Chapter Text
The Chiba Horse Park bustled with activity. Though a relatively small facility, place was packed and classes ran simultaneously in all three riding rings. Graceful hunters cantered smoothly around a grass arena during their hack class, and a tiny roan pony with an equally tiny rider popped over itty bitty cross rails in the beginner ring. Harried looking grooms ran back and forth with saddles and buckets of water as they got their charges ready to compete. At the food vendor, the line grew and grew as lunch time approached, everyone vying for the greasy hamburgers and fries on offer. Spectators stood in the shade of the trees ringing the property, trying to escape the midday sun while kids and dogs frolicked in the closely cropped grass. It was a scene of familiar chaos to riders like Teshima who found themselves here, or at any of the hundreds of other similar horse show grounds around the world, most weekends in the summer.
Teshima gave his horse Pegasus a quick pat on the neck as he prepared to ride into the show ring for what would be his final class of the day. So far, things hadn’t gone terribly well, but Teshima had his fingers crossed that he and Pegasus would be able to turn it around this time. Pegasus, a long legged dapple grey warmblood, knew his job well and he was eager to enter the arena once more and face the brightly colored course of fences set in front of him and his rider. The class they were getting ready to head into the jumper ring for was the Child/Adult Jumper Championship. It was going to be rather competitive with a five hundred dollar prize on offer. Of course, I wasn’t the most thrilling class taking place at the show, as the fences all topped out at about three feet three inches tall, relatively small compared to some of the Open Jumper classes coming up later, but Teshima was nonetheless excited. The course set out for them was just the kind that he favored. It was very technical, all challenging turns and tricky combinations. Rather than speed, it showcased a rider’s ability to plan and think, and a horse’s ability to be adjustable and balanced.
“Teshima, you’re on deck!” The goateed man in charge of the jumper ring’s in-gate hollered, trying to stop the pages attached to his clip board from fluttering in the stiff breeze whistling across the open field of the Horse Park.
“Okay, we’re ready!” Teshima announced boldly, riding up to the gap in the fence so he could enter promptly without holding everyone up. One of his pet peeves was people who took ninety nine years getting to the gate to take their turn. If one person did it, it wasn’t such a big deal, but if everyone took too long, the whole show would begin to run slowly. He found it thoroughly inconsiderate and frustrating.
It was almost their turn to go in, Teshima noted, as the rider in the ring before them galloped towards the last fence, a purple Swedish oxer with a wide spread. Even five strides out, Teshima could see that the pair had misjudged the distance to the fence. The young man riding her was in too much of a rush to cross the timers, making him hasty and careless. They left the ground too early, and even though the dark bay mare stretched herself as much as she possibly could, it wasn’t enough and she dragged a wooden rail down with her back hooves, causing it to fall into the sand behind them with a dull thud. Had the mistake happened earlier in the course, maybe the horse would have had the energy left in reserve to make it over cleanly, but at the end of a demanding round she just didn’t have it in her. What a shame, Teshima mused, they really had put in a nice trip before that.
“That was number 211, Ibitani Ryou and Mirror Image with four faults after an unfortunate blunder at the last fence. Their time was fast enough to put them in fifth place despite the faults, so let’s see if they can hold on to that spot.” The announcer’s voice crackled to life above the applause of the small crowd gathered to watch the class going on in the jumper ring. “And now entering the ring is number 143, Teshima Junta and his horse Pegasus.”
“Let’s go, boy.” The young man said, grinning slightly as he nudged Pegasus into a trot as they passed into the ring once the gate keeper signaled them to enter. Teshima tucked a stray curl of black hair under his velvet covered helmet as he waited for the buzzer to sound, posting effortlessly to Pegasus’ lofty trot. He had prepared his horse well. His coach wouldn’t have put up with anything else, but Teshima would have put the work in regardless. He took pride in making a good impression. Pegasus was completely spotless, an impressive feat given the horse’s pale coat and his affection for wallowing in mud puddles, and the leather tack he was decked out in was equally sparkling. The crowd gave a collective “oooh” when, they caught sight of the grey, a reaction that filled Teshima with pride. He didn’t look so bad himself, clad in well-polished boots and a nicely tailored navy jacket that matched the fly bonnet perched on Pegasus’ ears. The only flaws to his otherwise perfect turnout were the tendrils of black hair that continually tried to escape from the hair net he had attempted to control them with.
“Bzzzzzzztttttt.” The obnoxious sound of the buzzer signaled that Teshima and Pegasus had thirty seconds to cross the timers and get to the first fence or they would be automatically disqualified. That was more than enough time, but Teshima didn’t want to cut it close, so legged Pegasus into a strong canter and brought him around to fence number one, a black and red plank fence. Some horses had been spooked by the solid appearance of the planks and had refused, but Pegasus didn’t give it a second look and powered over it with room to spare, even as Teshima started turning him in the air to get to the next obstacle. Most riders hadn’t begun to execute the sharp rollback turn quickly enough to arrive at fence two, resulting in poor distances and in some cases even dropped rails or run outs. Teshima had learned from watching their mistakes, though, and caught the fence at a perfect angle. The two of them were off to a good start.
The following triple combination went equally well, as did a spooky looking skinny fence that had been a cause of grief for many of the other horses. After the skinny came the only part of the course that Teshima hadn’t been looking forward too: a long, straight route to a lone triple bar oxer with bright blue rails and an ocean theme. The smart move would be to really get a good gallop going to it in order to save some time. But that wasn’t what Teshima was going to do. He was planning on keeping Pegasus at the same brisk canter no matter how much time it cost him. No way in hell was he going to gallop. His trainer Mr. Pierre would be disappointed in him, but he couldn’t bring himself to let Pegasus go that quickly. The mere thought of it was enough to make his heart race unpleasantly. Anyway, his turns for the rest of the course had been stellar, so they would probably make up for it. “Jumper classes are won in the turns, Teshima,” he remembered Mr. Pierre saying. However, he tuned out the next part of the advice that had been given to him during his warm up- “but you’ll never win if you don’t go fast when you need to.”
Pegasus fussed, flipping his head in the air with annoyance when Teshima held him back, keeping a firm hold on the reins with his gloved fingers. “Not now, Peg.” Teshima scolded, going red with embarrassment; even Pegasus knew what they were supposed to be going a hell of a lot faster than this. Sitting deeply in his saddle, he forced Pegaus to keep his pace, no matter what. We probably look ridiculous, Teshima groaned internally, or I do, anyway, I’m the one holding Pegasus back. The glowing orange numbers of the timer, unfortunately directly in Teshima’s line of sight the whole way to the fence, seemed to taunt him all the way to the triple bar. At last, Pegasus reached it and jumped over it neatly, throwing a small buck on the other side of the fence to express his annoyance at being restrained.
The final few fences of the course came up well, through Teshima’s ability to judge his turns perfectly, and Pegasus’ athleticism. Their speed, however, remained conservative even as they broke the beam of the timers after the last fence. Their restrained pace was unlike most of the other horse and rider combinations who had gunned it after the final obstacle to shave valuable fractions off of their times.
“That was number 143 Teshima Junta and Pegasus, folks, with a very well ridden round. However, they were just a bit slow, racking up three time faults, which will exclude them from the jump-off and put them in fourth place for the time being. Next up is…” Teshima stopped listening, ears burning with shame as he guided Pegasus from the sandy arena and over to the shade of the tree at the side of the ring where Mr. Pierre was waiting to give him feedback. No matter how unhappy he was, he still made sure to pat Pegasus. It hadn’t been the gelding’s fault that they’d gone too slow. That was all on Teshima.
He wasn’t looking forward to talking to Mr. Pierre at all. When was the last time he had made it into a jump-off? Probably when he was still doing the Hopeful Jumpers. The lower fences and more inexperienced riders, along with a typically more generous time allowed had even resulted in a few wins for Teshima. In that division he’d been able to get away with going slower without much consequence. The classes he was doing now, however, since he had moved up, were not so forgiving and time and again he found himself just missing getting called back for the jump-off. He hadn’t won in ages, and he missed the thrill of exiting the ring with a blue ribbon pinned on Pegasus’ bridle, and unless he could go faster there wouldn’t be any of those in his future.
“As usual, Teshima, your position was beautiful and you rode Pegasus well. But I think you know why I’m unhappy with that round.” The heavyset older man said with a sigh once Teshima came close enough.
“I wasn’t fast enough.” Teshima mumbled, ashamed. Mr. Pierre adjusted his bucket hat and regarded the black haired boy seriously.
“Yes, but it’s more than that. You never even asked Pegasus to go faster than a canter. It looked like you were doing an equitation round. If it had been an eq class, I don’t doubt that you’d have won it. I think it’s time to start reevaluating your decision to move into the jumper ring, Teshima.”
“No! Please don’t move me back into the equitation ring! I can do it, I swear!” Teshima struggled to hold back the urge to cry. Riding in the jumpers had been his dream since he was a little kid still riding in the Walk Trot division and he’d seen his first Grand Prix. Watching all of the amazing riders and powerful horses flying over fences as tall as people had filled him with awe and he knew that was what he wanted to do someday. He couldn’t achieve that goal if he only rode in equitation and hunter classes. Not that there was anything wrong with those, but his dreams lay elsewhere.
“Teshima, if you can’t get over your fear of speed, the jumper ring isn’t the place for you. Unless you let Pegasus gallop, there’s no way that you’ll ever have success here.” Mr. Pierre told him, sternly. Teshima knew he was right, of course, but that didn’t make his words hurt any less.
“Please give me another chance!” Teshima blurted, gripping at the reins frantically, causing Pegasus to fling his head up, offended by the sudden jerking on his delicate mouth.
“Calm down; calm down.” Mr. Pierre raised his hand, attempting to placate his panicking student. “I’m not pulling you out now, I’m just saying that it’s something to think about, okay?” Teshima nodded stiffly. “You’ll place in the class since there are only a few riders left, so hang around so you can collect your ribbon. I need to go help Kinjou, Makishima, and Tadokoro get their horses warmed up for the Mini Prix.” With that, the older man drifted into the crowd of exhibitors, trainers, and spectators, leaving Teshima and Pegasus alone in the shade of the tree. Sighing loudly, Teshima reached down to loosen the girth so the grey could relax, and rode back over to the ring to watch the final riders navigate around the course with their mounts.
Teshima longed to be doing the Mini Prix with his fellow students. It was the highlight of the day at the horse show, and all of the best riders there were participating, Mr. Pierre’s most advanced pupils included. Kinjou, Makishima, and Tadokoro were a bit older than him, of course, but he still couldn’t help but feel kind of left behind as they jumped higher and higher fences. Pegasus could do it, he thought moodily, I just can’t get out of my own way. No matter. Teshima would cheer them on just the same, and hopefully one day he’d be able to catch up and join them in the big classes. Unwilling to dwell on his misfortune for any longer, he turned his attention back to the arena.
A nervous looking girl with freckles on a chubby black and white pinto struggled their way through the course. She kept freaking out and pulling back before the fences, making the horse chip badly to each jump. Teshima sympathized with her. The girl was obviously afraid; she just wasn’t quite as good at hiding it as Teshima. For what seemed like an eternity, he’d been terrified of going fast. Once he had liked it, relished it even, but that was a long, long time ago and he wasn’t sure he’d ever get back to that point in his riding. After what had happened, who could blame him?
Things were getting worse and worse for the poor girl on the pinto, so much so that he was getting second hand embarrassment just watching her. Rather than continue to observe the ongoing train wreck occurring in the arena, Teshima decided to take a look at the next and final competitor who was hanging out by the in-gate. Unusually, given the fact that it was typically more or less the same crowd at the local shows every weekend, Teshima had never seen this rider before. His horse stood out like a sore thumb. The other equines populating the Horse Park were clipped, braided, and groomed within an inch of their lives. This horse, a stringy looking, older chestnut mare devoid of white markings, was clean but her mane was far longer than the standard horse show length, and her coat was thick and kind of scrubby. She was outfitted in mishmash of assorted tack, far different from Pegasus’ matching ensemble. Her rider was a scrawny boy, probably about Teshima’s age, who had dark blond hair poking out from under his rather faded helmet, shading his suspicious, gold eyes. His mouth twisted downward into a slight scowl, though it looked more uncomfortable than angry. The black coat he wore was several years out of style, and evidently borrowed, given the way the extra material slumped around his narrow frame. Though Teshima tried not to judge on equipment or appearances, this pair didn’t look like they belonged amongst the other competitors in the Child/Adult Jumper class. The boy’s trainer, if he had one, was nowhere to be seen.
The chestnut mare paced in the in gate, pinning her ears at any horse that dared come too near. Teshima winced when he saw her cock her hind leg at a curious bay gelding, and noticed a red ribbon tied clumsily into her tail, the universal symbol that proclaimed “stay back, this horse kicks.” He admired the way that the blond quieted her, discouraging her inclination to lash out without getting angry with her or flustered. Thankfully, the pinto passed far to the side of her when he exited the ring, avoiding potential issues, though the girl riding him looking dangerously close to tears after her disastrous trip.
“And now entering the ring is number 234, Aoyagi Hajime and his horse Lightning.” Teshima settled in to watch the round, not expecting much, and let Pegasus’ reins slip through his fingers so the gelding could nap. However, any doubts Teshima may have had about the rider were dispelled upon seeing him in action. Unlike Teshima’s highly polished, text book perfect position, this guy, who was apparently called Aoyagi, had a natural seat, and even if his equitation wasn’t spot on, he knew what he was doing. The way he sat in the saddle suggested that he was self-taught, or at least hadn’t had a ton of instruction, but he was effective, Teshima thought as the pair cleared the first fence. Although the mare may have looked a bit unorthodox, she was certainly talented, too, tucking her knees up tidily and rounding her back well as she jumped. She was obviously a challenging ride, though, fighting Aoyagi every stride she took. The blond never got upset or so much as flinched as the mare tried to take the bit or get her head down to buck. Instead, he calmly got her back under control and kept riding for the next fence. And they went fast. It wasn’t out of control or crazy, but it was the sort of speed that was a hallmark of a good jumper round.
Jealousy burned in Teshima’s throat. This guy rode exactly as he wished he could. Aoyagi was bold and fearless as he guided his mare over the fences skillfully. Sure, his heel crept upward in a way that Teshima’s never did, and he rode with an odd curl to his back that would not have been acceptable in an equitation class, but Teshima was still envious of him.
Aoyagi let the mare fly down the long route to the triple bar oxer without any visible anxiety or hesitation. Where Teshima had held Pegasus in, Aoyagi let go, the serious expression on his face not wavering even once as the mare galloped confidently towards the imposing blue rails. I’d kill to be that brave, Teshima lamented, I bet this guy wins all the time.
Their time was going to be blazing. Not only was the cranky mare moving quickly, her turns were practically rivaling the ones that Pegasus had done. Teshima took his eyes off the pair for a moment to check the clock to see how they were doing. Unbelievable, he marveled, they’re a full second ahead of everyone else! A single second may have seemed like a small margin, but in a sport where the winners and losers could be separated by mere tenths of a second, the lead they were racing towards the final fence with was massive. Provided they kept up the same pace, they would easily move into the jump off in first place.
In the final strides before the fence, however, Aoyagi lifted out of the saddle, obviously pushing for more speed even though he was already miles ahead of the competitor with the time closest to him. It was a risky move, the sort of thing better suited to a jump off rather than the first round where the time allowed was much more lenient. The mare’s stride opened up, obeying her rider’s command immediately. Teshima tried to contain a gasp when he saw what was going to happen. The sudden upward shift in pace had ruined their timing and made the jump come up awkwardly. The mare found herself in a position where there was literally no way she could clear the fence safely from where she would be forced to take off. Rather than bash her way through the poles, though, the mare slammed to a stop in front of the Swedish oxer and spun to the left. Since Aoyagi was already up out of the saddle in anticipation of the jump, he had no chance of sticking with her, and he flew over her shoulder, careening into the rails of the jump. Startled, the mare’s head shot upward, and she tore off in the opposite direction at a flat out gallop, leather reins flapping crazily as the metal stirrup irons smacked against her sides with movement she made, goading her into an even faster pace.
“Heads up, folks, loose horse by the jumper ring!” The announcer exclaimed as she leaped out of the ring, sailing right over the low fence enclosing it, and went running off towards the area where the horse trailers were parked. Pegasus had jerked out of his doze during the sudden flurry of activity and spooked violently when the mare went whirling by him. Teshima cursed himself for letting his reins be so long and prayed that Pegasus wouldn’t follow the spook with a bolt. If he took off running, stopping him quickly would be next to impossible with his reins so slack.
“Whoa, Peg!” He cried, trying to quiet the large warmblood as he frantically adjusted his reins. Thankfully, Pegasus wasn’t the sort to stay worked up for long and he immediately settled down, allowing Teshima to look back towards the arena to see if the blond was alright. It had been kind of a nasty spill, Teshima thought, anxiety twisting in his gut as he saw the way the purple poles had scattered in the sand from the force of Aoyagi smashing into them. Aoyagi, however, was already on his feet and sprinting towards the gate, looking more than a bit pale. He was obviously desperate to catch his mare, and she was already far away, rapidly disappearing into the crowded parking area, beyond which lay the threat of a busy road. The mare had to be apprehended quickly before she could get herself into any trouble.
Thinking quickly, Teshima rode over and intercepted Aoyagi. “Want a lift?” He extended his arm to the blond, who stared up at him, incredulously, biting at his lip. But with a quick glance towards his fleeing mare, he grabbed Teshima’s wrist and scrambled onto Pegasus’ back, wrapping his arms around Teshima’s skinny waist.
“Git up, Pegasus.” Teshima urged, and the grey set off at a sweeping canter, unperturbed by the abrupt addition of a second rider. “I’d go faster, but I don’t want to cause more trouble. Having two horses galloping around outside of the ring might be a bit much.” He turned slightly and saw Aoyagi nod in agreement behind him. It wasn’t a lie, technically, but it also wasn’t the real reason that he wasn’t letting Pegasus move at a greater speed. This random guy that he just met didn’t need to know that, though, especially not when he was such a brave rider, who, unlike Teshima, obviously wasn’t afraid of galloping.
Even at a canter, it didn’t take the two boys long to reach the trailer parking area as most of the spectators had already cleared the way for the loose mare. “Which trailer’s yours? She probably went back there since it’s familiar to her.” Teshima asked, pulling Pegasus back to a trot as they entered the cluster of horse trailers. Aoyagi mumbled something that Teshima couldn’t make out. “Speak up a bit, I can’t hear you.”
“Uh, I don’t have a trailer…” His voice was soft and raspy, not quite what Teshima had expected.
“Then how’d you get here?” Teshima wondered aloud. Getting to a horse show without a horse trailer seemed a bit strange.
“Rode here.”
“Huh. So I guess your barn is close by? Why haven’t I seen you here before if you’re from the area?” Teshima asked, guiding Pegasus around the trailers in search of the missing mare.
“It’s an hour and a half to ride here.” He responded in a near whisper, so quietly that it was difficult for Teshima to make out.
“Well that’s quite a trek!” Teshima whistled in appreciation. Riding to a horse show struck him as rather unusual as well. He had always assumed that sort of thing only happened in the cheesy horse books that he’d eaten up in his younger years. A million questions filled his mind, but he stopped himself. Obviously Aoyagi wasn’t much of a talker, Teshima decided, though it could that he was he was just worried about his horse and embarrassed about falling. Despite his now acute curiosity about this mysterious blond boy and his runaway mare, Teshima decided not to push it. There would be time to talk later, hopefully. It would be fun to have a friend who rode in the same division that he did again, as it had been a while since any of Mr. Pierre’s other students had been in the same classes as him. The last thing he wanted to do was scare Aoyagi off. Teshima pondered about seeing if Aoyagi wanted to watch the Mini Prix with him later. What would he do with the mare, though? Mr. Pierre would probably let him leave her at the trailer for a while, provided she didn’t pick a fight with any of the other horses, anyway.
“There she is!” Teshima yelped, train of thought derailed, and pointed to a rapidly flicking chestnut tail on the other side of the large six horse trailer they were riding past. Wordlessly, Aoyagi launched himself from Pegasus’ back and dashed to retrieve his mare, who had evidently given up on her wild escape and had started grazing in the security of the trailers. Teshima followed cautiously, unwilling to ride too close to her since she was clearly prone to kicking. By the time he had looped around the trailer, Aoyagi was already checking her over for any injuries resulting from her jaunt across the show grounds. Teshima noticed that her legs were all carefully protected by a set of hard-shelled open front boots, so she was probably fine, but he liked that Aoyagi was checking anyway. It was a sign of good horsemanship, a quality that he had come to appreciate through Mr. Pierre’s teaching.
“Is she all right?” Teshima asked, and Aoyagi nodded in response, looking relieved as some color returned to his face. “Good! I’m glad.” For the first time that Teshima had seen, Aoyagi offered up a small smile as he patted his mare on the neck. Before either of them could say a word another word, however, Mr. Pierre came flying around the other side of the trailer, causing Pegasus to startle slightly.
“Aoyagi, are you and Lightning all right?” He asked, sounding worried. How did Mr. Pierre know Aoyagi? Teshima wondered. It wasn’t as if the boy and his mare were regulars at the shows Mr. Pierre brought his students to.
The blond nodded almost imperceptibly, looking alarmed by the attention.
“Very good.” He clapped the boy on the shoulder. “We look forward to your arrival at Sohoku Stables. Are we still bringing Lightning back with us this afternoon? There’s already a stall prepared for her.”
Aoyagi nodded again, fiddling anxiously with his horse’s reins. He didn’t make eye contact with Mr. Pierre or Teshima.
“Wait, what arrival?” Teshima glanced from Aoyagi to Mr. Pierre, suddenly feeling at once very out of the loop and very excited.
“Say hello to your new barn mates, Teshima!” Mr. Pierre exclaimed jovially, gesturing at the slender blond boy and his grumpy old mare with a flourish.