An Apple a Course

Gwen and Uiscefhuaraithe stood outside the entrance to the obstacle course. From where she was standing, Gwen could already see the hay bales and a few things she couldn’t quite identify standing out in the field. The nerves from the archery contest had been replaced by excitement for the obstacle course. 

Uiscefhuaraithe seemed to agree. The blueberry sabino mare danced a little as she somehow seemed to try and make time go faster by willing it to. There was nothing that could make their turn come faster, but Uiscefhuaraithe didn’t seem to care. 

Gwen laughed, stroking the jagged white mark on Uiscefhuaraithe’s face. “I know. I know. Soon. I’m sure it’ll be fun, but nothing compared to what we’re used to exploring.” 

Uiscefhuaraithe tossed her head in agreement, pawing at the ground with her front hooves and sending early fallen leaves everywhere. 

It was a beautiful day for the course, the air crisp and cool but not cold. The occasional breeze carried with it the smell of fresh fallen leaves and kettle corn from one of the nearby booths. She’d have to get some later, along with a few extra treats for Uiscefhuaraithe. She fished in her pocket and offered the impatient mare an apple slice, hoping it would quiet her for a moment. 

The quiet lasted just long enough for Uiscefhuaraithe to take the apple, crunch it, and swallow. She then went back to her antsy antics as they waited their turn. 

Fortunately they didn’t have long to wait. One of the members of Applewood’s staff waved them towards the start of the course, their scarecrow hat nearly making Gwen laugh as she climbed on Uiscefhuaraithe’s back. The mare seemed to have a similar opinion as she tried to nibble on it before Gwen managed to tighten her reins enough to stop her. 

Gwen turned Uiscefhuaraithe away just a bit. “Sorry about that!”  

“Don’t worry about it. She’s like the fourth horse to try that today.” The worker chuckled and straightened their hat. “You’re up. The timer starts as soon as you pass the gate. Good luck.” They waved and headed to go find the next horse and rider pair to go through the course.

Gwen turned Uiscefhuaraithe towards the gate and in moments they were in the obstacle course. 

The first few obstacles were straightforward. A small jump over a line of haybales, a loop around a pair of pumpkin stacks, and a race across a cute bridge with flowers along the side. Uiscefhuaraithe took them in stride, as she did most things. 

But then it started getting more challenging. The first tipoff was a small corn maze that they had to navigate. The paths were narrow and forced Gwen to slow Uiscefhuaraithe’s pace through it. They almost got lost twice, but a lucky turn saw them out of it. All things considered it wasn’t too hard, but it took skill to navigate. 

The maze opened up into a barrel racing arena setup, with three massive pumpkins serving as the barrels. This wasn’t Uiscefhuaraithe’s or Gwen’s forte, but they gave it a good try and managed to get through at a reasonable speed. 

As they exited the area they found a series of several jumps, many of them flanked by scarecrows. Uiscefhuaraithe took those without so much as flinching at the strawmade figures, but the water jump had apples in it. 

Before Gwen could do anything, Uiscefhuaraithe stopped and tried to grab one of the apples out of the water. More than that, no amount of nudging seemed likely to get the blueberry mare moving again. Not without a treat. 

Gwen laughed and then surrendered, much to the amusement of the watching crowd. She gave them a small wave and gestured to the horse. “Seems we’re taking an apple bobbing break.” 

Much to the crowd’s growing amusement, Uiscefhuaraithe nodded her head before going back to trying to get one of the slippery apples from the trough in front of the jump. 

It took her a few tries, and by the time she succeeded both of them were relatively soaked from the tossing of water. Fortunately, neither of them minded. Uiscefhuaraithe trotted around with her prized apple, showing it off to the laughing and now clapping crowd for a moment before finally taking the jump with a surprising ease. 

Uiscefhuaraithe seemed determined to make up for lost time over the last three jumps of the section, one being a cute setup with the poles looking like a pair of ghosts. 

Gwen did find herself startled as they came around to the catch the ring portion of the obstacle course. She narrowly snagged the spear from the barrel, and then the pair found themselves confronted by a line of ghosts made of flapping sheets, each one holding a ring aloft or even down lower. This was absolutely not her forte, but at this point she wasn’t worried about it. This was more for the fun of it now. 

Uiscefhuaraithe didn’t seem to agree, at least not entirely. The mare took the course at a good pace, but somehow slow enough for Gwen to catch all but one of the rings. Gwen wasn’t entirely sure who was more surprised, her or Uiscefhuaraithe. The mare got to the end of the course and tossed her head in approval as Gwen stuck the spear back into the barrel. 

The last bit of the course was a hay bale pen where they had to go into the circle and make a tight turnaround. This was where Uiscefhuaraithe excelled, the mare being far more agile than her long legs would suggest. Gwen simply let the mare navigate the obstacle with little to no input from her. She figured the sabino marked mare had a better idea of what she was capable of than Gwen did. Uiscefhuaraithe didn’t disappoint, navigating with an ease that would make any horse and rider jealous. 

The last part of the course was another series of jumps over things designed to look like rows of corn. It was kind of fun as it was a little deceptive just how far apart the jumps were. You couldn’t clearly get a read on the jumps until you were over the one just before. 

As they landed the last jump, Gwen let Uiscefhuaraithe race as fast as she could towards the finish line. The mare didn’t need to be told twice and crossed in a rush that barely gave Gwen the chance to hit the bell just on the other side of the course, but the water fae managed to pull the rope just as she was bringing Uiscefhuaraithe to a halt. 

As Gwen dismounted, Uiscefhuaraithe turned to look at the water fae like something was quite amiss. It took Gwen a moment to realize the mare had dropped her hard won apple somewhere on the course. “I’m sorry, I’ll get you a new one.” Gwen laughed as she offered the mare a slice of apple to tide her over. She didn’t mind if they wouldn’t win the obstacle course seeing as both of them had a good time.