Detonation

Show: All Horses Go To Haven Show [link]
Class: Intermediate XC
Horse: Bombs Away [link]
Rider: Anna Nordstrand
Entry: 184


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Anna swung herself up into Bomb's saddle, adjusting her helmet slightly. "You'll do great," Kristina said reassuringly from where she stood on the ground. She was a rather short woman, and Bomb was quite a large horse; beside her, he looked like a giant. The stallion tossed his head and whinnied loudly as a pretty mare wandered off in the distance. Anna couldn't help but tighten her grip on the reins; she had ridden him countless times, and knew he wasn't going to make any sudden moves, but she had a sneaking fear in her mind that she just couldn't shake.

"Hey- you're up next," Kristina said, eyeing Anna warily, "You might want to get going."

"Oh. Right. I'll do that," Anna answered hastily, nudging Bomb forward. Kristina followed after the horse and rider, as she wanted to see them start the course. Someone grabbed hold of her elbow, and she glanced sideways as Liam appeared next to her. "Trailer's all locked up, here are the keys," he said. "Is it her turn now?"

"Yeah, I'm going to watch. Want to come along?" The boy nodded, and fell in stride with her. Two minutes later, Bomb was moving at a brisk canter along the grassy track, and tackled the first obstacle with gusto. Anna looked alright in the saddle, and it seemed that once the build-up was over, and the actual ride began, she had regained her focus.

"Hey, I'm going to head towards the finish and meet her there. If you want to watch, the middle of the course will probably be the best place to see the most jumps," Kristina said. Liam nodded and began heading for the center, while Kristina cut across through the groups of spectators. She figured she would go to the edge of the last stretch, in order to see the final jumps, and then move to the finish so she could be there by the time Anna reached the end, in case she needed help with Bomb. The petite woman jogged towards the opposite fenceline, weaving her way towards the ideal position to see as much as possible. She arrived panting, and stood by the edge of the course shielding her eyes against the sun. She waited for Bomb to come around the corner. And waited. And waited.

"This is taking too long," she muttered to herself, and began running down the edge of the course towards the corner. There was a larger group of spectators in the distance, and she could see course officials on the grass. The kids weren't around, so she permitted herself a few choice curse words and picked up the pace, shouldering past people who were in the way.

She halted at the edge of the course and could do nothing but stare. An official was holding Bomb by his bridle, and two others were kneeling in the grass, tending to a person. Anna. She wasn't moving....

"Mom!" Liam spotted her emerging from the crowd and ran up to her. "Liam, what happened? Why- what's going on?"

"I was standing right there," the teenager said, pointing a few feet ahead of the nearest obstacle, and then I saw them coming, and I don't know... I think Bomb stumbled or something, I couldn't really see because the jump was in the way. But he tried to jump it anyway, but Anna was barely even on him, and he caught his leg on the jump. And then she fell off, and he crashed on her..." Liam swallowed, trembling slightly. "He was thrashing around a lot, they only just got him up on his feet and away from her. They won't let me go over there."

Kristina nodded. "Don't worry, Liam, everything's going to be fine. Stay right here, don't move from the spot. I'm going to talk to the official." There were several people trying to shift Anna to the sidelines, and she realized it was perhaps best to not attack them just yet. She turned and marched towards the man holding Bomb. He attempted to wave her away, and said, "Ma'am, please get back, we don't want spectators crowding the-"

"I'm her groom," Kristina interrupted, "part of the team. What's wrong with him?"

The official hesitated, but then nodded. "Okay, good, at least we don't have to go hunting for someone responsible then. We don't know yet, the vet's on his way out here, right now we're just trying to clear the course so the other riders can continue. He's got a nasty limp though. We'll see what the vet says."

Kristina bit her lip nervously, reaching forward to take hold of Bomb's reins. The stallion was nervous, sidestepping incessantly and tossing his head. He was extremely reluctant to set down his left foreleg and flinched whenever his hoof touched the grass. "Easy boy, eeaasy," she murmured soothingly. He settled a little, comforted by the presence of someone familiar; Kristina hoped he would remain relatively calm, in order to avoid exacerbating whatever injury he had. "What about Anna?" she said anxiously, turning back to the official.

He shrugged helplessly. "Ambulance is on the way. That's all I know. They haven't gotten any response out of her yet."

Just then, the veterinarian arrived, and immediately began inspecting his patient. One of his assistants took Bomb's reins from Kristina, and she reluctantly backed away to give them some space to work in. Turning, she walked towards Liam. "I left my phone in the car, do you have yours?"

He nodded, and pulled it from his pocket, handing it over to her. She dialed quickly, and then held it tightly against her ear as the signals rang. "Hello?"

"Gabriel, it's Kristina. It's bad; they crashed. I don't really have any information right now, they're taking her to the hospital and Bomb's still being checked out. I... I just thought you should know."