Jenna  

11/15/02

L.A. Story

Fallen

It was a shiny, glossy morning with the morning dew glittering on the blades of grass. In the riding barn it was a little darker, but the sun was still gleaming brightly through the rafters. The horse’s hooves hit the soft ground, setting off dirt clouds everywhere.

"Keep your heels down," Lisa, Logan's riding instructor, was standing in the center of the arena shouting reminders to Logan. "And look up through your horses ears, not down at the ground." Logan grunted softly, shifting her weight in the saddle.

"Let’s canter now, Logan. Remember to lean back in the saddle."

" ’Kay, canter Riko. Common." Logan kicked her horse encouragingly and gave a soft "clicking" noise. Riko went into a chunky, extended trot instead of a canter.

"Canter, Riko! Canter!" Logan kicked the horse again, but a little harder to get her horse going. Riko’s ears suddenly fell flat against her head, and her front legs shot up and down, ending each time with hard "thuds".

It seemed to go in slow motion as Logan flew, head first off Riko. Her foot caught in the stirrup, but the stirrup broke loose almost immediately and fell, hard to the ground.

Riko stood looking at Logan, not knowing what had happened. Logan gritted her teeth, holding back tears as she slowly came to her feet. Lisa rushed over and grabbed the reins on Riko’s bridle.

"Now why’d you do that, Riko? Huh?"

Logan reached up for Riko’s bridle.

"I’ll put Riko away now. Class time is just about over."

With that, Logan limped to Riko’s stall, put her tack away, brushed her horse, and caught a ride home.

"Logan git up and get ready for your riding lesson. We have to be there in an hour." Logan’s mom shouted from downstairs.

It had been two days since Logan fell off Riko and hurt her left arm. Logan slumped out of bed, hanging on to her dresser for support. She sleepily dressed herself and slowly walked down the stairs to where her mom was.

"I’m just going to drop you off today, Hun.." Logan’s mom glanced back at Logan, "Is your wrist feeling okay? Keep it in the brace today. Oh and ‘keeping it in the brace today’ means not taking it off!"

"Okay mom, you can trust me." Logan winked at her protective mother as her mother gave a light sigh.

"Yah. Just get into the car." They both piled into Logan’s mom’s Evergreen colored Denali and drove to Logan’s riding barn.

When at the riding barn Logan walked down to the arena, stopping now and then to scratch a horses cheek. Lisa was in the arena trying to train her new colt, Spirit, while Logan watched from the door.

"Hi Logan. Are you taking a lesson today? Don’t be forgetting about the show that’s two days from now." Lisa said quickly and then went back to leading Spirit.

Logan hadn’t really thought about the show and she also hadn’t really planned on taking a lesson today. She had decided not to take the lesson today, when she fell of Riko. Logan was still a little shaky from that and dreaded the thought of doing that again. She just wouldn’t take any more chances.

"I’m just going to help you out today. I’m not taking a lesson." Logan went and helped Lisa trot Spirit in a circle then hayed all the horses, led some outside, washed the dirty ones, and mucked out all of the stalls. When it was getting dark Logan’s mother came and picked Logan up. At night, in bed Logan was starting to miss riding horses. She really wanted to, but for some reason she was scared to get back on. She fell asleep thinking about the show that was coming up, and if she would go or not.

It had been two days since Logan went to the barn, and four days since Logan fell of her horse. Only two words were in Logan’s head right now. Show day. She was still terrified of falling off again, but she had always loved shows. Certainly her fear of falling off wouldn’t stop her from entering in the show. Wrong. When her mom asked her if she wanted to go in the show she thought a while and then the fear over powered her and she said no. She would go to the show, but not participate in the classes.

After twenty minutes they arrived at the show ground, unloaded the horses, and got ready for the first class.

"Are you sure you don’t want to be in it?"

"I’m sure. I just don’t feel like it." They walked down to the arena and the first people went into the class. Logan watched them in amazement. She had really missed riding and was so eager to go in the show. Suddenly something new came over her and all of the fear seemed to vanish.

"Do you have an extra horse I could ride? I sort of want to now."

"Yes, Logan. Go get Spirit and you can ride him. Good job Logan."

Click Here to go to the Odyssey Home page
Click Here to go to our Student Index