Here’s an excerpt from the third book in the Free Rein series, Free Reign.
“Hey, who are they?” Geordie asked of her two friends, looking toward the Genesis driveway.
“Who?” Jacqui asked, glancing up to where Geordie was pointing.
The young blonde frowned, not thinking they were expecting any more agistees. At least, her mother hadn’t said so. She shrugged helplessly at Geordie.
“I’m not sure. It’s great if we’ve got more people to agist their horses here… but it’d be better if they weren’t turning up just before our riding club starts!” she replied, causing Geordie to nod her head in agreement.
“Maybe that’s the point,” Hannah responded with a smile, causing both of her friends to frown.
“What’s the point?” Geordie asked, returning to brushing down Rose.
“Maybe they’re turning up for the riding club.”
“Can they do that?” Jacqui asked, causing Hannah to laugh.
“I think you’d know that answer better than me – it is your parents’ property!” she replied.
Jacqui continued to brush Matty but kept an eye on the cars that made their way into the arena paddock and then continued toward them at a slow pace. She was surprised to find that there were two vehicles, each pulling a float. Trotting bareback behind them was Alice on Sox.
“Hey, here comes Alice!” Jacqui said with a smile, starting to put the saddle on Matty.
Alice had said that her younger sister wasn’t yet up to the riding club but that she’d love to check it out. Apparently she attended a local Pony Club one Sunday a month, but was happy to try out one that ran on a Saturday. She’d suggested to Jacqui that maybe she could do both!
Kate came over to see how the girls were going with getting ready. Before they rode in their lesson with Kara, they needed to have Kate check that their saddles and bridles were on correctly.
“Mum, do we have new agistees?” Jacqui asked, doing up the throatlatch strap on Matty’s bridle.
“Unfortunately not honey. Alice spoke with me about attending the riding club and mentioned she had a couple of girlfriends from her Pony Club that would also be interested. She asked if it’d be ok if they came along to check things out. I spoke with both of the girls last night about their horse riding and their horses’ health and decided it would be ok if they came and joined us today. Kara seemed happy to have a few more people to instruct as it seems they ride at a similar level to Alice.”
“Oh!” Jacqui replied, surprised she hadn’t known sooner, “well that’s great, I guess. It’ll sure be different riding with three other people, two that we don’t know.”
“That’s true. But it’ll also give you each someone else to learn from. And it’ll be a good chance for Kara to gain some more teaching experience. I’d better direct the girls towards where they can get their horses ready,” Kate commented suddenly, turning toward the two floats that had just pulled up beside where the girls were getting their ponies ready.
Already tacked up, Geordie watched curiously.
“Hey, what a nice looking roan!” she stated appreciatively, watching the red and white haired horse that was backed out of the first float.
“Isn’t he gorgeous? That’s Bentleigh,” Alice informed the girls, sliding off Sox and landing softly with bended knees.
“I hope you guys don’t mind that three of us are joining in today!” she continued, causing Jacqui to smile.
“It’ll sure make things interesting!” Jacqui replied.
She didn’t mention she was a little nervous about riding with two strangers who were more experienced than she was.
“All ready!” Hannah exclaimed, having tightened the strap on Jasper’s girth.
Jacqui hurriedly turned her attention back to Matty, realising she was the only one not ready. Well, not the only one. She glanced back up at Alice.
“Alice, where’s your saddle?”
“In Tina’s float. Her parents drove me here today and I stopped at the paddock to get Sox here quickly so we wouldn’t be late. Where should I tie Sox so I can get him ready to ride?” she questioned with a smile.
Following Jacqui’s direction, she tied her chestnut gelding to a nearby rail. Then she headed over to the float that the roan gelding had been unloaded from and disappeared around the other side.
“So if these two girls ride at the same level as Alice, will they want to ride in the same lesson as us?” Hannah voiced the question Jacqui had on her mind.
The three girls looked at each other and shrugged. The day had taken an interesting turn!
You can purchase Free Reign on Kindle over at Amazon or Paperbacks at Lulu.
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