The judge raised his hat in signal and Lindos smooched his mare into a canter. She shook her head in irritation when he pulled on her mouth a little to slow her down but she eventually listened, arching her neck and chewing on the bit in anticipation.

Lindos circled once and then headed for the first fence of the cross-country course, a large wood oxer with a wide spread. It wasn’t anything Ramallo hadn’t seen before but she tended to give him a hard time at the first fence.

The black mare picked her head up and took the fence, not in the best form, but they at least got over it. Lindos pulled her back again as she tried to take off after and directed her left, towards the next obstacle.

This one was also wooden but the landing was a sloping hill, which leveled out and then went back up, meeting another jump. Lindos licked his lips and tried to set up Ramallo up as best he could. This wasn’t an exceptionally long course, but it was very demanding and his mare hadn’t done most of the things that were required of her here.

She shorted her stride at the last minute and popped over it, causing Lindos to catch her in the mouth. She tossed her head, let out a small buck and then settled back down again as she climbed up the hill and jumped over the second, and smaller of the two obstacles.

Lindos patted her neck and then leaned forward over his seat, urging her into a gallop. There was a long stretch to the next fence and he needed to get ahead of the clock a little in order to beat some of the upcoming entries.

Lindos leaned back as Ramallo worked her way slowly down a steep hill, frowning as she leapt off the bottom and took the jump that was two strides after the hill. “I thought we got rid of that habit,” Lindos commented as he pulled her back again and set her up for the set of water obstacles.

Ramallo tossed her head, and pulled against the reins, trying to get her head before the jump. Lindos smacked her lightly on the shoulder and pulled her back some more, working out his strides to the fence. They jumped the first one, landing into the shallow water and turning right sharply towards the next fence, a fence decorated like a boat.

His black mare took this one well and then settled back and listened to her rider as he directed her to the last fence in the combination, a large stone wall with a slight incline behind it. She snorted and kicked out as she went over, tripping as she landed but recovering quickly and charging up the hill.

Lindos pulled her back to a trot quickly and watched her head to make sure it wasn’t bobbing, which was a sign of lameness. She seemed fine however so Lindos smooched her back into a canter and made the turn left towards the next group of jumps, a brightly colored vertical with a water element behind it and then a large white fence. She took the first one, landing in the water and was about to canter off again when she lost her back end, snorting in surprise as it slipped beneath her.

Lindos leaned forward and tried to help his mouth balance out. She pulled herself up and cantered towards the next fence but refused the last minute, causing Lindos to loose his balance and end up on her neck. He push down on her neck to get himself back in the saddle and then circled her around, approaching the jump again.

As he cantered her is he spurred her and she jumped, not used to the sharp prick of the spurs that he seldom used. She reared and tossed her head, running out to the side of the jump. Lindos moaned and halted her, ripping back on her bit. She threw her head up and backed up quickly, chopping on the bit in annoyance when she stopped.

“Now stop that,” Lindos said as he gave her the signal to canter. Ramallo bucked into it but went into it and approached the jump again. Lindos right over the top of the jump and pushed her with his heels when they had reached a good take-off spot. She surged forward and took the jump, arching her back and dropping her head beneath her knees.

Lindos leaned back and pulled on his mare’s mouth as she tried to get him off. After fighting with her for about thirty seconds he got her back under control and looked towards the boundaries of the cross-country course. There was an official standing near the side and Lindos waved to him as he trotted Ramallo over to him.

“I’m going to stop. She’s not exactly cooperating with me today,” he said as he dismounted and walked her over the small divider.

The official nodded and took out his clipboard, making note of Lindos’s departure and then turned back to the course as the next horse approached the combination.

Lindos sighed and led his mare back towards the warm-up arena. When he got there he hooked a lunge line to Ramallo’s bridle and started to work her again, trying to calm her down. She tossed her head a couple times but other then that was fairly quiet.

“Looked like you were having some trouble out there today,” someone said behind him. Lindos made Ramallo drop down to a walk and then turned around, seeing a young man with a wide smile on his face.

“Yeah, she usually doesn’t put up that much of a fight but today she just didn’t feel like working I guess,” he said as he pulled the lunge line in and then walked Ramallo towards the fence. “Can I help you?”

The man nodded and said, “Yes I think you can. I’m K’ran, a searcher from Caer Brynmor. My dragon Murneth seems to think you’d make a good bonder.”

Lindos patted Ramallo as she started to paw in boredom and then asked, “I could bond a dragon? Are you sure?”

K’ran smiled and said, “Well Murneth is sure, and that’s good enough for me. What do you say?”

Lindos looked at Ramallo and then turned back to K’ran. “I’d love to but I have to take care of my mare. No one else here would be able to I don’t think.”

K’ran shrugged and said, “That’s not a big deal. I can have someone bring her to the Caer and you can still ride her, but it will be harder to do when you’ve bonded your dragon.”

Lindos thought about this a moment and then asked, “You have cross country there?”

K’ran stroked his chin and said, “Actually, I don’t think we do. However, you could race her. You never know, she may have the speed to make it in the Bynmor races.”

Lindos nodded and said, “Ok, let me hand her off to my brother and then we can go.”

K’ran smiled and said, “Alright, I’ll be waiting by Murneth.”