9 
9 WHEN WE REACHED THE ARENA, I STOPPED at the entrance, taking it all in. It was a gorgeous space—the entire rectangular arena was flooded with light from the huge windows. A stack of portable jumps were at one end, next to a neat pile of dressage markers. The arena was almost as big as Canterwood’s. It was empty—I suspected Mr. Fox had probably reserved it for the entire day.
“Niiice,” I said. “This is a great space.”
“I love the windows,” Heather said. “It always kept me from getting bored when I was riding for hours by myself. I’d pass a window and watch someone else practice in one of the outdoor arenas.”
I patted Limitless’s neck and prepared to mount. It had been a while since I’d ridden another horse, but I wasn’t too nervous. Pam seemed to know what Heather and I could handle, especially since we were on the YENT. Gathering the reins, I stuck my left toe in the stirrup iron and pushed up off the ground.
Limitless didn’t move as I settled into the saddle and reached down to adjust my stirrups. Beside us Heather mounted Cora, and the black mare pointed her ears toward the arena—definitely ready to go.
Heather and I gave the horses rein and let them move at a slow walk through the arena entrance. I guided Limitless to the wall, and, with Heather and Cora behind us, we started to warm up. Limitless’s stride was smooth and he was alert and ready for any of my commands, which was great for a school horse. I flashed back to some of the horses I’d ridden before my parents had bought me Charm. They’d been an interesting mix. The first lesson horse I’d ridden had refused to trot unless he wanted to and he’d always yanked his head down to try and grab a bite of grass. A couple of horses had been high-strung and one had shied at anything that moved.
But Limitless wasn’t anything like those horses, and from what I’d seen from Cora, she wasn’t either. I gave the bay gelding more rein and let him move into a trot. He quickened his pace and moved smoothly around the arena. Hoofbeats quickened behind us as Heather let Cora trot after Limitless. The mare didn’t want to be left behind, and she stayed a few strides behind us without tailgaiting.
As we made our way around the arena, I looked out one of the windows. In the arena that was in full view, half a dozen adult riders were putting horses through all different exercises. I was so used to seeing people my age in the arena that I almost wanted to stop and watch the adults ride.
“Silver!” Heather yelled from behind me.
“What?” I looked over at her as she let Cora get even with Limitless.
“I know I said the windows were great, but you can’t stare out them forever,” Heather continued. “We’re supposed to be practicing.”
“We’re just warming up. And chill—I might learn something from watching them.”
Heather rolled her eyes. “The warm-up’s about to be over and the only person you’d learn anything from watching is me.” She shifted in the saddle to look at me, a cocky smirk on her face.
“Omigod,” I said, laughing. “Did you really just say that?”
Heather stared at me as if my helmet was on fire or something.
Heather let Cora into a canter, and the mare jumped in front of Limitless, swishing her tail. She was lanky, and her long legs carried her strides ahead of us. I stopped posting and sat in the saddle, giving Limitless rein and squeezing my legs against his sides. He transitioned from a trot to a canter in a few strides, and his canter was smooth enough that I had no trouble not bouncing in the saddle.
We followed Cora and Heather around the arena twice at a canter before Heather eased her to a trot and guided her into the center of the arena.
I pulled Limitless to a trot, then a walk, before stopping him next to Cora.
“I assume you already have our entire workout planned,” I said.
Heather nodded. “Down to the cooldown.”
I looked at her, waiting. “I’m ready. Let’s go instead of just sitting here.”
That made Heather smile. “Exactly what I wanted to hear. Let’s start by going through flatwork without stirrups, and after that, we’ll use the stirrups to work through a little dressage, and then give the horses a break for a few minutes.”
“Oh, yeah, we’ll totally be giving the horses a break,” I said.
Heather waved a hand at me. “Puh-lease. You better not need a break by then or the rest of the workout is going to kill you.”
I straightened in Limitless’s saddle. “As if. I’m ready, as I said, like, an hour ago.”
“Fine. Drop ’em,” Heather said, her eyes locked on mine.
She kicked her feet out of the stirrups and I did the same. We crossed them over our saddles and I adjusted my legs to the right position.
“I’ll give directions first, then you can,” Heather said. Cora pointed her ears forward and struck the ground with a foreleg. Her energy seemed to feed into Limitless, and he shifted beneath me, ready for whatever instruction I gave him.
“Deal.”
“Walk to the wall, then sitting trot,” Heather instructed. “And whoever is giving instructions has to ride behind the other rider and offer suggestions.”
I knew what that meant. Suggestions meaning “you’re-the-worst-rider-ever-and-do-it-right-before-I-punch-you.” That’s what Heather meant by “suggestions.”
But I let her and Cora drop behind Limitless and me. I gripped the saddle gently with my knees, wanting to keep Limitless’s pace steady and to keep my position in the saddle.
“Your heels are ridiculous,” Heather said. “Basics 101, hello.”
“They are n—” I started to argue, but I looked down and saw she was right.
My face burned a little as I pushed my heels down and pointed my toes up. That was a beginner mistake. Something I’d learned not to do years ago.
I felt my shoulders tense at the thought of Heather behind me, watching me and ready to jump on the next mistake. My shoulders started to inch up, and just as I caught it, Heather called, “Shoulders. Down.”
I dropped them and straightened my back, trying not to look too stiff. Stop it, I told myself. You’ve practiced with Heather before. If you’re nervous all day about riding in front of her, then the entire lesson’s going to be a waste. Just relax.
And as I looked through Limitless’s ears, I reminded myself that I was lucky to have a good horse too.
Heather and I made two more circuits around the arena at a sitting trot and she had no comments on those rounds.
“Walk for half a lap, and then posting trot,” Heather said.
I took back a bit of rein and slowed Limitless to a walk. He listened immediately and I relaxed in the saddle, trying not to be obvious to Heather. Sitting to a trot without stirrups was hard!
All too soon we reached the halfway point and it was time to trot again. I gripped the saddle a little tighter with my knees, preparing to post. Limitless shook his black mane as I let him back into a trot, and I couldn’t help smiling. He was having fun.
I moved up and down slightly with his trot and felt sweat on my forehead. But I was not going to let Heather see that.
“Tuck in your elbows,” she called. “You look like a bird trying to take off.”
I pulled my elbows closer to my sides. “Can you critique me without the side comments?”
“I guess,” Heather said after a few seconds. “I don’t want to distract you more than you already are.”
“Right. Thanks,” I said, my tone a little sharp. But we both knew she wasn’t stopping just because she wanted to make my riding better for the team. There was no one else here and she didn’t have to act like the old Heather Fox to keep up her image.
I focused on my posture, determined not to make a mistake for Heather to spot, and ignored the pain in my legs. Limitless kept an even pace and stuck close to the wall as if he didn’t even need me to tell him what to do.
“Walk,” Heather said after what felt like an eternity.
I let Limitless trot for a few more seconds, just to prove to Heather that I was fine, before I eased him to a walk.
“Good job, boy,” I said, rubbing his dark brown neck. He flicked an ear back at me and snorted, seeming to know I was praising him.
Heather rode up beside me. “Not awful,” she said. “I mean, once I knocked the basic beginner mistakes out of you and all.”
“Gee, thanks,” I said. “I’m glad I’m not ‘awful.’”
But we grinned at each other.
“Do you like Cora?” I asked, letting my legs dangle at Limitless’s sides.
Heather patted Cora’s shoulder. “Yeah, she’s great so far. But I—”
“—miss Canterwood,” we both said at the same time.
Heather gave me a half smile.
“Limitless is great, but I miss Charm so much already,” I said. “I can’t stop wondering what he’s doing right now.”
“I thought about Aristocrat when I got here,” Heather said. “For a second, when I walked down the aisle, I thought I heard him. But that was dumb.”
“It’s not dumb. You’re used to seeing him every day. By the middle of the week, I’ll probably be calling Mike and having him put his phone next to Charm’s ear so I can tell him hi.”
“Oh, God,” Heather said. “That’s too pathetic—even for you.”
But there wasn’t venom in her voice. Her eyes were teasing.
I laughed. “Okay, okay. I probably won’t do that. But you know what I mean. I miss Charm, even though I know it’s good to ride other horses.”
“I miss Aristocrat too. He’ll always be my favorite, but I agree—we have to ride different horses.” Heather stretched her back. “Actually, I’m hoping to get another horse when I start high school so that I’ll have a new one to train for the future and a more experienced horse like Aristocrat to compete with through high school.”
I sat still in the saddle, just staring at Heather. “Wow. I haven’t even thought that far ahead. I’m just focused on the YENT and prepping for our first schooling show. Riding in high school seems so far away.”
“It’s not, really,” Heather said. “Not when you’re going to start looking for a new horse and figuring out how to split your time between two horses.”
Charm was enough for me to handle; I couldn’t even imagine having another horse to ride and train.
“You look like your brain is about explode,” Heather said. “Let’s get back to work.”
Heather guided Cora in front of Limitless, and I focused my attention on her, ready to critique.