“How did that feel?” he asked Katie in a deceptively moderate tone. A tone I knew all too well.
Katie answered softly, “Not so good, I guess.”
Knowing what was coming next, I cringed for her and for how many times I’d been in her situation.
Suddenly Rob’s voice boomed again. “Jesus Christ, Katie, have some conviction! Speak up! It was lousy. You were completely out of control.”
Rob paused. The worst was hopefully over—once he’d exploded, he usually calmed down.
He continued in a saner tone, “The course is all parts that make up a whole. You have to ride it in parts and put the parts together. You got going and didn’t stop to take a breath or collect your horse the whole way around. Again. And this time, for God’s sake, get it right.”
Katie cantered off the circle to start over. Her face muscles were tensed, like she was trying to hold it all together. I watched in silence, thinking: Please don’t mess up. Because the more upset Rob got now, the tougher he would be on me. But also because Katie was my best friend at the barn and probably my best friend, period. If we hadn’t met at the barn, I’m sure we never would have been friends. Other than riding, we really didn’t have much in common. But horses had brought us together, and we’d found that even though we were from completely different backgrounds, we got along well.
Stretch’s nostrils flared with each stride and he expelled the air in forceful snorts. His neck glistened with sweat, and where the reins rubbed against him was white with foam.
All in all, Katie was a pretty bad rider, but she got away with a fair amount because of Stretch. Stretch had won the finals a record five times and was Rob’s best horse. He was practically a legend in the equitation world. He was pure white and was so easy anyone could ride him. In fact, Stretch would probably jump a course with a monkey on his back. When you jump, you have to tell your horse where to take off from. The correct spot to take off from—not too close to the jump and not too far away—is called the right “distance.” If you’re good at judging the distances and telling your horse where to take off from, people say you have a “good eye.” Katie had what people called “no eye.” Luckily for her, Stretch had a good eye of his own, and even when Katie didn’t see the perfect distance, a lot of the time Stretch did. He was also known for being able to make a really long distance look good—hence the name Stretch.
Katie’s father was a big-time New York City litigator, and he paid six figures a year to lease Stretch. Many of the eq riders at West Hills leased horses from Rob. Some riders even came specifically to ride with Rob because of his amazing stock of proven eq horses. I, however, rode whatever Rob gave me. For the past three years that had been Tobey.
This time Katie managed the course without any major faults. She kept cantering after the last fence because that was rule number one-A: You’re not done until Rob says you’re done.
“Okay, let him walk,” Rob said. “Good enough . . . for today.”
Katie barely had to tug on the reins and Stretch dropped back to a walk.
“The one thing I want you to think about is being subtle,” Rob told her. “When you see the distance, don’t make a big move for it. The judges never want to see that big move. Understand?”
“Yes,” Katie said. “Thank you, Rob. Thanks a lot.” Rule number two: Always say please and thank you. The rules weren’t printed up and handed to you when you arrived at West Hills, but if you had any sense at all, you learned them quickly.
Rob turned to Gwenn and me. “Come on in, girls.”
I took a deep breath and tried to ignore the butterflies attacking my stomach. After all, I had lived through boot camp and the finals plenty of times before. But it didn’t matter. I could do the finals a hundred times and I’d still be fighting my nerves the whole way through. And at seventeen, this was my last chance.
Gwenn had headed into the ring. I realized I hadn’t budged.
“Francie?” Rob said. “Would you like to grace us with your presence?”
Here goes everything, I thought, and pressed Tobey forward into the ring.
The Perfect Distance available on Amazon
Complete Guide to Contents
Contents
Title Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
About the Author
Excerpt: The Perfect Distance