The next week was the "actual start" of school. Monday in almost every one of my 8 classes I was given homework, at least 30 minutes each. There goes a few of my evenings. Philippe and I continued to have 3 lessons a week, two jumps and one dressage.

Philippe had done amazing at jumping, but our flatwork was horrid, especially when trying to get him into frame. And while barrel racing didn't technically start until late November, Phoebe and I were training weekly with the help of a trainer, Tina.

Tina was a sweet middle aged lady, graying slightly at the roots of her light blonde hair. She showed me exercises to do with Phoebe when she tended to get stiff and helped with the tight turns of the barrels.

Something Phoebe and I had always struggled with is either getting too close to the barrel and knocking it, or drifting so far away we gain too many precious seconds on our run. We could never get it perfect, but have gotten close many times.

I've had countless people tell me to get a new horse; that Andalusions weren't meant for barrel racing, to sell Phoebe as a trail or pleasure horse and get a younger, more reliable breed like a thoroughbred or quarter horse.

But I could never sell Phoebe. Plus, she loved her job. Weekly, we only run the patterns a few times throughout the week, and exercise the rest of the time. And even then you can tell she yearns to run the barrels nonstop.

I hosed down Phoebe and brushed through her long mane. I'd need to trim it soon or pull it. Delilah walked into the barn just then, a sorrel gelding trailing behind her sleepily. This horse was a much different one than Pride, much more supple and calm.

Delilah also seemed to spot me, putting the gelding in the wash rack next to Phoebe's. I smiled a friendly greeting and said hello.

"Who's this?" Delilah asked, gesturing to Phoebe. "Another eventer?"

I snorted. Phoebe eventing would be a nightmare. "No, not at all. I do barrel racing too and Phoebe here is my Western horse." Delilah straightens at that, a scowl coming across her face.

"Western, really?" She almost whined. But before I could retort back, she nodded toward the sorrel. "Anyways, this is Julian. He's a Dutch Warmblood gelding and my new jumper," she boasted.

"Is there anything wrong with Pride's jumping?" I asked cautiously. The stallion had seemed amazing at jumping despite his temper. He was soft in the bit while jumping, unlike his flatwork.

Delilah scoffed. "He's being trained by my father right now, so he went back to Brooke Equestrian Center, which my family owns." I nodded, not wanting to dig deeper than I needed at the moment.

I sweat scrape the rest of the dripping water off Phoebe's gleaming buckskin coat, undoing her from the cross ties and snapping the leadrope back on her breakaway halter.

Delilah followed me, sidling in front of Phoebe's stall door and blocking us from entering. "So," she started as I tried to maneuver my way around her. "Want to go get coffee with me and Kiera later?" She asked. I shrugged and gave her a "maybe," finally getting my way into Phoebe's stall and letting her loose, where the mare immediately went for her hay.

I left the barn feeling conflicted. Delilah seemed nice enough, but also very arrogant and self absorbed.

It had cooled down from the first week of school, now only being 26*c so I decided to hop on Philippe for a quick flat ride. I grabbed him and put him in main's cross ties.

In the tack room I spotted Chloe getting her dressage saddle out and figure 8 bridle. "Going riding?" I asked. The blonde nodded.

"Just a short flat and then trail. You?"

"Yeah," I responded. "Same here. You want to ride together?" Chloe brightened at that and nodded enthusiastically and I grabbed my grooming supplies, leaving my tack behind for a couple of minutes until I was ready for it.

Dream was in his stall tied to the iron poles that enclosed the stalls. He was shiny and ready to be tacked up, which Chloe did.

She had a sparkly cobalt blue saddle pad and brush boots and them and Dream quite literally shined.

While I only had a plain hunter green saddle pad, I made up for it in sparkle with my saddle. It had rhinestones adorning the linings and stirrup leather loops, matching my sidepull I used for practice. For competitive shows, since bitless wasn't allowed in dressage, we used a simple loose ring lozenge.

We finished tacking up and went to an indoor arena today; the clouds parting in the sky and revealing the sun wasn't for me right now. The arena was a dressage arena, made specifically for tests and practice. Perfect.

We warmed up while talking, Philippe and Dream on a loose rein for most of the warm up.

We went off on our own when we actually started though. I gathered up my reins and Philippe protested, tossing his head and snorting. I half halt and get him into a flowy trot, warming up his legs a bit more and letting them get stretchy and long. We went around in 20m circles for a few minutes, working on bending inward instead of outward, something Philippe loved to do.

To compress his trot, I half halted a bit with my inside rein and kept steady contact with the outside rein. He listens immediately and slows his trot a little but ducks his neck down, leaving his poll low. He loved to be in front of the bit as most horses do. But in Training Level I needed him on the bit. It wasn't like Starter or BN where he could just be all willy-nilly about where his head and neck went.

After he got into frame for a few trot beats, I let him have his head a little and work on some lateral movements instead, side passing to the edge of the rail and then back away from it. I look up to see Dream in all his glory piaffing. I gawked. While I'm struggling to get Philippe in frame, Chloe and Dream looked spotless and professional. No wonder they're Intermediate Level. If you looked closely, you could see how much subtle movements and commands Chloe was giving as the draft responded calmly and exquisitely. But from far, it looked as if Chloe wasn't doing anything but sitting there and going along with the ride as Dream pranced on. Her pony tail bouncing behind her, Chloe transitioned into a trot and then walked, both of them breathing heavily.

While they walked out a bit, I composed a short dressage test in my head and cantered a few laps to warm that up too.

Afterwards, Philippe looked done with my bs and all four of us were ready to hit the trails.

Getting back to the barn, I half heartedly hose off Phoebe, making sure to get all her sweat and grime off, but not going as in depth as I usually do. Sweat scraping her, I put her in her stall and double checked her fan is on. I gave her a couple of treats that were in my pocket and shut the door, ready to collapse on my bed back at the dorms.

A familiar woman with short, wavy red hair was heading towards where I was standing next to Phoebe's stall. She waved as she approached me. "Hey! You're Beau Selli, right? I'm Anna Zion, one of the Prelim instructors."

I remembered Delilah and Kiera telling me she was the previous owner of Philippe's dam, Spark. I shook her hand and replied, "yes, I'm Beau. What can I do for you?"

Anna looked slightly sheepish. "Well, a little birdy told me you own my old horse, Sparkling Honor. Is that right? How is she doing?"

I had a feeling that little birdy's name was Delilah, who also forgot to tell Anna that the amazing mare had passed. I fidgeted with the end of my braid, avoiding eye contact. "Actually, um, Spark passed a few years ago," I mumbled. "I have her son though."

Anna smiled sadly. "Yeah, I had a feeling she wasn't with us anymore. Was worth a try though." She shook herself off and started again. "Anyways, I wanted to ask you a few questions; you're moving up to Modified soon right?"

I nodded. Anna clapped. "Great! Ms. O'Connors has noticed your vast improvement in stadium, and has asked me to personally train you in it and a few cross country lessons if you're comfortable."

I gawked. "Personally?!" I stuttered out. "Would it cost extra? And I don't think I nor my horse can handle 4 lessons a week-"

Anna put up a hand to stop me. "I'd just be taking over one of your jump lessons, so instead of the big group training with Ms. O'Connors, it'll be me, you, and 1-2 other riders. How does that sound?"

Anna sounded so sincere and hopeful, like she's been waiting forever to train someone. "What exactly would be different with the lesson, other than smaller groups?" I asked.

"Well, we'll be jumping at least 3 '5 each lesson instead of 3' 3, and will sprinkle in some Prelim jumps too," she responded, winking.

3'5 was the height of the jumps in Modified while Prelim was 3'7. The highest Philippe and I had jumped together was 3 '4, and while Philippe definitely had scope for much higher, I wasn't comfortable with it. I voiced this to Anna and she nodded understandingly.

"I get it," she said. "We won't do anything you're uncomfortable with until you're ready."

That gave me reassurance. And excitement. I grinned up at Anna. "Let's do it," I replied.