1 Prologue

I remember watching him when I was a freshmen in college. The way he moved as he soared over the jumps fascinated me. I could only dream of being able to ride like that. The connection that he shared with his horse was extraordinary, and I hoped to have a connection like that one day.

Now, only 5 years later, I reached the National level in show jumping. I was competing in the same class as him. I was under pressure. If I managed to jump this round cleanly, I would be jumping against him in a final round for a championship title tomorrow. If I so much as knock down a single railing, I'd be done. As I entered the arena, nerves wracked my stomach in the form of butterflies. As we approached the first jump, I could feel that something wasn't right. It was like the connection between my horse and I was off...but we made it over the fence cleanly. I shook it off.

This continued for the next 7 jumps. But, as we were approaching the 9th and final jump, my horse tensed under me, taking an uneven step. The shock of the short stride made me signal my horse to jump, and as we took off, I cursed to myself.

We had taken off too early!

The natural path of the jump had my horse's legs get tangled up in the jump. We both stumbled to the ground.

I scrambled to try and wrap my arms around the mare's neck, but my arms were met with nothing but air. The force of the fall launched me, not forward, but straight down into the ground below us that had always seemed to be so cushioned under my feet. I slammed into the ground, just barely managing to twist slightly midair so that I landed more on my shoulder and back than on my front. It knocked my breath right out of my lungs.

Before I could try to regain my breath, a mass of black tail hit my face, and before I knew it, the only sensation that I could comprehend was unimaginable pain as the mare that has been by my side for most of my competitive career landed directly on my right leg.

As screams filled the arena and people from the medical team on standby came running towards my horse and me, my eyes lazily found their gaze to the head of the mare that landed on top of me. Her large brown head raised up slightly and two sets of pain-filled eyes met. It was as if she was trying to get one last view of me before either of us were taken away, and it was at that moment that we understood that this was our last ride together. A painful sounding trumpet leaving the mare's mouth was the last thing I heard before my eyes fluttered shut and everything else faded away.

Yesterday's incident was the end of my jumping career. It ended with a disqualification and a broken horse that I would never be able to have the privilege of working with again.

As I was struggling to pack up my competition supplies for the last time, my body and soul trembled, tears making their way down my cheeks. My arms and left leg shook with the effort of trying to move odd objects around and balance myself with the crutches that were given to me by the ER staff of the local hospital that I was taken to by the medic team from the show.

A hand rested on my shoulder and squeezed it slightly. I wiped my tears away from my eyes and turned to face the owner of the hand.

My dull blue eyes widened when meeting the saddened, yet sparkling, brown, hawk-like eyes. I scrambled away from him, alarmed. The brush that was in my hands fell to the floor. My back hit the stall door and the crutch under my left armpit joined the brush. I trembled as I clung to the stall and the other crutch for support.

"I saw what happened." I looked at my feet in humiliation. The sight of the bulky splint surrounding my lower right leg made my scowl.

Of course, he would see me when I failed miserably.

"But don't let that deter you! I can tell you are still new to training and showing competition horses. I am no trainer, but as a competitor and rider, even I have made mistakes similar to the one that was made today."

Having said his piece, the man that I had looked up to (and admired from a distance) walked away, leaving me speechless, at least until he was out of my sight.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Even if that mistake left my equine partner incapacitated?"

I shook my head before wobbly attempting to bend over to pick up the fallen brush and crutch. After a minute of struggling, I successfully picked up the dropped items before returning to where my trailer was parked in front of the stalls, just waiting to be loaded up. I called out to a friend that I had called to help me pack up and leave the show, seeing as I wouldn't be driving for a while, and told him that we were almost done with the packing. He popped his head out of the trailer's tack room to give me a nod before disappearing again. I then hobbled my way up to the show office.

My whole way there, I could practically feel the points and stares as the people on the showgrounds gossiped about what happened.

Upon arriving, I quickly checked out, ignoring anything being said to me. As I proceeded to flee from the showgrounds, I made myself a promise.

I would never show jump again.