Pony Club Cup (Woodbury Pony Club Book 1)

by Josephine Pullein-Thompson

“It doesn’t matter whether you win or lose, it’s your score which counts,” Julia told her, “and you clocked up a high one compared with some of the earlier teams. You all did very well.”

  “I got the question about blacksmiths’ tools,” said Paul, who was looking quite pleased with himself.

  “Wonders, go and tack-up for dressage,” ordered Julia. “And the Washouts had better come in and get their bearings. I can see the Frogmorton lot approaching.”

  The two teams filed into the dining room of the farmhouse and took their seats at opposite ends of the table. The question master and scorer were sitting in the centre of one side, and, facing them, the audience on rows of chairs filled the rest of the room.

  Hanif was pleased to see that the Frogmorton team, wearing black coats and buttonholes, looked very young and nervous and were shaking worse than he was.

  The question master, who was fat, red-faced and jolly, seemed to be trying hard to put the contestants at their ease. He made a lot of jokes as he announced the teams and explained the rules. Then they were off. Lesley had the first question. It was on the correct fitting of the saddle and seemed suspiciously easy, but she answered it well.

  Alice was asked about martingales, Hanif about the aids and position of the pony when circling, and Lizzie to explain the natural and artificial aids.

  The Frogmortons were less certain over the fitting of the bridle; they were good at bits, but confused about the halt and forgot several reasons why a pony might refuse. So it went on, questions about feeding and points of the horse, questions on lameness and first aid. Questions on racing and horse trials, polo and show-jumping, questions on horsey writers and painters. They had no time to think how they were doing—they were completely absorbed with question and answer, or waiting, lynx-like, to pounce on a thing unanswered by the other side.

  When it was over and they burst out into the sunshine again, they found David, Mrs Rooke, most of the parents and the mounted Wonders all waiting to hear how they had done.

  “We weren’t bad,” said Lesley. “We managed to answer one or two of their questions which may be a help.”

  “We did much better than I expected,” added Lizzie.

  “Lizzie knew all about horsey painters,” said Oliver with pride.

  “And Harry answered a horrible question on polo, which the girl on the other side had to pass.”

  “Which of our teams has done best so far?” asked Sarah.

  “The Wonders did best in the turnout, the Washouts in the quiz,” Julia answered.

  “But the dressage carries more weight than either of them, so let’s start riding in,” said David. “Come and find me in the collecting ring as soon as you’re ready. Harry, will you ride round and round the horsebox park at the walk and trot, just exercising and keeping Jupiter very calm, until I send someone to fetch you. Don’t start practising bits of the test or you’ll upset him.”

  Mr Franklin had already tacked up Jupiter, and, carrying Hanif’s crash cap, was coming to meet them. When he had seen Hanif off on his first circuit of the horsebox park, he helped Alice with Saffron, which was just as well for her hands had suddenly become weak and unable to pull up girths or fasten buckles. It was worse when she was mounted, for her legs had become weak too, and an excited Saffron, stiff-backed and stargazing, jogged over to David.

  “It’s having no martingale,” wailed Alice.

  “You managed without one on Sunday,” David reminded her. “Calm down, put him on a circle and don’t trot until you’ve got his head down at the walk. I’ll sort you out as soon as I’ve got the first four going.”

  James, looking solid, straight and not at all nervous, was riding round outside the arena, waiting to be called in. As the judge, sitting in a car at C, honked the horn, James broke into a steady trot and entered at A.

  “I can’t bear to look,” said Mrs Morgan, who seemed much more nervous than James. “Tell me how he’s doing, Alice.”

  Alice watched as she circled. “A good halt,” she said, “and he’s standing there for hours, making sure the judge has noticed. Now he’s proceeding at a nice steady trot. He’s remembered to sit. The first loop of his serpentine looks a bit flat to me. The second one’s better, and the third. He cantered a bit late, but it was a very smooth transition and he’s on the right leg. I think you can look, Mrs Morgan, he’s doing very well.”

  “Well done, that was good,” said David, as James came out, patting Ferdinand and looking pleased.

  “Good luck, Netti,” shouted the Woodbury supporters as she rode into the roped enclosure and began to walk round.

  “Go and see how Harry’s doing. I’ll want both of you over here in about five to ten minutes,” David told Alice as Mrs Rooke came hurrying towards him with the urgent look of a sheep that has lost its lamb.

  “David, Chess is having an attack of temperament. He suddenly refuses to stand. I don’t know what can have got into him. He’s never behaved like this before, and the poor child’s working herself up into a state.”

  “Send them over here,” said David calmly. “Yes, Paul, what’s the matter with you?”

  “I’ve forgotten the test and lost my copy,” announced Paul in a voice of quiet despair.

  “Well, cheer up and watch Netti, she’s just beginning. Now, Sarah, what’s your trouble?”

  “He keeps swinging his quarters about and he won’t stand.”

  “Well, calm yourself down, hold the reins in one hand and pat his neck. If the rider gets tensed up she’s bound to affect her pony.”

  “Yes, I know. I wish you’d tell Mummy to go away, she’s making me worse.”

  Alice found Hanif cowering behind a very large horsebox.

  “I’m hiding from my stepfather,” he explained. “He found the scoreboard and worked out exactly how many marks the Washouts need to take the lead.”

  “What a waste of time,” said Alice briskly. “I heard David telling Mrs Rooke that everything depended on the cross-country. It’s got a possible total of two hundred marks.”

  “Yes, you’re right and it’s possible to get them all too,” said Hanif, cheering up. “No one ever gets a hundred per cent for dressage, do they?”

  “I suppose Olympic gold medallists might, but no one else. Let’s go over there and school near Lizzie and Lesley. They’re halfway to the collecting ring.”

  Lizzie and Rajah seemed to be going very well in their steady, plodding way.

  “Ra seems to go better when he’s a bit excited,” Lizzie told them happily. “It gives him more impulsion. Did you see how Netti was doing?”

  “No, David sent me away just as she was starting. We ought to trot round a bit, Harry. Come on, let’s circle.”

  Lesley rode across to the arena feeling quite surprised at her own confidence and calmness. She was glad that she didn’t have to go in the cross-country. She knew that she’d only have made a fool of herself and given her mother and Sarah a chance to crow, but she was actually looking forward to the dressage and she knew that Stardust was going to enjoy it too.

  “Don’t try and do the best test of your life,” said David when she joined him in the collecting ring. “Just aim for a reasonably good one. She’s going beautifully. Her carriage and cadence are improving every day.”

  “How have the others done?” asked Lesley, who wasn’t used to compliments.

  “Not badly. James and Netti were good. Sarah started badly, but did quite a neat test once she settled. Paul forgot his, but the judge sorted him out. He won’t have lost too many marks.”

  They watched Paul halt neatly at the end of his test.

  “Right, he’s finished,” said David. “Now, you know what to do? Walk round outside the arena until she’s ready. The judge will toot the car horn at you.”

  Paul, shamefaced, tried to creep away unnoticed, but David called him over. “That wasn’t at all bad for your first try in public,” he told him. “Plenty of people forget their tests. The great thing is to keep your head and
not go completely to pieces. You won’t have lost many marks.”

  Alice, Hanif and Lizzie had all arrived in the collecting ring and were trying to watch Lesley while riding their ponies in. Mrs Roberts handed round barley sugar and made comforting noises. David made Alice and Hanif trot circles, but seemed to be watching Lesley most of the time.

  Stardust seemed pleased to be in the arena, showing off her paces to a judge without the bother of keeping up with a ride, or the worry of jumps. She halted elegantly, head high, neck arched and on the bit and then trotted on with a cadence that none of the other Woodbury ponies possessed. Her serpentines flowed, fluent and supple, her canter was slow but full of impulsion, her ears were pricked and her expression contented throughout.

  David looked more and more pleased as the test went on, and Mrs Rooke and Sarah, standing beside him, were obviously impressed.

  “What a pity Lesley’s so useless at cross-country and show-jumping,” said Mrs Rooke as her daughter came to a final halt. “Dressage alone doesn’t get you anywhere.”

  “Oh I don’t know about that. There’s Olympic dressage, plenty of riding club dressage and even a pony club inter-branch dressage. Perhaps we’ll have her representing the Woodbury at Stoneleigh next year.” David laughed; he seemed rather pleased at the prospect. “Now, Alice, keep calm, sit very light in the sitting trot and if he tries to get his head up, keep squeezing that inside rein.”

  Alice nodded. She felt nervous, but no longer weak. She made Saffron overbend a little as she walked round outside, then she tried leg-yielding. He was giving his back and relaxing his jaw. The judge tooted at her. Slowly, she thought, very, very slowly, there’s tons of time.

  He was on the bit when she entered at A, but she lost him a little as he came to a halt, and she squeezed the rein and put him back on the bit before she saluted. As she trotted round she could feel Saffron gradually settling down and relaxing. He seemed to recognise the familiar markers and to begin to feel at home. By the time she turned him into the serpentine he was going well and she was able to concentrate on making the right-sized loops.

  Then they cantered, and she was so pleased with him for staying on the bit that she nearly told him what a clever pony he was, but choked the words back just in time. The circle seemed all right but her transition down to trot went wrong, his back went stiff, his head began to go up and she had risen at the trot when she should have been sitting. But he relaxed when they were walking and she was able to keep him on the bit as they began trotting again, and now he was going round to his best side and everything became easier. At last she was turning down the centre. G seemed very close to the judge—this time she looked at her and smiled when she saluted.

  “You clever boy,” she told Saffron as she rode out and was allowed to speak again. The Woodbury people rushed up to pat him. “Well done,” they said, “he didn’t stargaze at all.”

  Lesley gave her a small smile. “David said you were doing well. Now we’ve got to keep our fingers crossed for Lizzie, because Harry’s going to make a complete mess of it, he’s practically in hysterics. David’s trying to talk some sense into him.”

  Alice led Saffron across the collecting ring. David was leaning on his shooting stick and saying, “I don’t give a damn what sort of cricket score you knock up. Lizzie will do a reasonable test so you don’t matter, but you’re going in, and that’s an order.”

  “It’s not so bad once you’ve started,” Alice told Hanif, “and by the end I was quite enjoying myself, honestly.”

  “Just keep your head and stop fussing about scores,” added David. “Will you ride round with him, Alice? I want to watch Lizzie.”

  “Now he’s furious with me,” moaned Hanif as he mounted and David limped away.

  “No he isn’t,” said Alice as they walked off, side by side. “Don’t you remember when he was furious with Mrs Blacker, he went pale with hard steely eyes and set lips. He’s not a bit like that now. Anyway, Sarah panicked before she went in and Paul forgot his test. I expect you get used to this sort of thing if you’re a team trainer. Do you want to give Jupe a trot?”

  Except for looking down, Lizzie was doing well. She was being very accurate and Rajah was moving with plenty of impulsion and remaining steadily on the bit. His long plodding stride was more cadenced than Ferdinand’s but lacked the lightness of Stardust’s.

  “He goes like a German horse and Stardust more like French horse,” observed David to no one in particular. “Both good in their way.”

  “Well done, Lizzie,” he said as she came out. “I’m going to buy you a collar with upward pointing spikes on it before your next test, but, apart from looking down, you rode really well.”

  Alice rode right up to the entrance with Hanif. “Good luck,” she said. “It’ll soon be over. Lovely cross-country this afternoon.”

  “Lizzie’s done well so you can regard it as a school,” said David. “Try and keep him calm, never mind about doing the movements at markers.”

  As Hanif rode round, Mr Franklin appeared with an expensive-looking camera. “I must keep out of sight,” he told Lizzie and Alice. “Can I hide between your ponies?”

  The judge tooted her car horn and, to all the Woodbury supporters’ horror, Jupiter immediately broke into a sideways canter and bounced his way towards A. But Hanif suddenly decided not to enter. He turned the pony and rode him all the way round outside the arena on the other rein. Gradually they settled into a trot, and this time, when they reached A, they entered. Jupiter was trotting, but he was bounding along far too full of life and not under control at all. It was obvious that Hanif was going to have a battle on his hands if he tried to halt at X. He didn’t try, and he went on, slowing down gently and halted at G. He took off his cap, but Jupiter was impatient to be off so the cap went on again very quickly, and they bustled on. The serpentine was performed at a very brisk pace and then Jupiter bounced eagerly into a canter and circled far too fast. However, to the anxious watchers’ great surprise, he consented to come back to a trot and then a walk as he changed the rein. Going round the other way, Hanif eased him into a very gentle trot and managed his second serpentine at a much more controlled pace. The second canter and circle were better too and finally he trotted down the centre and halted quite obediently at G.

  “One huge sigh of relief all round,” said David. “And it’s a good sign if you finish going better than you started. He’s not an easy pony, but I think we’re making an impression.”

  “You certainly are,” agreed Mr Franklin, emerging from his hiding place. “A couple of weeks ago he would have left the arena at full gallop and disappeared into the car park. I’ll just get a photograph as they come out.”

  Hanif was patting Jupiter and looking at David, trying to tell from his expression whether he had done well enough. “Yes, you did all right,” David told him. “You used your legs and your brains. No instructor can ask for more. We’ll get the old horse sorted out in the end. These things take time.”

  “If everyone’s finished, can we have lunch?” asked Rupert.

  “Yes, small drinks and feeds for ponies and riders taking part in the cross-country.” David looked at his watch. There’s an hour and a half to digest.”

  “We’ve lost Tina,” said Lizzie, looking round with a worried expression.

  “No, it’s just that the individuals are doing each section in a bunch at the end, but Julia and Oliver are looking after her. As soon as you’ve eaten we’ll walk the cross-country,” David went on. “Or at least you will. Mr Franklin’s going to drive me from fence to fence.”

  Lynne and Lesley were the happiest people at lunch as they had both finished for the day and felt that they done well. Hanif was much more cheerful now that dressage was over, but Rupert’s gloom increased minute by minute. Sarah had seen a plan of the course and said there were two waters and a ditch, as well as a quarry, and they were all bound to have black plastic.

  Mr Franklin and Mrs Rooke had got together over the mar
ks and kept rushing to the scoreboard to see if the dressage results were out yet. It seemed that the Frogmorton had won the turnout, and the East Tulworth the quiz, but by very small margins. The Washouts had tied second in the quiz, while the Wonders were a very close third in the turnout, but as their combined marks were good they’d moved up to second place overall, while Washouts were tying third with several other teams. Cranford Vale hadn’t entered, to everyone’s surprise.

  “We’re nine points ahead of you,” Sarah told the Washouts, when she had seen her mother’s score sheet.

  “The whole thing is wide open,” Mr Franklin told her firmly. “Nine points is nothing at this stage. We’ll have much more idea where we stand once the dressage marks are out, but as David says the final results depend heavily on the cross-country.”

  “I wish you’d all shut up about the cross-country, it’s putting me off my lunch,” complained Rupert.

  “Now concentrate,” said David when they were all assembled at the start. “No chattering about other things. Lynne and Lesley, you’d better come in the car, I don’t want you distracting the riders. Mr Roberts is going to walk round with you and make sure that you notice the yellow direction arrows and work out a sensible approach, and I’ll wait for you at each fence. Now, this is the start. Don’t start before you’re told. See you at fence number one.”

  It was a straight run to the first fence, a brush, built out in the middle of a field.

  “It’s a bit low. Ours will trip over it,” James told Hanif in a dissatisfied voice. But everyone else was pleased with it.

  “Always ride carefully at first fences,” David told them. “Your pony may not realise that this is a cross-country course. He may be thinking of his stable companion or his next feed, so make absolutely sure he’s concentrating. And, as this fence is stuck out in the middle of a field, make quite sure he doesn’t surprise you by running out. O.K.?”

  Number two was straight ahead, rustic rails with cross poles, and this was set in an actual fence.

  “Nice and easy, none of your ponies should mind that,” said David. “But you are still going away from home and stable companions, so ride at it.”