OKAY, LUCY. DEEP BREATHS. It's all going to be okay.
The barn was a rush of commotion everywhere she looked, and the petite pinto horse that Lucy had been assigned to ride was shifting nervously beneath her. As if Lucy needed anything more to worry about, now the horse seemed nervous. Lucy could feel the worry radiating through the saddle, and saw nervous ears flicking back and forth.
The arena was smaller than the one they all practiced in, but that didn't make the large strangeness of it any less intimidating as Lucy walked the pinto horse, Patriot, into the arena. She couldn't even pick out the face of her roommate or any of her teammates in the crowd.
Focus on the horse. Just the horse.
The course consisted of all vertical jumps this time, but their heights were fairly low. The maj
