Part 8 (1/2)
Issie was puzzled. ”How come I'm behind her if I've got more points?”
”Man, you really are green at this game, aren't you?” Stella giggled. ”The winning dressage rider is the one with the lowest score. You take each dressage score and you add the faults that the rider gets in the crosscountry and then the faults from the showjumping, and the one with the lowest score at the end of it all is the winner.
”The dressage score is important,” Stella continued, ”but it's the cross-country that is crucial. You get twenty faults for every refusal and sixty faults if you fall off. It doesn't matter how good your dressage score is if you have to add sixty faults to it! The showjumping isn't so tough-it's just five faults for every rail.
”So,” Stella grinned at her friend, ”all you've got to do now is go clear on the cross-country and the showjumping and you're in the running for a ribbon.”
”Yeah, right,” Issie joked, ”two clear rounds? That sounds really easy-not!”
”We'll see about that.” Avery's voice behind her caught her off-guard. ”Come on, girls. Tie your horses up and let's get a move on and walk the course.”
Walking the cross-country course was a crucial part of the one-day event, and earlier that day Avery had offered to take Issie and Stella around the fences on foot, pointing out the different angles and approaches for the fences and the best way to handle each obstacle. However, she hadn't counted on the fact that Dan and Ben would be coming with them as well.
As Avery's students set off towards the first fence of the course, Dan slowed down so that he and Issie were walking together at the back of the group.
”Hey, Issie!” Dan seemed excited to see her. ”I heard all about what happened with you and Blaze. Pretty freaky stuff, huh? It sounds like you and Avery were real heroes, catching those guys like that.”
”Mmmm...” Issie tried to act casual. Inside, she was dying to tell Dan all about how they saved Blaze from the horse thieves. But she was still in a huff with Dan over the whole Natasha thing so she felt obliged to give him the silent treatment instead.
”Are you OK, Issie?” Dan's cheery tone was beginning to slip a little. ”I mean, I know you must have been pretty busy over the past week or so but I was kind of hoping you would come along to Summer in the Park with me.”
”With you and Natasha, you mean!” Issie snapped and then realised what she had done. OhmyG.o.d, she thought. Now Dan will realise that I'm jealous of him and Natasha. This is so embarra.s.sing...
”Gather round, everyone, let's check out jump number one.” Avery interrupted her thoughts as he drew their attention to the first fence, a rustic wooden rail that stood around eighty centimetres high and was strung with old car tyres.
”This is a simple fence, with a clean take-off and landing point,” Avery briefed them. ”What I want you to concentrate on here is getting a smooth stride happening. Your horse should already be in a steady cross-country gallop. I want you to check them a few strides out and bring them back to a strong canter, then pop over it and pick up the pace again. It shouldn't give you any trouble.”
”Issie,” Dan whispered in her ear as Avery kept talking, ”Issie, I think you have the wrong idea about Natasha and me.”
No use trying to act cool about this now, Issie thought to herself; Dan knew what she was thinking. ”Well, if you mean that Natasha is your girlfriend, I think I've got the right idea,” Issie muttered back.
”Girlfriend!” Dan squeaked. ”No way! Issie, I only took Natasha to Summer in the Park because her mum asked my mum if I would take her along. I mean, they've only just moved to Chevalier Point and, well, I know Natasha can come across as really sn.o.bby, but I think maybe that's just because she's got no friends here and she's afraid of us because we're all so close and we all get on so well...Well,” he added glumly, ”at least I thought we did, but lately I'm not so sure. You won't even talk to me.”
”Jump number two, quite a wide ditch, this one,” Avery explained. ”Your horse is likely to take off too soon and bunny hop across, so keep your legs on...”
But Issie wasn't listening. Her head was buzzing now So Dan wasn't interested in Natasha after all!
”I'm sorry if I haven't been myself lately” Issie smiled at Dan, taking in his thick waves of blond hair and soft blue eyes. ”I guess I've just been really worried about things-you know with Blaze nearly being stolen and everything. But yes, of course we're friends. And maybe you're right about Natasha,” she added, ”but I'm still not so sure. She seems pretty stuck-up to me.”
With the misunderstanding cleared up, Issie and Dan walked the rest of the course in silence, concentrating on Avery's advice.
”Now this is truly a natural obstacle.” Avery grinned as they neared the end of the course. Issie found herself standing at the edge of a deep gully with steep banks on either side. To enter the gully, riders had to jump over a large fallen tree, and then immediately after the tree the ground fell away steeply so that the horses literally slid down a muddy slope until they reached the bottom of the gulch, where another fence was constructed out of oil drums. The horses would have to leap over the drums before cantering back up the other side of the mud bank, taking the post-and-rails fence that sat at the top of the ridge.
”I'd like you to slow down to a trot coming into this one,” Avery said. ”The fallen tree is a quite a big spread, but the horses should be able to jump it at a trot, and approaching at a slow pace will give them enough time to realise that there's a steep bank behind the fence-so they don't spook at the last minute. Then, once you're over the tree, all you really need to do is hang on. The horses will be moving pretty fast down the muddy bank and they'll have no trouble with the oil drums. Then they'll power back up the other side and take the post and rails. They'll really be flying by them, so hang on.”
It made Issie nervous to see that the ambulance van, which was always present at events like this one, had parked itself at the top of the gully next to the fallen tree. ”They must be expecting some crashes here.” She nudged Dan and pointed towards the white van. He nodded in agreement.
”After the hollow, the trick will be calming them down again and getting them back into stride to take the next fence,” Avery explained as he approached the cotton reels.
The cotton reels were a row of huge wooden spools that looked like they might once have been part of a giant's sewing kit. Issie didn't know what they had really been used for, but she guessed they were from a construction yard or something. They were big-she knew that much. And the horses would have to jump clean over them.
”Finally, we have the bank,” Avery said, turning his attention to the last fence, a high gra.s.sy mound that the horses had to jump up on to, then canter along for two strides before jumping a fence that dropped away dramatically to ground level.
”By now your horses will be dead tired,” Avery continued, ”so don't thrash them by racing for the finish flags. By all means, keep your speed up to try and avoid time faults, but don't exhaust your mounts. Remember, there's still the showjumping to come after this.”
Back at the horse truck Issie took out Avery's prized flat-seat saddle and began to tack Blaze up in preparation for the cross-country. The mare knew that today was special somehow. The sight of the horse floats and trucks and the noise of the loud speaker had her keyed up and she danced as Issie tried to do up her girth.
”Easy girl, you'll get the chance to show them how good you are any minute now,” Issie whispered to her horse.
She swung herself into the saddle and was adjusting the compet.i.tion number attached to her back protector when Stella rode over to see her.
”I was just down at the judges tent and it looks like Natasha has gone clear on the cross-country. No faults! Can you believe it? You'll have to get a clear round now if you want to keep up.”
”Thanks heaps,” Issie groaned, ”that's just what I need, Stella-more pressure. I'm nervous enough as it is.”
”Compet.i.tor number thirty-eight please, number thirty-eight.” Issie looked down at the number on her chest. ”That's me. Wish me luck,” Issie said. But she was too nervous to hear Stella's reply.
”Are you ready? Lining up now...five, four, three, two, one...go!” The starter's gun sounded and Issie felt the chestnut mare leap out from underneath her and instantly break into a gallop, her long stride devouring the ground. She let Blaze run on until the first fence was in sight, then she eased her back, collecting her into a canter. Blaze gave an indignant snort and popped over the tyres as if they were barely there, moving swiftly back into a gallop again.
Riding crouched over her neck, Issie felt the rush of speed, the power of the horse beneath her. At the ditch, Issie was cautious again and slowed Blaze down, but the mare popped over it with ease.
The next fence was a three-barred gate stuffed with dried brush. Issie heard the thick rasp of the branches sc.r.a.ping against Blaze's bell boots as they breezed over it. She gave the mare her head and let her gallop on to the next part of the course.
As they tackled fence after fence without missing a stride Issie's confidence grew. Not only was Blaze's leg completely healed, the horse seemed to thrill at the chance to run. So much so that it was tempting to let her have her head as they approached the gully Still, Issie remembered Avery's advice and pulled hard on the reins, easing Blaze back to a steady trot so that she had time to get a good look at the fence.
They were still a good few strides out from the jump when Blaze spooked. Issie lost a stirrup and was nearly thrown out of the saddle as her horse lurched suddenly to the left.
”Come on, girl, what's wrong?” Issie kicked her on, hauling on the right rein at the same time to get Blaze back on track. But it was no use. Blaze was in a state, highly-strung and confused, not listening to Issie's aids. The mare trotted up skittishly towards the jump, then spooked again at the last minute and came to a dead stop.
Issie couldn't believe it. A refusal would cost them twenty faults! Not only that, but now Blaze was standing there in front of the jump all wild-eyed and trembling with fear. What on earth was wrong with her?
As she tried to calm her horse, Issie's mind began to race. Why was Blaze so terrified? It wasn't the fence, she was sure of that. Blaze had taken jumps just like this one before without any trouble. No, she decided. Something else had scared her horse-and it was still spooking her now. And if Issie didn't figure it out quickly her chances of winning the one-day event were doomed.
CHAPTER 16.
As Blaze stood trembling in front of the fence, Issie looked up at the white ambulance van parked at the top of the ditch and suddenly everything clicked into place.
It was a white van. A van just like the one the men had used when they had tried to steal Blaze. Of course! It wasn't the fence that had spooked the horse but her fear of the white van that had made her refuse the jump.
Issie circled her horse away from the fallen tree now, talking softly to her, ”It's OK, Blaze, no one's going to hurt you.” She spoke calmly and gently.
Issie knew that normally when a horse is afraid of something the best thing to do is confront their fear. If she gave Blaze the chance to check the van out thoroughly, eventually she would no longer be afraid of it. But right now there was no time for that solution.
Instead, Issie turned to take the fence again, this time aiming her horse at a sharp angle, so that she was facing away from the van.
Approaching the jump on the diagonal wasn't easy, and it also meant taking Blaze down the slipperiest part of the slope, but Issie knew it was the only way.