The Eighty-Dollar Champion - Elizabeth Letts [79]
Andante was up first and made her usual fuss going through the gate—Kelley flicked his whip against her barrel and gouged her with his spurs. She catapulted into the ring with a burst, bounding toward the first fence at a gallop. Kelley held the mare’s nervous energy firmly in check, keeping the reins short and his calves wrapped tightly around her sides. At first, they seemed in unbeatable form, but when they got to the triple bar, a huge spread fence with bars stair-stepping up in a steep incline, the pair failed to clear the uppermost railing—it teetered for a moment, and then it fell.
Four faults.
When Harry rode into the ring on a loose rein, the contrast between the two horses’ styles was impossible to miss. Captivated by the big gray with the nonchalant manner, the crowd whooped its approval. Harry caught sight of Johanna sitting in the stands with Marty beside her. Chef and Harriet, preferring to be closer to the action, were perched on the railing near the in-gate. Even though Harry was the only one in the saddle, it was as though each member of the de Leyer clan was along for the ride. First prize would secure the championship for Snowman, and his share of the purse would cover the show’s expenses. Harry would be the open jumper champion at an A-rated show, an incredible achievement for his first big test of the season, and Johanna would know that the time and expense the entire family had dedicated to this show were going to pay off for Hollandia Farms. For the children, it was a chance to know that the best horse in their stable was the horse they thought of as their very own.
Approaching the fence, Snowman is alert and Harry is balanced forward. (illustration credits 14.3)
But this was a tough course. The fences were all above five feet, with big spreads, and the horses were tired. Even veteran Andante had been unable to go clean. And Snowman’s sore leg was more likely to bother him now that he was entering the second round. To jump this raised course without any faults was going to be tough. If Snowman knocked down a pole, the two would be tied, bringing another round of jump-offs with yet higher fences, increasing the risk that one of the worn-out jumpers would take a misstep and crash.
Harry headed toward the first fence at a controlled gallop. Snowman approached, nose outstretched, ears pricked forward, with the same sweet expression he bore when running free in the paddock. Somehow, it was clear that both horse and rider were having fun. Over each fence, everyone in the crowd held their breath, exhaling only when the horse’s hooves thumped on the landing. Harry’s style was unorthodox but fluid. His heels flew into the air, but his weight stayed balanced over the horse. Over each fence, the reins looped loose so that the big horse could have full use of his head. They headed toward the triple bar and cleared it easily.
Down the line to the last fence, the big parallel bars, Harry galloped, reins still loose, doing none of the checking on the reins that most of the riders favored. The horse had no heavy bit, no complicated pulleys or straps. His neck stretched out and his ears pricked forward as he headed toward the last obstacle. The big gray horse took off and soared … and flew over the last fence, with no faults.
The lumbering plow horse and his handsome young rider had just won the championship stakes class. They had beaten Andante, the reigning champion. There was a special sympathy between this man and this horse—a kind of intuition that the crowd sensed. The horse wanted to please the man, and the man wanted to let him do it. This was more than an act of athletic prowess; it was an act of joy.
The judges hunched over their scorecards, their pencils scratching. A few moments later, the announcement came over the PA system: Snowman was the open jumper champion, winner of the stakes class and champion of the show, with the great Andante as reserve. Andante would not be bringing home the perpetual trophy. The trophy would be engraved with the names of a new team: Harry