False Gods: The Show Jumper's Challenge

Teens

synopsis

Synopsis

Cory Iverson's junior year is off to a lousy start. Publicly humiliated by the school's hottest guy and terrorized by a bullying band director, Cory flees sports try-outs and just about everything else she begins, earning a reputation as a loser as well as a quitter. But when her wandering dog leads her to the barn of a former Grand Prix rider, she finds a welcome refuge in the familiar world of horses. It's not too long before she starts dreaming of showing in one of the country's most prestigious shows--a totally unrealistic hope--until she rescues a mysterious horse with some unusual talents. But her road to success is littered with roadblocks as events spin out of control: prescription painkillers appear in her mother's purse; her ballerina sister wastes away before her eyes; her boyfriend is keeping secrets; and her normally opinionated trainer becomes strangely evasive. Worst of all, the horse show world is not what she imagined. It isn't long before Cory's winning spree attracts the attention of a brutal trainer with a string of unexplained horse deaths in her wake. When Cory lands in the crosshairs, she has to decide if she'll once again back down and flee or stand up for herself, her horse, and her dreams.

bio

Author Biography

Inspired by everyday miracles, L.R. Trovillion weaves magical stories of hurting people who find hope through horses in her Maryland Equestrian Novel series. Although she earned a degree in Russian and spent a career in government service, her real love has been caring for and working with horses. That love shines through in her series, focusing on the healing power of horses in the lives of teens facing complex and sometimes dangerous family situations. Believing there is more to this world than meets the eye, she adds a dash of the supernatural to each story. L. R. Trovillion lives on a small horse farm in Maryland with her husband, daughter, and several animals that really run the place. Her other works have appeared in Baltimore magazine, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and various poetry anthologies.

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Author Insight

The Greater the Fall, the More Spectacular the Com

Everyone loves a winner, especially one who is an underdog or who has overcome incredible odds. It seems the deeper the fall into failure, the more spectacular the win. In FALSE GODS, the once heralded Grand Prix rider and trainer is disgraced. People whisper behind her back that she's lost her nerve--disaster for a show jumper. But is it true, or something much more destructive and sinister? You've got to read it to find out! I recently experienced my own horse show comeback of sorts. After a nearly 12-year absence from the show ring, I competed in a local schooling show. Sure, it was not Grand Prix, it was not the "big time," there was nothing at stake but my pride...but it took some nerve to do it. Although I didn't "win," I sure felt like I did. Do you have a comeback story to share?

Book Excerpt

False Gods: The Show Jumper's Challenge

Cory saw a flush spread from Vee’s collar up along her jawline as her eyes bored into this Gretchen woman. Even Cory knew better than to stick Vee’s nose in the fact that someone else would be riding the horse she fixed and trained for over a year.

Gretchen sighed and shook her head. “Vee, this thing with Angela, I don’t know. You need to move past it. She’s a very successful rider—”

“Because she rides horses other people have brought along and trained? She ruins them, or worse yet, she cripples them. Then what happens? She buys another one. Is that what you wanted for Prophet?”

“What I wanted for Prophet was to be shown.”

Cory noted the emphasis on the word shown and the condescension in Gretchen’s tone.

“And that wasn’t going to happen with you in charge of him, was it, Vee? I was going to judge for myself, but like everyone says about you, you’ve lost—”

“No, you’re right, Gretchen. I wouldn’t have shown him. And that’s the end goal of all of this, isn’t it?” Vee swept her arm out and gestured to the arena, the trailers, the shed row. “That’s what matters, to win at the Garden or at Washington or Tampa. It doesn’t matter what you have to do to the horse to get there, does it? And, hey, if one horse’s spirit is broken pushing him too fast and too soon to the big fences or you cripple him, why, just get another.”

Vee’s voice rose. People watching moved closer.

“Vee, you’ve lost it. So what if we want to have a horse that competes at the big shows? That is the point, and there’s nothing wrong with it. Just because you lost your nerve, you turn on everyone else who’s still out there competing.”

Vee’s fists clenched into tight balls, jammed into the pockets of her coat. Cory had seen her upset, but not like this. She held her breath, wondering what would happen, what she should do if Vee hit Gretchen. The two women stood staring at each other. Vee’s nostrils flared as she took in a deep breath. “You own a one-of-a-kind talented horse. You handed him over to a butcher. You live with it.”

Vee brushed by Gretchen and kept walking to the trailer. Her hand reached up to her eye and brushed something away.

Gretchen called after her, “A bit dramatic, aren’t you, Vee? I guess that hasn’t changed.”