There are some other wild ponies in Europe, too. The best known of these are the Camargue ponies. They live in the marshes of southern France. They’re tough and strong. All of them are gray—they look almost white. Sometimes people round them up and train them, the same way cowboys used to round up mustangs in the American West and train them to herd cattle.
All the wild horses we know about in the United States actually came from Europe. When people came to conquer North and South America or to settle here, they brought horses with them. Sometimes those horses ran away, and that’s how we got wild ponies over here. Out in the American West, there are herds of wild ponies that live on land the government owns. They are protected by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. When the herds get too large, the government rounds up some of the ponies, and people can adopt them. Before they’re allowed to adopt, the people have to prove that they can take care of the ponies, and if they don’t do a good job, the Bureau of Land Management takes the ponies back!
We have some wild ponies closer to my town of Willow Creek, too, and I bet you’ve heard about them. They live on Assateague Island, off the coast of my home state of Virginia. A lot of people have ideas about how the ponies got there in the first place. Nobody knows for sure, of course, but my favorite theory is that they came off a ship that was wrecked in a storm. It must have been an awful storm if the ponies survived and there weren’t enough people who survived to round up the ponies, but it shows you what great swimmers those ponies are. Anyway, the ponies are there, and they live in a sanctuary where they can run free. Once a year people round up a herd and make them swim across a channel to a nearby island called Chincoteague, where some of them are auctioned off to buyers, who train them and ride them.
Does this sound familiar to you? If it does, you’ve probably read one of my favorite books. It’s called Misty of Chincoteague, and it’s by Marguerite Henry. That’s a story about the pony-penning, which is what they call the auctioning of the ponies. I must have read that book a zillion times, and each time I read it I like it more. Reading about ponies isn’t the same as riding them, but it’s the next-best thing.
Today most of the ponies and horses in the world belong to people. They are raised by people, trained by people, and ridden by people. That’s been good for the horses and ponies, and it’s been good for the people, too. It’s been especially good for me and my friends because we’re pony-crazy. It scares me to think of Macaroni living out in the wild without me to take care of him, and I’m pretty sure it would scare Macaroni, too. But I’ve got to tell you, seeing the herd of wild ponies made me understand something about ponies that I’d never understood before. No matter how much we love and take care of our ponies, no matter how much they need us and rely on us, they all have ancestors who lived in the wild.
Now when I look at Macaroni, Outlaw, and Samurai, I know there’s a part of their hearts that is, and always will be, wild. I love that part of Macaroni just as much as I love the part that needs me.
Turn the page to continue reading from the Pony Tails series
1 Training Ponies
“Good job, Sam!” Corey Takamura said happily. Her pony, Samurai, had just stepped between two rocks placed in the middle of the training ring. “You did it!”
Corey was thrilled. Samurai was becoming a better-trained pony every day, but he still had a habit of misbehaving. Today he hadn’t misbehaved. He had followed her instructions perfectly!
Corey patted her pony’s neck to tell him how pleased she was. Then she turned to face her two best friends. They were mounted on their ponies at the opposite end of the ring. “Did you guys see that?” she called.
“We sure did,” May Grover answered.
“Way to go, Sam!” Jasmine James cheered.
Corey could tell that her best friends were just as proud of Sam as she was. The three girls loved ponies and riding so much, they called themselves the Pony Tails. They were all next-door neighbors, and each of them owned her own pony. They rode together almost every day. Today they were riding in the training ring behind May’s house. They were working on gaining better control of their ponies for trail riding.
Corey and Sam trotted back to the opposite end of the ring.
“Sam’s doing great, Corey,” May said. “I’m sure he’ll be much better on next week’s trail ride.”
“I hope so,” Corey replied. “He certainly wasn’t very cooperative on Horse Wise’s last trail ride.”
Neither of Corey’s best friends could argue with that.
Horse Wise was the name of the Pony Club at Pine Hollow Stables, where the girls took riding lessons. A few weeks earlier, all the members of Horse Wise had gone out on the trail. Most of the horses and ponies had been obedient, but Samurai had acted up the whole time. Twice he’d jumped over branches lying across the path instead of going around them. Then he’d refused to follow the other horses and ponies across a stream. Corey wanted Samurai to be prepared for the next Pony Club trail ride.
“Your turn, Jasmine,” Corey said.
Jasmine nodded, then gave her Welsh pony, Outlaw, the signal to walk.
Corey watched as Jasmine used her legs and reins to steer Outlaw toward the two rocks. The Pony Tails had placed the rocks about twelve inches apart, just the way May’s father had said to do it. Mr. Grover’s job was to train horses, and he knew a lot about ponies, too. When Corey had told him about Sam’s behavior on the trail, he had recommended this exercise. He’d said it would help Sam learn how to follow very specific instructions. That was important on the trail, where riders faced lots of unexpected obstacles such as rocks, brush, and even other animals.
Outlaw approached the two rocks at a walk. But instead of following Jasmine’s instruction to step between the rocks, he suddenly broke into a trot.
“No, Outlaw!” Jasmine said. She pulled firmly on the reins as he veered off to the left. “That’s not what I asked you to do.” She turned Outlaw around. “Come on, boy,” she added in a patient voice. “We’re going to try it again.”
This time Outlaw did just what Jasmine asked him to do. She was smiling when she turned her pony around.
Next it was May’s turn. She headed forward on her shaggy yellow pony. She had named him Macaroni because his golden coat was almost exactly the color of macaroni and cheese. Macaroni had a calm disposition and almost never misbehaved. Corey and Jasmine thought Macaroni was the complete opposite of their friend May. She was unpredictable and liked to act up sometimes.
Macaroni followed May’s instructions perfectly.
“Good boy, Macaroni,” Corey called out as he and May trotted back to the other end. Corey wasn’t surprised that Macaroni had done well, but he still deserved lots of praise. It wasn’t easy for a pony to follow such specific directions.
Corey nudged Sam toward the rocks. It was their turn again.
The girls and their ponies practiced the exercise for another half hour. Then Jasmine pointed to her watch. “It’s almost dinnertime,” she called out.
“Already?” May groaned.
Corey groaned, too. She never wanted to stop riding, but today she especially hated to dismount. She and her mother were going out for a “special dinner,” and Corey would much rather stay in the ring.
Corey slowly followed May and Jasmine as they led their ponies over to the fence. On sunny days like today, the Pony Tails liked to groom their ponies outside. That way they could talk and stay together a little while longer.
Corey tied Samurai to the fence alongside Macaroni and Outlaw. She hadn’t told her friends about tonight’s dinner yet. As she began checking Sam’s hooves for stones, she tried to think of a way to bring up the topic.
Just then May spoke up.
“Guess what, Corey,” May began. “My sister Dottie saw your mother and Mr. Lee at the movies the other night.”
Corey was so startled, the hoof pick fell from her fingers. Her face burned as she bent down to pick it up.
“Dottie was with her
current boyfriend, Peter,” May went on. She giggled. “And get this, Corey. Dottie thought your mother was on a date, too!”
Jasmine carefully placed Outlaw’s hoof back on the ground. “Your sister is so boy-crazy, May,” she said, rolling her eyes. “She always thinks people are in love with each other!”
“I know,” May agreed. “Isn’t that the craziest thing you ever heard, Corey?”
May glanced at Corey, expecting to see her friend laughing at Dottie’s silly remark. But Corey was concentrating so hard on picking Sam’s hooves, she wasn’t even looking at May.
“Corey?” Jasmine said softly.
Corey looked up. “My mom was on a date with Mr. Lee,” she told her friends. “She’s been dating Mr. Lee, I mean Kyle, a lot lately.”
“What?” May screeched so loudly, all three ponies jumped.
“May!” Jasmine gave her a warning look.
May clapped a hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry, Corey,” she said from behind her fingers. May hadn’t meant to react like that, but she couldn’t help it. She had never pictured Corey’s mother, a veterinarian whom everyone called Doc Tock, going out on a date. She had especially never pictured her dating Mr. Lee, who lived across the street from the Pony Tails.
Corey sighed. “That’s okay, May,” she said. “I was surprised, too, when my mom first started going out with him.”
“Don’t you like Mr. Lee, Corey?” Jasmine asked.
Corey shrugged. “He’s okay,” she said. “But …” Then Corey told her friends what was bothering her. “My mom is making me go to Sir Loyne’s Steak House tonight with her and Kyle.” She made a face. “Guess who’s coming with us.”
“Alice?” May asked. “Poor you!” she said as Corey nodded.
Jasmine patted Corey’s arm. Mr. Lee was divorced, just like Corey’s mother, and his daughter, Alice, stayed with him several days each week. Alice went to Fenton Hall, a private school, so the Pony Tails didn’t know her very well. But what they did know of her, they didn’t like very much.
“Alice is so unfriendly,” Jasmine said. “She was on my soccer team last year, and she barely said a word to anyone.”
“She never waves back to me when I wave to her,” May chimed in.
“Every time I see her, her nose is poked in a book,” Corey said. “I mean, I like to read, too, but Alice doesn’t seem interested in doing anything but reading.”
“Why is your mother making you go out to dinner with Alice and Mr. Lee?” asked May.
“She says it will help Alice and me get to know each other better,” Corey explained. She sighed as she dropped her hoof pick into her grooming bucket and reached for a currycomb. “I don’t want to get to know Alice better,” Corey told her friends. “I don’t see why my mother—”
Suddenly a terrible thought popped into her mind. She looked at her friends in a panic.
“What if my mother wants to marry Mr. Lee?” she said. “Then Alice would be my … stepsister!”
Jasmine tried to calm her friend down. “Your mom’s only dating Mr. Lee, Corey,” she pointed out. “That doesn’t mean she’s going to marry him.”
“Right,” May said. “Dating is no big deal. My sisters go out on dates all the time.”
Corey felt a little better—until her mother came to the back door of the Takamuras’ house.
“Coreeey! It’s time to get ready for dinner, honey!” Doc Tock called.
“I’m coming, Mom!” Corey called back.
“Good luck, Corey,” Jasmine said as Corey collected her grooming tools and untied Samurai.
“I bet it won’t be so bad,” May said encouragingly.
“Thanks, guys.” Corey waved good-bye, then led Samurai across the Grovers’ backyard, toward her own stable.
May and Jasmine said good-bye and went back to grooming their ponies.
“Poor Corey,” Jasmine said. “It must feel really strange to have your mom start dating all of a sudden.”
“It would feel even stranger to have Alice Lee become your stepsister all of a sudden!” May said.
Jasmine couldn’t even imagine having someone as unfriendly as Alice become her stepsister. But she tried to look on the bright side. “At least Alice wouldn’t cry all the time like my baby sister does,” she said.
May nodded. “Alice definitely wouldn’t talk on the phone all the time, the way my sisters do,” she said.
Jasmine could tell that May was trying to look on the bright side, too. But as the two girls went back to grooming their ponies, they both felt doubtful about the situation. Corey’s “special dinner” with Alice Lee was bound to be a disaster.
2 Dinner at Sir Loyne’s
“Alice, honey,” Kyle Lee suggested cheerfully, “why don’t you tell Doc Tock and Corey about some of the great books you’ve been reading lately?”
Alice blinked at her father from behind her long, dark bangs but didn’t say a word. Instead she leaned down and took a long drink of her soda through the straw.
What is her problem? Corey thought. Ever since the four of them had arrived at Sir Loyne’s Steak House, Alice had barely said two words. Didn’t Alice know it was rude to ignore her father like that?
“Your dad told me Harriet the Spy is one of your favorite books,” Doc Tock said. She smiled at Alice. “Believe it or not, I read that book when I was a girl. I loved it, too.”
“That’s nice,” Alice mumbled.
“Isn’t that the book about a girl who keeps notebooks and spies on people?” Corey asked Alice. Alice stared at Corey for a second, then looked away.
Fine, Corey thought. She reached for a roll. If Alice isn’t going to talk to me, I’m not going to try to talk to her anymore. This was about the fifth time this evening that Alice had completely ignored her.
“That’s right, Corey,” Doc Tock said, answering Corey’s question. “Harriet the Spy is a great book. Tuck Everlasting is another one of my favorites. Have you read that one?” she asked Alice.
Alice nodded, then took another sip of soda.
“How about you, Corey?” Kyle asked. “Your mother tells me you like to read horse magazines. It sounds as if you like animals as much as she does.”
“I do,” Corey told him. “I might want to be a vet, too, when I grow up.”
“Oh, really?” Kyle said. “It’s certainly an interesting job.”
“That’s for sure,” Corey agreed. “This week we’re taking care of a sick parrot, plus there’s a litter of yellow Lab puppies staying in our barn. They are so adora—”
“I can’t stand puppies,” Alice declared abruptly. Corey stopped talking in midsentence. “Especially Labrador retrievers,” Alice went on, brushing her bangs off her face. “My friend Maura’s puppy always jumps up on me and licks my whole face. It’s totally disgusting.”
Corey stared at Alice in surprise. Corey was used to being around people who loved animals the way she and her mother did. She couldn’t believe that Alice didn’t like Labrador retrievers or cute little puppies. Corey’s own dog was a Labrador—a black one named Dracula—and Corey thought he was the best dog in the whole world.
“My Lab is really sweet,” Corey told Alice. “I love it when he kisses my face.”
“You love it?” Alice stared at Corey as if Corey had just said she loved to eat worms.
Corey’s face flushed. This dinner was going even worse than she had expected!
Luckily, the waiter arrived before Corey had to reply. “Four Sir Loyne cheeseburgers coming up,” he announced.
Normally Corey loved the burgers at Sir Loyne’s. But as the waiter placed the pewter plate filled with french fries and a big cheeseburger in front of her, Corey realized she didn’t want the cheeseburger. She didn’t even want the french fries. All she wanted was to get away from Alice Lee.
“This looks absolutely delicious,” Doc Tock said brightly.
“It certainly does,” Kyle agreed. “Doesn’t it, Alice?”
But Alice didn’t reply. Both she a
nd Corey silently stared at their food as Doc Tock and Kyle went on about how delicious it looked.
Corey didn’t say another word until halfway through the meal, when Doc Tock turned to her again. “What were you and your friends doing with those rocks in the Grovers’ training ring this afternoon?” she asked.
Corey put down her fork. She didn’t really feel like talking, but she didn’t want to be rude, either.
“We were training our ponies to be good trail riders,” she explained.
“How do you do that?” asked Kyle.
Corey told Kyle and her mother about the exercise May’s father had suggested. For a moment she almost forgot that Alice was sitting across the table. Corey was too busy talking about her favorite subject—ponies—to think about Alice.
“Why do you want the ponies to walk between two rocks?” Kyle asked.
“Mr. Grover said it helps prepare them for the trail,” Corey explained. “My Pony Club has another trail ride coming up next weekend, and I want Sam to get more used to following specific directions. You should have seen him today, Mom!” Corey went on proudly. “He did just what I asked him to do—every single time!”
“That’s great, honey,” said Doc Tock.
“It sounds as if Sam’s come a long way,” Kyle added.
“He has,” Corey said. “I think all my work with him has helped—and so has Horse Wise.”
“Horse Wise?” For the first time in fifteen minutes, Alice spoke. “Is that the name of a book or something?” she asked.
“It’s not the name of a book!” Corey laughed out loud at Alice’s remark. “Horse Wise is …” She was about to tell Alice it was the name of her Pony Club. But Corey’s voice trailed off as she noticed the spark of anger in Alice’s eyes.
May Goes to England (Pony Tails Book 11) Page 5