Grace had agreed to help me with Cypress so we were currently making our way to her stall. Once we arrived, the flea bitten mare lifted her head to look at us.

"Hello girly, ready to work?" I cooed at the mare with a small smile on my face. I unlatched the door to her stall so I could slip her halter on. Before I put it on, I made sure to give her lots of pats and scratches before carefully placing the leather halter on her sleek face. She wasn't bothered by it thankfully, so I proceeded to attach the lead rope. Once again Cypress wasn't fazed so I just stood there a bit.

Usually off the track race horses were very eager to leave their stall and would rush, so I stood in the stall a bit preventing Cypress to rush out of the stall. I took a step forward and Cypress followed, halting when I stopped. Since she wasn't too eager or anything, I exited the stall, the flea bitten mare following behind.

I led her to the cross ties, Grace by my side, and I clipped each of the cross ties to Cypresses halter. On the track, these horses usually were taken up in the aisles so it was usual for them to have never been in the cross ties. I let Cypress settle since she was prancing around and trying to get out of the cross ties. When she understood that she had to stand still I brushed her with Grace's help. We used the curry comb and the dandy bush to get all the dust off. Grace brushed her white tail, smoothing out the knots and picking out the shavings stuck in it, meanwhile I picked her hoofs. When Cypress didnt lift her right leg, I went back to the left and reached across to lift her right leg, this time she lifted it willingly. Track horses mostly worked only on the left, so it was common for that to happen. When she was completely groomed and ready to go, Grace went to fetch some front tendon boots so that we could use them for protection.

We slipped the boots on and I led Cypress out of the cross ties. Graces and my laugh harmonized as we watched the mare behind us walk weirdly due to the new boots. She had probably never been in some, so it took her some time to adjust before walking normally again. I led her to the round pen which was still damp, but nothing too bad. Grace stood outside of the railing while I stood inside with Cypress, ready to work her and gain her trust.

I remembered what I had read last night about the mare standing in front of me. She was a two year old mare who was retired sound after two unplaced races. Besides that, what her previous owner had told me was that she was very sweet, very willing and a really smart young horse. I did know about the sweet part because it had definitely shown the time I had spent with her between yesterday and today, but I was just about to prove the willing and smart part.

I glanced at Grace who eagerly waited for me to start working the flea bitten mare in front of me. Usually when Istarted, I began lungling them. OTTBs didn't really know how to lunge, so I had to teach them to work on my pressure and body presence. I had Cypress in a lead rope, so I used that as my lunge. I clicked and kissed Cypress, and when she didn't react, which I expected, I twirled the end of the line to get her moving. She reacted to the pressure and started walking around me in a circle. It was usually harder for young horses to figure this out, so I definitely started seeing the smart side showing.

I let her walk around me, and when she started slowing down or trying to walk backwards, I twirled the end of the line and clucked, encouraging her to keep on walking. After her walking around me, I introduced the whistle and the ho. I used the whistle as a reward, so when I whistled at Cypress, I turned my shoulder and asked her to turn her nose at me. That was one of the first things I introduced so that they knew that the ho or the whistle meant them to stop.

When Cypress halted by me I let my mouth curve into a smile. I turned around to pat her and I shot a glance at Grace who smiled at me. This never got old, working with new horses; It was so rewarding to see them slowly understand what they were being asked for, especially if they were eager horses like Cypress.

I changed the hand I was working on, so I cued Cypress to walk to the right. This was a lot harder for her and it took alot of encouragement from my side to get her working on the right, boy she got the hang of it. Once again, I let her walk around me for a bit before I whistled at her.

"Ho" I breathed out, turning my back to the flea bitten mare. She came to a halt and I praised her once more. I worked with her like this for a bit more before I changed activities. Horses were like toddlers, you have to constantly change things up so that they won't get bored.

I let my hand slip to the very last bit of the lead rope, and I let Cypress stand behind me, my back facing her. I put my hand on her chest and pushed back slowly. When she took a step back, I clucked my tongue to encourage her to keep on. With a bit more pressure and encouragement, Cypress backed up, earning a treat from me.

I ended the lesson there, I didn't want to push Cypress too much today as it was our first time working together, so I took her lead rope and let her follow me back to the barn. The flea bitten mare walked behind me and Grace walked by me.

"What did you need help for? You were amazing with Cypress!" Grace gushed.

"Thank you!" I chirped "I knew that she was willing and smart, but I didn't expect her to be so responsive so quickly," I added with a chuckle.

"Mhm" she hummed. We got to the barn and I settled Cypress in her stall. Since she was my last horse for the day, I went to get ready to go home. I gathered my stuff from the staff office with Grace. I said goodbye to my blond friend when I reached the door to my father's office. With one last hug, we parted ways, she left down the still damp driveway and I made my way inside my father's office. With a sight, I flopped on the sofa and scrolled through my phone as my father ended his phone call. I smiled at my father when he turned around, his blue eyes meeting mine.

"Why are you so smiley?" He asked.

"I worked Cypress today and it went really well '' I started with a sly smile. My father's grin widened as he added "That's amazing darling! I should stop by to see you work with her tomorrow" I nodded eagerly and smiled again.

"Ready to get home?" My father said after signing and standing up.

"Yes, it's been a long day" I said as we made our way out of the barn and into the car to get home.

I unlocked the front door to my house and immediately was propounded on by my huge german shepherd.

"Dali! Get off me mate!" I said laughing and petting him, when he got off me, I managed to step into my house. I gave Dali one more pat before making my way to say hello to my mom and running up the stairs of my open concept house to get to my room. I opened the door and immediately made my way to my bed which I flopped on and stared at the ceiling blankly. I was exhausted to say the least, I wasn't quite sure why because I hadn't done anything different than the other days, but I just was.

With all my strengths, I managed to get off my bed groaning and change into my pjs getting ready to go to bed. After going through my night routine, I finally got into bed. Pulling the white covers over me, I layed there, my head resting on my pillow. I was about to close my eyes to fall asleep when I heard paws clanking against the wooden floor. I immediately knew that Dali was making his way to my room to sleep with me like he usually did. Just like I predicted, seconds later my black german shepherd came into my room and immediately jumped on my bed and snuggled at my feet. I smiled at him and gave him a kiss on his black fur before returning to my pillow where I finally closed my eyes and fell asleep.

The week went by slowly, my days consisting of the same, going to the barn, riding all the horses and working with Cypress. I had also worked plenty with Dublin and Captain due to the upcoming show; I had to make sure that we were completely ready to go into the show ring. The night before the show, I stayed in the barn up till late getting the horses ready. With Matts help, we washed both Dublin and Captain, pulled their manes and braided them. I left both horses rugged up in their stall hoping that they wouldn't roll or mess up their braids overnight.
 
I woke up early the next morning to the sound of my alarm clock. I sprang out of bed and went to the shower, I stripped from my clothes and stepped in letting the warm water fall on me. I washed my hair and just stood there in the warm water, my nerves building up. I had competed many more times than I could count but I still got extremely nervous and anxious before a show. When Iwas done i got out and dressed in my white competition breeches and my white show shirt. I blow dried my hair letting it fall in slight waves and applied my makeup. Before leaving my room, I gathered my by show jacket, helmet, tall boots, gloves and all the other things I would need for the show.

I ran down the stairs to the dining table to find my breakfast already laid out. I fed Dali before sitting down and eating my breakfast. My mother knew by this point that on show mornings I was lost in my thoughts and worrying about the rest of the day, so if she mentioned anything to me it was highly likely that I would not pay full attention, so she left me alone with my thoughts and my breakfast. It was quite early in the morning, my father wasn't leaving the barn for about an hour or so, so he was still asleep. He would meet me in the show grounds later that day, or at least before I would go into the ring. Both my parents loved to see me show and I was super grateful that they were supportive, but since I was older now and I knew how things worked, they would meet me just in time for my turn since there really wasn't much for them to do before that.

I left my apartment, car keys in hand, along with all my show stuff. I got in my car and drove to Elysium Stables where I pulled up and stepped out into the cold April morning. I arrived at the barn and saw that Matt was already feeding the horses, so I made my way to the tack room and gathered what I had left ready last night. I took the saddles to the trailer and arranged them, as well as the bridles. I grabbed my helmet that was in my helmet bag along with some hair nets, some hair ties and my gloves. I also hung my show jacket in the trailer and under it I settled my tall boots. I hauled the box with all of Dublins and Captains things into the trailer. The big box had a fly hood, bell boots, jumping boots and the saddle pads with the number holder. I also got the grooming box and my folder with my horses files and mine in them.

By the time I was done loading the trailer, Grace had arrived and had started organizing her things into the trailer. Captain and Dublin had already finished eating, so I took Captain to the crossties to groom him beforehand. Matt was grooming Dublin by me while I made small talk.

Captain was still quite clean but he had messed up a couple of braids which I fixed and I also brushed the dust off his pinto coat. When we were done, I switched Captain's leather halter for his shipping one which basically had more padding and faux fur in some places that would help avoid scratches. I slipped his dark shipping boots on, making sure all the velcros were secured before I made my way to putting on his shipping rug.

Matt helped me load Captain and Dublin while I made my way to the staff office to get us all coffee before we left. When I made my way back to the trailer, I saw that Matt was already in the driver's seat and Grace was in one of the shotgun places. I hopped on besides Grace and handed them all their coffee before we drove off to the show grounds.

"Did you have trouble loading Delilah?" I asked Grace.

"Not really," she said, glancing at Matt. "She wasn't keen on it but went in anyways.'' I nodded and looked straight ahead and sipped my coffee.

"What classes are you competing in?" Matt directed his question at both of us.

"I'm going to show Delilah in the 70 cm jumper class" Grace started

"I'm showing Captain in the 1.10 cm class and Dublin in the 90 cm one" I added to which he nodded. As we approached the grounds, I got more nervous by the second. My father had already texted me all the information about the stalls and the class hours as well as the confirmation for our entries.

After an hour of small talk and driving through england's roads, we got to the show grounds. We were greeted by the huge sign that read "Fairfield Stables", we took the turn and drove down the wide road. I peeked out the window and saw many trailers and many horses with riders, you could definitely tell that this was a show. When Matt slowed to a stop near a big tree, I hopped out of the trailer, Grace following. I looked around, my nerves increasing every second. With a big sigh, I went to the back of the trailer and waited for Matt to open it before I went in to get my horses. I grabbed Dublin's lead rope and released the quick release knot and guided him down the ramp. Going down, Dublin was pushy, so I made sure to stand still and calm him down before I made my way down the rest of it. I tied Dublin up by the trailer and went in for Captain.

With help from Matt, Grace managed to get Delilah out of the trailer. You could tell the black mare really knew this, she was with her ears pricked and her head in the air pacing around. Dublin on the other hand was quite calm for it being his first show. He looked around at first but he calmed down fairly quickly.

We left the horses munching on their hay with Matt while Grace and I made our way to our numbers. We crossed the show grounds, ever so often saying hello to some people we knew because of other shows we had been to.

"The show environment is like no other" Grace breathed out, I nodded before I added,

"Yeah, it's like everyone is shaking with nerves and excitement but everyone deep down is exhausted" Isaid chuckling at the end, Grace giggling with me.

"Yes! Remember when we competed every week a couple of years ago? It was our first taste of competing in the A circuit and we were both so exhausted" Grace said with a smile. I grinned at the memory and nodded.

"Waking up at 4 am gets tiring, but it's so worth it!" My best friend hummed in response as we approached the register area. There were a few people before us, so we waited for our turn before we approached the woman at the table.

"Hello girls, coming to get your numbers?" The elderly woman said with a warm smile. We both chorused our yes and the woman asked for our names.

"Eleanor Holloway and Grace Tomlinson" Grace said for both of us.

"Both from Elysium stables, correct?" she asked

"Yes."

"Eleonor will be riding Dublin's Finest and Capture The Moment, Dublin in the 90 cm and Captain in the 1.10. This is your number for the class with Captain, and this is your Number for when you ride Dublin." The light colored haired lady said while handing me a paper with all my information and the numbers for both classes.

"And Grace.... You are riding The Black Dahlia?" Grace nodded and the lady took another look at her files. "Here is your number." She said hansing Grace some papers similar to mine.

"Well, good luck out there!" She said from behind the table with a warm smile. Before we left, I quickly asked for the class schedules just in case they had changed anything comparing it to the one my father had sent me. She searched under her desk before pulling out a show schedule and handing it to me.

"This is the classes you show in..." she mumbled highlighting the classes both Grace and I were entered in as well as their corresponding times.

"Thank you so much," I said with a smile as we grabbed the papers to leave.

"No problem darling!"

Once we had our numbers and the schedules, we made our way to arena A,
where our classes would take place. Lucky for us, all the courses were the same, it was just the height that varied, so we would be able to walk the course. It was still quite early with it being just 8am, and the sun was just coming out. I had my hands stuffed in my gray hoodie, as Grace usually tells me, I'm always cold. We made our way around the showgrounds and got to the arena, hopping in and taking a look at the course. After scanning the arena for jump 1, we walked towards it. We counted strides between jumps, memorizing the course, and after walking it about three times, we made our way back to the trailer where Matt was, still with the horses.

My first class was with Captain and it started in over an hour, so I decided to start tracking up. I groomed Captain for the second time in the day and smoothed the white saddle pad over his bay and white coat. While I placed the saddle on Captain's back and adjusted the girth, Matt helped me by slipping his bridle on. Once Captain was all tacked up, I got in all my show attire, excluding the show coat, so I could head to the warm up arena.

Buckling my helmet, I slipped my foot in the left stirrup and hopped on Captains back. Once I was on I shortened the reins and caught the other stirrup, organizing myself in the saddle. I nodded to Matt who was holding Captains reins and he led us to the warmup arena. Captain took careful steps as we made our way over to the smaller arena which was already filled by a couple of riders. Matt stopped right at the entrance and let go of Captains reins, and with one last smile I walked on.

I walked around the arena, staying to my right as I let Captain get used to the new surroundings. After a couple of laps, I nudged the gelding to trot, and with a swish of his tail, I was rising and falling to his trot as we made our way around the arena.

I worked Captain evenly on both hands, taking him through all his paces as I got rid of some of his excess energy. When he was supple and calm, I directed him over to the practice jump in the middle of the arena. At a steady canter, I approached the jump and we popped over it effortlessly. I slowed Captain and praised him before having another go. I didn't want to tire him too much, so I walked the gelding a bit before heading back to where the trailer was parked and dismounted.

"How was he?" Grace asked looking up from her phone.

"Quite good actually, alot calmer than I expected." Grace nodded and I sat down beside her and scrolled through my phone also. I was about to stand up to get ready as my class started a bit when my phone started buzzing, my father's name appearing on the screen. I took the call and placed my phone on speaker as I gathered my light colored hair in a braid to fit in my hair net under my helmet.

"Hello love" my father greeted. " I just arrived to the showgrounds and they are directing me to the parking lot, so I might take awhile before I can see you as its quite crowded." he explained

"That's ok! Do you know where we are? Or will you go directly to the arena?" I inquired

"I'm going to the arena, I don't think I'll make it to where you are beforehand." I heard my father say it through the phone. I said goodbye and continued getting ready. I slipped on my black show coat and attached my gold pin on it. Slipping on my dark leather gloves and buckling my Charles Owen helmet, I mounted Captain for the second time in the day. I sat on his back, petting him while Matt brushed hoof oil on his hooves, making them stand out. Flicking off the last bit of dust, I let Matt lead us to the arena. Grace had gone to the bleachers with my parents, so it was just Matt, the Captain and me.

I was next in the ring, so I stood right outside of the arena gates and watched the rider before me. In my mind, I went over the course a couple of more times, taking deep breaths to calm my nerves. When the rider before me finished her round, the crowd erupted into cheers, I took that as a reason to go to the arena. Matt's hand left Captain's reins and with a smile I nudged Captain to walk on. I

"Next up we have Eleanor Holloway riding Capture the Moment for Elysium stables" The judge said through the speakers. I took one deep breath and after saluting the judges, I asked for a canter.

I kept contact with the reins and I took the diagonal, strides away from the first jump. I sucked in a breath while Captain  launched into the air, snapping his knees under him . I guided the gelding over the jump that stood at about 1.10m and through the getaway. Once we landed, I fixed my eyes in the first jump in the line. I cued Captain to turn to it, and she did, aligning us with the set of jumps to come.

Defying the laws of gravity, we soared over the jump before us, I raised in my stirrups freeing Captains hindquarters to propel us in the air. As we came back down again. I fixed my eyes on the second half of the line, encouraging Captain a bit more so that we would approach with a good rhythm. After six strides, we soared over the second jump, coming back down once more.

I turned my head and locked my sight in the oxer that was to come. I made sure to take a wide turn, giving us enough space to hopefully jump the upcoming oxer straightly.

I winced as Captain cut off the last bit of the turn and went over the jump. Not fighting the pinto gelding, I folded I to my two points and guided him over the jump. In the air, I kept my right rein taught so that Captain knew to turn the second we landed as it was a dogleg combination. When a pair of hooves reached the turf once more, we turned slightly to face the next jump. We soared over the jump we had gone over previously and took another wide turn to jump the upcoming dogleg. We soared over the last set of jumps, slowing after them. I had a huge smile on my face as I leaned over Captains neck and hugged the gelding. I was so proud of him. I excited the arena after the judges over the PA announcing my time.

As this was not an official show and it was not a qualifier or anything of the sorts, there was no jump off round. There was an optimum time and the one closest to it would win, similar to how it worked in cross country, so the official results would be out quite soon. I led Captan back to the trailer where Matt was already waiting for me.

"I'm guessing because the smile on your face you did good," Matt said with a sly and curious smile.

"Yes, we went clear. Captain was absolutely amazing!" I gushed as I hopped off. "My time was also fairly similar to the other competitors, so I didn't think I did too bad" I added, recalling the times the other riders had. As I started to untack Captain, Grace came up to me with my parents trailing behind, all of them with a grin on their face.

"Captain did so well!" Grace said happily, I nodded eagerly and continued to untack Captain.

"I talked to a woman who was interested in Captain, I gave her your number if she wants to contact you, I'm hoping that after the scores are put out we will get more clients" my father explained walking over to the tall gelding patting his shoulder.

"Hopefully we placed okay, I don't want to get my hopes up but we had a clear round and our times were fairly similar to the other riders of what I remember." I said turning back to my parents after putting the trailer again.

"Who has the class after?" My mother asked.

"El does, I will go after she shows Dublin." Grace said with a smile, I nodded my head agreeing to what my best friend had just said. Grace then stood up  abruptly earning some confused looks coming from my parents and me.

"The results should be up by now silly!" she said with a teasing smile. I chuckled and stood up from my seat also making our way back to the arena. I glanced up at the scoreboard, scanning it for my name. My heart dropped ever so slightly when I saw that we were not in the top three, but I expected it. It didn't make me any less proud of Captain. I moved my gaze down scanning the names, still looking for mine. When my blue orbs landed on my name, I let out an excited squeal. 6th place, Eleanor Holloway, Capture the Moment, Elysium Stables, 41 seconds , the scoreboard read. When my parents and Grace saw my name as well, they all praised me excitedly. I was so happy and proud at the same time!