Rebound *Book Two*

Chapter Thirty One

Chapter Thirty One

"Oxer!" I shout in the crowded warmup arena. Rebound sets himself up before the jump. I keep my weigh back and soften the reins. Counting strides down in my head, I lift into two point as Rebound sails over the wide oxer.

"Good. Walk and pet him. Make your way over to the gate." Mark shouts to me from the fence. Spectators crowd around him, watching the horse and rider combinations warm up. I give Rebound a pat on the shoulder. Whenever a rider makes it around the course, you can hear the people watching cheer. When someone knocks a rail or gets a refusal, you can hear the sighs of disappointment. It's kind of funny.

"Number 16, your on deck!" The ring steward shouts so the riders can hear. Since I am 16, I hold my hand up so she can see that I am walking over. "Good luck. You make walk over to the arena entrance. When the current rider is exiting, you may enter. The judge will ring the bell and you may start your round."

"Thank you." I walk past the steward and towards the arena.

I look at Mark, who has his hand on my knee. "We all will be watching at the arena entrance. Go in, have fun, and do your best. I am so proud of you, Ali. Don't forgot that." Mark pats my knee and touches Rebounds shoulder. He gives me a reassuring smile. Rebound nervously trots in place up to the gate. I let out a deep breath, telling Rebound it is okay. I close my eyes for a second and picture myself and how I was going to jump the course. When I open them again, the crowd is clapping and the rider is exiting the arena. I look at the scoreboard, noticing that he knocked two rails.

"Good luck." He says to me. "Be careful with that triple bar. It has been getting a lot of people."

"Thanks." I say, but my voice was barely above a whisper. I don't think I have ever been in nervous. Here it goes.

I enter the arena at a working trot. Rebound eyes the crowd once, but when he sees the jumps he puts his game face on. He is good like that. I remember what Lainey told me about the crowd disappearing when you were in the ring, and it was true. Even though thousands of eyes were watching, it was only me and Rebound. I let Rebound trot around a couple of the jumps to get a look at them. He sniffs the liver pool and walks through the triple combination. He halts in the middle of the arena, facing the judges stand. When the judge rings the bell, I give him a nod.

Letting out a deep breath, I pat Rebound on the neck. "Just you and me, bud." I whisper to him. He takes a step forward and I swing my leg back, asking for a right lead canter transition. He leaps into a huge canter, and then all my worries fade away.

Turning to face the first jump, a tall gate, I quietly half halt him. Once we are five strides out I soften the reins and deepen my seat. I hold on tight with my legs. Since the first jump is facing the grand stand, it might spook some of the horses. Ears perked forward, Rebound flys over the first jump, taking off perfectly. We land on the other side with inches to spare. After three long, straight strides, I turn Rebound to the next obstacle in front of us. It was the huge, famous Rolex oxer six strides to another oxer. The jumps were parallel to the stands, and you need to apply a strong inside leg and outside rein to keep the horse straight. Counting strides down in my head, Rebound takes off half a stride early. The crowd gasps, and I hold my breath, grabbing onto mane. Somehow, Rebound managed to land off the other side without knocking a rail. He was charging to the next jump, and I strongly half halt him to get recollected. He listens, and this time, Rebound doesn't make the same mistake he did at the first oxer. He takes off perfectly and we land on the other side, cantering on.

His stride lengthens on the short gallop stretch to the next combination. It was a skinny bicycle vertical two strides to another bicycle. The two strides in the combination were short so I really needed to get him collected in order to make it. "Woah, woah." I whisper in a low tone, gently tugging on the reins. He gets in deep to the first one, barely crawling over it. After the first bicycle, I dig in to get the second one done. He makes the distance to the second one and I let out an audible sigh. So far this course hasn't been the prettiest. I really need to fight for it if I want to finish off with a good course.