The Summer of My Discontent

Thank goodness this summer is finally coming to an end. My euphoria at being crowned a "specialist" was quickly followed by the realization that Antone would be needing lots of practice with the "A" team in order to be ready for dressage. This meant that I was relegated to the "B" team with - you guessed it- Tina! I was to be the adult supervision in the lead with Tina. Now, if you know me at all, paying attention to anyone but myself is not my strong suit. This fact ended with disastrous consequences that I'll go into in a moment.
Ready and Taylor are the "B" team wheelers. Ready works only marginally more than Tina and Taylor does OK but is really a bit of a chicken at heart. I spent the summer trying to add a little flash to the team with decidedly negative results. So it was with less than optimal enthusiasm that I went out for marathon practice on the aforementioned disastrous day.
Here's how it went down. We're having an easy practice and Mike decides to go through a couple of hazards in the trees. I notice a couple of fans are there to watch, so I put on my game face and prepare to dazzle. Tina is clueless as usual, so I do my best to pull her around. However, there's one gate that is a very narrow opening between two trees. We round the corner and are supposed to go through this particular gate but Tina has other ideas. I'm not the biggest horse in the barn, and when Tina puts on the brakes, I can't do a thing. So, we back up and have another go at it. This time, Tina trots forward just enough to get herself through, but the carriage has no room to follow. It hits the tree and catapults gator Jerry. She lands badly and obviously needs medical care. We're quickly taken back to the barn and Mike whisks Jerry to the emergency room. Later, news gets back to us that she has a broken ankle. She'll be on crutches for awhile but we're all relieved that she will be alright.
With our trip to the Lexington CDE coming up, the timing of our accident is terrible. Jerry obviously cannot gator. We are all so used to her calming influence and ability to help Mike make any corrections needed while going full speed through a hazard. She will be greatly missed.
P.S. Hate mail directed towards Tina will not be accepted.
She's a bit clueless,yes. Intentionally destructive, no. She has issued an official apology which has been accepted by the team.