Flying Through The Air

Julia knew he was nervous, she knew he was fearful, but she always thought he could handle that. Now she wasn’t so sure anymore.  Had it been a mistake to bring him here, to Australia, tot he biggest equine event on earth ? I mean, was he even ready ? His only real competition had been a foal show, all the others had been mini events. He always seemed like a strong stallion which he was. But under these circumstances she could not expect him to do well.

They had been waiting in a waiting room near the indoor area after they had finished their Warming Up. It had been terrible, Rahotep had been so nervous he hadn’t jumped at all or destroyed the whole obstacle. All the others were either still warming up or already showing their horses, and Julia was all alone with her stallion.

Outside the thunder growled, clouds moved by quickly and whenever the sun came out, it was hidden immediately by the dark clouds again.

It seemed like a flashlight.

He had now begun to sweat. It had started from his back legs and shoulders and now his back was already dripping wet. The body damped in the comparatively cold air inside the waiting room. While Julia could do nothing but pet his neck and listen carefully to what was going inside the indoor arena, Rahotep nervously moved his bit around in his mouth and crunched his teeth. Sometimes they heard a neigh, sometimes the sound of poles dropping, nervous hoofsteps and humans screaming around to either move their horse or stop it because it was freaking out in the arena.

Everyone’s nerves were tense, and the weather contributed it’s part to the general anxiety. They were starting number eleven and therefore quite in the middle oft he field. Julia decided to grab a towel and gently rub the stallion. The towel was scary, it made him sweat even more. Suddenly, a lightning stroke. That was too much for Rahotep. The stallion reared up in fear and ripped the reins out of Julia’s hands. His hoof almost hit Julias head, there was just about an inch between. In panic, he tried to escape from the waiting room, but the door was closed. He ran towards it and Julia feared he might crush it or try to jump through it, but luckily he stopped and spinned around. Julias knees were shaking when she carefully approached him and grabbed the reins. He held his head up high, so high she could not touch it, and so she tugged it until he lowered his head. „Good boy“, she whispered while gently rubbing the area between his beautiful eyes. In the light of the dying sun, she could see the little landscape inside his eyes. It was shining reddish golden and looked just like the rocks and mountains in Australia. She was stunned by the wildness and pride his eyes expressed. They shared a moment of connection, and Rahotep seemingly calmed down just by the feeling of her placing her palm on his forehead.

The woman felt her stallion‘s heart rate slow down, his breathing calm, and his ears lock on her. He was fully concentrated on „his“ human now and was not distracted by any other noise anymore. These were the moments she loved, they were rare, but they made her love what she was doing since horses had always been the best to her.

A man with a list came in and told them to entert he arena. Julia lead her stallion into the huge indoor arena and felt that he did not hesitate to follow her. He was a show guy, and as soon as he saw all the people in the audience, the judges, the fancy LED lights and screens and the polished obstacles, he transformed into an entertainer and showmaster.

He rolled his head in, pulled his back legs further under his body with every step, and his eyes started to glisten like snow on a cold winter morning. Julia was dispensable from that moment on. TepTep knew what to do, he knew how to show off, and she was just a good-looking accessory.

You couldn’t have guessed how anxious he had been 10 minutes before. Only the sweat on his body was suspicious.

Firstly, Julia had to let him trot around a little so the judges could have a look at his movements. He was going so fast that she was physcally done after the second round. Luckily, the judges were done looking. She changed the cord to a white one that was easily un-clickable and lead him towards the jumps. Yelling „GO!“, she unclicked the leash and watched as her stallion flew over the three obstacles like a jetplane at full speed. There was nothing to complain – all three jumps cleared, and he had certainly jumped in a wonderful manner. Julia had always loved his way of jumping: he always pulled his legs under his body (as close as physically possible) and when he jumped, his back did that wonderful swing that was only seen on talented and well-trained jumpers. But Rahotep had not even received that much training yet, it was basically all naturally given and thanks to his amazing bloodline. RWS Canto, FAS Alejandro, Landkreuzer IS, Berahthraben, RDS Brisk Brigand… they all were famous horses. But they all had been dressage horses and that was what lend Rahotep his gears. He had just impressively proven how talented a dressage-bred horse can be at jumping.

The audience clapped and cheered, and when they left the arena, Julia was sure that they had done quite well.