worried her too. The large wooden horse-shoe wasn’t something they could duplicate at home, so Blue had never seen anything like it. The obstacle was also wide, though it wasn’t tall. But it was also placed on a bit of a hill, so they’d have to get up the hill, then have maybe a stride before the jump and a larger drop on the other side. 

“Deep breath, okay,” the girl tried to reassure herself, allowing Blue to really look at the jump before they got to it. She could feel the moment her mare spotted the obstacle, neck going up and muscles bunching. But Amaranthine kept her leg on to keep the canter, knowing they’d need it to clear the obstacle.

‘One, two… three, up we go, aaaand… NOW!’

Blue put extra oompf into her take off, unsure of the size since she couldn’t see it. Mare gripped with her legs, again reaching mane to steady herself. But instead she just gripped the neck muscle below her fingers, reins loosening somewhat. 

‘Oh please land well, please!’

The breath wooshed out of her as they touched down, having thrown her weight back to account for the larger drop. It wasn’t really that steep, but it was more than anything they’d done before. Blue’s head went down when her front feet touched the grass, but since Mare wasn’t really gripping the reins, they slid easily through her fingers so as not to jerk on the mare’s mouth. But that meant having to quickly gather up the leather for the next obstacle, which was close.

Amaranthine just had time to turn and point Blue at the simple triangular wooden jump, which the loshenka hesitated at for a moment before popping over it. The last bit of the course was simple and straight, consisting of a series of little logs in a row. The rider guided her steed over these without much thought, mind still stuck on that horse-shoe obstacle from before.

Suddenly they were crossing the finish, horn sounding to signal the end of the course. Mare relaxed in the saddle, sitting back to signal a slowdown. Blue was happy to oblige, breathing heavy after the long albeit simple course. 

A quick glance around spotted Kassandra and Sabine jogging over, both smiling.

“You finished! And in an excellent time!” Sabine spoke first, scrunching Blue’s nose as she placed a kiss on the white spot right in the middle of the mare’s muzzle.

“Yes, sis, that was really, really good, even the horse-shoe!” Kass took a hold of Blue’s reins as Mare dismounted, clapping her sister on the shoulder. The simple praise made Mare beam, before she tackled her sister in a hug. “Couldn’t have done it without you!”

A well timed snort had her laughing before she hugged her blue-tinted steed. “Or you of course!” She kissed Blue’s cheek before feeding her the treat Sabine offered.

“Maybe you can do more cross country in the future. Just nothing too difficult too soon!” Kass finished, seeing Mare open her mouth. The younger sister rolled her eyes, turning to Sabine for help.

“I dunno, Kass. She could be jumping the advanced course before you know it!”

Kassandra threw a small glare at her friend, going to shove her before the shorter girl stepped out of reach, smiling all the while.

“Don’t worry, Mare, we’ll get you jumping in the big leagues sooner than you think!”

Mare beamed at Sabine, clapping her hands together before following the two towards their trailer. “I simply can’t wait!”