Starlight Stables: Saving Starlight

by Soraya Nicholas

  She pushed Crystal into a trot. ‘No,’ she murmured when her pony tried to break into a canter. Poppy kept the trot at the speed she wanted by not letting Crystal make the decision for her, rising up and down slowly until she got what she wanted. Eventually Crystal put her head down and accepted the bit, but it felt like she was about to explode beneath her! Poppy only had to touch her leg to her horse’s side for her to burst into a canter, so she concentrated on keeping her calm and ignoring the interruptions of other riders and horses misbehaving.

  ‘Whoa!’

  A big chestnut reared almost right beside her when he veered out of control. Poppy slipped her outside leg back and kept her inside on the girth to ask for a canter again and Crystal obliged, giving a half-hearted buck this time.

  ‘Hey, be good,’ Poppy scolded, trying not to laugh. She had no idea what was up with Crystal and the bucking, but she was pretty sure it was only when she was super-excited, which was a lot lately.

  She put Crystal through her paces, cantering first on the left rein and then on the right, before attempting to go over the practice jumps. There were only two jumps set up near the middle of the paddock, and Poppy was relieved to see that one of them wasn’t too big. The adult classes were well underway and the bigger horses were easily clearing the larger of the two fences, and she crossed her fingers that there weren’t any ponies from her class training over that one.

  Block everyone else out, she told herself. She squared her shoulders and cantered towards the jump when she saw her chance. Crystal fought to go faster and Poppy let her, knowing that when the time came they were going to have to go quick to win. Their canter was fast but it wasn’t out of control, and they soared over the fence.

  ‘Watch it!’

  Poppy pulled Crystal up when an older rider snapped at her. She ignored her, not about to let someone shake her confidence. She hadn’t done anything wrong and it was the same track everyone jumping the practice fences had to take.

  ‘Good girl,’ Poppy praised Crystal as they rocketed into a canter again, falling in behind another horse. They popped straight over again a second time when it was their turn, not quite as fast this time, and Poppy decided not to practice any more. Crystal was warmed up and jumping well, and she didn’t want to drill her too hard.

  As she let go the reins to let Crystal stretch out, Poppy spotted her aunt. She was waving out with her hand above her head, trying to get her attention, so Poppy trotted over to her, still riding on a loose rein.

  Aunt Sophie was dressed in her usual crisp shirt, this time a soft pink one, but paired with tight jeans tucked into her boots rather than jods since she was just watching and not riding for once.

  ‘You looked great out there,’ Aunt Sophie praised her when they halted beside her.

  Poppy grinned. ‘Thanks.’

  ‘I’m proud of the way you found your own space and did your thing. Sometimes that’s the scariest part of competing when you’re out and about.’

  ‘This is the final rider in this class, then it’s you guys,’ Aunt Sophie told her. ‘You ready?’

  Poppy nodded even though she wasn’t convinced she’d ever be ready. Her stomach was doing the crazy butterflies trapped and beating their wings thing again, but she tried to ignore it so Crystal didn’t feel how nervous she was.

  ‘Hey!’ Milly announced loudly.

  Poppy held her whip out and grinned when Milly tapped hers against it.

  ‘Nice riding out there, Milly,’ Sophie said. ‘I’m not going to call Katie over because she’s up last. I’ll let her stay focused for a bit longer.’

  Poppy took her feet out of her stirrups and let them dangle, trying to relax. Then she tipped forward in the saddle and slung her arms around Crystal’s neck to give her a big hug. Her soft mane always calmed her, and she stroked her and kept her cheek pressed to her neck, breathing slowly. She would have been nervous anyway, even if the stakes weren’t so high.

  Aunt Sophie’s hand suddenly touched her shoulder. ‘You’re going to do great.’

  Poppy gulped. ‘You really think so?’

  Her aunt squeezed her shoulder. ‘I know so. You’ve got a great pony and I trained you myself, so you have to be brilliant.’

  Poppy returned the big smile her aunt flashed her, before sitting up to watch the first rider in her class. All up, there were thirty or so entries, and the first pony was a pretty buckskin. They did a nice round but they looked slow and knocked a couple of rails, and before she knew it another rider was entering the ring, this time a solid little bay. It refused the first jump and ended up disqualified after three refusals at the double.

  ‘Maybe we do have a decent chance,’ Milly muttered from beside her.

  Poppy had her gaze firmly fixed on the entrance to the ring, and she watched as a polished-looking black pony with white socks entered at a canter. ‘Don’t speak too soon,’ Poppy murmured back.

  ‘Oh crap,’ Milly whispered.

  Poppy bit her lip hard as she watched the perfect pony and equally perfect rider soar over every fence. The black gelding had his legs tucked up high, knees popping up tight as they jumped every fence clear. The rider let out a whoop after clearing the last fence and dropped her reins to hug her pony.

  ‘Ugh, I can’t even hate her,’ Milly muttered. Poppy laughed. Her thoughts exactly. The rider had been pitch perfect and she’d given her pony a whole lot of love, which meant there was nothing not to like.

  ‘Man, I’m jealous.’

  Poppy turned to look over her shoulder and saw Katie and Cody right behind them. They had obviously walked over during the round and Poppy had been concentrating so hard she hadn’t even realised they were behind her.

  Crystal shifted her weight to her other back leg, happy resting and watching. ‘Yeah, I’m jealous too. She was amazing.’

  Milly let out some sort of hmph sound and Poppy laughed. She bet Milly was super jealous too.

  ‘Sweetheart, you’re up next,’ Aunt Sophie said to Milly. ‘Want me to walk over with you?’

  Milly shook her head confidently. ‘I’ll be fine, thanks Mrs D.’ She rode off at a trot as Poppy stared after her.

  ‘Bet she’ll do great,’ Poppy said. Milly was an awesome rider. She always did well and got over the jumps, if a little too quick sometimes. She was all about speed, whereas Katie was all about jumping faultlessly, which meant she sometimes didn’t get recognised for how amazing she was because of her time. But now that they’d been training more and Katie had been letting Cody go faster, Poppy was guessing that she was going to be tough competition. Both of them were.

  ‘Go, Milly!’ Katie yelled when Milly’s number was called over the speaker system.

  Aunt Sophie was clapping and Poppy dropped her reins to do the same. She realised she was holding her breath, and she let it go as Milly entered the ring at a trot, quickly breaking into a canter and circling before going through the flags and heading for the first jump. She was over it without being even close to touching a rail, and as they sped around the rest of the course Joe was perfect, clearing every single jump and going quick, too. Poppy shook her head, trying to shake away the thoughts she was having. She wanted Milly to do well, she never ever wanted her friends to do badly, but just this one day she wanted to be the best.

  Poppy cheered as her friend cantered past them. ‘Woo hoo, go Milly!’ she shouted.

  Katie was clapping and calling out too, and Milly held up her hand and waved before slapping Joe in a big pat on the neck and joining them, a huge smile stretching across her face. Milly’s cheeks were flushed red, curls escaping from the bun beneath her helmet even though she’d had her hair perfect earlier in the day.

  ‘You did great, Milly. I’m so proud of you,’ Aunt Sophie said.

  ‘There’s three riders before me now, so I think I’ll go have a trot around,’ Poppy announced, deciding that she’d be better off riding than just standing around. Besides, she didn’t want Crystal to be relaxed instead of all excited about
their turn.

  ‘Good luck,’ Milly said, still grinning. ‘It’s so much fun, I wish I could do it all over again!’

  ‘With the round you just did, I bet you’ll be in the jump-off,’ Aunt Sophie said. ‘There’s a new rug up for grabs for this division.’

  Poppy’s eyebrows shot up but she didn’t say anything. She wasn’t going to be super greedy, just the big cheque and the feed for a year was enough, but a pretty new rug would be nice too!

  ‘Good luck, Pops,’ Aunt Sophie said.

  ‘Yeah, good luck,’ Katie said.

  Poppy rode off without glancing back, head held high.

  Poppy trotted back to the practice area. There weren’t nearly as many riders training now, so she cantered Crystal in a circle then popped over the jump, before trotting then slowing down to a walk and heading closer to the ring. She rode along the far side, just walking. But Crystal was hyped up and knew what was about to happen, so it didn’t take long for them to get there. She was pretty sure there were still two riders ahead of her.

  ‘Name?’ a woman shouted, flapping one hand in the air like she was trying to fly, the other hand clasping a clipboard. ‘Rider, what is your name?’

  Poppy gulped. Was she talking to her?

  ‘Poppy Brown,’ she called back in a loud voice.

  ‘We’ve been waiting for you. Hurry up!’ the woman scolded.

  ‘But I thought there were . . .’

  ‘Hurry up!’ the woman interrupted. ‘We’ve had a rider scratched from the program so you’re up!’

  Poppy kicked Crystal in the side harder than she should have, upset that she was late and wishing she’d just walked over instead of going over the practice jump again. Crystal reared and Poppy only just had time to grab a handful of mane and throw her head back to avoid getting a broken nose.

  ‘Crystal!’ she told her off, desperately trying to hang on. Crystal landed and pawed the ground and Poppy put her legs on firmly. ‘Get on with it,’ she muttered.

  The woman pointed to the ring and Poppy had to bite her tongue not to snap, ‘Yeah, yeah, don’t get your knickers in a knot.’ She rode in and breathed deeply, refusing to get all rattled because things weren’t going to plan.

  Crystal shied at something the second they entered, but Poppy had felt how jittery she was and had her heels planted down hard, her reins short enough to give her control.

  ‘It’s okay, girl. Whoa,’ she said in a calm voice, hoping it soothed her pony. They finally settled into a steady canter and Crystal seemed to relax a little, although she was still fighting to go faster.

  Ding-ding.

  The bell rang and Crystal leapt into action, throwing her head up in the air and trying to charge off. But Poppy refused to let her take charge. She pulled her in a tighter circle, forced her to slow, before looking towards the first jump and pointing her between the flags. Crystal’s canter quickened and before she knew it they were over the first jump.

  Poppy forced herself to look ahead, to always look at the next jump, and soon they were over the second fence, then the third. They hadn’t knocked a rail yet and Crystal was going fast enough that she was sure their time was good.

  Finally they approached the double and Poppy checked Crystal, made her slow down just a little before letting her do her thing.

  ‘Ugh!’ she gasped as Crystal stumbled, her front leg tripping on something and throwing them off balance.

  Poppy knew it was all wrong, she’d lost her reins and had nothing to hold except the buckle, but Crystal had hardly slowed and suddenly the jump was there. Poppy shut her eyes, ready to fall, certain they were about to crash through the upright, but Crystal started to lift off the ground and Poppy instinctively grabbed a handful of mane, tried to be as graceful as she could so she didn’t throw her pony off balance. No way! They landed, and Poppy quickly gathered her reins up as much as she could in the quick three strides before they took off again, somehow clearing the second of the two jumps with ease.

  ‘Go, Crystal!’ she screamed wildly, praising her horse and patting her as they headed towards the second to last jump, a spread that looked as big from her pony as it had from the ground. They soared over it, and then the last, and then they were cantering through the finish line.

  ‘Woo hoo!’ Poppy felt amazing. Her heart was racing, her hands shaking from the crazy almost-crash they’d had. She patted Crystal’s neck over and over as they trotted past the lady with the clipboard and around the ring back to where Aunt Sophie and her friends would be waiting for her.

  ‘Amazing!’ Aunt Sophie declared the second she stopped beside them. ‘Poppy, that save was incredible!’

  Poppy’s cheeks felt hot and she knew her face was blood red. ‘I thought we were going to crash,’ she admitted. ‘But the save was all Crystal’s.’

  ‘That was pretty cool,’ said Milly.

  Poppy was listening to Milly but it was her aunt she was staring at. The smile on Aunt Sophie’s face, the way she was looking back at her, made her feel so confident because she could see how proud her aunt was.

  ‘Poppy, you did exactly what I told you to do,’ Aunt Sophie said in a low voice. ‘You let your pony save you instead of interfering with her, and she got you safely over the jump. If you hadn’t listened to her and trusted her, Crystal would have crashed.’

  Poppy nodded. She’d known it was close, that it could have gone either way, but she’d also remembered what she’d been taught, knew how good and clever her horse was.

  ‘No pressure, Katie, but I think I already have two in the lead here!’

  They all giggled and Katie flopped dramatically over Cody’s neck.

  ‘You’ll kick butt out there, don’t worry,’ Poppy told Katie.

  ‘Ha ha, famous last words,’ Katie muttered back. But Poppy could see how excited her friend was and knew she’d be fine. Out of all of them, Katie was always the best prepared and the most practised.

  ‘You know, I really needed something to make me feel good, so thanks, girls,’ Aunt Sophie said. Poppy realised she was close to tears. ‘You’ve made me very proud today.’

  ‘What did I miss?’

  Poppy spun around in the saddle. ‘Uncle Mark! You made it!’

  He held his hands up in the air and made them all laugh again, tears forgotten. ‘So who’s winning? I don’t have to pick favourites, do I?’

  Trust Mark to make them all feel good. Poppy had almost forgotten about the big jump-off later in the day, but seeing Mark here reminded her of what was to come. He’d promised to be there to watch when Aunt Sophie had told him how determined she was to win.

  ‘Katie, you’re up soon,’ Aunt Sophie said as Mark moved up beside her and put an arm around her shoulders. ‘I think you should head over.’

  Katie rode away and Poppy didn’t take her eyes off her. They were a striking team, Katie and her pretty palomino, and Poppy knew they’d do great.

  Poppy was between Katie and Milly, their ponies lined up side by side as they stared at the centre of the ring. The secretary for the competition was standing beside a man with a megaphone, and they were all waiting to hear who had placed in this round. The top ranked riders would go into a jump-off, which meant that Poppy could be competing three times in the one day. Poppy gulped at the thought. Ahead of the big jump-off.

  ‘The ribbon ceremony will be later in the day, but the top six riders will be going into a second round against the clock, sponsored by FrostBreaker Horse Rugs. The winner will receive a new rug of their choice from FrostBreaker’s new season collection.’

  Poppy dug her nails into her palms. She had stuffed her gloves into her pockets because her hands had gotten so hot and sweaty. It was only early summer but the day had turned out warm and blustery, the trees around them swaying back and forth. She held her breath when the announcer paused, listening to the crackle of the speaker, waiting to hear if she’d made it.

  ‘First place is Addison Lane!’

  A small crowd on the other side of t
he arena started clapping, and Poppy saw straightaway that it was the beautiful black gelding with the white socks and the immaculate looking rider. Poppy clapped too, disappointed not to have won but appreciating what an amazing round the other rider had had.

  ‘Second place goes to Milly Walker!’

  ‘What?!’ Milly’s scream frightened Crystal and made her jump, which almost made Poppy fall off because she’d been resting with her feet out of the stirrups and not holding the reins.

  ‘Whoa,’ Poppy soothed, grabbing hold of the reins and steadying herself before turning to Milly.

  ‘Congrats, you so deserved that,’ Poppy told her, holding her hand up for a high-five.

  Milly looked like she was about to jump out of her own skin she was so excited.

  ‘Great work, Mils,’ Katie said.

  ‘There was only a second between second and third place, so we’d next like to congratulate Poppy Brown!’

  What? No freaking way!

  ‘Wow,’ Poppy managed to stammer as Milly flapped her arms so hard Poppy was sure she was about to take off.

  ‘Poppy, woo hoo!’ Katie squealed.

  Poppy quickly glanced at her aunt and uncle, and saw their huge smiles as they clapped loudly. She was so proud that she’d done so well, and that Milly had too. At least Sophie would know that her training had worked!

  ‘You’re the best, Crystal,’ Poppy whispered to her pony, stroking her neck. They might not have won, but they’d done better than Poppy could have even dreamt a few months ago.

  They announced fourth and fifth place, and Poppy sat up straighter, forgetting about patting Crystal as she waited. Poppy’s whole body was on edge and she held the reins tighter, waiting, listening.