MSRA ⇒ Final Year (BACK IN PROGRESS)

⇒ two

* a few days later *

"Okay, I'm going to list off the equipment," Mom said, taking a seat on the hay bale outside of Finn's stall door.

"Saddles, bridles, girths, saddle pads, half pads," she began.

"Mhmm, mhmm, mhmm," I said, double-checking to make sure I had all of it.

"Boots, martingale, breastplate, bell boots, polo wraps, standing wraps."

I confirmed all of it. We continued down the list triple checking to make sure I had all of my tack.

"Good," Mom nodded. "I'll help you load all of this in, then we'll go through the rest of your stuff inside."

The two of us quickly loaded all my freshly-cleaned tack into our two-horse trailer. Luckily, we were only bringing one horse, so we were able to put some of the barn supplies (extra buckets, a few bales of hay, and a two-month supply of grain and supplements).

I trudged back inside, knowing my room had been torn apart as I hustled to pack everything I needed for school. I shuffled into the abyss and collapsed on my bed, my storage bins scattered randomly, and my bags piled near the door. The box with 'Internship' written messily on the side in my mom's handwriting. I slinked off my bed and pulled the box to me. When I opened the box, I broke into a smile. I had ordered the stuff for my internship forever ago, and I guess it came in just in time. I shuffled through the box, pulling out my new scrubs, sneakers, notebook, thermometer, stethoscope, and equine medicine encyclopedia.

"Hey, put that back," my mom playfully nudged me with her foot as she walked in.

"It came in just in time, huh?" I laughed. She nodded before rolling her eyes. I pulled out the pink stethoscope which was adorned with Hope and Moose's bridle charms. "I love this!"

"Who takes a month to send vet supplies?" she sighed before smiling at me. "Anyways, they're here, and it's all the right stuff. I'm so glad you like it, but we've got stuff to do. Let's do one final sweep of your stuff before we bring it out."

I carefully repacked the box before setting it outside my door. We looked through all the boxes, making sure I packed all of my riding equipment, show gear, clothes, and dorm supplies, putting each box outside my door when we were satisfied.

"Looks good," Mom said as she lifted herself up off the ground. "Let's bring it outside."

The truck still wasn't back yet, as Dad and my sister, Kelsey, had to go pick up grain, as Moose had decided to break into the tack room and eat half a bag.

Moose was doing great now - his leg, I mean. He still had his sore days, and I felt like I constantly had the massage therapist and bodyworker out for him, but he was able to start getting turned out in our little paddock where he couldn't run around. The first thing he did? Break into the grain room that was attached and eat the rest of his grain.

A few trips into the house later, Mom and I had piled all of my stuff next to the trailer.

"They aren't going to be back for another forty-five minutes," Mom said, checking her watch. "Hop on Finn bareback or something."

I nodded and headed over to the barn. All of the ponies were outside, except for Finn, who I gave a bath to before packing the trailer. He was still slightly damp, but I threw his halter on, attached some clip-on reins, and put my mom's helmet on as mine was packed away. I led Finn into the arena and used the mounting block to get up on him.

Finn was huge and gorgeous. He was my new eight-year-old, dapple grey, warmblood gelding my mom bought from my trainer at Maple Stream. We worked hard over the summer, and he gained so much muscle and skill necessary for us to succeed at MSRA.

I just walked him around a bit to get warmed up, then had him trot. I was still getting used to his bigger trot but was fine once we got into a groove. I gave him the reins and let him choose where he wanted to go. He did his own circles and turns, even dropping his head down to the ground. Gently, I asked him for a canter which he happily picked up, slowly loping around the ring. He was a completely different horse from the first time I rode him. He's so much calmer and willing to participate instead of fighting me every step. After a lap, Dad came bumbling down the driveway in the truck, and Finn perked right up, planting his head between his legs and throwing some half-hearted crow hops at me. I just laughed as I pulled him up and made him canter like a contributing member of society before I hopped off and brought him back into the barn.

As I did that, Mom and Dad worked on bringing the grain into the grain room and sorting it into the bins. While Kelsey made grain and dumped it out to the horses in their paddocks. After I gave Finn a quick groom, Mom, Dad, and I began loading the truck. This trip was just going to be me and Mom, so we loaded all of my stuff into the cab instead of the bed. Soon, everything was in, and we were all set to leave first thing in the morning.