The weekend was over, but the impact it had had on me and Medallion would stretch far into the future.  Tessa lent me two of her classical dressage books that she said would help me, and gave me more things to work on with Medallion. 

Leaving felt like having to abandon a sanctuary for Medallion and I.  In this place we had finally begun to learn to work together, and there was a part of me that was afraid that back at Vantage Point, things wouldn't work the same.  

But there was no way to find out but to try.  

After having been at Star Run for two days, Vantage Point seemed even more luxurious and expensive.  It also seemed less cozy and friendly.  

Instead of leaving Medallion to the grooms to take care of, I decided that I wanted to be the one to do it.  So I unloaded Medallion myself.

A groom was standing by, obviously expecting me to hand off Medallion.  "You can go, I'm going to put her up," I said to her. 

Her face registered surprise which she quickly covered up.  "Alright, Miss Ireden."  

Seeing her so surprised made me determined to change that.  From now on, I would take care of my own horses.

I led Medallion to her paddock and let her loose.  "Enjoy," I murmured to her as I slid the halter off her nose.  She snorted and wandered over to the water tank.  

"How was your visit to the Wellens' stable, dear?"  My mother asked as we slid into our chairs at dinner time. 

"It was awesome."  My face lit up.  "I learned so much and actually got along with Medallion.  I even got to jump her!" 

She raised her eyebrows as she picked up the silverware.  "You jumped Medallion?"  

"Yes!  Well, okay, it was just over a cross rail," I clarified.  "But I've never jumped her before, so that's a big thing.  For the first time, we worked together and she listened to me.  She didn't try to run away or anything like that."  

"Well, it looks like your decision to keep her will pay off after all."

I knew what she meant by 'pay off'.  She meant that it looked like Medallion would be a ribbon winner after all.  But I didn't bother to argue with her.  I was in a good mood and wasn't eager to potentially ruin it.  So I nodded in agreement.  After all, it would 'pay off', just maybe not the way she or I had thought it would.

"Yeah, I think she's going to make me an even better rider." I leaned forward slightly.  "She felt amazing under me.  Like, she didn't even just step over the cross rail, she jumped it like it was a two foot vertical!  She's still young yet, but she's already showing so much boldness.  I don't think she'll be afraid of anything in cross country."  

Mother cocked her head at me, a thoughtful look coming across her face.  "You know, I haven't seen you talk about a horse like that in awhile.  Not since Tab left."  She looked down.  "You're so excited about her."  

I sat back.  "Yeah...  She... Well.  She's the first horse that I've felt this way about since Tab."  

I thought about this for a moment, running my mind through all the former horses I had / did own, including Win.  It was true, I hadn't been this excited about a horse and what they did since Tab. 

Maybe I would learn to love a horse again after all.

The next day was a normal day for me.  I got up, ate breakfast, and headed out to the barn to ride.  I reflected morosely on my way there that in the winter, this would change because I would complete my school work in the morning before riding.  

My first ride was on Via, the pretty red roan mare.  Usually I texted the stable manager and told him what horses I'd be riding so he could have them tacked up for me.  But today I skipped that.  I wanted to tack up my own horses.  

It took me a little while to locate Via's tack in the gigantic tack room of Vantage Point.  In fact, it took me awhile to locate a lot of things.  I was surprised at how little I knew about my own barn.  Tessa knew all the ins and outs of hers, but I had to hunt around to find Via's halter.  

The day was bright and sunny, so I chose to ride in the outdoor arena.  The air was crisp and cool, but not uncomfortably so.  Via was ready to go.  I was the only one in the arena.  

Part of me was tempted to begin work on getting her to have a nice headset.  She was walking along with her nose up in the air.  

But I knew what I was doing wasn't working very well, and I was curious.  With what I'd learned over the weekend, could we do something different?  

So, for awhile, I experimented with Via.  And while I never got that nice, perfect headset, I did learn a couple of things.  Exciting things.  

After riding two other horses, and experimenting some more, it was time for me to ride Medallion.  Today, I didn't have a lesson with my trainer, as Mondays were her day off.  So, I had been left to myself.  

I tacked Medallion up myself.  As I was grooming her, I looked her over, memorizing her markings.  I'd never really seen them before, and I marveled at how many different, unique ones she had.  

My whole time at the stable, I'd had this indistinct feeling following me around that I couldn't put a name to, but now, as I was grooming her, I put my finger on it.  It was loneliness and a sense of being lost.  Nobody else was trying to do what I was trying to do.  

While I tacked up my own horses, grooms bustled around me getting horses ready for other people.  Riders gathered in the break room to chat while they waited.  They passed off their horses to the grooms after they were done riding.  And that used to be me, it might still be me sometimes.  But I was the only one who was pursuing something other than a red rosette.  

Or was I?  I remembered the girl with the mare called Flyaway.  What had her name been?  I searched through my memory.  Casey?  Cally?  No... Cassie!  That was it. 

I didn't know if she boared Flyaway in this barn or not, but I was determined to find her if possible.  

Finally, it was time to ride Medallion for the first time since the transforming weekend.  I lined her up next to the mounting platform and took a deep breath.  

What did I want for this ride?  I outlined it out, but was careful not to frame it as expectations but as hopeful maybes.  Maybe we could both be calm, maybe we could do some turns using my seat, maybe we could do a little trotting.  

But the main goal was that everything was calm and peaceful.  That was my prize, my reward, my hope.  

I stuck my foot in the stirrup and mounted.  

Medallion flicked an ear back as I adjusted my seating and found the correct position.  I lifted my right shoulder, adjusted my reins, took another deep breath, and squeezed with my heels.  Of course, my reins were long enough I was not touching her mouth.

Medallion started smoothly forward.  I looked up and aimed for the next corner.   

There were only two other riders in the outdoor arena.  I had put a red ribbon that stood out sharply against Medallion's white and black tail to warn others to stay away from her.  She had shown she was a little temperamental about that.  

So far all was going well.  My seat swung easily to her marching steps.  I had gotten used to how fast they were.  

We went through the corner and up the long side.  I watched one of the other riders jump a vertical smoothly and then back down at Medallion.

No.  I wouldn't allow that to cheapen what Medallion and I were accomplishing here.  No, we weren't jumping verticals yet, but we were a whole lot closer now because we weren't bucking and bolting around the arena.  

I turned my attention back to Medallion.  

After one lap of riding around the large arena, I decided to change directions.  There was one part of me that was tempted to just not do it, to leave it alone and go another lap.  But I would have to face it at some point.

I lifted my right shoulder, stepped down into my inside stirrup, and turned my torso, bringing my outside leg against Medallion. 

She slowly and obediently followed my body's lead to turn.  It was working!  It seemed childish and silly to be excited about that, of course it would work, right?  But somehow, it was a relief to me. 

From then on, we walked another lap.  Then I did a serpentine with big loops across the arena.  Medallion stayed calm and well behaved throughout all of this.  

I was elated, and my confidence restored.  Restored enough that I decided to try some trotting.  If anything went wrong, couldn't I bring her back to the walk? 

I gathered my courage, picked where I wanted to go, and gently squeezed her forward.

She gladly shot off into trot.  One part of me started to grab the reins to slow her down, but I remembered not to.  Instead, I tried posting slower to coax her.

It helped, and she settled down into a steady, though still fast, trot.  I let out the breath I'd been holding and smiled.  

As we came up to a corner, I suddenly had a wild idea.  Perhaps not a sensible one.  But I acted on it. 

Through the corner I sat, kissed, and tapped her with my outside leg while leading with my inside hip.

She trotted a little faster before lurching into canter.  

"Good gal!"  I praised her and shortened my reins slightly.  But I didn't dare touch her mouth or she was sure to drop into trot.  

Her canter was smooth and comfortable to sit, but it was fast as well.  I settled to her rocking motion and grinned the widest, cheesiest, happiest grin ever.  I hadn't smiled this big on a horse in awhile, and it felt good.   

It felt better than winning an rosette.  

It felt like winning a certain Medallion.