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Free
Gracefully cantering through the field
Wild and free
Like they always sould be
Would you break them of their will
To race wind and time?
Let them be for they are free.
The morning was crisp and foggy. I walked to the stable to tack up my horse, Melt Away. He was a small bay Arabian stallion, with a star in the middle of his forehead, and a perfect sock on his right hind leg. The day was the first day of the three-day event. The first part of the competition was dressage.
First, I carefully groomed Melt Away and picked out his hooves. Then I meticulously braided his mane into fourteen perfect braids, tied with black yarn. Finally, I put the saddle on Melt Away’s back and slipped the bridle over his ears. I led Melt Away to the warm-up arena, where I mounted him. As soon as I landed on Melt Away’s back, I knew he was ready to work!
After a short warm-up, it was time to go to the show ring. At a working trot Melt Away and I entered the arena. The crown roared. My horse was already a well-know animal in the area. He had won many events, and he was one of the top stallions.
As I approached the center line, I slowed Melt Away to a stop and saluted to the judge. Then I cued Melt Away to continue at a working trot. When the music slowed, I signaled Melt Away to slow to a piaffe.
Before I knew it, Melt Away and I were performing the last segment of movements. Melt Away moved to the center line at a working trot. Again, I stopped him and saluted to the judge. Melt Away and I exited the arena at a relaxed walk. The first day of competition was over.
Although the competition was over for the day, I still had plenty of work to do. Most importantly I had to cool down Melt Away. Once the girth of the saddle was loosened, I walked Melt Away around the stable block sever times. After the sixth look, he was finally cooled out. I led Melt Away to the grooming area and took out his braids. Next I brushed his coat with the curry comb, followed by the body brush. Then I combed out his luxurious mane and tail. Finally I put his hunter green stable sheet on Melt Away’s glistening back and led him into his stall.
After about twenty minutes I fed Melt Away. I didn’t want to feed him immediately after a workout, because he could get colic. In the feed room I measured out three cups of sweet feed and mixed in a sliced carrot. I filled Melt Away’s hay net with a flake of alfalfa hay and two flaked of timothy hay. I brought the grain bucket to Melt Away’s stall and hung the hay net in the corner.
Later in the evening I fed Melt Away again. The next day would be cross-country, one of the most challenging events.
On the next morning I woke up at the crack of dawn. The cross-country portion of the event started earlier in the day than the dressage portion. After I got up I fed Melt Away. When he was done eating, I tied Melt Away in cross ties in the barn isle. This allowed me to muck out Melt Away’s stall. When the used straw had been raked out, I filled the stall with fresh straw. After I did this, I led Melt Away to the grooming area.
For the cross-country competition, I left Melt Away’s mane unbraided. It would be easier to grab Melt Away’s mane if I started to fall. In addition to the regular grooming regimen, I greased Melt Away’s legs from the coronet to the knees on the forelegs, and the coronet to the hocks in the hind legs. The purpose of this was to allow Melt Away to slip over the jumps when he bumped them instead of getting hung up on the jumps.
Melt away also needed extra equipment for the cross country competition. I led him back to the stall to tack up. On Melt Away’s legs I put splint boots to prevent injuries in case he bumped one of the obstacles. I also put bell boots on Melt Away’s front pasterns to prevent any possible injuries from overreaching with his hind legs. Finally I put all of the standard tack, such as a saddle pad, saddle, bridle, and bit, on Melt Away.
Before I led Melt Away out of the stall, I picked out his hooves to make sure there were no stones in his feet. Then I took him to the warm-up ring, where a few cross-rail jumps were set up. I took Melt Away over the jumps to warm him up, and then headed to the start box. This time Melt Away and I were the first to brave the cross-country course, but it was to my disadvantage. I had no idea what the terrain would be like, since there was a light drizzle the night before. Also, I didn’t know if any of the obstacles would prove to be difficult to jump cleanly.
The starter blew the whistle and we were off! At a swift canter, Melt Away and I headed towards the first jump. The ground in this area was firm and fast. As Melt Away and I approached the first jump, a small hedge, I felt Malt Away collect himself as he leaped over the hedge. He cleared it with several inches to spare. A few strides later, Melt Away soared over the next jumps, a broad ditch. There was a long stretch of track before the next jump. The jump was a tough one to maneuver without the horse shying or balking at something. A steep drop led to a pool of dark water. In the middle of the water was a large boulder to jump over, and then the water faded into mud, and finally into dry land.
Suddenly Melt Away and I were at the water jump. Melt Away hesitated a little, but he quickly plunged into the water and cantered toward the boulder. Such a large jump was hard for him to clear, due to his small size of only 14.3 hand high. Regardless, he put all his effort into the jump, and cleared it with only a bump from his hind legs. When Melt Away splashed back into the water, he stumbled a little, but caught himself and trod though the mud onto firm ground.
The next seven jumps were simple hedges trimmed into a variety of shapes. Melt Away cleared them all with ease. The tenth jump was a small fence with a brightly colored canopy over it. Larger horses often had trouble jumping low enough to avoid the canopy. Melt Away, however, cleared the fenced and missed the canopy.
Only one jump remained before the finish, but it was even more treacherous than the water jump. It consisted of a small hill with a hedge at the top. At the bottom of the hill was a fence with a ditch on either side of it. The obstacle needed two jumping efforts, but counted as a single jump.
Melt Away and I quickly approached the hill. I slowed him to a trot on the incline to save energy. He jumped the hedge with some difficulty, and he slowed to a collected trot on the decline. Melt away stayed at a collected trot until the takeoff point, then launched himself over the fence. His hind leg hit the fence, and he landed with his forefeet in the ditch in front of the fence. As he started the next stride, his odd landing caused him to trip and fall to his knees. I nearly flew off over Melt Away’s neck, but I grabbed onto his mane and stayed on. Neither Melt Away or I was injured, so I urged Melt Away into a mad gallop. Clods of sod flew behind us from Melt Away’s hooves as he sped towards the finish line. Melt Away’s speed was amazingly fast, and once he got going, it was hard to stop him. He galloped out nearly a quarter of a mile before I finally slowed him to a walk.
I dismounted and cooled out Melt Away. Within forty-five minutes he was completely cooled. Grooming Melt Away was a little trickier now than it was before the cross-country competition. I scrubbed the grease off of his legs and thoroughly brushed him with the rubber curry comb and with a stiff brush. Finally I picked out his hooves and replaced his stable sheet.
The next morning was the third and final event, which was stadium jumping. For a change, my turn wasn’t until early afternoon. This gave me plenty of time to get Melt Away ready. I had to braid his mane and tail again, which took me about an hour to complete. After that I fed him so I wouldn’t have to wait until after the competition to feed him.
Shortly before it was Melt Away’s turn to perform, I brushed over his coat once more with the body brush. Then I tacked him up, again adding splint boots and bell boots to his outfit. After ten minutes in the warm-up arena, it was Melt Away’s turn to jump.
Compared to the previous day’s competition, stadium jumping was a breeze. There were only ten jumps. The first three jumps were cross rails, which Melt Away vaulted over the jumps as if they were poles laying on the ground. The next two jumps were verticals with three rails. Once again, these jumps didn’t pose a problem. The next jump was a fence with water under it. Melt Away balked and knocked a rail down. The last four jumps were simple, and Melt Away didn’t rack up any more penalty seconds.
At the end of the day, the final results were announced. Melt Away scored eighty-four points in the dressage test, good enough for a third place finish and a yellow ribbon. Despite the stumble at the end of the cross-country course, Melt Away and I finished in first place! A blue ribbon was added to Melt Away’s large collection of awards. In the stadium jumping competition, Melt Away received a red ribbon, and a second place finish.
The final awards were then presented. To my surpass, Melt Away was the reserve Grand Champion! That meant second place in the whole event, and a tri-color ribbon and silver medal to add to the trophy cabinet. I was extremely proud of my horse, and I knew he had the potential to become a legendary eventer.
