Status: Working on redoing part of this.

Oxers and Liverpools

Chapter Twelve

Rain was pouring down relentlessly from the dark clouds as Lillian covered her head with her jacket, attempting to hurry over from the barns to the warm up ring. Her boots were splattered with mud as she hurried along the walk way. It had done nothing but rain nonstop for the past week and although it had slowed down over the morning, the rain still failed to slow.

It was a concern, as now the turf on the rings was very wet. From what she heard, the arenas had draining systems in them but it didn't stop the ground from being wet and slippery. She wasn't riding Aquino that day, but was riding a young grey mare for another barn. She already rode the mare in a class during the National Tournament, and would be riding the mare in a few small classes over the week of the Continental.

Lillian felt her cell phone vibrate as someone texted her. She took her phone out of her pocket and glanced hurriedly at the screen, reading the text Sam sent her. He was at the warm up ring near the All Canada Ring, where she was riding Carmina in a few minutes. She'd just run back to change into a clean pair of breeches, as her other breeches had been splattered with mud. The morning competition wasn't on live TV as the competitions in the International Ring were but she still had to have a decent appearance.

She reached the warm up ring just as the announcer called her name as being one of the next few riders. She spotted the grey mare trotting along the fence with her groom warming her up. She could see Sam nearby helping Leah check her horse's shoes. Given the current conditions with the wet fields, the horses would have studs screwed into their shoes to help with traction.

"She's ready to go," the unfamiliar voice of Carmina's groom called over to Lillian as she halted Carmina next to her. Lillian stepped forward, holding onto the reins as her groom dismounted. Lillian smiled vaguely at the groom, unable to remember her name. She quickly looked over the tack, although she knew her groom would have done so already, before she swung up into the saddle. The mare shifted sideways uneasily, tossing her head as rein dripped from her short mane. Shortening her reins, she began to take the mare around at a trot to get ready for her round. She glanced out to the All Canada Ring as she passed by the gate, wondering how bad the ground conditions were. Carmina's owner had informed her that the mare has jumped in bad conditions such as this and has done fine before, although the mare has tended to tear off shoes. Otherwise she would have been scratched.

A minute later she heard her name being called. She turned Carmina for the gate, passing the rider who had just left the course. She noticed the rider's grim expression as rain dripped from his helmet, and he was shaking his head as he dismounted. Biting her lip nervously, she trotted Carmina into the arena. There weren't a lot of riders in this class, and only one had scratched their horse so far.

The mare trotted in with her head high, taking a look around. Lillian saluted to the judges before starting her round, wanting to get it finished quickly. She could feel the wind now that she was out on the field and saw that a large pot of decorative plants had been knocked over, and some of the arena crew were hurrying over to prop it back up. She shortened her reins before turning the mare towards the first jump.

The jumps in this class weren't as tall as what she'd been jumping Aquino at, as it was a speed event. The mare's stride was quick as they neared the first jump and easily cleared it. She felt the mare slip a little as she turned her sharply for the next jump. The mare had her ears pinned back as they jumped over the next two jumps, which were navy blue oxers. She felt the mare stumble slightly after landing the oxer and quickly pulled her head up so she didn't fall but felt the mare's stride falter.

Gritting her teeth, Lillian let the mare canter forward to the next jump but was paying attention more to the mare's stride, to make sure she wasn't hurt. The mare's stride was smooth once again and she gave no indication to being hurt, so she turned her to the next jump. She didn't prepare Carmina well for the next jump and knew it was her fault when she heard Carmina's hind end clip the rail and it fell to the ground. She had a longer distance to the next jump and used it to get better control of the mare to prepare her for the combination to come. She could feel the mare slipping beneath her in the last few strides towards the next jump, and was just thinking it might be better to retire from the round due to the conditions when the mare suddenly slipped right before right as she tried to take off over the first jump.

Lillian attempted to yank up Carmina's head as the mare crashed through the first jump headfirst but was unable to stop the mare from falling as their momentum kept them going. She had no chance of trying to stay on as she felt the mare go down and found herself flying out of the saddle with the ground coming up to meet her. She hit the ground hard, landing on her head and shoulder before rolling a couple of feet. The mare had rolled over in the fall, breaking the rails she landed on while her hooves narrowly missing Lillian as she came to a stop.
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I'm not sure how often I'll be updating this month. I'm doing NaNoWriMo, so I'll be kind of busy with that, but I'm going to try to update this as much as I can. =]