Thursday 22 November
Oh my gosh!!! Today was incredible. Dad brought Sparkle to school in the horse trailer. It was during the morning session before the morning tea play break. He drove the trailer onto the oval and unloaded her right there. My whole class went down to look at her but Miss Johnson made everyone stand right back, just to be safe.
She asked me to demonstrate how to groom and brush her and how to clean her hooves with the hoof pick. Dad held her lead rope and she just stood there so quietly the whole time. Then Miss Johnson just couldn’t resist – she had to go and pat her and she thought she was beautiful. She even gave her a hug.
Then all the kids wanted to pat her too and Miss Johnson said it was okay because she could see how quiet Sparkle is. They all had turns patting her and she just stood there so quietly the whole time. Everyone adored her – she’s so well-behaved. Miss Johnson was raving about how beautiful she is and I felt so proud!
Everyone said that it was the best show and tell they’ve ever seen. And so did Miss Johnson. I’m so lucky to have her for a teacher. And I’m so lucky to have Sparkle for a pony.
Tuesday 11 December
I can’t believe it’s been almost 3 whole weeks since I’ve had a chance to write! I never seem to get much time for my diary lately - things have been so hectic lately, especially with all the horses.
Grace now has her own pony – a beautiful 14 hand chestnut called, Trixie. So now she won’t have to share Rocket with Cammie. They’ll each have their own pony and this is perfect for our gymkhana. We’ve decided to have it on the Saturday after Christmas because everyone’s busy until then.
I can’t believe that Christmas is only 14 days away and the school holidays are almost here! In 3 days I’ll have 6 weeks off school and I’ll be able to spend every day with Sparkle. The girls and I are so excited. We have so much planned! We’re going to have sleep-overs at each other’s houses and go riding EVERY day. We’ll have to get up really early to ride though because it’s SO hot now. Yesterday was almost 100 degrees and way too hot for riding! But the early mornings are perfect and so are the late afternoons when it cools down. I think that’s my favorite time. It’s so good in summer because it gets dark so much later and we now have more time in the afternoons to ride.
I’m so glad we have a pool! It’s so hot, we’ll be able to go swimming every day. And Grace and Cammie are getting a pool put in too. They’re hoping it’ll be ready for Christmas.
And the best news is, they’re now going to keep their two horses in our front paddock rather than at Ali’s. Our front paddock is right across the road from their driveway and it’s much quicker and easier for them to feed and look after their horses. So Dad is going to buy a heap of special wire and posts to fence the paddock for them. The money that Jim pays Dad for keeping Rocket and Trixie will help to pay for Sparkle. We’ve started giving her special food and it’s really expensive. But she seems to be getting skinny and we don’t know why. We’re hoping that the new food will fatten her up and make her really healthy. I’m so happy because the girls will be at my house all the time now, instead of always being at Ali’s. This is going to be so cool!
I can’t wait for Christmas. My list this year is full of horsey stuff. I might even get those jodhpurs that I’ve been wanting. They’re so expensive, I still haven’t saved up enough to buy them myself. Luckily Ali has given me her old ones to wear and Mom even found some blue ones at the 2nd hand shop that almost look brand new. And they fit me perfectly! I’d love to have the brand new pair that I saw at Saddle World though. I know they still have them because I saw them when I was in there with Grace the other day. Maybe Santa will give them to me?
I can’t wait!
Tuesday 25 Dec
We had an awesome Christmas Day!
Nate and I got up at 5am and ran in to wake up Mom and Dad. But we had to wait for Nana to get up and make a cup of tea before we could start opening our presents. She always takes so long! She arrived a few days ago and she’s staying for 2 weeks. I was really excited because I thought that she could come to the gymkhana, but Mom said that she probably won’t be able to make it across our creek. She’s pretty wobbly when she walks and needs some help. Mom said that she’ll have to get her a special walker soon so that she can get around easily.
I got the best presents and Santa gave me the jodhpurs I wanted. They’re exactly the same as the ones in Saddle World and they look so cool. I tried them on and they fit perfectly. I’m so glad that he got the size right!
I got a new pair of chaps as well – they’re the same as Ali’s. I’ve been wanting some like hers for ages. As well as that I got some new riding boots. Now I don’t have to wear Ali’s hand me downs - but Mom said that I should still keep them as a spare pair. It’s always good to have a pair to lend to friends when they come over for a ride, so they’ll be perfect for that.
I got a brand new grooming kit as well. Sparkle stepped on my old one and the case is all broken, so now I’ll have lots of brushes. When my friends come over there’ll be plenty of brushes to groom Sparkle with. I also got a new purple lead rope. I’ve just been using a faded old green one that Josh’s mom gave me when we brought Sparkle home. This one will look so much better!
Books for Girls - 4 Great Stories for 8 - 12 Year Olds Page 10
