Sure enough, the day came that everyone would have to show what they had learnt. The last week had been a strange one for Gale.
Some parts had gone painfully slowly but other parts had flown by too fast. The exams couldn't have taken more time if they'd tried yet all of Gale's practice time seemed to disappear. Any alone time she spent with Jackson never seemed to last a minute.
Yet, there she stood, outside of the two arenas, Vlad tied up beside her. She was wearing her plain beige jodhpurs and her smart black riding jacket. The arenas weren't flooded anymore; they'd drained all the water out and the sand had dried up. One of the arenas was filled with brightly coloured jumps and the other was empty, save for the three barrels evenly spaced out.
"First to complete their assessment will be Jackson Young," Carol called over the crowd of student. Jackson lifted himself into his saddle and steered Goldrush towards the arena gate. He was first as he was the only barrel racer.
"Good luck," Gale whispered as Jackson walked Goldrush past her. She just caught his smile as he stopped at the gate. Carol lifted her stopwatch and unbolted the lock. Goldrush pawed at the ground as the gate was opened and he got an eyeful of the red, white and blue barrels. Jackson gave the reins a gentle tug to keep him from moving forward.
"Ready?" Carol asked.
"Ready." Jackson spoke, clearly. Goldrush pawed at the ground again and lifted his front hooves a little. He was excited.
"1..." Carol stepped back "...2..." She lifted her stopwatch again "...3..." Goldrush let out a loud snort and pulled his head to one side. "Go-!" Carol yelled. Goldrush galloped forward. As soon as his hooves touched the sand, the stopwatch was clicked on. Jackson pulled Goldrush into the first barrel. The horse spun around it, hugging close, without touching it. Jackson steered Goldrush up to the next barrel and the palomino's hooves thundered across the sand.
"Now that's one hell of a fast horse!" Jake smiled at Gale and Victoria. Gale had to admit, it sure was impressive. Jackson made the next barrel look easy. He turned Goldrush around it, the horse turning on his hooves, lightning quick. The quarter horse had obviously done this before. He tore forward to the next barrel.
Goldrush flew around the barrel, Jackson leaning into it and kicking him on. They galloped through the open gate, Goldrush's hooves skidding across the dirt track as Jackson pulled him to a stop.
"17 seconds!" Carol exclaimed. Gale gasped and bounded towards Jackson. She stroked Goldrush's neck and smiled up at his rider.
"What was it that Roy Rogers said about Trigger? That he could turn on a dime and give you the change?" She laughed and petted Goldrush. Jackson seemed pleased with his time.
"Alright, alright! So we are a little like Roy Rogers and-" He was interrupted as Jake and Victoria appeared alongside Gale.
"That was pretty impressive, mate!" Jake smiled at his friend.
"I still don't know how you kept your hat on!" Victoria laughed. Amber appeared on Belle, sticking her nose up at Jackson and the others.
"I'll show you something truly impressive," She scowled. "What I do involves real skill."
"I'd like to see you barrel race, like that!" Gale rolled her eyes. Amber stuck her nose up again and trotted off. The dressage riders waited for Carol to finish moving the barrels out of the arena. Jackson dismounted and tied Goldrush up so that he could have a drink.
Gale, Jackson, Victoria and Jake all watched as the dressage riders did their piece. Ryan went first, followed by Hannah and then Amber. Of course, she had to look perfect, sitting up on her pedigree Hackney, her long blonde her back in a dressage style bun. Gale tried to not pay to much attention to her as she rode around the arena. She looked up to see her prancing around, crossing the arena in a diagonal line. She remembered this part from Ryan and Hannah's performance. The next part was a trot from F to M. Amber encouraged Belle on with her crop and the bay trotted onwards. She leaned a little too far forward and tugged the reins to the left slightly. Belle turned and went to G instead of M. Amber pulled at Belle's reins, to make her go back to M but the horse saw this as Amber stopping her. She halted. Gale turned to Victoria.
"That's not the right move! Ryan and Hannah didn't do that!" She whispered to her friend. Amber huffed and kicked Belle on to the next part. When her first light kick confused the mare, she smacked her crop down and Belle went into a canter. She angrily pulled her into a trot again but Carol had already seen what had happened.
"That's three mistakes! She went to the wrong place, stopped the horse at the wrong time and cantered at the wrong part," Victoria smiled at Gale.
"I guess, we know who's the skilled one now," Jackson chuckled in Gale's ear.
"She's lucky our grades don't get read out when we're done," Jake added as Amber finished.
"Next up will be the jumpers, over in other arena," Carol opened the gate so that Amber could walk Belle out.
"That's us!" Victoria began to led Shadow over to the other arena. Gale untied Vlad and followed her.
"Victoria Bluewood, you're up first!" Carol opened the gate. Gale wasn't paying attention to that though she was too busy worrying.
"You'll be fine-" Jackson reassured her. "You and Vlad make a great team." He put his arm around her shoulder.
"Thanks," She smiled. They watched as Victoria and Triss finish the course.

"Next up, Gale Robins!" Carol let Triss exit the arena. Gale gulped down her fears and grabbed her reins. It was all down to this.