A Medallion

Chapter 25

"We set you up in our guest room," Tessa was saying as we were taking my packed bags up to her house. "It hasn't been used in awhile and is very bare, but it's livable."   

I nodded. "It'll be fine." I was pretty much used to sleeping anywhere. I'd slept in so many different hotels I couldn't have told you the names of all of them.

By the time we make it up the slope to the house, I'm slightly breathless. Tessa doesn't seem fazed at all and pushes open the door.

"Mother, Vanessa's here!"

A wonderful smell meets me as I stepinto the house. Tessa's mother comes out from what I assume is thekitchen and greets me with a warm smile.

"Hello Vanessa, good to see you. Ihope you enjoy your stay here, it's not Vantage Point but it ishome."

"I'm sure I will enjoy myself," I told her truthfully. Already I was beginning to feel comfortable here. There was an air about this place that I didn't ever remember feeling at Vantage Point.

"We're probably going to be upstairs until feeding time," Tessa said.

"Alright, have fun."

I followed Tessa to the stairs, wondering what could possibly occupy us for the two hours we had before their feed time. She had said something about touring the stable, so I'd thought we'd be doing that. But apparently not?

Tessa led me to a room a third or so the size of my room at home. It was bare, with a bed, nightstand, and a small closet.

"So, like I said, pretty bare. We usually don't have company, at least, not the kind that stays overnight," Tessa apologized.

I set the bag I was carrying down. "No it's fine, really." I smiled at her. "I didn't come to sleep in luxury."

She laughed, a nice easy laugh. "No, I don't guess so."  

"Do you want to unpack, or get on to what you did come here for?"

I didn't even think about my decision. "Get on to what I came for."

She smiled. "I figured. Let's go to my room."

I followed her down the hall to her own bedroom. It was covered with photos of Challenger and other horses I didn't know, plus it had a wall of rosettes. There was also a bookcase in one corner. It was neat and clean, unlike my own room back home.

"Go sit on the bed," Tessa said as she went to the bookcase.

I sat down on the bed as she picked out three different books. I wrinkled my brow. Were we going to study books?

"These books," she said as she came to me, "Are all by one author, Sylvia Loch. She's a classical dressage trainer who's really helped me with Challenger."

"You've trained under her?" I asked.

She laughed a bit. "No. I wish I was able to, but she lives all the way over in the UK."

I looked down at the books. I'd never been a great studying person. It bored me. I generally got A's in my school work despite hardly doing any studying.

"Now, this is what is really going to help you with Medallion. She doesn't like you touching the reins, right?"

I nodded agreement.

"Well, in classical dressage, you can ride without using them as much, whichwill really help you with Medallion." She flipped open and thumbed through one of the books.

"Classical dressage relies mainly on your seat and legs. The reins are used of course, but not as much as we use them today, and in different ways."

She looked up to me. "You do have a good seat. I don't see you relying on the reins for balance. But your hands aren't the best."

Maybe she saw the momentary flash of annoyance on my face, because she added, "I don't mean to hurt your feelings. Everyone has things to work on." She smirked. "I still drop my inside shoulder even though I know better."

She tapped the page with her hand that she was on. "This book is on weight aids in particular. If you can tune into this, Vanessa, your rides on Medallion will go much easier. She's far less resistant to your seat and leg than your hand."

"Okay, but what does that mean?" I asked.

"First, it means sitting correctly so you can give the right weight aids. Look at this picture." She pointed to the page. "This demonstrates what is known as the 'three point seat.' It's called that because it has three points, the two seat bones and the front part of the seat. It's the most secure place to be on a horse, because it gives you the most balance and stability."

And for the next two-ish hours that is what we did. We studied books. And I found myself becoming engrossed in it.

By the end my head was spinning with knowledge of weight and leg aids. Some of it I already knew, but the majority of it I didn't. And I wondered why I hadn't been taught it. It made sense.

Tessa closed the book and set it on the stack beside her. "Feed time. You can stay here if you want, or you can come help out."

I decided to come help out. After all, what else was I going to do? And besides, I wanted to see more of Star Run.

"You won't need to remember everything we went over," said Tessa as wewent down to the barn. It looked like it was going to rain overhead, and the wind blew coolly.

"Good, because I don't think I could," I said lightly.

She chuckled. "Sorry if I overwhelmed you a little. I just get so excited about it all."

Indeed, her face had been very alive and animated as she read aloud to mefrom the books and showed me the pictures. Sometimes she'd have us stand up and she'd show me how an aid would feel.

"It's alright. I haven't really heard any of the stuff you showed me though," I commented.

Herface saddened a bit at this. "I'm not surprised. Sadly it's not that prevalent today."

AN:  Guys, updates just aren't working in our favor.  I had literally just about finished writing out this chapter when my computer crashed in some odd way.  Normally, Wattpad's automatic saving feature would have saved us, but because this chapter is already published, it didn't save it.  Fortunately, I had most of it saved over in a document, otherwise who knows if you would even have an update today.

In case you're wondering, yes, Sylvia Loch is a real horse trainer.  Guys, if you can get your hands on any of her books about classical riding, please do so!  

Anyhow, thank you for reading and sticking with me through this rougher updating time!