Chapter Text
Sabine, you had noticed, was a very good rider. She was strong and decisive, and she and Khaan worked so well together that even the least observant could see it. Despite having only been at your barn, The Lucky Fox Equestrian Center, for about a week, she had developed a reputation for herself. She was, in the entire time that Lucky Fox Center had been around, the best dressage rider.
You, held the second-best title of “best three-day eventer.” You didn’t particularly care what title you got, as you knew you rode well and you knew that you had fun riding. Sabine could do as she pleased, as long as she didn’t beat her horse or make him bleed. And she didn’t, you could tell. Khaan was always pleased to see her coming down the aisle, calling out to her softly. She always responded with a gruff, if affectionate, “Hello, Khaan,” that always made you smile.
Your own horse, Alto Sopra Il Cielo, or Alto, had also started calling out to Sabine when she entered the barn. Alto was a well-spirited, 17.2 hand thoroughbred; his silky black coat and pure-white forehead star had made many judges turn their head in a show ring, and had won you both a hefty amount of blue ribbons. He was a little forward on the bit and tended to fall in towards the left, but he was as scopey as a horse could get and could see a distance from a mile away. You loved him with all your heart, but it seemed as if the little traitor had taken a liking to Sabine. She never greeted him back, which you thought was a bit rude, since he was clearly saying ‘hi’, but to each their own, you supposed.
Honestly, you didn’t mind Sabine. You didn’t interact much, but she was polite, if a little cold, when you spoke, and she was a fairly good barn mate. So when you overheard two of the barn girls gossiping about Sabine when she wasn’t there, you had to step in.
Initially, you weren’t even paying attention to the conversation. You were looking at the work schedule, pinned to a corkboard by the tack room. The way work was assigned was fairly simple, your picture was pinned next to one of the daily chores and they got reassigned every week. Your chores this week were to feed all of the horses in the morning and reset the buckets for the afternoon feeding. You were just thinking about getting started when you overheard them.
“The only reason she’s considered good is because her ‘Daddy Dearest’ pays for her,” someone stage-whispered.
You tried to ignore it, barn drama wasn’t your thing. You kept going down the list, seeing if other duties had been left blank as they sometimes were. Mucking out the stalls and dumping the wheelbarrows were surprisingly left empty. You started planning out your day, thinking that if you got on with the graining quickly enough you could get some riding done before you could muck out stalls… Or you could do it all at once and then-
“I know, she’s so snobbish and just… rude.”
That wasn’t even a whisper. You turned around and saw the culprits standing by the feed room, heads bent together conspiratorially. You didn’t know them too well, but you figured they would give out information to anyone who asked. Barn kids were like that.
“Wait, who?” You asked, walking towards them. They suddenly stopped talking and looked around, checking to see if their conversation topic was around.
“Sabine,” said the first girl. “She acts like she owns the place, it’s so annoying.”
You hummed, chewing on the inside of your lip.
“Actually, the reason she’s good is because she rides every day. So maybe stop talking about people when they aren’t here, hm?” You raised an eyebrow, waiting for an answer. They mumbled something about checking the chore chart and walked away.
You merely shook your head and turned into the feed room to get started for the day.
~*~
When you wheeled the grain cart to Sabine’s area of the barn, you found that she was already there, grooming Khaan. She either didn’t notice you coming up, or had ignored you completely, which was more likely.
“Hey, Sabine,” you started, putting Khaan’s grain bucket on the floor outside his stall door, “I don’t know if you want to feed Khaan now or later, but I’m leaving his grain outside.”
As you stood up, you noticed Sabine’s tan jodhpurs and black boots coming to a halt in front of you.
“I’ll feed him later,” she said, leaning on the doorframe. You nodded and grabbed another grain bucket to feed the horse across from Khaan when Sabine spoke up again.
“I don’t need you to protect me.”
“What?” You turned to look at her, an eyebrow raised. You weren’t protecting her, were you? And if you were, how?
“I said I don’t need your protection, or friendship,” she put ‘friendship’ in air quotes, “so just stop while you’re ahead.”
You blanked, then laughed to yourself. “I didn’t know I was protecting you, Sabine.”
She sneered. “Don’t play dumb with me. I heard about what you did earlier. Stop trying to butter me up. If you want something from me, just ask outright so I can turn you down.”
Now you really laughed, almost doubled over with giggles. “Sabine, I don’t want anything from you. I was just telling them to stop gossiping about you because it’s rude.”
She stared at you, her sunset eyes distrustful. “I don’t believe you.”
“Believe whatever you want, but I would have done that for anybody,” you said, feeding the horse across from Khaan and moving on. You felt Sabine’s eyes on the back of your head for a few minutes before she went back to grooming Khaan.
You fed the rest of the horses quickly and reset the grain buckets so that the afternoon feeder could just feed them quickly, then turned to getting your own horse ready for a ride. You weren’t planning on doing much or having an actual lesson, but it was good to let Alto stretch his legs every day. You might even do some errands on horseback because you knew Alto liked trotting on the road and you were fairly certain the barn manager could find something for you to deliver.
As soon as the saddle was on, you were leading Alto up the path to the ring, where you could see Sabine and a few others already warming up. Alto saw the other horses and snorted loudly, turning to trot sideways excitedly. You tsked at him and spun him in a quick circle.
“You’re not at the races anymore, bud,” you patted his neck until he was calm once more, and then you got on, sending Alto into a forward walk on the inside track of the ring.
As you worked on warming up, you watched Sabine and Khaan. They moved so fluidly together, which you supposed was why they always did so well at shows. Sabine barely blinked as she asked Khaan to move into a pattern and performed it perfectly without breaking a sweat.
You shook your head as Alto jiggled his head impatiently, sending the metal of his bridle tinkling. You sighed and pushed him into a working trot, twisting and turning to loosen up his shoulders and hind end and to make him focus. You made sure to stay out of everyone’s way, doing several sending exercises and figure eights before you decided Alto was warmed up enough to canter. You were so focused on your own work that you forgot about Sabine altogether, losing yourself in the rhythm of your horse’s gaits.
You were so focused that you didn’t even notice Sabine when she rode up next to you, which could have been dangerous, considering Alto’s hot temperament. However, he stayed calm and collected, unlike you, who flinched when Sabine opened her mouth to speak.
“Even if I didn’t know before, anyone would be able tell you’re a cross country rider after watching that performance.”
“Holy–! Jeez, you scared me,” you rubbed your chest in an attempt to soothe your racing heart. You coaxed your horse into a walk as your heart stuttered one last time. Was she just quiet or were you that oblivious? “And what’s that supposed to mean?”
Sabine shrugged in your peripheral vision, tilting her head and slowing Khaan down so that he matched your pace. “You ride too defensively. You need to relax.”
You nodded slowly, a little off-put by the notion that not only had you been watching her, but she had been watching you. “Yeah, well… When the jumps that don’t move are as tall as your horse and twice as wide, your body learns to get a little… defensive.”
“A good eventer should be able to ride well in any discipline.”
You snorted. “Alright then, let’s see how well you do on a proper cross country track with your fancy dressage horse.”
Sabine was quiet for a moment, and you were worried that maybe you had been too bold. After all, this was the first time you had actually held a conversation with her, and you had just challenged her outright. Just as you were about to take it back, you looked over and saw the calculating look on Sabine’s face. You figured it was too late to take it back now, and quickly closed your mouth before you could say anything stupid.
“That’s quite brave, coming from someone who can’t ride a dressage pattern to save their life,” Sabine finally drawled, turning to look at you head-on.
You spluttered. “I-I totally can! And you haven’t seen me ride a pattern anyway, so how would you know?”
She shrugged in a way that said, “just a hunch”, sliding her gaze away from you once more. The end of the ring was coming up, and you would either have to turn or walk out of the gate. Sabine and Khaan kept walking forward, and you guessed they were done for the day, but then they turned down the lane towards the forest where you knew a fairly simple cross country track ran through the trees.
When you didn’t follow her immediately, Sabine barked out an, “Are you coming?” over her shoulder.
You quickly urged Alto into a trot to catch up to Sabine. “I didn’t think you meant right now.”
She snorted and rolled her eyes. “It makes more sense to go now than later.”
“Good point,” was all you could think to say. You both stayed quiet until you got to the track.
“I’m assuming you do know how to jump?”
Sabine scoffed. “Of course.”
And so your friendship began.