October Story Contest

Cassie Thompson part 1
By: 98
Age: 13

Characters:

Cassie Thompson – A 14 year old girl with brown eyes and long brown hair. She wears contact lenses and owns her own horse, a bay gelding named:
Party Crasher (Rowdy). She’s sweet and funny and a good friend.
Allison Little – A 14 year old girl with blue eyes and blonde hair. She’s Cassie’s best friend, and owns her own horse, a palomino mare named:
Copper Penny (Penny) - She’s nice, but slightly spoiled.
Amanda Cartwright – A 15 year old girl with short black hair and green eyes. She owns two horses named You Can Count on Me (Count) and Rock Your World (Rocky). She’s mean and spoiled rotten.
Chelsea Thompson – A 12 year old girl with light brown eyes and medium length brown hair. She wears glasses and has her own pony,
Rock Star (Star). She is Cassie’s younger sister, and is sweet and funny just like her.
Linda Thompson – A 43 year old Mom with blonde hair and grey eyes. She wears contacts and homeschools her two daughters, Chelsea and Cassie. She is married to Richard Thompson.
Richard Thompson – A 47 year old Dad with graying hair and brown eyes. He owns the local stable as well as the restaurant in town. He adores his two daughters, Chelsea and Cassie.

HORSES

Party Crasher – A 15 year old bay gelding. His nickname is Rowdy, and he’s owned by Cassie Thompson. He’s sweet and well mannered and trained. He has a snip on his nose.
Copper Penny – An 18 year old palomino mare. Her nickname is Penny, and she’s well trained and cute. She’s owned by Allison Little. She has a blaze.
You Can Count on Me – A 10 year old chestnut Morgan stallion with a simple stripe. He has won many competitions and sired many foals. He is a sour horse, owned by Amanda Cartwright. His nickname is Count.
Rock Your World – A 7 year old black Arabian mare with a small star. She’s won many competitions and had one foal. She’s a sweet horse, but unfortunately is owned by Amanda Cartwright.
Rock Star – A 23 year old black Connemara pony with an interrupted stripe. His nickname is Star. He’s owned by Chelsea Thompson, and is well mannered and cute.

Chapter 1
Green River Riding Academy

Cassie Thompson loved her family. She loved her 12 year old sister, Chelsea, and her mother and father, Linda and Richard. But she also loved horses, and overall she loved one horse; Rowdy. His full name was Party Crasher, but Cassie simply called him Rowdy. She always groomed him until he shone like a new coin, and she loved riding him under the instruction of Christina, the riding trainer.
Rowdy had improved a lot since Cassie first got him. Her father, who owned the local stable and restaurant, had bought him at an auction for Cassie to have as her own, since she had loved horses for a long time and proved herself by taking care of the lesson horses.

“Cassie?” Cassie jumped. She’d been lost in thought, stroking Rowdy’s neck. Now she turned to see Allison behind her.
“Cassie – you idiot! Christina’s waiting for you!” Allison said angrily.
“Sorry Allison. Tell Christina I’ll be right there,” Cassie said, hurriedly throwing Rowdy’s saddle onto his back and tightening the girth.

During the lesson, Cassie tried hard to focus on her horse. She was practicing dressage for the upcoming show, and needed to pay attention.
“Cassie – you’re too tense. Loosen up a bit. A relaxed rider and attentive horse are more likely to score points than a tense, nervous rider and a jittery horse.” Christina’s voice cut through the crisp air like a knife.
Cassie took a few deep breaths and let herself relax. She knew she could do the steps.
After she calmed down, the lesson went better. At the end Christina watched as Cassie and Allison took turns jumping the entire course in the indoor arena.
“You’re both improving, but you need practice.” Christina said. “Cassie – you’re still too tense. Believe Rowdy can do it and he will. Allison – steer with your eyes, not the reins.”
Both girls nodded and dismounted. Allison looked towards Cassie as Christina left to take care of the normal lessons.
“Man she is nit-picky.” Allison sighed.
“I know.” Cassie agreed. She gave a light tug on Rowdy’s bridle and he followed her to his stall. After he shone brightly, she left his stall and waited for Allison to finish grooming Penny, her palomino mare. Though Cassie loved Rowdy, she was jealous of Allison. Her parents were rich and well-known, while Cassie’s was only well-off. They were able to afford only 6 lesson horses and two horses for Cassie and Chelsea and they struggled, even with the income of the lessons and the restaurant.
Copper Penny was a retired show horse and broodmare. Her age slowed her down a bit, so her previous owners, who were extremely competitive (they won the nationals) decided to sell her. She was a perfectly fine horse in both Cassie’s and Allison’s opinion.
“Earth to Cassie!” Allison shouted. Cassie jumped. She’d been caught again by Allison lost in thought.
They walked out together. Allison left Cassie at the road and headed home. Cassie just turned and walked into the house that lay slightly behind the stable. It was dinner time for her family. They always had dinner early, so that Cassie had to rush from grooming Rowdy. 

After dinner, Cassie fed her rabbit, a tri-colored lop-eared named Trix. She petted him for a while, and then went up to her room, where she read for a while. Her parents didn’t allow her to ride after dinner, which Cassie thought was stupid.

The next morning Cassie woke early and snuck outside to the barn. There, in Rowdy’s stall, stroking him, was a girl. A girl with blonde hair and an unfamiliar look to her.
Cassie’s hands tightened into fists and she glared at the girl’s back.
“Get away from my horse,” The words were so soft, she could barely hear them, but they had a danger to them that made the girl turn quickly to face the furious girl whose horse she was petting.