For Sample Sunday Number Five, we get a little glimpse into Caroline’s world.
Her heart sank as she watched her mom walking toward her, orange cones in hand. She fought the tears that sprang to her eyes.
Holly looked up at her as she set the cones in the shape of a fifteen-meter circle. “Your trot circles weren’t accurate. And your transitions between extended trot and working trot weren’t prompt enough. Pick up your working trot, do the circle around the cones, then lengthen across the diagonal, and repeat the other way.”
Caroline opened her mouth to speak, but the cold firmness in her mom’s eyes forced her to look down, staring at Benji’s mane. She knew this exercise wasn’t optional. At least not if she wanted to avoid another argument. It didn’t matter how sweaty they both were, or how long they’d already been at it. It didn’t matter that she was supposed to go to Connor’s house for lunch and to work with Edison. She picked up the reins, putting Benji back on the bit. Angry determination flooded through her as she asked Benji to trot. The horse willingly bounded forward, softening Caroline’s heart a little with his eagerness.
Caroline grit her teeth as they approached the cones, focusing intensely as she pushed Benji with her inside leg as they formed the arc of the circle. The gelding bent around her leg, softening to her cue.
They straightened out, continuing the working trot until they reached the corner before the diagonal. She balanced Benji as they turned, then pushed him forward into the extended trot. She lifted her hands a tiny bit, keeping the connection.
As they approached the end of the diagonal, Caroline slowed her seat, asking Benji to return to the working trot. They trotted around back to the cones, then did the circle again in the opposite direction.
Caroline repeated the exercise three times without a word from her mom before Holly called out. “Okay, Caroline. Let him walk.”
Caroline dropped her weight into her heels and closed her fingers around the reins. Benji immediately slowed, stretching out his neck as Caroline loosened the reins.
“Was that better?” Caroline asked timidly…
In Caroline’s Lighthouse, Caroline is trying to find her way back to riding after everything that happened to her. But getting back in the saddle doesn’t mean everything suddenly becomes easy.
Sometimes the pressure comes from the people we love most.
And sometimes, all we want to hear is:
“Was that better?”
Caroline’s Lighthouse releases September 29!
Preorder your copy today!
One Word at a Time 