Riding the Dream

[racingbelle]

“Come on Sterling let’s win this thing!” I whispered excitedly to the mare. This was it. The jump off. The final show and then off to the Nationals! I had to win this last blue ribbon and then Sterling and I would truly be undefeated! Then we would be the first in a long time to go undefeated to the Nationals! I couldn’t wait but now I had to focus on this last show. “Come on girl! Let’s go! We’re undefeated and we’ll stay that way!” I trotted the mare into the ring, guiding her to the outside. I waited for my cue to start the course. “In the ring now is number 184, Ashleigh Hanson, on Sterling’s Dream.” The announcer boomed over the crowd. I nudged Sterling into an easy canter. I was aiming for speed but not just yet. I guided Sterling to the first jump and urged her into a faster canter. We we’re up and over the first jump in a second. I was in my element. Jumping always took my breath away! It felt as if I and Sterling were flying through clouds. We were a team for life. We took all the jumps with ease and now the only one that stood in our way of winning was the final one. “Come on girl. Last one then we’ve got the ribbon!” I murmured. One, two, three, jump! Suddenly Sterling stumbled but tried to jump anyway. “Sterling no!” I yelled, yanking on the reins. There was nothing I could do. Sterling crashed into the jump and we were falling everly so slowly. I was thrown out of the saddle and I heard Sterling hit the ground with a thud. I hit my head on something and everything went black…

Two weeks after the accident…

“You sold Sterling! How could you! She’s everything I have!” I yelled. My parents didn’t think this one through! She was my horse! My parents were shocked. They probably thought that I would never want to ride again after that bad of a fall. What my mom said next confirmed my thoughts. “It’s best that you don’t ride again. We can’t stand you getting hurt like this! Look at you!” My mom said pointedly. It was true. I had broken my leg in the fall and I had a concussion afterward. I was unconscious for two days and had to stay in the hospital for a week. I had just found out Sterling was gone. “I don’t care! You don’t care! You wouldn’t have sold Sterling if you did! You know how much she means to me!” I cried. “Buy her back! I would have gotten hurt sometime! It’s part of riding!” My dad shook his head. “I’m sorry Ashleigh. We sold her to a nice man, who will take good care of her. He has a little girl who show jumps too. Now how about you join some other sports team once your leg is better. How about a swim team? You love to swim.” He said calmly. “No no no! I want Sterling! Get her back! Get her back! Or I’ll get her back myself!” I was crying and my words were almost impossible to understand. “Sorry, sweetie. Sterling has already found a good home. Now forget about her. It’s time to move on. Riding was just a little phase you were going through. Now it’s over.” Mom said. “No it’s not! I’ll ride again weather you like it or not! I’ll get Sterling back! I won’t forget her!” I screamed. I never did forget Sterling. Not even a year later.

One year later…

Urgh! School! Why did we even have it?! I didn’t need school. It was just a place where I could draw pictures of things to do with horses and Sterling. Grades weren’t important anymore, in fact nothing was important anymore. Sterling was gone and that was my only reason why I got good grades. My parents wouldn’t let me ride unless I had good grades. Now my grades went down the drain along with
everything that was important. I got in trouble at school and I ditched school sometimes. My parents were worried but I didn’t care. They knew what I wanted and I knew I would never get it. I would be like this forever if I had to. I started to jog. It was the middle of winter and so cold! Maybe jogging would keep me warm or at least warmer. I started to think and wonder. Where was Sterling? What was she doing? Was she happy? I sighed. I really wish I knew where she was. I heard a horse scream all of a sudden followed by. “You nag! You won’t jump and you haven’t won any kind of ribbon in a year! Some champion you are! I’m going to get Daddy to send you to another trainer after this next show. Apparently you didn’t learn anything last time!” The voice was shrill and whiny. But a champion horse? There were no champions in this area except for me and…Sterling! I broke into a run. A riding school came into sight. This was where I had my first show! It was also a way home that I didn’t take anymore. A dapple gray horse came into view. Sterling! It had to be Sterling! There was no other horse that looked like that! I just had to see if there was that unusual ‘s’ shaped marking on her head! There was a fence blocking the way and the gate was locked. How could I see!? Oh I had to see! If this was Sterling I had to get her back! I started to look at the rider. Who was she? I had heard that voice before… Sasha Silver! The richest, most popular girl at school! Of course Mr. Silver had bought Sterling for his daughter! Sasha had been whining about how such a good horse could belong to such a loser rider but we had beat her in every show we were in and that only made Sasha want Sterling more. Sasha! Why did it have to be Sasha?! Oh how I wish I could get closer! “Stupid horse! I wish I could whip your hide a little more but we don’t want any scars to ruin your pretty pelt. Huh girl?” Sasha said with mock niceness. Then she kicked the mare and they disappeared into a tall red and white barn. I started to run in the direction of home. I couldn’t wait to tell my parents! I was about one block from home when I stopped. I just stopped right there in the middle of the side walk. I had realized something. Why would I want to tell my parents? They wouldn’t care. They would try and stop me from seeing Sterling. If it was Sterling. The wind blew and it was cold and sharp. It stung my face, making my cheeks turn a rosy red. I shivered. Standing still to think had made me cold. I started to walk. Then run again. I ran all the way up the steps to the front door. I didn’t realize I had a happy smile on my face. I quickly wiped it off as I walked through the door. “Hello sweetie. How was school today? Do you have any homework?” My mom called from the kitchen. She had greeted me the same way ever since I had started grade school. I knew what my mom was really thinking: What trouble had my daughter has gotten into now? “Hi Mom. School is boring and I finished my homework in class.” I replied in the same voice I had used with everyone since Sterling was sold. Flat and dull, like there was nothing in life to live for. There wasn’t anything for me to live for anymore. I had lived only for Sterling, otherwise my life was nothing. I had no friends and my parents weren’t any good company. School was certainly nothing to live for. I called hello to my dad and went up the stairs to my room. I opened the door and gazed around, memories flashing through my head. Pictures hung on the wall, all of them of Sterling and I in shows or out in the pasture. Some of them were just Sterling but none of them just me. Ribbons too hung on the wall, along with shelves that held the trophies that Sterling and I had won. My mom had tried to get rid of all of this. All of my memories of Sterling, all of the reminders that she had ever existed. I had found her in my room one afternoon, right when I came home from school. It was one month after the accident and I was still mad at my parents, mad at the world. “What are you doing!?” I yelled. “I’m getting rid of this old junk. You’ll forget about Sterling and all this easier with all of this stuff gone.” Mom said gently. I was mad, my eyes blazing like a burning fire. “I don’t want to forget Sterling! I don’t want to forget all this! I want to keep competing! I didn’t want to get rid of Sterling! You did! You both did!” I yelled. “Get out.” I said calmly. When she didn’t move I yelled “Get out now! Get out of my room now! Don’t ever come in here again!” She walked out and I ran into my room and slammed the door behind me. Then I locked it and went to the box that my mom had used to pack all my stuff into. I started to unpack it, tears streaming out of my eyes, as I put everything back into place. I returned to reality. Then I walked over to my favorite picture and touched the frame. It showed a sunny day at our first show. Sterling and I were jumping over the last jump. The picture showed the left side of us. I won my first show too, just by one point, beating a lot of more experienced riders. No one thought I would win. They thought I was too young. I was 11 and I was competing against 14 year olds who had been riding their whole life. It wasn’t even in the beginners’ class. It was the intermediate. Someone had made a mistake and put me in that class. But I and Sterling showed them all. I walked to my bed and flopped down on it. I sighed and started to think about the gray horse I saw. Was it really Sterling? What would I do if it was? My parents wouldn’t buy her and Sasha would never sell her. I was left with one other option but would I really want to risk doing it? Mom called me to come to dinner and the wheels in my head started turning as I made my way downstairs.

I opened the window very slowly. It was almost midnight and I was sneaking out of the house. I slipped out of the window and closed it behind me. I would have to get back inside by one of the doors. I walked slowly and cautiously on the roof trying not to make a sound. About five minutes later my feet were safely on the ground and I was walking my bike up the drive way. As soon as the front wheel touched the street I leapt onto the bike and pedaled as fast as I could to the riding stable. Soon I was close to the spot where I first saw the gray horse. I continued to the gate. Locked! Ok no worries I would just climb the fence. I looked around. There! Bushes! Just what I needed. I hopped off my bike and pushed it into the bushes so who ever decided to take a midnight walk wouldn’t suspect there was anyone in the stable, especially one with a locked gate. I climbed over the fence and took a good look at it. Five feet high and it seemed to go all the way around the stables, even the paddocks and pastures. I jogged to the stable where I thought the dapple gray horse was held. I peeked into each stall wincing when one of horses nickered or whinnied. Chestnut, bay, black, and palomino but no grays! There! A glint of dapples on a white background caught my eye. It was the last stall on the right. It was also one of the smallest. I wonder why, you would think that Sasha would want the biggest and the best stall in the stable for her horse. I looked at the sliver nameplate that hung on the door. Silver’s Dream. That was Sasha for you, changing a horse’s name to match her own. I slid the nameplate out of the holder and put it soundlessly on the floor and unbolted the door. As I went into the stall, I stepped on the nameplate. “Sterling? Is that you?’’ I said to the mare. I took out my flashlight from my pocket. If this really was Sterling she would have a black ‘s’ right in the middle of her forehead. I slowly shined the beam of light in the mare’s face. There! Right there in the middle of the mare’s face was a black ‘s’. “Sterling! It really is you! I missed you so much girl! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry. I never wanted them to sell you! I tried to make them get you back but they wouldn’t! I tried to find you but I just didn’t know where to look! All this time girl and you’ve been two blocks from home!” I was crying tears of joy and hugging Sterling’s neck, burying my head in her mane. “We’ll never be separated again, Sterling. Never. I love you girl, don’t forget that if we’re ever far apart. I’m always with you.” I rubbed Sterling’s check stroking and patting her. I looked the mare over. She looked fine. Her feet trimmed, mane pulled, and her teeth floated. All except the welts and saddle sores on her back and hips. I knew that the welts were from the constant whippings Sterling received. I was almost certain the sores were saddle sores but wouldn’t Sasha know if the saddle didn’t fit right? It didn’t look like it. Time had passed quickly and the sun was starting to rise over the horizon. “I’m sorry girl but I have to go. I’ll come back tonight or maybe later after school ok girl?” I gave Sterling one last pat and exited the stall, locking it behind me. As I walked out of the stables I was deep in thought. How would I get Sterling back? We were a team for life and I couldn’t let her slip past me. I would ride again and Sterling was the only horse I would ride. It was her or nothing. I had to make a comeback to the show jumping world. Me and Sterling together. Forever. Nothing would stop me from getting her back. Nothing in this world. Not even my parents.

[Stella]

I added more after u poofed

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[atrb=background,http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq95/amanda1472/horses/aksla-1-1.jpg] Sterling looked around, she could see many people where watching her, but what made her exited was the tone of her Ashleigh as she talked, ''Come on Sterling let’s win this thing!''. The day seemed just perfect, the announcer called their number and Sterling cantered on, she whined, happy for the event, though now she had to focus. The dapple mare walked cantered to the first jump, Ashleigh showing her the way, she started to go in to the speed, maybe a little ahead. Sterling stumble, and Ashleigh noticed, ''Sterling no!'', the horse hit the Jump, she flipped and hit the ground, her legs filling in the air. My Ashleigh, is she okay. Sterling was whining and screaming, she had to know how her Ashleigh was, but all she heard was a loud thud and the silence in the air, soon people where screaming and calling at each other. She had no idea what to do. The next day.... Sterling was out in her barn, she was worried still and had no idea where Ashleigh was. But her girls parents where here visiting her, Sterling was fine, just a few scratches and a bruise, it didn't hard at all either the vet took good care of her. The horse walked up to the owners and whined, Where is she?. She looked around but only saw a large men and his daughter, they where talking and Sterling was getting worried. The father of the girl pointed t her and she backed away, she had no idea what was going on, but she knew now, Her girls pa shook hands with the man, and they exchanged papers. She was taken away, a young boy put on her harness, she walked slowly, her head down, she was sad, Why didnt she come see me, its been two days.. But she had to do what her owners sad and she got into the truck. Soon enough her girls parents looked little and they where gone. The next morning Sterling was lost, she was put into a new barn with new people and new horses, ASHLEIGH, hun where are you??. Sterling was hungry and no one had come yet, but she heard foot steps and soon a young girl had come, about Ashleighs age, Hi there. Her voice come out as a whine, she was glad to see some body, no matter whom. The girl rolled her eyes and got in to the stable, she started to feed Sterling, but in a very annoyed manner. Sterling did not know why, didn't this girl even like her. ''Horse better win me a title''. Sterling was confused, she tilted her head slightly like a dog wood, that is what made her funny but it seemed this girl did not see it. The new owner just picked up a brush and quickly went over her mane and back, 'There done. Ill see you later for practice''. And with a wink of a eye the girl left, leaving Sterling with a blank look. The horses ate slowly but surly, she was thinking, maybe a way to escape, but it was impossible, she looked out side, the grass was perfect, but the fence was high and with barbed wired at the top. With a sigh the horse moved to the corner locking her legs, a nap she would take. Six months later.. Sterling has learned now, the girl is Sasha, and her father is Mr, Stevies. They are not nice people, they only care about prizes and money, she hates it here. The girl comes once every day to train her, But its so cruel, Sterling has to stand straight as she puts on her saddle, but its always the wrong size!, it moves and scrapes Sterling's skin, making sore's. It hurts a lot, and worst of all is when Sasha wips her harder then allowed, Sterling cries out but the girl does not care. Sterling is in horse misery, the food is fine and the shelter, but there is no love, Sasha just cares for her popularity and beauty. Sterling accidentally stepped on her shoe this morning, it was a disaster, her dad yelled and hit her on the neck, Sasha of course kicked her.The Thoroughbred has learned to keep quite do what ever the girl says, or consequences could happen, no they will happen. Sasha has also given Sterling a new name, Silver's dream, Sterling hates it and would much rather be called Sterling's dream, she finds it so much more beautiful, but there is nothing the mare could do.The dapple horse woke up one day,Sasha was yelling out to her, the horsed rolled her eyes but did not move, ''Silver!, girl!, time for training'', Sasha started to put on the saddle, it was clearly to big, Sterling had no way to tell the girl though, she just had to take the pain and sore's like a threw horse, she lived one day a a time, her memories of Ashleigh the only k=thing keeping her alive .Sterling truthfully in hell. One year after accident.... The horse is sad, she cries herself to bed every night, her eyes are swollen, she is tired and very very angry, not to mention depressed, she does not care about jumping, eating or anything really.Sterling specially hated her new name Silver's Dream, it made her gag. Everyday she remembers running with Ashleigh, and the stories her best friend use to tell, it makes her cry. But this day was different, Sterling had just been kicked and yelled at, she tried to ignore the snoddy owner, like usual, but something had brought her attention, a girl was standing there watching her, it looked just like her Ashleigh, maybe taller and slimmer but it just had to be. Soon though the girl ran off and she could not tell if it was her girl.Sterling ran back to her stable and fell asleep, soon to be awaken by a noise, she opened her eyes,''Sterling? Is that you?'', the horse looked the girl in the eyes, she was ASHLEIGH, Sterling whined quietly her eyes melting in warmth. Sterling was so glad to have her girl back, she was vibrating with joy, specially when Ashleigh said, ''Sterling! It really is you! I missed you so much girl! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry. I never wanted them to sell you! I tried to make them get you back but they wouldn’t! I tried to find you but I just didn’t know where to look! All this time girl and you’ve been two blocks from home!'', it made Sterling's day. The horse had not been petted in so long, well not like this, she purred, well in her own way, and closed her eyes, it felt so good to be loved again,''We’ll never be separated again, Sterling. Never. I love you girl, don’t forget that if we’re ever far apart. I’m always with you.'' Sterling nodded and put her muzzle on Asleigh's hand, she would never leave her again, never, not in till she leaves this earth. Soon the warm sunlight took over the horizon and Sterling yawned, she barely slept that night and she new poor Ashleigh didnt either, ''I’m sorry girl but I have to go. I’ll come back tonight or maybe later after school ok girl?''. The horse was sad but she knew it had to be true, Ashleigh was back and soon they would be re united.

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"Brianna speaks!"
Brianna thinks![/sub][/blockquote]
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[racingbelle]

I was running into the stables after school. I had gotten back in the morning without anyone noticing how tired or sleepy I seemed. I slept right through all my classes but each teacher hardly paid attention to me. They all knew I was a hopeless case so they gave up on me. I wouldn't blame them, I was just about impossible to deal with. I was so excited to see Sterling again, that I didn't notice Sasha standing in the stall with Sterling. "Come here Silver, girl. It's time to tack you up." She crooned sweetly to the mare. I had the urge to hide but I didn't. "Um hello there. I was wondering if you need help tacking up, or maybe a personal groom?" I asked. Oh my gosh what was I saying! How could I hide, working after school to my parents?! They didn't want me around horses ever again! Oh well, I didn't care about them now did I? I smiled sweetly to the snotty girl and looked wistfully at Sterling. "If you can handle the nag then ok." Sasha sneered. Yes! I would have to make a few changes though. The saddle stylish yet illfitted and uncomfortable to Sterling. The bit was to harsh for Sterling's soft mouth. I told Sasha what needed to be done and immediatly she got the right tack and switched out the bit. "There I said as I tacked Sterling up. She should behave better.

NOT DONE