Page 56 of Taking What Was His

The group piled out of the vehicles and stood and looked around.

“Hey,” Jayden yelled and waved from the arena. “Over here.”

The group reached the bleachers and sat, everyone talking at once and asking questions. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, Jayden was laughing.

Roman whistled for the group to hush. “Let the man talk.”

Jayden grinned at him and then back at the family. “So, my mom is exercising one of the horses.”

“Diego?” Roman asked and got looks of shock from his family. “Hey, I’ve been here a few times.”

“Yeah, Diego. He always acts up. Anyway, she’ll be first up with him and then about seven contestants and then my mom again with Loki, her horse. She’ll be the last.”

“You guys are going to be thrilled,” Roman said. “Her horse is the most beautiful one I’ve ever seen.”

Jayden nodded. “Loki is very beautiful. She’s a Friesian.”

“What’s that?” Kara, one of the nieces, asked.

“It’s a breed of horse. There will be several different breeds here. My mom’s horse isn’t usually used for show jumping, but she’s been training her for years. It’s amazing to see.”

“He’s right. They look like one entity. You’ll see what we mean.”

“Hey, guys, my mom’s coming in with Diego. The horse is a pain, but he’s young and learning.”

The group sat quietly and waited. Several of them gasped as she led the horse into the arena. She stood and talked for a moment with Sandra as Diego started to act up again.

“That horse is going to trample her,” Roman’s mom cried out.

Jayden chuckled. “No, he likes to act up a lot, but she knows how to handle him. Just watch.”

“What’s she wearing? I wouldn’t have known it was her.”

“It’s the outfit and hat she has to wear for these competitions.”

The announcer came over the intercom and talked about Beth and how Diego is in training. Beth pulled Diego into position, and then Mike was there to give her a hand up.

“I was wondering how she was going to get on the monster.”

The group laughed and then gasped when Diego reared. They smiled when they saw Beth laugh. Beth and the horse danced around for a bit, and then she nodded to the judges.

A bell rang, and she took off. The crowd went still as their gaze followed her around the arena. Several people in the family would gasp when she went over a tall jump.

It seemed like it took forever, instead of less than a few minutes, when she finished the jumps and raced to the finish line and pulled up on Diego to stop. Sandra came over and grabbed Diego’s reins, and the women smiled.

Roman guessed that the horse had done very well. As far as Roman saw, the horse hadn’t touched any of the poles.

The group watched the next seven horses do the course, and then Beth came back in holding the reins of Loki.

“Oh, wow. That’s her horse,” Emma gasped in awe.

Jayden nodded. “Yeah, that’s Loki. She also shows her once in a while.”

“I bet she wins every time,” Camila, one of the sisters-in-law, said.

Jayden grinned. “Pretty much.”

They watched Mike help her mount the horse again. Loki wasn’t as big as Diego, but was still a large animal.