Jade and the Hunters

by Amy Brown

  ‘Billie, dear, don’t tire yourself out. Why not have a nice sit against the fence?’ Mrs Thompson suggested. Jade could see her eyes travelling over Billie’s blank, amiable face.

  ‘But I came to help you,’ Billie said again.

  ‘Yes, thank you. But we don’t need any help.’

  ‘I’ll probably knock a pole down soon,’ Becca said, grinning at Billie.

  Billie laughed, and gazed at Dusty. ‘I like your horse, Becca.’

  ‘Thanks!’

  ‘All right, if Becca knocks down a rail, you can pick it up,’ Mrs Thompson said in a slow, syrupy voice. Jade reckoned Mrs Thompson was banking on Becca and Dusty doing a clear round — since the Showjumping Champs, they’d been the strongest junior jumpers in Flaxton.

  Becca, who had opted to go first, was certainly aiming for a clear. But when Dusty skidded a little on the slippery ground as he approached the low picket fence and then caught the top rail with his foreleg, Becca didn’t look too disappointed.

  Seeing her cue, Billie leapt up from where she had been told to sit by the fence and ran to retrieve the knocked pole. Pushing up the sleeves of her grubby white sweatshirt, which had a picture of Mickey Mouse on the front, Billie bent down and carefully hoisted each end of the pole back onto the cups of the jump stand. She certainly didn’t have the build of an athlete, but was strong enough for her simple job.

  As Billie finished rebuilding the jump, the sky darkened. A fat, soft raindrop landed on Jade’s wrist, between her raincoat and her gloves. Tani was tensing up again with the sudden change of temperature. Jade guiltily hoped that the clouds would burst and the rally would have to be cut short before it was her turn to jump.

  ‘Jade,’ Mrs Thompson said kindly, perhaps noticing Jade’s worried expression. ‘Why don’t you have your turn now, before the weather really packs in? Your new pony looks like he’s raring to go.’

  Jade swallowed and gathered up her reins. There was no point arguing or pleading with Mrs Thompson — she hated any signs of what she called ‘spinelessness’.

  As soon as Tani realized it was his turn, he began that unsettling rocking-horse canter of his. A rocking horse that’s a bit broken, Jade thought grimly. She wanted to take the course at her own pace, as Michaela Lewis would have suggested, but Tani refused to do a sedate trot. If there was jumping to be done, he wanted to do it right now, all in a rush.

  ‘Stop niggling at him, Jade — let him get on with it,’ Mrs Thompson said. Jade felt irritated by this vague advice.

  Pointing Tani at the first jump, a large criss-cross, Jade felt somewhere between in and out of control. ‘Take it easy, boy,’ she whispered. To Jade’s surprise, Tani seemed to listen; his mouth softened on the bit and they cleared the criss-cross smoothly.

  ‘Good boy!’ Jade said, cheered up. ‘Not so bad after all.’

  They met the next jump, a low oxer, calmly enough, but Tani jumped flatly and dragged off the top pole with his hind hoof.

  ‘Never mind, mister,’ Jade said again, but she could tell the mistake had made him anxious.

  Tani was already beginning to pull as Billie ran over to replace the fallen pole.

  ‘How many times have I told you not to run — you’ll scare the horses!’ Mrs Thompson shrieked. Her yell coincided with a massive boom of thunder.

  The paddock began whirring past on either side of Jade. She silently swore and grabbed a handful of Tani’s thick black mane. Sawing on her poor frightened pony’s mouth made no difference: they were heading straight for the ditch in the intermediate cross-country course, and Jade’s arms were turning to jelly.

  Giving up any attempts to halt her runaway pony, Jade just tried to steer him now. She clamped her left leg to Tani’s side and pulled with all her weight on her right rein. Tani swerved enough to miss the ditch, but Jade was unsure of whether she’d contributed to his decision at all, or if it was luck.

  No, Tani was definitely responding. Continuing with her rough, desperate commands to ‘turn right’, Jade eventually managed to keep Tani in a circle. She had practically let go of her left rein now and was hauling only on her right, while her right leg was pinned to the girth and her left leg was back behind the girth, trying to stop Tani’s hindquarters from slipping in the wet.

  As Jade had hoped for earlier, the heavens had now well and truly opened. Through the curtain of grey rain, she could barely see where their circle was leading them. From memory, they were in an open square of paddock. And Tani was faltering now, distracted by the rain, sweat steaming in the cold air.

  Once he had come to a halt, Jade kicked off her stirrups and slid to the ground. She was tempted to keep riding, to protect the leather of her saddle from the wet, but couldn’t face another minute on Tani’s back today.

  As her boots hit the muddy turf, Jade’s knees went weak. She held the pommel of the saddle for a moment, steadying herself before running up the stirrup leathers, flicking the reins over Tani’s head and leading him back to the safety of Becca’s truck.

  In stark contrast to his recent bolt, Tani walked placidly beside Jade, barely flinching as Becca and Dusty cantered up.

  ‘Jade! Did you fall? Are you OK?’ Becca was even paler than usual; her freckles standing out.

  ‘No. I just felt like hopping off once I’d got him to stop,’ Jade said.

  ‘That was so scary — I was sure Mum would have to call an ambulance. What are you going to do with him?’ Becca asked, staring at Tani as if he’d turned into an actual taniwha.

  ‘Walk him back to your truck, put his rug on and give him a feed.’

  ‘No, I meant about the bolting and rearing. It’s really dangerous.’

  ‘I know what you meant, but I’m not sure what to do.’

  Jade was about to tell Becca about her conversation with Briar, when they saw Mrs Thompson approaching through the rain. She looked quite peculiar, power-walking towards them while attempting to hold a huge oilskin coat over her head.

  ‘Why doesn’t she wear it?’ Becca whispered.

  Jade shrugged and tried not to laugh.

  ‘That pony’s a menace!’ Mrs Thompson declared. ‘And that imbecile Billie is even worse. At least she can see now what happens when she runs around horses: they bolt!’

  ‘I think it was the thunder,’ Jade said quietly, but Mrs Thompson didn’t appear to hear.

  ‘Are you all right? Not hurt? I’ll take the brute for you.’

  Before Jade could protest, Mrs Thompson had yanked Tani’s rains from Jade’s cold hands and begun leading him.

  Examining the pony’s face, as if for signs of remorse, Mrs Thompson noticed the bit.

  ‘Oh dear, you’ve lost your curb-chain.’

  ‘No, it’s in my pocket,’ Jade said, without thinking.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘A lady called Briar told me it was upsetting Tani, and took it off for me,’ Jade said, only now beginning to see the effect this news would have on Mrs Thompson.

  ‘Briar Rose took a curb-chain off a pony like this? Well, that makes her at least partly responsible for your ordeal.’ Mrs Thompson stretched out the last word, enjoying it.

  ‘Briar told me a curb-chain wouldn’t help me stop Tani; it would encourage him to rear. They call it an “elevator bit” in the States.’

  ‘I don’t care what they call it in North America,’ Mrs Thompson said. ‘I call Briar’s decision dangerous. Why Michaela invited her to speak is beyond me.’

  ‘Who is she?’ Becca asked.

  ‘A “natural horsemanship” expert,’ Mrs Thompson said slowly. ‘Studied with Mike Corretto — you’ve heard of him, no?’

  ‘His name’s familiar,’ Becca replied. ‘I think I saw it on something at the saddlery.’

  ‘He thinks the way we ride is all wrong,’ Mrs Thompson said in a confidential tone that made Jade and Becca feel uncomfortable. They were relieved to see the pony club shed in front of them now.

  ‘Let’s sort out Tani and Dusty, then come back for the talk,�
�� Jade said to Becca, hoping that Mrs Thompson would give back Tani’s reins and leave them alone.

  ‘Are you sure you want to go to the talk?’ Becca asked. ‘After what happened?’

  Mrs Thompson nodded as if this were a wise question, before bustling into the shed.

  ‘Of course!’ Jade said, surprised at Becca. ‘Briar seemed really good with Tani. He liked her. Aren’t you interested?’

  ‘I am curious,’ Becca said carefully, ‘but I don’t want to be given bad advice.’

  Jade frowned at her friend.

  ‘If you’re so keen to go, why don’t I take Tani and Dusty back to the truck and get them both rugged up while you listen to Briar what’s-her-name?’ Becca said.

  ‘Fine,’ Jade said, handing the reins of her frustrating pony to her frustrating friend. ‘Thanks.’

  ‘No worries.’

  Although they parted politely, the two girls were seething. So when the first person Jade saw in the pony club shed was Billie, she wasn’t in the mood for an hysterical apology.

  There was a silvery-green trail of snot running from Billie’s nostril to her upper lip; she had been crying.

  ‘I’m real sorry, Jade,’ Billie said, her voice still trembling.

  ‘It’s OK,’ Jade said. ‘It’s not your fault.’

  ‘It’s great you’re not hurt!’ Feeling that the matter was resolved, Billie threw her arms around Jade. They were about the same height, but Jade was much slighter. She patted the other girl’s warm, moist back, but hoped the hug would end soon. It was a smell of onions, Jade thought, or maybe sausages, that lingered around Billie.

  ‘You’re all right then — no broken bones?’ Jade heard as she emerged from Billie’s embrace. It was Briar, looking a little how Jade felt.

  ‘Yeah, I’m fine.’

  ‘You know the curb-chain wouldn’t have helped — would have made matters worse — don’t you?’

  ‘That’s what I tried to tell Mrs Thompson!’ Jade cried, feeling like she was being blamed.

  ‘Well, Mrs Thompson has decided my talk will lead Flaxton’s young riders astray.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I came all the way out here from Feilding, in the stinking cold this morning, all for nothing.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Jade said. Billie nodded sympathetically, too.

  ‘Ah, well, it’s not your fault,’ Briar said, sighing.

  ‘And you didn’t come for nothing,’ Jade began. ‘You helped me with Tani.’

  ‘No one else here thinks that.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter. The stroking you did down his shoulder really calmed him down.’

  Briar’s glare softened. ‘That’s nothing, Jade.’

  ‘You said earlier that if I needed it, you might be able to help me? Well, I think I really need some help.’

  Without saying anything, Briar pulled a notebook and a pencil from her bag, wrote down her phone number and tore out the page, handing it to Jade.

  ‘I’m a good hour’s drive from here, so don’t expect help every day,’ Briar said. ‘But give me a call whenever you want to. If I’m not busy, I’ll come to you. If I am busy, I’ll try to offer advice over the phone. Also,’ she said, snatching back the piece of paper, ‘one more thing.’ She scribbled again, before passing the page back.

  Jade squinted, deciphering the handwriting.

  ‘It’s Mike Corretto’s website,’ Briar explained. ‘He taught me what I know, so it’s as good a place for you to start as any.’

  Jade beamed and tucked the paper carefully in her raincoat pocket, next to the curb-chain. She wouldn’t mention this to Becca on the trip home.

  Pony Club Hunt

  Despite the bolt, Jade felt more confident than she had in ages as she biked to the Whites’ the following week. A dull drizzle was beginning, but she didn’t mind. She had a plan, all thanks to Mike Corretto.

  In the free online videos, Mike Corretto, with his ginger moustache and beige Stetson, resembled Brian Finch, Flaxton’s best farrier, except he looked healthier and richer — perhaps how Mr Finch would look if he won Lotto.

  ‘Horses need compassion, communication and consistency,’ Mike Corretto said, staring straight into the camera with eyes that looked like they had spent years squinting into the sun. Adjusting the tiny microphone that was clipped onto the front of his crisp green dress shirt, he went on, ‘If you have a problem with your horse, I guarantee I can help you solve it. Just click the link below to receive my First Things First DVD.’

  Jade had clicked the link, but was disappointed to find that the DVD cost thirty American dollars. It was still months until her birthday, and the two ponies were already costing her dad, in his words, ‘a pretty penny’. But none of the free videos gave any real advice — they had just promised that Mike Corretto could help fix Taniwha, or, more accurately, fix Jade. The problem, as Corretto repeatedly said, was with the rider, not the horse.

  ‘I won’t learn anything unless I buy the DVD,’ Jade told her dad over dinner, trying not to whine.

  ‘What makes you think the DVD will be any different to the videos on the website?’ As Jade had expected, her dad was unimpressed when she’d shown him www.correttonaturalhorsemanship.com.

  ‘But his dream is to promote natural methods of horse training throughout the world,’ Jade said.

  ‘Perhaps that dream interferes with his accountant’s,’ Jade’s dad said, cynically.

  ‘Pardon?’

  ‘Jade, this Corretto bloke might be a horse-whispering genius, but when I watch these videos, what I see first and foremost is an entrepreneurial genius, a clever businessman.’

  ‘He needs money to keep all his horses,’ Jade argued. But when she looked again at the website, with its fancy banner — well, her dad had a point.

  ‘If you’re sure it’s what you need, I’ll let you borrow my credit card, but I don’t want you taken in by a silver-tongued cowboy.’

  ‘Briar Rose recommended Mike Corretto!’ Jade tried one more time.

  ‘Well, perfect. That means she’ll probably be able to lend you her copy of the DVD.’

  And so it was that Jade coasted her bike into Mr White’s driveway at eight on Saturday morning, optimistic about riding Tani for the first time since he’d arrived at the paddock. Briar was coming around to give a lesson at nine, and had promised to bring First Things First.

  ‘Don’t bother with that,’ Jade heard as she emerged from Mr White’s implement shed with Tani’s saddle, a hand-me-down from Pip.

  Briar had parked her burgundy Cortina at the front of the Whites’ house, so as not to disturb Tani in his yard. She now approached the young pony silently, hands at her side. When she reached the fence, Briar waited for Tani to come to her. To Jade’s surprise, Tani snickered and pushed Briar gently with his nose.

  ‘He likes you!’ Jade said, impressed.

  ‘He’s interested in me, and keen to boss me around,’ Briar corrected Jade. ‘That nudge wasn’t friendly so much as bolshie. It’s basic stuff — like not letting him scratch his head on your shoulder, or slobber all over your hands, or fidget while you’re grooming him — that we’ll work on today.’

  ‘“The problems you have in the saddle can be solved on the ground”,’ Jade said.

  ‘Good — you’ve been reading Corretto. And do you agree with him so far?’

  ‘Um,’ Jade wasn’t sure what to say. ‘I don’t know — he didn’t really give any advice, he only promised that his advice would be good.’

  ‘Well, that’s just the promo guff on the website,’ Briar said tersely.

  ‘I know. I’m keen to watch the DVD, I reckon that’ll help.’

  ‘I’ve brought you my copy to borrow, but I suggest that you purchase your own. It’s not just essential for anyone who wants to have a good relationship with their horse, but it goes towards a good cause, too. Everything Corretto does helps promote natural horsemanship globally.’

  Briar was sounding exactly like the ‘promo guff’ herse
lf. Jade reckoned her dad wouldn’t have a bar of it if he were here.

  By eleven o’clock, the sun had come out and it was hard to believe there had been a layer of ice on the troughs earlier that morning. Whether it was the warmth on his bare back or Briar’s attention, Tani was looking as relaxed as Pip, who was nibbling on the stubbly grass in the tiny ‘diet’ paddock that had been her home since she was diagnosed with laminitis.

  With Briar’s firm, calm instructions, Jade was learning to move Taniwha into and out of her ‘space’ without force. It was a strange task, making her confused pony move from side to side and back and forth, simply for the sake of it, but Jade had to admit that Tani was finally listening to her; ‘respecting her’, Briar said.

  ‘What if I want him in my space?’ Jade had asked Briar at first. ‘I don’t mind if he rubs on my shoulder or butts me with his nose.’

  Briar had shaken her head. ‘He’s not your friend, Jade. He’s a herd animal — you can’t think of him as a person who hugs and kisses when you meet. The hugs are actually domineering, and the kisses are disrespectful. You need to be the herd leader — that hasn’t happened yet. But it will if you work patiently like this.’

  Briar’s idea of horses was completely different to what Jade had learnt so far in her short equestrian career. She felt almost embarrassed when Mr White walked past and saw her swaying from side to side of Taniwha the long stick Briar had provided. Mr White usually stopped and chatted as Jade worked with her ponies, but today he said only a quick hello. Briar didn’t seem to notice that Mr White hadn’t introduced himself. She was busy watching Tani and Jade, and commentating.

  Although Tani was looking good after two hours, Jade, who was exhausted from absorbing all the new information, felt as if she’d made no progress at all.

  ‘You don’t need to change your perfectly good pony if you can change yourself,’ Briar kept saying, in slightly different ways, each time making Jade feel worse. ‘You need to relax. You need to show consistency and leadership. You need to be decisive. You need to understand above all that Tani is an animal, not a person — he can’t be expected to learn how to be a polite person, but you can learn how to lead him as if you were a horse.’