Free Rein||Broken Home/Pin

Chapter 8

Amber POV:
"Ok. So well warm up and then we'll start on poles because I just want to see basic work so I know how I can help" I tell Jade.

She was mounted up on her horse and listening to my every word. "Yeah. Sure" she half smiles, walking on. I stood in the centre of the arena, watching her, and a little tired from this morning.

Raven was in a more playful mood this morning and he made me chase him around the paddock. He eventually came to me once I had flopped to the ground. This morning, Pin and I got everything done fairly quick so by the time Jade was ready, I was too. I had given Pin a big container full of a mixture of honey, granola, and chopped up apples. He thanked me and put it with his tack, saying that he'll bring it to his pony later.

I had asked Sam about teaching Jade and she was perfectly fine with it, as long as I helped Marcus with Raven later, which I agreed to do.

After Jade had warmed her horse up, she approached me. "Ok, just canter over that pole over there" I say, pointing to the pole on the ground. "Not to question your teachings great master, but how will poles help me to learn to jump?" She asks.

"Because I need to see how you cooperate with you're horse, and if you practice going over a jump and I can tell that something's wrong, I don't want you to get hurt" I say.

She nods and canters her horse around the arena before going over the pole. "Ok. So, this time, make sure to keep your eyes up. When you look down, you tip your weight, which tips your horses weight onto his front. You want the horse to use his back legs, also, your reins are too tight. Your horse can't stretch his head out like he needs to" I explain. She nods.

She comes over it again, it was better, but she did pull back a little, but otherwise, it was really good. She looks over at me with a huge smile and I smile back. "Told you so" I smirk.

"This time, do what you were doing before, but drop your reins a few strides before" I instruct. She gives me a confused look but does it anyways.

When she drops them, she drops her heel, and holds on tighter with her calfs rather than her thighs and knees, and she gracefully popped over the poll, leaning forward slightly.

"Oh my gosh. That felt amazing" she gushes. I smile. "When you dropped your reins, you tightened your leg, which is what you need to do. You were holding on with your calf, not your knees, and that's why it felt so smooth" I explain. "When you give your horse some rein while they go over the jump, then they can stretch their head and neck so they can see the jump clearer and figure out how high it is" I add as I walk over and place the pole on the first notch of the standards.

"Now go over that small jump, doing exactly what you did, minus the rein drop. Stay back. Don't pull back, and make sure to give your horse rein. Don't pull on him or you'll mess him up" I tell her.

She nods and makes her way to the rail, and picks up the canter and pops over the jump beautifully. "Perfect" I say. "Keep cantering, I'm gonna raise the jump" I say before running over to raise the jump.

She approaches it and flies over it. I keep raising it until I think that we've done enough today. "Good job" I say, approaching her and patting her horses shoulder. "We'll end it on that" I say. She dismounts and pulls me into a tight hug.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou" she says. "Can't. Breath" I say. "Sorry" she says, pulling away. I take in a deep breath. "Go hose your horse. He's sweaty. He deserves a treat too" I instruct. She smiles and nods and leads her horse out of the arena.

"You seem to know what you're doing" someone says from my side. "Hey Marcus, you wanna go get Raven?" I ask. He nods. "Yeah". He walks off, I'm assuming to go and get Raven.

"Did you hear?" I hear a feminine voice say. Mia I think. "Some photographers are coming to Bright Fields for a photo shoot. I am so making the cover this year" Mia gushes, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"You are definitely cover material Mia. No one else here deserves it. Finally everyone can see how great of a rider you are" Susie agrees with her friend. I scoff and roll my eyes. Are they serious? What does a still picture have to do with someone being a 'great rider'? 

I loud whinny echoes though the land. Raven. I dash out of the arena and run towards the sound. Raven was on his hind legs, his eyes wide and the whites showing. His lead rope was flying everywhere and I feared that he might step on it. I was about to step in when Zoe did. Raven dropped down and huffed. Zoe gently stroked his face, and he calmed down. She whispered something to him that I couldn't hear and started walking him towards the arena.

"Marcus" I call out, causing him to turn and look at me. "Can Zoe stay and help with Raven with me?" I ask. He shrugs. "I don't see why not" he says. Zoe looks at me and mouths a 'thankyou' and I just smile and nod.

He really does like her. She stays calm. While everyone was panicking that he was rearing, she remained calm. She's a natural. "Hey. You. Horse whisperer" a snippy voice calls out. I look to my left and see Mia walking over to me, Susie following suit.

"The photoshoot is tomorrow and I want to be on Raven for it. I want him to be able to be saddled by tomorrow afternoon" she demands. "Are you nuts???" I question. "With a horse like Raven, you need time and patience to work with him and you want me to do that in one day?" I ask. "Yes" she answers.

"Forget it. I'm not helping you terrify your horse" I say, turning away, only to be face to face with Sam. She pulls me aside. "Amber please. If Mia's not on Raven tomorrow then she'll pull from the stable and we'll go bankrupt. I'm desperate. I'll pay you, just please do what you can" she pleads. I sigh.

"Fine. But no guarantees" I tell her. "Thankyou" she gushes, wrapping her arms around me.

I head to the tack room and find Ravens tack. I bring everything outside but Pin stops me. "What are you doing with Ravens tack?" He asks. "Mia wants to be on him for the photoshoot tomorrow" I groan. His face drops. "What?" He asks as if he didn't believe what I said.

"You heard me" I groan. "Do you want some with it?" he asks. "Actually. If you don't mind, yeah" I say, not sure what his answer is going to be. "Let go saddle an unridable horse" he smirks, taking the saddle from me. "Yeah. Let's" I smile.

Secret POV:
My partner had come up with a plan. He wanted to steal the raven coloured horse and I wanted the girl. We sent a message to the stable saying that we had selected their stable for a photoshoot, and of course they agreed.

We'll get up close in personal with our targets so that they won't suspect anything. My partner needs to get that horse used to him so that it'll go more willingly with him. Same with me and the girl. The stealing of the horse is merely a distraction in my plan, but my partner doesn't care.

Soon enough, when everybody goes off looking for the horse, the girl will be left unprotected and nobody will be paying attention to her, and that's when I'll strike.

My employer was getting ready to leave his home to come here to take the girl back where she belongs, and it'll be all to easy. Everyone will be so sad that the horse is missing that no one will even notice that she's gone until it's too late.

All plans are a go. There's no stopping the plans now.