Free Liberty and the Dream Ride by Stacy Gregg Page A

time.
    â€œYou go straight through,” he told Issie. “Comet is a clever and honest jumper – he can handle the tough options, but he’s also much smaller than the other horses so you’re going to be cutting it fine when it comes to time. You cannot afford to waste a single second. You must stick to the short route between every jump, no matter what.”
    It took them three hours to walk the course. It was funny, Issie thought, that what had taken her and Avery so long would be over in a matter of minutes on the big day. The optimum time for riding the cross-country was set at sixteen minutes and ten seconds – and any riders who exceeded this would get time penalties added on to their scores.
    By the time they reached the final fence, the Bourbon Barrels, they had been caught up by several other riders, including Tara Kelly and Marcus.
    â€œWhat did you think of it?” Marcus asked Issie as they walked back together to the stables.
    â€œIt was bigger than I expected it to be,” Issie admitted, hoping that her voice wouldn’t betray her nervousness. She was having a flashback to the ditch in front of the Gamekeeper’s Brush. If it was intended as a rider frightener then the course designer had done his job nicely – she was terrified by it!
    â€œThe water jumps are going to cause a few crashes, I think,” Marcus said. “I’m worried about the Normandy Bank towards the end. Liberty is a big striding mare and the distance between the fences is quite tight.”
    â€œNot for Comet’s little legs, it isn’t,” Issie laughed.
    â€œI’m going to walk it again tomorrow morning straight after breakfast before the trotting-up,” Marcus said. “You want to come with me?”
    â€œSounds great,” Issie agreed. “Meet you then.”
    Issie wanted to walk the course at least three times before the cross-country took place on Saturday. She could walk it on Thursday morning with Marcus and then one final time on the Friday afternoon with Avery once she’d done her dressage test. The rules of the three-day event allowed riders to walk the course as many times as they liked and some of them would walk it as many as four or five times. The horses, on the other hand, were not permitted to see the jumps until they were on the course competing, so they would be looking at the fences in front of them with totally fresh eyes. Of course, there was nothing in the rules to stop Issie telling Comet all about the course.
    â€œThe jumps are very big, Comet,” Issie told the little skewbald when she arrived back at the stables, “but then we knew they were going to be, didn’t we?”
    Comet nickered back in agreement. Issie grabbed a body brush out of his grooming kit and began to brush the skewbald’s patchy chestnut and white face.
    â€œThere’s a really big spread at jump twenty-four, the Gamekeeper’s Brush,” she whispered to the pony. “I’m a bit freaked out by it, but I…”
    â€œHey! What are you doing?”
    It was Stella and she looked cross.
    â€œIf you keep brushing and feeding Comet then Avery will notice I have nothing to do and send me home,” Stella said, taking the body brush out of Issie’s hand and shaking her head. “Being the groom is my job, Issie – you’ve got enough to do.”
    Issie knew this was true. Looking after Comet was officially Stella’s role. But Issie had never really got used to the idea of having a groom.
    â€œI feel like a spoilt princess,” Issie complained.
    â€œThere’s nothing stuck-up about having a groom,” Stella pointed out. “It’s just professional, that’s all. The whole point of having me to do this stuff is to free you up so that you can focus on competing. You’ve got enough on your plate.”
    She looked at her watch. “Like, aren’t you due at the rider briefing in five