Chapter 314

Ji Gu changed into brand new horse bits today, neck ribbons, sponsored by the organizers of this competition, with their brand logo on them. Xiao Qi looked at the high quality and size which suited very well. The horse bits felt very comfortable on Ji Gu.

It was about time for the competition to start.

Xiao Qi put away her book and double checked all the equipment again.

Ji Gu was No.4, 4 was not a very auspicious number in Xiao Qi's hometown, but it did not matter, Xiao Qi did not care about this, Steven did not care much either, he did not like No.13, he felt No.4 was pretty good.

The equestrian event demanded high techniques from the rider, the rider had to clamp the horse with both legs, the hips almost touching but not quite, not sitting fully on the horse back, this position itself was already difficult enough to maintain, let alone having to ride on the horse to compete.

The competition ground was very big, the route was planned beforehand, riders had to overcome different obstacles, the first one to reach the finishing line would be the champion.

When all riders lined up at the starting line, they looked very heroic, afterall each competing horse was priceless, well taken care of, their physique and figures were beautiful.

Compared to them, Ji Gu did not stand out much.

Some horses used to win prizes before, worth several million dollars, much more expensive than Ji Gu.

Seeing the riders getting ready, audience at the stands were also very excited, many people came to see the equestrian game itself, quite a lot were checking on their betting horses and how they would perform, afterall they did bet a lot of money on them.

From the big screen, Liu Shaowei saw Su Xiaoqi on horseback, wearing a white hat, ready to set off any time. Liu Shaowei was not surprised to see Su Xiaoqi competing here as he heard from his classmates that Su Xiaoqi was very strong in sports. Coming from the countryside, it was normal for her to have good physique.

When he came to watch this game, Liu Shaowei already did his homework. The equestrian game was not easy, still quite dangerous. When overcoming obstacles, it was easy for the horse to fall, sometimes even if the horse did not fall, the rider could still be thrown out of the horse, got stamped by other running horses. If not dead, high paraplegia happened frequently too.

It was very thrilling, which was also part of the charm of equestrian games.

There were 12 riders competing.

Lined up at the starting line, Xiao Qi could hear other horses snorting, a Korean rider happened to be next to her. He smiled at Xiao Qi disdainfully. Just now he was the one mocking Xiao Qi with his staff. Xiao Qi understood Korean, felt a bit puzzled. She did not offend him at all. Judging by past records, Gaster from Geneva should be the hot favourite to win the championship this time.

The international equestrian festival at Geneva was very famous. There were different new events every year. Gaster was only 20 years old, a young rider. He came to compete in this game wanting to grab a championship in such a small scale game, making his competition portfolio look better.

The Korean rider should feel disgruntled towards Gaster instead. What was the point mocking a rookie like herself?

Xiao Qi did not quite understand his brain circuit. Although she understood Korean, she could not be bothered to argue with this kind of person. The competition started, every rider charged forward with their horses, very aggressively. The original horizontal queue immediately stretched into vertical upon acceleration. Although there were little more than 10 riders, the atmosphere at the spectator stand was still passionate and thrilling, very much like thousands of horses galloping.

From the very beginning, Xiao Qi was taking the lead. Although before the match started she seemed unconcerned, still learning Spanish, she had long remembered the competition by heart.

Slow bird took off first. She did not have competition experience. With such advanced technology nowadays, it was easy to understand the games.

Just like when she prepared for her English speech, she watched many speeches from others, kept learning and figuring, combining her own experience to prepare her draft.

Xiao Qi watched numerous equestrian games and summarised that taking the lead early on was the key. Unlike marathon running which did not require leading all the way from the start, because maintaining the top spot at the beginning would easily burn out one’s stamina, may not sustain till the end of marathon.

Horse racing was different. Taking the lead early on gave advantage when overcoming obstacles later. Falling behind meant even if the rider herself did not make mistakes, she could still be affected if teammates accidentally fell. That would be very troublesome.

The reason cavalry was so treasured and difficult to train in ancient times was also due to this - requiring the whole platoon to align perfectly. If one rider made a mistake, it could affect all riders behind. Once the horses sped up, it was hard to stop immediately.

So the safest bet was to run first from the very beginning, avoiding being affected by others.

It was easy in theory but not many people could really achieve it. Not everyone could dash in front whenever they wanted.

But Xiao Qi could.

She cooperated seamlessly with Ji Gu every day. One could say they understood each other perfectly. No need to whip hard at all, Ji Gu would know Xiao Qi’s intention.

Therefore, Xiao Qi seized the lead right at the competition start.

It began with a grass field. No one expected the one leading in the front to be that young girl from Hua Country. She was only 17 years old, still a teenage rider.

The Korean rider who mocked Xiao Qi just now was especially surprised.

But he did not have time to react much because right ahead was a grass barrier, had to be extra careful going over obstacles, or risk falling......falling with the horse.

Luckily everyone managed to get over the first obstacle. But due to the obstacle, the vertical queue was stretched even longer. Xiao Qi had no problem at all crossing the barrier, continued to keep the lead.

The second obstacle was an artificial river, quite wide, a tricky one.

Xiao Qi had practiced these at the training ground. She crossed steadily, still the first one over. The audience were still a bit dumbfounded initially. It was really a dark horse. The competition became surprisingly exciting right from the beginning, no one expected the leader to be this young girl, the unknown No. 4 horse. Some audience were still seeing her learning just before the match started!

Most of the audience bet on horses but not many were professional. Many just bet randomly, picked whoever they fancied, so there were still some in the audience who bumped into dead mice blindly (idiom meaning randomly getting lucky) - those who bought No.4 wanting to try their luck. Usually these ended up losing the capital entirely. But today seemed to be a miracle happening.

Just when everyone was astonished, unexpectedly right after crossing the second obstacle, the Korean rider’s horse stumbled to the ground after crossing the river, throwing him off its back! The horse ran away by itself. Luckily this was right after the river, horses were not squeezed together. He was just thrown off by his own horse, not stamped by others’.

There were loud gasps from the spectator stand. The staff rushed up field instantly. Medical team dashed up ready to give emergency treatment.

The competition went on. On the big screen were still the galloping horses. Xiao Qi still leading.

The cameras turned to the fallen Korean rider at times, who was kneeling on the ground in a daze, looking very pitiful. That contrast made the whole competition even more intense!

Then there were more obstacles to overcome, followed by a sandy area.

Riders behind chased very closely. There were hurdles on the sand too. Xiao Qi leaped over obstacles with Ji Gu, pulling further away from those behind her.

At this moment, miraculously on field, aside from Xiao Qi in the lead, there was another horse running side by side - the one who threw its rider earlier, now frolicking about happily on its own!

However, another thrilling scene happened going down a slope. With riders clustered too closely together, one horse slipped and fell, seemingly breaking a leg from the fall. Its rider was thrown off. More scarily, horses behind failed to slow down in time, stomping right over! Several horses behind were obstructed consecutively.

The condition of that fallen rider was unknown. There were huge gasps from the spectator stand. Everyone was shocked.

The competition continued nevertheless. Now on the big screen, only 5 horses remained running on track.

Xiao Qi still leading.

Other riders were unlucky enough to be blocked by that fallen horse. That delay basically made it impossible for them to catch up now. Medical team rushed over again to check on the fallen rider still lying on the ground.

Xiao Qi wholeheartedly continued forward. She knew about these problems when participating in the competition. Wanting to win the prize money was not so easy, every penny came with blood and sweat.

The remaining five contestants raced on, no more falling over accidents occurred. They kept overcoming one obstacle after another - sandy land, slopes, river channels. Xiao Qi was always in the lead, but the gap wasn't very big.

As they approached the finish line, the other riders whipped their horses with all their might, and the order of the five riders changed again. Xiao Qi almost got overtaken by a rider beside her.

Xiao Qi didn't whip Ji Gu, she couldn't bear to. Whipping so hard felt very painful.

Luckily, Ji Gu and Xiao Qi had great rapport, Ji Gu felt offended being overtaken, and immediately sped up on his own.

He opened up the distance with the rider beside them again.

In the end when they crossed the finish line, Xiao Qi and Ji Gu were far ahead of everyone else with no doubt, winning the championship.

Her somewhat stern face revealed a smile. On the big screen, she gave people the feeling that only two words could describe her - beautiful!