The barn was insanity, as it always was when the slightly excited, yet mostly timid and nervous freshmen arrived to try out for the college's equestrian jumping team. This particular barn, where the students would take lessons and prepare for horse shows was Arendelle Riding Academy—a pristine, high-end show barn that was located a mere ten minutes from campus, and held a longtime relationship with the college.

Anna Summers, only one of the many freshmen, couldn't keep her mouth from hanging open in shock as she took in the perfect, green acres, and the sophisticated design of the enormous barn that was so spotless, it was almost as if it glistened in the sun.

If this was the outside…Anna couldn't even begin to wonder what was inside.

Well, besides the horses, of course. That was what she was here for, anyway. Yes, this barn may not resemble anything that Anna was used to—the tiny, family-run farm where she had taken lessons at home and leased the most adorable dun Fjord pony named Chip, until he had retired—but it was nothing that Anna couldn't handle.

Or so she thought.

"Anna, aren't you forgetting something?"

It was only the voice of her fellow freshman and best friend, Kristoff Bjorgman, that could bring her back to the present. The two of them had grown up together, and now attended the same college.

"What could I have possibly forgotten?" Anna rolled her eyes, "I have everything we went over—riding boots, gloves, show jacket, helmet…" Suddenly Anna's eyes widened as she realized that her black show helmet wasn't in its usual place hooked over her arm, "Oh, God! Kristoff, I must have left my helmet in my dorm room! They won't even let me ride without it!"

Anna's hands flew to the ends of her vibrant red twin braids, twirling one of them around her fingers in anticipation. Although the double braids were a style for much younger equestrians, complete with colored bows, as Anna hand grown older she had grown attached to the look (so much so that she wore it constantly even when she wasn't at the barn). And so she had adapted the look so that she could wear the style almost every day by leaving off the bows that would, at her age, definitely look ridiculous.

"Hey, it's alright," Kristoff said, "I'm sure they've got spare helmets here."

"At a place like this!?" Anna dropped her voice so that the other students bustling around them wouldn't overhear, "They probably expect all boots shined and not a speck of dirt anywhere; bringing your own helmet is probably on the list of rhetorical requirements!"

At this point, she couldn't ask Kristoff to take her back. As Anna didn't have a car, he had offered to drive her to the tryouts, on the condition that she would have to come earlier because his tryout time was half an hour before Anna's.

Kristoff opened his mouth to say something else, but Anna cut him off, not wanting to discuss the matter anymore, "But whatever. It's my fault for being so incredibly idiotic and disorganized."

And then she stepped forward, wanting to get on with the events of the day before they could get any worse. But before her boot had even made contact once more with the ground, her shoulder and turned head made contact with something else that nearly threw her off balance. And if it weren't for the steady hand that reached out to catch her, she would have landed in the dirt.

"You forgot to mention clumsy," Kristoff muttered, attempting to hold back a laugh as his goofy smile grew across his face.

"Very funny," Anna nearly stuck her tongue out at him, but the grip that was still on her arm brought her back to reality.

"I'm so—" Anna started, turning to face whoever it was she'd run into. But just the sight of his eyes made her feel like maybe she wasn't even sorry at all.

"Sorry," the two said at the same time.

There was a long pause, and a gaze exchanged longer than necessary…

"Uh…I'm Hans," the red haired student finally let go of Anna's arm, and then extended his hand, which Anna took and shook as if on autopilot.

"I'm Anna."

"Well, I sincerely apologize for running into you with my horse here. Or, well, he's not really mine, but he was the horse I was assigned to for tryouts."

"Oh, no, really it's fine. It was totally my fault…" and then not knowing what else to say, she turned her head. In the process, her gaze shifted to the bay horse at the end of the lead rope—a tall, muscled gelding—and facing the horse completely, she said, "Hello."

And then she cringed internally while attempting to remain calm. Had she really just said hello to the horse?

But Hans only smiled.

And while Anna thought she could get lost staring at him all day, she suddenly remembered, "Um…I need to go! The tryouts! And I forgot my helmet, and—"

"Hey, slow down," Hans chuckled, "I have to put the horse in his field, but if you wait for me, you can borrow mine. I'll meet you in the lounge."

Anna was about to ask where in the world the lounge was—or rather what in the world a lounge was even doing in a barn—but as if that had settled everything, Hans gave a wave, and walked off abruptly.

And Anna only stared after him.

"Earth to Anna."

Anna whipped her head around, cheeks flushing, "I, uh…" she didn't know what to say.

"You found yourself a helmet. Although if you wouldn't have walked off so quickly, I was about to offer you mine. But you've got everything you need now, so let's go."

All Anna could do was blush as she followed her friend into the barn.

But it didn't last for long.

Her embarrassment was once again replaced by shock when she realized she didn't even know which way to look first. There were so many stalls, so many horses…and it was all so perfectly and neatly arranged. There were three wash stalls, supply and feed rooms, and two aisles of stalls that both led to an indoor arena. And there was a second level. Obviously, this wasn't a level that there were horses on. But there were more supply rooms, a tack room that looked like it had a very strict order to it, and, of course, the lounge.

Sure, Anna's barn may have had a hay loft as a second level, but this barn dwarfed almost every single other barn she had ever even visited both in size and immaculate organization.

And what was even more impressive was the amount of commodities that the lounge included. It took up at least half of the second level, with a view overlooking the massive expanse of the indoor arena. There were cushioned chairs at a table, two sofas, a microwave, a sink, and even lockers for students to put their belongings. And the floor was carpeted.

"Wow," was all Anna could say, barely able to look past the extravagance of it all to notice the twenty or so other people standing in the room with them.

"All prospective members please sign in and sign the release form," Merida called, attempting to bring order to the disarray of anxious students that Anna was now aware of, "And please put your check for the cost of the tryouts inside this envelope."

Merida was captain of the advanced team, who Anna had met during orientation. She had also met Mulan, the intermediate team captain, and Flynn, the novice team captain. From orientation she had learned the team divisions, and that the team captains competed with their teams even though they took lessons separately.

But letting Merida's words sink in, Anna grimaced. Twenty dollars to try out for the team. She worked a part time job at Starbucks, but even that was not enough to fund her equestrian…addiction…without the support of her parents. And with a barn this fancy, she only assumed that the prices would continue to skyrocket.

But it was her only chance to ride while in college, and she wasn't going to let money stand in her way.

Or the fact that there were about twenty or thirty students trying out for four competition team positions. Those who didn't make it would still be allowed to take lessons, but wouldn't be able to compete. And while all Anna really wanted was to be able to ride, a part of her desperately wanted to make the competition team. There was one position for the advanced jumping team, one for the intermediate jumping team, and two for the novice jumping team. And Anna, based on her experience, would be trying out for one of the novice positions.

She listened with half an ear, as she tended to do when distracted, as Merida reviewed barn conduct before Kristoff's tryouts for the intermediate team began. She'd hear the same spiel before her own, anyway.

When Merida was finished talking, the room erupted into conversation once more, and it seemed that Anna was the only one who noticed the door open. It was none other than Hans, who smiled when he saw her and made his way over to her.

"Here you go," he said, handing her his helmet, "You might need to adjust it a little."

"Thank you so much," Anna said, and before she could say anything else, he turned to leave.

And it wasn't until she left that she realized, "Wait I don't even know where to meet him to return it!"

"You'll figure it out," Kristoff reassured her, "And you'll probably see him here at the barn anyway. Put it on, and I'll help you adjust it."

But when Anna turned the helmet upside down to put it on her head, a small piece of paper floated out of it.

Confused, Anna picked it up.

And you can return it to me on Friday afternoon maybe, at the café?

Instantly, Anna's cheeks flushed, but she grinned, "Smooth, Hans, real smooth."

The words were followed by his number.

"Just put the helmet on already so I can go find my horse," Kristoff rolled his eyes. But Anna couldn't tell if he was happy for her, or perturbed.

An hour later, Kristoff's tryout was complete. And Anna's was about to begin…

As soon as she found the bridle for the chestnut mare she had been assigned to ride!

Delaney, who Anna had taken to calling Dee, was waiting patiently in her stall while Anna furiously searched the tack room for the bridle she was looking for.

"Kristoff it's not here!" she exclaimed.

Not only was she nervous about her tryout, but now she would make a horrible first impression—by being late.

"Whoa, calm down there Feisty Pants," Kristoff laughed, using his elementary school nickname for her that had stuck, "I found it—it's in the wrong place."

Anna breathed a sigh of relief, and headed over to where Kristoff was standing.

The bridle with the name tag of "Delaney" had somehow been placed on the hook labeled for "Legacy".

"Thanks Kristoff."

Anna hurried downstairs, and quickly bridled the mare, who stood calmly, flicking her tail idly at the occasional fly.

"At least you're well behaved," Anna told the placid horse.

Merida was sitting on the bleachers at the end of the indoor arena as Anna walked in and joined about five other students. Mulan and Flynn were seated on either side of Merida. And the trainer who would be teaching their lessons, Coach Weselton, (who everyone referred to as Weaselton, or, more commonly 'the Weasel', although Anna still wasn't exactly certain why) was sitting there as well.

The arena was huge. At the moment, one side of the arena had jumps set up, and the other half was sectioned off into a dressage arena. Anna didn't know much about dressage, but she immediately recognized the little white fence that stood less than foot high, labeled with bold black letters at certain points where the rider would be asked to transition to a different move or gait with the horse.

In addition to the vast expanse of space inside of the arena, there were two entrances, one from each side of the stables, and a large clock was present on one of the walls. The other long wall was covered in mirrors placed at a height where Anna could see her reflection, so she would be able to see when she needed to adjust her position and posture.

"If each of you could make your way to the mounting block, then we can begin," Merida announced, "And please make sure you have your number; without it we can't identify you."

Anna double checked that the white paper was tied around her show jacket. Thankfully, she had actually remembered it.

When it was her turn at the mounting block, Delaney stood still. But as soon as Anna swung into the saddle and attempted to adjust her stirrups, the mare started walking forward.

"Dee," Anna hissed, giving the mare a small tug on the reins, "Stay put."

When she released the reins, Dee was quiet just long enough for Anna to shorten her left stirrups, as the current length was definitely too long for her. But then another horse, a gray gelding, was maneuvered too close for Dee's liking by another nervous rider, and the mare sidestepped and gave a small kick, which almost unseated Anna who only had one foot in the stirrup.

"Easy," Anna warned, slightly nervous now. Sure, Dee had been well-mannered on the ground. But it seemed as though Anna had spoken too soon…

The other student, who offered Anna a quick apology, moved her horse far away from Dee. Anna made sure that the mare had plenty of room away from the other horses as the captains, who had been oblivious to Dee's outburst, instructed the riders to warm up.

Trying to keep her mind from focusing on how flighty and slightly aggressive Dee seemed to be behaving, she tried to remember the basics. Heels down, shoulders back, eyes up. She avoided the scrutinizing eyes of the captains, and focused instead on the horse in front of her.

"Okay everyone, posting trot, please," Merida called.

Don't forget your diagonal, Anna's trainer's words flooded through her mind. This was something that Anna seldom remembered, although it was also a basic. She need to rise up and down with the movement of the trot. In order to be on the proper diagonal, Anna needed to rise as Dee's outside leg (the one closest to the wall) moved forward.

At first when Anna asked for the trot, Dee pinned her ears, but she listened with the slightest squeeze, eager to fly forward and chase down the horse in front of her.

"Whoa," Anna whispered, trying to urge the mare to slow by slowing her posting instead of pulling on the reins. She was being judged on every single minute riding skill, after all.

Once she had Dee at a collected trot, she was finally able to keep the mare at a decently paced rhythm.

"Now, change directions across the diagonal," Merida's voice broke the intense silence.

Anna followed the lead of the rider in front of her, directing Dee with her leg as much as possible before using the reins, which she was finding to be slightly difficult. Dee was certainly headstrong, and Anna could only hope that everything would go smoothly when they started jumping.

After they crossed the diagonal—literally riding a diagonal line from one end of the arena to the other—Anna turned Dee to the left, simultaneously changing her posting diagonal. And surprisingly, Dee was moving well. She wasn't too fast, and she wasn't pulling at the bit.

"I want the following numbers to come to the center of the arena: 244, 231, and 305. The rest of you, please transition to the canter when you're ready. Then we'll have the groups switch and perform the same exercise," Merida said.

Anna's number was 305, but she found that she was okay with being in the second group. It would give her time to think things through—something else she also had trouble with, whether riding or not.

She played it all out in her mind; she knew exactly what to do. She'd ask for the canter, but would also make sure she gave Dee a half halt as well, in the hopes of getting the mare to understand that they needed to perform a sane and slow canter. Because somehow, she could see Dee attempting to take off with her at a gallop.

Content with her plan, Anna was completely calm and confident watching the other riders. But then, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something that she couldn't quite draw her gaze away from.

A white horse had suddenly appeared on the other side of the arena, led by a platinum blonde who looked to be only a little older than Anna herself. The blonde had her hair in a single braid beneath an all-black helmet, and the contrast of the two colors made the striking platinum blonde color seem almost white. She wore tan breeches, and tucked into them with a belt was a light blue collared shirt that read "Arendelle Riding Academy". Matching the shirt, she wore blue riding gloves, and the tall boots that she wore were completely spotless.

The white horse was spotless as well—and Anna knew how difficult it was to keep a white horse from turning random shades of brown. Or green. In fact, it was almost impossible.

But both horse and rider were as pristine as this entire barn seemed to be.

And it wasn't until she had mounted and walked the horse into the dressage arena, straight in Anna's direction, that she noticed Anna staring.

When Anna met the blonde's blue eyes, she knew she should have turned away, but she couldn't. There was something so captivating about the new presence in the arena—about this rider than Anna had never seen before.

Suddenly, the blonde's eyebrows raised, and she lifted the riding crop that she was carrying ever so slightly, as if to tap her horse on the shoulder. But instead, she left it there, so that at about a thirty degree angle from the white horse's shoulder, the end of it could be followed all the way to the side of the arena—to the rail. Which was rather perplexing to Anna because…

Oh, shit.

The rail.

The tryouts!

Her group!

"Number 305, a left lead canter, please."

Anna finally heard the voice that she was sure she had missed the first time. Anna noticed the blonde's mouth contort into the slightest hint of a smirk, and her face burned as she thought, this is so not funny.

Heart pounding, Anna walked Dee to the rail.

Now the last thing I need is for you to misbehave, so listen to me! Anna thought desperately to the horse beneath her, as if Dee could read her mind.

Anna tried to clear her mind. Really, she did.

Sit back, heels down.

But those blue eyes were watching her every move.

And Anna couldn't focus. She really couldn't.

Instead of sitting back, she felt herself leaning forward, and so Dee, who was all too eager and knew exactly what she was 'supposed' to do, picked up the canter lead on her own.

And it was the fastest thing that Anna had ever felt in her life.

If anything could snap her back to reality, it was Dee's hooves pounding the dirt like a storm beneath her.

"Whoa," Anna said instinctively, giving the mare small half halts as she fought to keep her balance. But she gave Dee her head in between the half halts, knowing that holding her head back the entire time would only agitate the chestnut horse more.

After one wild trip around the arena with the insane mare keeping her head high instead of down, Dee finally slowed her canter, and eventually started trotting again.

"That's okay," Merida said, "Good job keeping her under control. Now, we'll have you all go one at a time over the three jumps that are set up. You'll do the diagonal jump first, and then circle around to the two outside jumps.

Anna could barely keep her breathing under control as she joined the rest of the students where they had lined up on the rail, in number order, leaving Anna last. But as she walked the mare past the middle of the arena, where the jumping portion merged into the dressage portion, she saw the blonde rider trying to hold back a laugh with one hand over her mouth.

And she wasn't doing a very good job of it.

Can this get any worse, Anna sighed inwardly.

All she had to do was get this crazy mare over three jumps without landing in the dirt.

And it seemed simple enough when she thought about it—almost as simple as the blonde rider had made the transition from the walk to the trot look when Anna's attention had once again strayed to the other side of the arena as she waited for her turn—but it was much harder to accomplish when said crazy mare insisted on racing full speed ahead towards the first jump.

The distance was completely off. If Dee kept barreling forward that fast they'd crash straight into it before they even got over it.

Anna leaned back as far as she could, and finally got the mare to slow down, only giving Dee rein over the fence so that she could stretch her neck and complete the jump.

Once they landed, Anna gave the mare a firm half halt, and circled her around to the outside line of jumps, which were two red-and-white jumps in a row. As they headed forward, Anna could feel the difference; she had now gained Dee's attention as the mare's canter strides shortened at Anna's request.

Dee was quiet over the jump, and didn't try to take off with Anna upon seeing the second jump in front of her. She waited for Anna's cues, and Anna breathed a huge sigh of relief as they landed from the second jump. She brought Dee down to the trot, and then to the walk, and, although the mare had definitely been high strung and inane in the beginning, she gave the chestnut a pat on the neck for her efforts.

"Thank you all for taking the time to try out," Merida said once Anna had halted, "Our decisions will be made by the next meeting, and we'll discuss divisions, shows, lessons, and dues. Let the horses walk out for a few minutes to cool down."

Anna gave Dee slightly longer reins at the walk, but kept them short enough just in case the spirited mare decided to bolt. Or kick. Or rear. Or buck. Or do whatever it was that could pop into her mind at any given moment.

And for the first time since she had started her jumping round, Anna allowed her attention to stray back to the blonde rider.

Her horse was nothing short of perfection. She was nothing short of perfection…

And now as Anna approached the middle of the arena, she noticed the blonde rider walk her horse over to the edge of the dressage arena and halt.

Anna was confused, but didn't think much of it, continuing to walk past. But before she was out of earshot she heard the blonde say something that made all of her embarrassment return; something that, had Anna known about it before, may have avoided this whole situation with Dee entirely. And she said it such a way that it wasn't quite berating, yet still retained a hint of laugh:

"Delaney's supposed to wear a martingale."

A/n: First, I don't own Frozen, or any of the characters from frozen, or any other characters that might appear in this fic…Yep. So in short that'd be none of the characters.

Second, the world needed more equestrian Elsanna fanfics. Because horses are life, and that is the truth :)

Third, this is going to be much longer than A State of Grace (if you read that), and also not as insanely angsty—but there will definitely be some angst. And because of that, when I say eventual Elsanna, I really do mean eventual. Especially because of Hans...but the Elsanna will happen, I promise! And the style is definitely going to be different than the style of A State of Grace as well.

Fourth, excuse any equine-related mistakes. I do know a lot about horses, but I don't know everything about horses. And if you feel lost at all with the horsey lingo, I'll explain some of the terms in my author's notes, and I'll be happy to explain anything I miss if you ask. To start you all off—a martingale is a training aid that connects the bridle to the girth, preventing the horse from tossing his head and evading the bit. And also some basics: the walk is the four-beat gate, the trot is the two-beat gait (which is faster than the walk, and also requires posting, which was mentioned briefly), and the canter is the three-beat gait (which is faster than the trot). The rail just means the edge of the arena, by the gate or the wall. And a half halt is a halt using only the outside rein (the one closest to the wall) instead of both.

And after all of that long-winded yet necessary craziness, thanks for reading :)