Lilli woke up to her alarm the next morning. She had set it for 4:00 am. They would be leaving for the show in an hour. Lilli showered and dried her hair. She put it up in a french braid and moved to her closet. She picked a pair of stark white breeches, an ink black show coat, a white show shirt, and her shiny, most expensive black Ariat boots. She put them all into their designated show bags her father had sent her a few months ago monogramed with her name. She put on a sweat shirt, sweat pants, and paddock boots. She put her clothes into her designated truck and got Domino ready. She packed his fancy black and gold tack set and put that in her designated truck by her clothes. She took off his blanket and replaced it with his matching black and gold one and boots of the same design. She put on his nice black leather halter with a gold name plate and the matching lead line.
Lilli lead Domino out to the trailer in all his glory. She had put her brace back on, knowing she would need it. As Lilli put Domino in his trailer, she gave herself a minute to smile. She hadn't smiled happily for a few days and it felt good. Suddenly, Lilli felt someone loading another horse into the other half of the trailer. She saw Striker's head and calmed down. Beth secured Striker on his side and walked around the barrier. "Lilli. . ." she started sadly. Before Beth could say another word, Lilli hugged her hard. "I'm sorry" she said quietly. Lilli needed Beth in her life. They were best friends. Beth hugged her back for a second and than let Lilli go. "I'm glad to hear it" she said.
Lilli and Beth closed the trailer door and climbed into the truck. She quickly realized Brett was driving their truck. "You ladies good?" he asked the pair of friends. Beth nodded enthusiastically, but Lilli ignored him. "What did you end up signing up for?" she asked Beth. "An advanced dressage class, hunter jumper, and pleasure" Beth said. Lilli smiled for real. "Sounds fun" she told her friend. Lilli needed to work on dressage. If she wanted to compete in three day eventing, she would need to be able to complete an amazing Dressage course. Beth was amazing, and she always loved to watch her compete.
They got to the show ground and checked in. Lilli was number 126, and Beth was 273. They lead their horses to their assigned stalls, getting lots of admiring looks from the other people at their horses. Lilli and Beth split up to get changed, and Lilli had to walk her courses. The first two were easy. All straight, no loops in the courses, but her advanced jumper class had some challenging elements. She would really have to pay attention to Domino during the course.
Half an hour later, Lilli had warmed Domino up and was waiting for her turn on the first show jumping course against Rebecca and about 10 other riders. Rebecca had ridden a good round with no faults and was holding first place with her time of 58.23 seconds, but Lilli knew she could beat it. Before she knew it, Lilli was up next. She walked Domino into the Arena and stopped him inside the gate. She bowed her head to the judges as you were supposed to in a real eventing show.
The buzzer sounded, and Domino surged forward into a strong canter. She held him at this pace for the first four jumps, but as they neared a double combination, she slowed a notch so Domino could make the single stride in between. They cleared the combo no problem, and moved to the next few jumps. Domino cleared the next vertical no problem. There was one last jump left. It was the highest of all of them and a little ways away, so Lilli let Domino into a faster canter. He reached the jump, and Lilli raised up onto his neck, feeling like she was flying. It was probably her favorite Feeling in the whole world. Domino hit the ground smoothly, and the clock stopped. Her time: 43.82 seconds and zero faults. She smiled as the judge pinned a ribbon to Domino's bridle.
She competed in her second jump course next. She and Domino got first again, but she would have gotten second if the girl faster than her hadn't knocked a rail. Lilli gladly accepted her second blue ribbon of the day and went to watch Beth and Striker's dressage class. They had already collected a second and first in their other two classes, but Lilli knew Beth would win dressage for sure. Just as Lilli had predicted, Beth won her class by a landslide.
Lilli headed over to the begining of the cross country course with Domino and strapped on her protective vest. She felt someone pat her boot. She looked down and saw Brett, her mother, and her grandfather. they wished her luck, but she solidified her face and rode away from them. A few minutes later, Lilli was up. She lined Domino up at the starting line. The buzzer sounded and she let Domino run. There wasn't a jump for a while, so she let him gallop the straight. The got closer to the first jump, a log, and she slowed Domino to steady canter. They took the jump no problem. The moved through the next jumps quickly and cleanly, but as the approached the creek, Domino began to weave. Before he could refuse, Lilli circled him and lined him up again. He took it this time no problem. They took the last two jumps and reached the last flat of the course. It was about 500 feet, and Lilli het Domino gallop again. She got into a jockey position and grinned. This made her so happy and free.
10 minutes later, Lilli had her third blue ribbon pinned to Domino's halter and was loading him into the trailer.
