part six.
A, enter working trot sitting. X. Halt. Salute. Proceed working trot sitting. C, track left. H, working trot rising. E, circle left twenty meters. Ruby had practiced this test so many times that she and Sullivan both knew it by heart and could do it without thinking.
After their dressage lesson, Ruby cooled him out and went through her routine of grooming him and cleaning his tack. She now felt a little more comfortable around the rich people that surrounded her, although some held a grudge against her being given this opportunity. When she was finished cleaning Sullivan’s tack and giving him one last pat, she went out to the parking lot and met Becca at her pickup truck.
“Ready to go shopping?” Becca asked with a grin. The Event was two days away.
“You bet!” Ruby replied, her smile equally big. They got into the truck and drove fifteen minutes to the local tack shop.
“You can get better things in catalogs, but you can’t try them on,” Becca said as they got out of the truck and walked into the store. “Thus a tack shop! Gotta love ‘em. The smell of leather, mmm!” Ruby giggled at Becca and followed her to the clothing section.
“We’ll get you dressage breeches, a shadbelly coat, shirt, ascot, vest, gloves,” Becca ticked off. “Cross country you’ll want another pair of breeches, another pair of gloves, a decent shirt, a vest, and a helmet cover if you want. For jumping you can get, yes, another pair of breeches, a jacket, shirt, gloves—yes Ruby, don’t look at me like that, more gloves—and I’ll get you a new pin. New helmet, too, I say. Yours is kind of beat up,” Becca smiled at her apologetically. “Mine is too, though. Do you want new show boots?”
“No,” Ruby said quickly. She had ridden in a show when she first got her new boots and the pain of the stiff leather caused her to come in dead last in every class she competed in. “I’ll just get some polish to sparkle up my old ones.” Becca nodded, agreeing it was a good idea.
“We should get Sullivan some nice new pads,” Becca said.
“And treats,” Ruby added. Becca chuckled.
“Okay, and treats. Oh, do you know how to braid?” Becca asked.
“Yes,” Ruby nodded, “I’ve got a braiding kit at home.” Becca nodded, and after they figured out what sizes Ruby wore, they went to work gathering a pile of clothes. Ruby tried on item after item, modeling each one for Becca. After lots of giggles, the pair finally settled on what they would buy Ruby. Classic black dressage shadbelly coat with white breeches, yellow vest, and white blouse with a white ascot. They even picked out a top hat and a cute hair accessory.
“I look like a geek,” Ruby complained when she saw how she looked with the top hat.
“You look professional,” Becca assured her, but couldn’t help cracking a smile. For cross country they got dark beige breeches, navy blue safety vest, and a hunter green shirt. They decided on navy and hunter as those were Southbrook Stables’ colors. They picked out a match navy/hunter helmet cover as well. For show jumping, they chose a hunter jacket, white blouse with ratcatcher, and light beige breeches. They also picked up some socks for Ruby to wear. These were light cotton with spandex at the top of her calf and at the arch of her foot, where she would need extra support. For gloves, they got something fancy for dressage, hardy for cross country, and something with style and use for jumping.
“Helmet?” Becca asked. Ruby couldn’t help but grimace. She didn’t want her head to be ten times its natural size for all the top competitors to see. Becca must have known what she was thinking.
“Don’t worry, Ruby. The latest models have slim profiles.” Ruby sighed with obvious releif. Soon they were boxing up what Ruby thought to be the perfect helmet. It even had clear straps so it would seem like it was being held on by nothing at all. They picked out new pads for every stage of the Event for Sullivan, and a container of horse treats as well. Along the way to the register, they picked up little things they thought Ruby and Sullivan might need at the show, as well as anything else they might have forgotten. Ruby was afraid to look at the total as the clerk rang up their purchases. Becca hardly flinched as she whipped out the stable’s checkbook and wrote a check out, signing her name with a flourish.
Becca and Ruby lugged their purchases out to the truck. Becca dropped Ruby off at her house, helping her bring the bags and boxes inside. Suddenly exhausted, Ruby waved goodbye and went to her room, barely saying hello to her mother before falling into bed and into a deep sleep.
