Famous by Jessica Burkhart

before we had to be in the air again. Timing was everything .
    I collected Whisper, softening my hands and slowing her stride. I needed every ounce of her attention on me. Whisper tossed her head and tugged the reins against my hands. She was excited and didn’t want to slow down.
    Four strides away.
    Wisp, I tried to talk to her via ESP. You have to listen. Slow down, girl.
    I did a half halt and pushed my body into the saddle seat. Whisper kept her pace up, then started to slow. An ear twisted in my direction, and I had control again. A trickle of sweat rolled down my temple from under my helmet.
    Whisper couldn’t have waited one more second to listen. We were at the first third of the jump. I didn’t give her too much rein as she pushed off the ground and landed safely on the other side. One stride later, I moved my hands just slightly up her neck and lifted out of the saddle. Whisper’s timing was perfect—she lifted into the air, clearing the rails, and came down cleanly on the other side.
    A second later I asked Whisper to launch into the air again to complete the triple combo. She followed my instructions and snapped her knees under her, pushing off the dirt and leaping into the air. Whisper landed and I held my breath, but all I heard were hoofbeats as we cantered away from the triple. No rails had fallen!
    I was très proud of Wisp. She had gotten out of hand and pulled herself together, listened to me, and had completed a complicated triple as if she did them every day.
    I kept her collected as we took the next vertical, faux stonewall, and another vertical. Whisper didn’t askfor more rein or lose interest between jumps. After the vertical, I gave Wisp a little rein and allowed her canter to quicken as we approached the second-to-last jump—a double oxer. This one had a wider spread than the first.
    Whisper breathed rhythmically as she moved, and I kept my eye on the oxer. I let out the reins a bit more, and Whisper swished her tail with excitement as she moved into a faster canter. We were at the oxer, and I lifted out of the saddle as Whisper surged off the ground and soared over the space between the rails. She landed without coming close to the rail behind us and tore off toward the final vertical.
    I trusted Whisper. She was at a near gallop, but it was controlled. Wisp hadn’t stopped listening to me, and as long as she didn’t forget about me, I wanted to give her a little freedom. Wind whooshed in my ears as we swept past Mr. Conner. The saddle seemed to disappear between us, and it felt as though we were one. I’d never felt closer to my horse before.
    The vertical loomed tall in front of us as we approached it. A tiny flicker of fear was extinguished when Whisper gave a determined snort, and I knew she was going for it. She wanted to clear the jump.
    Just as we’d started, with little time for me tooverthink things, there was no time to overanalyze the final jump.
    It was here.
    I lifted out of the saddle, taking weight off Whisper’s back, and kneaded my hands along her neck. Whisper thrust into the air using her hindquarters, and it seemed as though she was never going to stop ascending into the air.
    A grin split my face before we’d even landed. When we did, I turned quickly and saw the pole was in the cup!
    We’d completed a clean round!
    â€œGood, good, good girl!” I said, patting Whisper’s neck. “You were amazing, baby!” I gently pulled on the reins, slowing her down. Whisper’s stride had an extra bounce to it—she knew she’d jumped clean.
    Cheers broke out from the side of the arena. The clapping and noise only made Whisper’s prancing more pronounced.
    â€œYeah, Lauren!” Drew called. He’d dropped Polo’s reins around the gelding’s neck and clapped.
    â€œAwesome, Laur!” Bri said. She gave me a thumbs-up.
    I pulled Whisper to a trot, then a walk, as we exited the arena and