Champion Horse by Jane Smiley

in the Sky?’
    ‘Who’s Pie in the Sky?’
    ‘He belongs to that girl, Sophia, who bought Black George. He’s her other jumper. I’m supposed to ride him in the clinic.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘Because they want me to jump big jumps, I guess.’
    ‘I gotta work.’
    ‘Can you please call Jake and ask if you can get there at nine-thirty or something? I am a little scared of him. He’s tricky.’ Then I thought of something. ‘He cost them fifteen thousand dollars.’
    ‘He did?’
    I said, ‘Mmmp,’ which I knew Danny would think was a yes. I was sure Danny would be very interested in a fifteen-thousand-dollar horse. Of course, I had no idea how much Pie in the Sky had cost, but I also thought that Sophia wouldn’t look at a cheap horse, or even a rather expensive horse. Only a very expensive horse would be allowed to hang around if Sophia didn’t like him.
    He said, ‘Okay. Forty-five minutes. I’ll pick you up and we’ll drive out there and you’ll have exactly forty-five minutes of my precious time.’
    Well, it was precious, at least where horses were concerned.
    *
    Jane, of course, had told Rodney when we would be there, and Pie in the Sky was tacked up and ready, with his own Pariani saddle, running martingale, breastplate, and jumping boots. He looked like he was about to go into battle. Rodney seemed to know perfectly well what we were doing there – he pointed to one of the far-off smaller rings and said, ‘Well, miss, I’m guessing you’ll have that spot all to yourselves.’
    I said, ‘Thanks, Rodney.’
    He said, ‘Watch yerself, then, miss.’ Rodney had never cautioned me before. He and Danny exchanged a glance.
    But I don’t know if there was a horse that had ever made Danny nervous – and it wasn’t just because he would ride anything. It was because he wasn’t too lazy to take his time and be careful. In this case, as soon as we got to that small arena, with Pie in the Sky snorting all the way, he took all that tack off the horse and let him skitter around on his own for five minutes. Then he stepped forward and began to direct the skittering, so that Pie in the Sky could still be moving, but he had to move because Danny told him to, and in the direction Danny indicated. In another five minutes, Pie in the Sky was no longer skittering – he was trotting around and then cantering around, smooth, though fast, with big strides, and with his neck arched and his ears forward. Danny stepped over to him, put the bridle back on, and asked him to step under. He didn’t know what we were talking about, but he was willing. I saw that he was pretty supple, either from training or naturally; stepping under was something he could easily do.
    Then Danny put the saddle back on him with the breastplate, but not the running martingale, and let him do all his moves with that darn stuff flapping all over him. He settled down. And then he did a funny thing. He turned, dropped his head, and came over to us. His face was calm and he was not looking for carrots. I petted Pie in the Sky on his bright red cheek and said, ‘What’s this all about?’
    ‘I think he’s saying he’s ready. It’s not like he doesn’t know what his job is.’
    Danny stroked him down his neck, tightened the girth, and then cupped his hands. I went over and he legged me up into the saddle. Danny said, ‘Step him over a few times, both directions.’
    This was the great Jem Jarrow lesson for all horses and riders – you lift the horse’s head to one side with the rein, and he learns to soften his back and step one hind leg across in front of the other, thereby turning his body in a small circle. It shows him where his feet are (you would be surprised how many horses have no idea where their feet are), it loosens his muscles, and it also makes him aware of the rider as someone who does something other than kicking him forward or pulling him back (or both at once). After we did this a few times, I trotted him in curving lines