by Amy Brown
‘Here she is,’ Jade said proudly as Pip trotted up to the gate to meet them.
‘What a cutie,’ Rose said, a bit shrilly. ‘You’re quite big, aren’t you, darling?’
‘Shall we have a quick ride?’ Jade said to Pip, popping the pony’s halter on and leading her into a yard.
‘Oh, you’ll get all dirty before the party,’ Rose warned.
Jade laughed. ‘There’ll be more riding at the party—Becca’s getting a new pony today.’
The ride really was brief. Jade couldn’t enjoy herself when she could see Rose, in her peripheral vision, sitting on the fence picking at her nail polish, looking bored. She offered Rose a ride, but apparently the jeans Rose was wearing were too good for getting covered in horse hairs and stretched in the saddle.
‘Is there going to be anyone at the party who doesn’t have a pony?’ Rose asked, a little nervously.
‘Yeah, my friend Laura will be there. She’s not that horsey; I mean, she likes horses but doesn’t ride. You two should get along.’
To Jade’s extreme relief, Laura adopted Rose as soon as they entered Becca’s kitchen.
‘You must be Rose,’ she said in her friendly way. ‘I love your hair!’
‘Thanks,’ Rose said. ‘Your top’s cool.’ Jade looked at Laura’s T-shirt and could only see stripes, but she was glad the two were getting along.
After lunch—another awkward meal for Rose because it consisted mainly of roast lamb (Becca’s favourite) and then a delicious, hugely unhealthy chocolate mud-cake—the girls gathered outside to meet the famous Dusty.
‘He’s a bit jittery after his ride in the truck, and he hasn’t got used to his new paddock yet,’ Becca said as she led him out, holding the lead rope tightly.
‘What a beauty!’ Rose said sincerely, making Jade jealously wonder why Rose hadn’t reacted that way when she saw Pip. ‘He’s feisty.’
‘A bit too feisty,’ Becca’s mother said, smiling and helping Becca hold him. ‘I’m afraid he’s not in the mood to give pony rides today.’
‘I don’t know if I even want to ride him in front of everyone right now,’ Becca said sadly.
‘I reckon we should give him an hour or so to stretch his legs and settle down.’
Becca’s mum was right. The girls watched Stardust, ate some more cake (even Rose couldn’t resist a piece), and then at three o’clock went back outside to find Dusty calmly grazing.
‘Now would be a good time to give you our present,’ Laura said, as Becca groomed her new pony. She ran up to the house and came back a minute later with a soft, beautifully wrapped parcel.
‘It’s from all of us—Jade, Rose and me,’ Laura said graciously, making Rose smile.
Becca opened it quickly and was delighted. ‘Look, Mum! It’s the most gorgeous saddle blanket.’ She draped it over Dusty’s back. ‘It suits you, boy.’
When Becca mounted and rode in a circle, it became clear that Dusty was still rather excitable. However, she dealt with his pig roots and bucks well, sitting firmly in the saddle, never losing her cool. Eventually he started responding to her aids and rewarded her with a collected canter.
‘I think that’s enough for now; my arms are aching,’ Becca said, patting Dusty’s neck and riding back to the girls.
‘You make me wish I had a pony,’ Rose said wistfully, watching Becca dismount. ‘He’s so pretty.’
‘If you’re starting to feel horsey, you should come along to pony club with Jade and me tomorrow,’ Becca said.
‘And, if you’re not feeling horsey,’ Laura said, ‘come to my parents’ café and I’ll make you a cappuccino.’
‘Thanks, girls—this is so nice. I’ll definitely have coffee with you next week, Laura, but pony club is an experience I just can’t pass up on,’ Rose said, grinning. This time, there was no sarcasm in her voice at all.
8
Visiting an Olympian
The next morning, Jade didn’t have to wake Rose up with breakfast in bed. She was already rifling through her backpack when Jade opened her eyes.
‘Morning,’ Jade said sleepily. ‘Lost something?’
‘Good! You’re awake. I need you to help me decide what to wear to pony club.’
Jade rubbed sleep out of her eyes and wondered whether Rose was being serious. ‘No one goes to pony club without jodhpurs and a tie,’ she said, jokingly.
‘Do you have spares?’ Rose had a deep worryline between her eyebrows.
‘I’m being silly, Rosie. Just wear what you wore to Becca’s yesterday.’ Not wanting to continue such a trivial conversation, Jade bags-ed first shower, taking her own carefully folded pile of pony club clothes to the bathroom with her. Really, she thought, it’s not as if Rose is even going to be riding—why is she so worried?
When the carefully dressed girls arrived at Mr White’s, they found that he’d already brought Pip and Brandy into the yards.
‘Are you going to ride at pony club today?’ Jade asked, pleased.
‘No, but I remembered that we’d have Rose with us and thought that an extra steed might not go astray. You’d like to have a ride, wouldn’t you, Rose?’
‘Definitely! Thank you so, so much!’ Rose cried, stroking Brandy’s nose and laughing.
‘It’s a shame you’re wearing your good jeans,’ Jade said. ‘You didn’t want to get horse hairs on them yesterday.’
Mrs White, who was watering the garden next to the yards, cut in: ‘Rose, dear, I’m sure there’s another pair of Abby’s jodhs inside. Would you like to borrow those?’
‘That’d be wonderful, Mrs White. Thanks!’ Rose was smiling so hard it looked like her face would split. Jade groomed Pip roughly, ashamed and surprised at her jealousy.
By the time Rose had emerged from the house, looking about fifteen in not only Abby’s old jodhpurs but her knee-high black boots too, Jade and Mr White had groomed both horses and put them in the float.
‘How do I look?’ Rose laughed, doing a quick twirl.
‘Clean of horse hair,’ Jade said, wiping her own dusty, sweaty brow.
If Jade had felt bad enough before pony club, once they both had mounted she felt completely inferior. On the ground, Rose had looked taller and more mature, but astride the gleaming Brandy, a good two hands higher than Pip, she looked positively regal.
‘How’re you doing up there?’ Mr White asked, tightening Brandy’s girth.
‘Fine, I think,’ Rose said, slightly nervously. ‘I’ve never really ridden before, though. Only pony rides at the races when I was little. This is way cooler.’
‘Yes, Brandy’s certainly not a pony. She’s a good sort, though—very sensible. If you do as I say, you’ll be fine.’
With a complete novice to look after, Mr White had abandoned Jade entirely. She didn’t feel alone for long, though, because a pretty dun pony with a familiar rider soon trotted over.
‘Becca! How’s Dusty? He looks gorgeous,’ Jade said, gathering up her reins and walking Pip over to the meeting shed.
‘He’s better today. Normally horses get more excited when they go out in the truck, but the company seems to relax him. You should bring Pip over to our place and ride with me next week. Is that Rose on that horse?’ Becca asked, pointing at a bay mare cantering towards them with its rider hanging around its neck.
‘Oh, no!’ Jade said, urging Pip to a trot. Jade managed to steer Pip in front of Brandy and grab the loose reins before Rose slid off completely. Brandy, pleased to be reunited with her paddock-mate, started to graze as if nothing had happened.
‘Are you OK?’ Jade asked. ‘Did Brandy bolt?’
‘Yeah, I’m OK. Just shaken. It was probably my fault. I wanted to come and see you and Becca.’
Mr White, who had jogged across from the horse-float, approached with a lead rope.
‘Rose, are you all right?’
‘Yes, Mr White. Sorry,’ Rose said, sheepishly.
‘That was very silly of you. Brandy isn’t a tired old pony—if you kick her,
she’ll move and you won’t be able to stop her. For the rest of the morning, you’ll be on the lead rope.’
Jade tried not to look too pleased, until she caught Becca’s eye and couldn’t help smiling.
While Mr White led Brandy and Rose around the park, Becca and Jade spent a beautiful morning working on their paces, being quizzed on the parts of the horse and items of tack, and playing games.
The bending and turning, which Pip had won last week, ended up being Dusty’s forte too. By the end of the morning, both ponies were excited and competitive. To cool down, their instructor took the group for a walk around the park, past the C+-Certificate group, who were practising their galloping.
‘You girls keen to get your D Certificate?’ their instructor asked, walking in time with Becca and Jade.
‘Yes,’ Jade answered decisively for both of them.
‘Good. I think you’re both nearly ready. There are certificate examinations in a fortnight. If you both swot up on your theory, I think you’ll pass with flying colours.’
Jade and Becca grinned at each other.
After spending a whole morning being led around, Rose had lost her initial interest in riding. She gave back the jodhpurs gladly and complained that her bottom and legs were sore from the saddle. This made it easy for Jade to suggest that Rose spend the next few mornings with Laura, which worked out well for all of the girls. While Jade eagerly schooled Pip and practised answering questions from the Pony Club Manual with Mr White and Becca, Rose played with Laura’s dogs, tried on silly hats in the op shop, and learnt how to froth milk using the espresso maker at the café. In the afternoons, Jade and Rose would meet back at Granddad’s and lounge around together, reading, watching DVDs or baking, as they used to when they were friends in Auckland.
One afternoon, full of sugar after making a huge batch of ginger crunch, Jade felt brave. She found her granddad’s phone book and looked up Lewis, M. There was only one, which meant that she had no choice but to call.
‘I’m too scared!’ Jade said. ‘You do it.’
‘OK,’ Rose said, laughing and picking up the phone.
‘No, don’t! I will,’ Jade grabbed the phone, making Rose roll her eyes.
‘Make your mind up, scaredy-cat.’
Jade took a deep breath and dialled the number. While it rang, she rehearsed what she’d say in her head.
‘Hello, Kristen speaking,’ a young voice answered.
‘Hello, this is Jade Lennox. Could I please speak to Michaela Lewis?’ Jade said.
‘Sure, I’ll just get her,’ the young voice said. ‘Mum!’ Jade heard her shout in the background.
‘Hello,’ a new, deeper voice said eventually. ‘Michaela speaking.’
Not sure whether to call her Michaela or Ms Lewis, Jade somehow managed to explain in a mumble that she was a young rider doing a school assignment, and she would like to conduct an interview.
‘Of course—I’m flattered,’ Michaela said, to Jade’s surprise and relief. ‘Would you like to do it over the phone now?’
‘Um,’ Jade said, unprepared.
‘Wait; do you live locally?’ Michaela asked. ‘I’m free at ten-thirty on Friday morning if you’d like to come and meet Arius then?’
‘That would be perfect,’ Jade said.
Michaela laughed. ‘OK, great. You know where to go?’
‘Yep, I think I have the address here.’
‘Well, see you on Friday then, Jade.’
How could it be so easy to arrange a meeting with two Olympic stars? When Granddad came in from the garage, he found the girls dancing around the living room.
‘All hyped up on sugar, are we?’ he said, helping himself to a piece of ginger crunch.
‘Yes!’ Rose squealed.
‘Not just that, though,’ Jade said, trying to calm down and look serious. ‘I just rang an Olympian and she’s invited me to visit her stables on Friday!’
‘Good on you, girl,’ Granddad said, giving her a little hug.
Friday was only the day after tomorrow and Jade hadn’t really prepared any questions. Obviously she wanted to know how old Michaela had been when she started riding, how old Arius had been when she bought him, what training methods she used and whether she had any tips for young riders, but this was the opportunity of a lifetime—it shouldn’t be wasted on mundane questions. Jade wanted to know everything.
On Thursday morning, Jade, Rose and Laura spent the day at Becca’s, devising questions and admiring Dusty and Pip. Jade had gone on her first long road ride alone, all the way from Mr White’s to Becca’s house, while Laura’s mum took Rose and Laura in her car. Pip was at first reluctant to leave Brandy and Hamlet, but soon she had her ears pricked and was enjoying trotting along the grass verges, occasionally popping over little ditches. The ride took about forty-five minutes, and by the time Jade and Pip arrived they were both ready for a big drink of water.
Jade let Pip loose in Dusty’s paddock, and the two ponies cantered about together before settling down to munch on a biscuit of hay that Becca’s mum had provided.
‘That’s a lovely big pony you’ve got there, Jade,’ she said. ‘She could almost be a horse.’
‘Really?’ Jade said, pleased. She’d noticed Pip was big next to the other ponies at pony club, but hadn’t given it much thought.
For lunch Becca’s mum cooked the girls a big bacon and egg pie (and a smaller vegetarian one for Rose), and she made suggestions as they brainstormed interview questions.
‘Would it be rude to ask how many times she’s fallen off?’ Becca asked.
‘Probably, if you phrased it like that,’ Becca’s mum said. ‘What if you asked whether she’s had any bad falls and how she managed to get back on the horse, instead?’
Jade wrote this down. By the end of the afternoon she had filled four sides of refill paper with good suggestions.
‘Are you going to ride Pip there tomorrow?’ Laura asked. ‘It wouldn’t be much further from Mr White’s than here.’
‘I don’t know,’ Jade said. ‘It might be a bit rude turning up with a sweaty pony.’
‘She’d be used to it. I think you should.’
On Friday morning, while Rose was still fast asleep, Jade got up quietly, dressed in her carefully washed jodhpurs (but put an old pair of track pants over the top to keep them clean), pulled on her polished boots, filled her backpack with paper, pens and her list of questions, and walked to Mr White’s. She was too excited to eat breakfast.
Pip was grazing next to Brandy when Jade got there. She looked up as if to say It’s a bit early for a ride, isn’t it? And, instead of wandering over to the yards as usual, kept grazing.
‘Come on, girl,’ Jade said, holding out one of the slightly shrivelled carrots from the shed. ‘Please don’t be naughty. It’s an important day.’
Eventually Jade got Pip into the yard and gave her a good groom. Pip liked being groomed, especially around the ears, and was soon in a better mood. It was nine and the sun hadn’t come out fully, so when Jade had put the finishing touches on Pip, her black coat still wasn’t shining.
Jade was glad she’d cleaned Pip’s tack recently—at least that looked nice. By half past nine she’d stripped off the old track pants, mounted and was riding a hesitant Pip out the Whites’ gate.
There seemed to be more big milk tankers and logging trucks on the road on a Friday morning. Each time one passed, Pip shied and jogged, making Jade nervous.
‘Please settle down, miss,’ she said, trying to stroke the tense black neck without loosening the reins.
Jade had a good sense of direction and had listened carefully to her granddad’s instructions, so, although the roads she and Pip were riding down looked unfamiliar, she didn’t get lost.
After an hour of riding, Pip had calmed down. As they turned into Lane Road, where Michaela lived, Jade gasped. There were acres of beautifully kept paddocks with black-stained post-and-rail fencing. In these paddocks were eight young horses, who cantered over
to the fence to greet them. The sudden company rejuvenated Pip and made her jog again, but with her neck arched and in a showy rather than a naughty manner.
Past the paddocks was a long gravel driveway down to a farmhouse and stables. Jade rode shyly past the house and around to the stables, where she found a small boy playing with a litter of Jack Russell puppies.
‘Mum!’ he yelled when he saw Jade. ‘There’s a girl on a pony!’
‘Hi,’ Jade said, dismounting and patting Pip’s neck, thankful that she’d arrived safely. ‘Those are sweet puppies.’
‘It’s Suzie’s litter,’ he said proudly, picking up a squirming puppy and cuddling it. ‘This is the runt.’
‘You must be Jade?’ A small blonde woman wearing an old pair of boots had walked over from the house. ‘This is my son, Jack. He’s more into the dogs than the horses.’
‘I guess he’s a bit little for riding yet anyway,’ Jade said, running her stirrups up the leathers, nervously.
‘Oh, no,’ Michaela said. ‘I was riding when I was his age. And my daughter Kristen was in the saddle before she could walk. Would you like to tie your horse up?’
‘Yes, please,’ Jade said, conscious that she’d only been in the saddle for four months.
Michaela led Jade around the side of the house to some yards, similar to Mr White’s but carpeted with sawdust and equipped with a hay-net. Jade quickly untacked Pip, gave her a quick wipe with a twist of hay (as had been suggested to her by the Pony Club Manual), and then followed Michaela back into the house.
‘What’s your horse’s name?’ Michaela asked.
‘Pip.’
‘How long have you had her?’
‘Nearly five months—not very long,’ Jade said apologetically.
‘She’s a bit of a looker; awkward size, though.’
‘What do you mean?’ Jade missed the compliment completely.
‘Well, just that she’s a small horse or a very big pony. If you’re going to compete on her, that’ll complicate your entry.’
