CLARE FED OUT LINE AS I MOVED WHISPER away from her. Whisper moved smoothly beneath me at a walk, her strides long and rhythmic.
“Drop your reins, keep your hands off Whisper, and trot,” Clare called.
I let the leather reins rest on Wisp, held my hands just above the saddle’s pommel, and squeezed my legs against Whisper’s sides. She moved quickly from a walk to a trot. I eased up the pressure from my legs and posted. We made several circles around Clare. Whisper stretched her neck, and her ears started flicking back and forth. Uh-oh.
Whisper realized she had more rein. Her legs moved faster as she slowly sped up her trot. It was as if Whisper was smart enough to realize she was doing something wrong, so she tried to keep me from noticing the faster pace.
“Lauren, pick up your reins and get Whisper back to her original pace,” Clare said. “Make her do a few circles at that speed, then drop your reins again. We’ll see if Whisper takes advantage of you again or not.”
I nodded, letting Clare know I’d heard her, and picked up the reins. I did a half halt and deepened my seat. Whisper quickly slowed to a smoother trot—the speed we’d started at. I kept pressure on the reins for a few circles. Whisper kept the same pace and didn’t try to move faster. Instead of dropping the reins all at once, I gradually gave Whisper more and more rein, making sure she stayed at an even trot before gently resting them on her neck.
“Great idea,” Clare said. “Nice trick. Let’s see if Whisper notices this time.”
As we circled Clare, I kept my body posture relaxed and held my hands over Whisper as if I was holding invisible reins. This time, we made it through the exercise without a problem.
“Pick up your reins, but lose the stirrups,” Clare said.
I crossed the stirrups in front of me so they wouldn’t bang against Whisper’s sides and held the reins.
“Sitting trot for three circles,” Clare instructed.
“Time’s up, everyone. Please come to the center of the arena.” Mr. Conner’s voice startled me. I’d been fully focused on Clare and Whisper.
“Yay!” Clare said. “Great job, LT!”
I halted Whisper and dismounted, patting her neck as Clare hurried up to us.
“Thank you, Clare,” I said. “You were an awesome instructor. I really appreciate everything you pointed out to me. I know we had a good workout because I’m so sore!”
“Sorry!” Clare said, giggling.
She unclipped the lunge line and helped me take off the halter and slip the bridle back over Whisper’s head.
Together, we walked over to Mr. Conner. A very tired-looking Lex walked Honor over to us and stopped beside Clare. Drew and Cole fell into the lineup.
“Excellent work, class,” Mr. Conner said, smiling. “If you don’t have your horse, Mike or Doug are waiting outside the arena with your mounts. They’ll have been cooled and are ready to be groomed.”
Whisper needed a good cooldown before I groomed her. I hadn’t been kidding when I’d said Clare had worked us hard.
“As a reminder, you should all be following the reading schedule for your horse manual,” Mr. Conner said. “Starting now, be prepared for a pop quiz at the beginning of any lesson. If you do not pass, you will not ride during that lesson. Instead you’ll go back to your dorm room to read the pages again.”
Major yikes! I was so lucky that Mr. Conner hadn’t quizzed us today without warning. I’d been so swamped with schoolwork that I’d let the reading for lessons slide.
Drew raised his hand, and Mr. Conner nodded at him. “What happens at the next lesson?” Drew asked. “Do we get to retake the quiz?”
“Yes, after skipping one lesson, you’ll take a makeup quiz with different questions covering the same material,” Mr. Conner said. “If you pass, you’ll be allowed to participate in the day’s lesson. If not, you will skip the next two lessons before you will be given a chance to be retested.”
I frowned. I understood that equine care and health was vital to being a successful rider. Plus, I wanted to know everything possible to keep Whisper healthy, happy, and in top shape. But this new skipping a lesson if we didn’t pass Mr. Conner’s quizzes didn’t seem fair. Did he know how much schoolwork and assigned reading we had for every other class?
“If there are more questions,” Mr. Conner said, “please come see me after my next class. Or e-mail me. I will be sending an e-mail with the consequences regarding failing quizzes and other details that will hopefully answer any questions you may have.” He marked off something on his clipboard and looked at us. “I’ll meet you and your horses in the large outdoor arena tomorrow. Good work.”
With that, he left the arena. He left five tired riders who glanced at each other, sharing the same look: More work on top of everything else. I think sleep was the only thing left to cut down in my schedule.