Montana Wild

Montana Wild
Copyright © 2020 Kira Berger
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www.kirabergerauthor.com
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual person, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. The author acknowledges all song titles, film titles, film characters and novels mentioned in this book are the property of, and belong to their respective owners.
Cover Art by PinkInk Design
Editing by Amy Briggs
Proofreading by Barren Acres Editing & Light Hand Proofreading


Dedication
“There is no better place to heal a broken heart than on the back of a horse.”
~Missy Lyons
 
If you ever wondered whether you’re good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, I’m here to tell you:
You’re beautiful. You’re smart. You’re important.
And the people who matter see this.
“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” ~Dr Seuss
 
 
 


Author Note
Horses are a big part of Montana’s life, as is show jumping. Therefore, these elements are a big part of the story you’re about to read. Her horse is her companion, sometimes the only living being she feels is there for her unconditionally. It’s not any different than your dog, cat, or any other pet, except that it’s a lot bigger. I’ve been around horses for most of my life, and their therapeutic abilities are undisputed.
I’m excited to tell this unique story of second chances, family, and the sport of equestrian jumping (or show jumping). It’s an exciting sport; sometimes you think you know exactly who’ll win only to be proven wrong at the last second.
I’ve taken some artistic liberties in this story, otherwise this book would probably be twice as long. In reality most professional equestrians compete with more than one horse regularly. They either own the horse or the breeder loans them to the rider. It’s also very common to compete with horses that are older than ten years old since horses need to be at least nine years old to be eligible to compete at the Olympics, and six years and older to compete at FEI (International Federation of Equestrian Sports) competitions. The Olympic equestrian rules have changes drastically over the past couple of years, and might again in the future, but I think it’s one of the most fascinating sports in the summer games.
Please note the training scenes with Lucifer are based on the horsemanship techniques of Chris Irwin, a Canadian horsemanship trainer who teaches all over the world, as well as my own and my friends’. We’ve started many horses over the years and have developed our own quirks not everyone else follows. Of course, the scenes have been condensed and shortened, or again, this book would be a lot longer than it already is. After all, this isn’t an instruction manual but a fictional love story between two incredibly stubborn characters involving horses. Characters I hope you’ll love as much as me.
To avoid confusion, I’ve listed below some common terminology when it comes to riding, especially jumping, which are used in this book without explanation.
Lope: Gait, variation of the canter, terminology is mostly used in western riding
Collection (collecting): When collecting, the horse’s gait is shortened and raised, while it maintains freedom of movement. Collection can occur in walk, trot, and canter/lope
 
Jumps
Vertical: a jump that consists of poles or planks placed one directly above another with no spread, or width, to jump
Oxer: two vertical jumps close together for the horse to jump, the higher the event level, the wider the gap between the two can be
Combination: usually two or three separate jumps in a row, with at least one stride between each. Two jumps in a row are called double combinations, and three jumps in a row are called triple combinations
Triple bar: is a spread fence using three elements of graduating heights. For this story, it consists of three vertical jumps increasing in height
Wall: usually constructed to resemble a brick wall in appearance, but the ‘bricks’ are made of a lightweight material to fall easily
Jump-off: a jump-off happens when two or more athletes are tied on penalties for first place. The athletes tied will compete on a shortened version of the course used during the competition—a maximum of six obstacles will be chosen in the Olympics, which can be increased in height or spread. The fastest athlete with the least amount of penalties is declared the winner.


Prologue
Ever since I was a moody teenager, I’ve had these thoughts. Some might find them odd. They’d pop into my head for a second before I’d shove them away without so much as acknowledging them. Because if people knew, they’d think I lost it.
But frankly, I’ve always wondered what it would be like to die. Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not suicidal. I don’t hurt myself in any way and have no desire to end my life. I love my life, mostly. But in the dark of night, I do wonder… the thoughts flitting through my mind, the darkness my only witness. Does