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thedanishsim · 6 months

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The Summer of ‘23

A recap from May to August 2023

The summer months had gone quicker than expected, and then again - every year it felt the same when fall started knocking on the door. A lot of things have happened in the last six months. It still felt like yesterday that Mia celebrated her 30th birthday, having Logan showing up unexpectedly, and sent him back to LA a few days later. Ellie had enjoyed the visit from her father, even though it had been short and awkward. Luckily, she didn’t know.

Mia had been planning the summer months since last fall, planning for the competitions to come, and for the training of the horses. Shortly after Logan had left, Mia had entered a show in California at the end of April with Ballerine and Candlelight. Mia had debuted Candlelight in their first 1.25m. class. She hadn’t really been sure if they were ready for the class yet, even though they trained at this level at home, but they ended up placing 1st in a strong group. For Ballerine, Mia had entered the 1.35m. class, placing 2nd.

Everything had been going after the plans until mid-May when her landlord had shown up by her door and told her the house would be put up for sale and that she had until the end of July to move out. She had found herself on her way to Stockholm, Sweden, with Ballerine and Candlelight, with the possibility of actually coming home to.. no home?

Her parents, Anne and Peter, as the wonderful and supporting parents they always had been, had offered her to help out while being away. Anne had joined Mia for the Scandinavia-trip - to help out with the horses and Ellie during Mia’s classes - and Peter had stayed back to look into the real estate market in and around Twinbrook to look at the few options Mia might have. Before leaving for Stockholm, Mia had spent a few days in New York with her parents, talking about the options of staying in Twinbrook, or moving back to New York to be closer to Anne and Peter. For now, New York wasn’t an option; they had all been agreeing to that. And then the next question popped up; should she rent another house with the possibility of standing without a roof over her head again within the next few years, or, should she spent the money she didn’t have to buy a house in a town that was known for its old money and houses costing more than she could afford on her own?

The trip to Stockholm was a great learning success for both Mia and the two horses; Mia had entered Candlelight in his second 1.25m. class, ending 3rd. Candlelight had been a good boy and seemed like he enjoyed being away for a bigger show, than the more local ones they had entered until now. For Ballerine, Mia had entered the 1.35m. class again, ending in second place, and Ballerine had behaved like a Pro - as always. She was such a great learning partner for Mia, always easy to navigate around the course and always so easy to bring along to shows. Mia had been having a good few days with her mom, Ellie and the horses, and when going home, her mom had sent them off home before she went to Copenhagen, Denmark, to visit her aunt.

Back in Twinbrook, Mia had the horses settled into their home again. She had decided to give both horses a break over the summer after attending two bigger shows during the last months. While being away, Peter had found a few options for Mia to look into. He had joined her when she went to look at a few houses for rent - one outside of Twinbrook, and one very close to the Town Square. Both houses had potential in their own ways, but none of them had been giving Mia that ‘homey’-feeling she wanted. One day, on her way home from O’Neil’s, Mia had suddenly stopped outside of a house. She had been driving this way many times before, but she had never really seen this house before. It was almost surrounded with a taller hedge to keep nosey looks out from the backyard, and at the front of the house was a small porch with beautiful flowers in front. After sitting in her car for a few minutes looking at the house, an older woman approached Mia, asking if she could help with something. Mia had quickly apologized and left, embarrassing for just sitting there looking at the house. Mia had tried to get rid of the feeling that she couldn’t explain about seeing the house, but something about it kept crawling back into her mind. A few days later, Mia had driven by again - and this time stopped to look at the ‘For Sale’-sign standing in front of the house. Had it been a sign? Was someone trying to tell her something the other day?

Mia had called her dad the same evening and told him about the house. Peter had reached out to the realtor the next day, but the realtor had quickly rejected him. There had already been over 20 people interested in seeing the house since it had been put up for sale the day before, and even if they had been able to look at the house, it had been way over the budget Mia had in mind. Mia felt lost. Something about the house had made her feel like this was the house that was meant for her and Ellie to stay in Twinbrook. A few days went by, and each day Mia drove by the house on her way home from the stable - mostly to let her little dream and that little hope stay alive… until it wasn’t. The ‘For Sale’ sign had changed just after a week. The house was sold. And the realtor hadn’t returned to her dad. It was over. The house was sold, gone, and now she had to get back into looking for a new home.

Mia had spent almost a week being moody and trying to get the idea out of her mind when her parents had come by for a visit. It wasn’t unusual for them to come by in the middle of a week - her mom did it all the time to help with Ellie - but it wasn’t as often that her dad joined. He had business to attend back in New York, so the visit had been a bit of a surprise for Mia. But hey? Ellie got to spend time with one of her favorite persons in her little world; her granddad.

One evening, Anne and Peter had invited Mia out for an early dinner in downtown Twinbrook. They had brought Ellie along - hence the early dinner - and they had all had a good time. On the way home, Peter made a wrong turn, making Mia a bit annoyed, since they had to get home and get Ellie to bed. Her irritation had stopped in the same second they pulled up and parked in front of… the house. “What are we doing here?” Mia had looked at her dad, “Well, we talked.. And.. You need to do a lot before you can move in, but - it’s yours if you still want it”. “What are you talking about?!” Mia had almost jumped up into the ceiling of her dad’s car. Both of her parents had just smiled at each other, and it wasn’t until Peter had physically put the keys into Mia’s hands that she believed what they were telling her. Mia went inside to see the house - it was very clear that it was an elderly couple who had lived here. Everything was pretty outdated, and her dad had not been wrong about how much that needed to be done on the house to fit into what Mia wanted, but.. the house was hers!

The next few weeks went by pretty fast. Mia spent most of her time talking to an interior designer to get the work started. Luckily, the interior designer was the daughter of one of Anne and Peter’s good friends, and she quickly catched on to what Mia wanted to do with the house. And then the renovation started.

At the mid to end of June, Mia got a call from her aunt Lena. Like Logan, Lena lived in California, just outside of Logan, at a beautiful farm where she bred some amazing dressage horses with some of the best bloodlines from around Europe. Some would say that Lena might have been the reason for Mia to get into the more professional part of the equestrian world, even though Anne would say that it was because of both of the sisters' love for horses. Lena had invited Mia and Ellie to her home for a few weeks during the summer. Mia had always loved visiting her aunt and the beautiful farm, and when Lena had told about a project she had in mind, Mia had bought the tickets for a few days later.

Lena had picked up Mia and Ellie from the airport. It was the first time for Lena to spend a longer period of time with Ellie. Lena had never been able to have kids herself, so the horses had been her kids instead, which had also given Lena and her husband, James, a great opportunity to follow Lena’s dream of being one of the best breeders in the world. Lena had been able to breed some top performance horses over the years and she had had more than a dozen young horses qualified for the Young Dressage Horses World Championship in Europe during the years, and even a couple of horses competing in both the World Cups and the Olympics. It was also Lena who had bred Mia’s former Grand Prix-dressage horse, O’Malley, that had made Mia able to compete at some of the biggest Junior and Young Rider competitions. After losing O’Malley, Mia had bought Ballerine and changed her focus to Show Jumping, but she missed having a dressage horse. A few years ago, just before Mia got pregnant with Ellie, Lena had offered Mia one of her fillies to fill in for O’Malley. But sadly, the filly, Catwalk, had had an injury as a youngster, and since the injury had been to the mare's neck, Mia and Lena had been agreeing on not to put Catwalk into work and instead letting her be a broodmare for Lena. But now, Lena had a new plan, and for that she had to get Mia to California.

Mia and Ellie had been enjoying their stay with Lena and James. And Lena’s plan had worked just as she had wished for. Back when Lena had called Mia, she had told her about her main rider, Denise, quitting due to her moving to Europe with her fiancé. Lena had been feeling a bit frustrated since she then needed to find a new rider for the active competition horses and the younger ones at the farm. But since that wasn’t just something you would do from one day to another, Lena needed someone to take over the reins of a very special horse that stood her heart very near. And for that Lena had immediately thought of Mia.

The horse was a 4 years old Hanoverian mare, bred by Lena and James, and out of the most successful of Lena’s mares; the same dam as Catwalk. The mare, Magnolia’s Valerie, or as they just called her in the barn, Valerie, had already shown her huge talent under Denise. There was only just one problem; Lena wouldn’t let just anybody into the saddle of the mare. Mia had been a bit anxious about Lena’s plan. Knowing her aunt and how she was with the horses that meant just that extra to her, and the fact that Mia had chosen to focus on show jumping over dressage for the last couple of years, it was not without nerves Mia got ready to take the reins after seeing Denise riding the young mare. Valerie had shown off her great temper and gaits - oh lord, that horse could move! - already during the warm up. And it was easy to forget that she was only still 4 years old when watching her dancing around the sunny arena. Denise let Mia take the reins and stood on the ground while Mia mounted the mare. It didn’t take more than a few minutes in the saddle for Mia to fall in love with Valerie. It was like getting a deja vú to why Mia had been falling in love with dressage all those years ago. Mia had a few rides on Valerie in the following days, and soon the agreement was made between Lena and Mia; Mia was the new rider of Valerie, and in just a few weeks Valerie would arrive in Twinbrook.

Mia and Ellie went back to Twinbrook after a week with Lena and James, and a one-day visit with Logan in Los Angeles. It wasn’t with great pleasure that Mia went to visit Logan and his wife, Catharina. But she did it for Ellie. And that was the most important thing. Back home a lot was happening. The new house was changing each day, and Mia soon started to pack up everything from the old house. And soon the big days came; Mia and Ellie moved into the house - which looked like a completely different house except for the outside walls - at the end of July. The working-crew had done an amazing job with the house! The backyard had actually been in really good shape, but the patio and the pool had needed an update; the pool had gotten all new tiles - dark gray and black tones to get some kind of exclusive feeling instead of some old sun-bleached turquoise tiles - and the patio had gotten a whole new wood-deck. The biggest updates was done to the inside of the house; downstairs was a totally new open-kitchen with a big kitchen island in the middle and a small cozy dining spot, a combined living/dining room in the middle of the house with the most beautiful fireplace Mia had seen in a long time, a smaller living room next to the kitchen ready to invite you in for the cozy fall and winter evenings, all snuggled up on the big couch in front of the TV. And then also Mia’s new office with big windows between the office and the combined living/dining room. On the first floor, the workers had demolished all the walls and made 3 rooms; the master bedroom with direct access to a big walk-in-closet. Just as Mia had wanted. Then Ellie’s new bedroom and a guest room - which of course would be “Ali’s room”, as it also had been in the old house.

Mia spent as much time as possible to get everything in order in the new house, but a new, major event came closer for each day: the biggest event of the year - the CTJL show in Monaco. The event would run in September, and since it would be a very big event, Mia had decided to only enter Ballerine. That meant a longer summer-break for Candlelight, lots of time for Valerie to settle in and have a break from the training, and that Ballerine and Mia had lots of training to do before their departure to a once in a lifetime-adventure… ✨

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