I try to make a note of what I’m feeding Sam and how much he eats. I change his diet in different seasons, and it’s important to have a record of when I make a change and what it is. I also make a note if he drinks a lot (he does, especially in hot weather) or sweats a lot (ditto). I even note when he seems particularly cheerful and cooperative.
I keep the journal on a shelf next to Sam’s stall. There’s a pencil and a pen there, too, attached by a string so I won’t have to go hunting for something to write with every time I need to put something in the journal. Keeping the journal handy reminds me that I need to write in it.
Most of what I write in the journal is for Sam—his health, his diet, and so on. Some of it, though, is for me. I write down the things I’m working on and the things I’m learning. I know the first time I ever jumped with Sam, and I know the first time he bucked and threw me. I write down when the Pony Tails go on a picnic and when Sam’s stablemate, Alexander, does something really cute. I write down when Sam is wonderful (that’s just about every day) and when I miss him (when I’m at my dad’s). One of the nice things about a journal is that I don’t have to write much to remember a lot. The other day, Sam was very playful. There was a loose piece of yarn hanging from the sleeve of my red sweater, and every time I moved my arm, he watched it. His ears perked forward and his eyes opened wide. Then, when I walked away from him, he sort of chased after it and tried to nip at it. He was behaving just like a kitten with a ball of yarn. It was so cute! In the journal, I just wrote, “kitten.” That one little word written there will always remind me of a very special time I had with my pony.
Turn the page to continue reading from the Pony Tails series
1 Jitters
Jasmine was embarrassed to read what she’d just written. But Corey and May were her best friends, and she had to be honest. “Here goes,” she said with a groan. She picked up the sheet of paper that was marked “Equitation Class.” Max Regnery of Pine Hollow Stables had asked all riders in the upcoming horse show to write down their goals for each class. The three friends were in Jasmine’s room discussing what they had written.
“‘In Equitation I want to keep my wrists relaxed, my knees in, my heels down, my posture straight,’” she read.
“That’s it?” asked May with a grin.
Jasmine felt herself turn from pink to red. “There’s more. ‘I want to make sure I don’t post too high on the trot.’” In posting, riders move up and down in the saddle. A rider who rises too high can lose control and wind up bouncing. That was truly bad form. “‘I want my seat in the canter to be smooth, just an inch or two out of the saddle.’”
“It’s your first horse show!” said Corey. “You can’t be perfect. Nobody is ever perfect, not even great riders.”
May crossed her arms. “I have a mission for you.”
Jasmine groaned. Another goal!
“I want you to throw away that list,” May said. “And I want you to come up with one single goal for Equitation.”
Jasmine’s heart sank. If she only had one goal and she missed that goal, she would be miserable. But she knew May and Corey were right. She closed her eyes, trying to think of the right goal. She found it and opened her eyes again. “I don’t want to make a complete idiot of myself.”
“Put it positively,” Corey said. Max had told them all their goals had to be about hopes, not fears.
“I want to be”—Jasmine took a deep breath—“poised.” It sounded so stupid. It was like wanting to be beautiful, or a genius.
“Good goal,” May said. “Write it down, put it in the envelope, and seal the envelope so you can’t change your mind.”
As Jasmine licked the envelope, her heart fluttered. Now she couldn’t take it back.
“What about your goals for Showing and Sitting and the Pony Pleasure Class?” asked Corey.
Jasmine grinned. Those were easy. “I want to look relaxed even if I’m not. I want Outlaw to hold his head proudly. Of course, that means I have to give him something to be proud of. I want him to show his natural talent.”
May nodded. “And what about the Relay Race?”
Jasmine had been thinking about the Relay Race for weeks. She had been imagining that she might save the day, bringing her team from far, far behind. She was ashamed to tell Corey and May that she had imagined the crowd on its feet cheering as she crossed the finish line.
May must have had some idea what Jasmine was thinking because she nodded and said, “Don’t worry. The important thing is to have a goal.”
Jasmine pulled a slip from another envelope. “‘My goal for the Relay Race is not to drop the egg and have it splatter all over the ring the way it did at the last practice,’” she read.
“Outstanding,” said May and Corey together.
“Max will like that one,” said May.
“Not after I screw up,” Jasmine said. She licked the envelope and sealed it. Now her goals were set.
“My goals are pretty humdrum,” Corey said. “I want to keep Samurai interested during Showing and Sitting and Pleasure Class.” Sam got bored easily and showed it, which judges did not like. “I want to keep my heels down and my wrists relaxed in the Pony Hunter Class.” This class was judged on style, rather than speed, so a rider’s form was very important.
May read her goals. “‘In the first two classes I want to be calm. Sometimes I get so excited I make Macaroni nervous. In the Pony Hunter Class I want to take my time and not rush. In the Relay Race I want to get the team keyed up without turning them into nervous wrecks.’” May groaned. “In other words, I don’t want to be me. I want to be some nice, cool, calm, collected person.”
“Hey,” said Corey with a grin. “You never know.”
The girls sealed their envelopes. They had to give them to Max at the beginning of the horse show. He would use them in judging Best in Show.
“We could win all the events,” Corey said dreamily.
May got a faraway look in her eyes. “If we sweep all the events, we’ll be …”
“The Dream Team,” Corey and May said together. They gave each other high fives. They were about to say “Jake,” which was what the Pony Tails did when they said the same thing at the same time. But Corey and May realized that Jasmine had fallen silent.
They looked at her.
“I’m not dream material,” Jasmine said. “It’s my first show.”
“You’re a natural,” said Corey with a grin. “Say it. Dream Team.”
“Dream Team,” Jasmine said softly.
“Louder,” said May.
“Dream Team,” Jasmine said as May and Corey joined in. They gave each other a Pony Tail super high five, which was actually a high ten because they used both hands. Then they said, “Jake.”
The Pony Tails weren’t a club. They were best friends, which was even better.
“We should have badges or something so everyone will know we’re the Dream Team,” said Corey.
“Max wants all riders to be Pine Hollow riders and nothing else,” May explained. “So we can’t wear badges.”
“I can see that,” Corey said, “but could we have a secret sign? Something that only we recognize?”
“I’m getting an idea,” May said. She raised a finger.
Corey and Jasmine looked at each other and grinned. May’s great ideas were something else.
“We’re the Pony Tails, right?” said May.
The other two nodded.
“So we’ll wear ponytails,” said May triumphantly.
Corey and May heaved sighs of relief. For once May’s great idea was great.
“No one will know but us,” May said. But then she jumped up and looked at her watch. “I promised my mother I’d clean my closet this afternoon.”
“That’s a first,” Corey said, standing up.
“No clean closet, no horse show,” said May. She dashed out the door.
“I told my mother I’d see how Gorilla is doing,” Corey said.
“Goril
la?” Jasmine asked. Corey’s mother, Dr. Takamura, was a veterinarian. Doc Tock, as everyone called her, took care of strange animals from time to time, but a gorilla? “Where do you keep a gorilla? I know you have a big stable, but gorillas need a lot of room.”
“Actually, Gorilla is a kitten,” Corey said with a grin. “He’s really bossy. So we call him Gorilla. Want to meet him?”
Usually Jasmine would have loved to meet a cat that acted like a gorilla, but she couldn’t get her mind off the show.
“Later,” she said.
“I’ll tell Gorilla you said hello,” Corey said, taking off and leaving Jasmine alone in her room.
Jasmine wandered over to her desk and picked up the riding book the riders at Pine Hollow used. She opened it to the section on equitation.
Jasmine was good at equitation. She always kept her heels down and her knees in. But you can never be too well prepared, she thought. She opened the book to a page headed “The Correct Seat.” It showed examples of stirrups too long and stirrups too short, and of a rider with a back too round and a back too stiff. And then it showed a picture of a rider with a perfect seat.
Jasmine thought maybe she should go out and get on Outlaw to check her seat. But she wasn’t allowed to ride alone, and May and Corey were busy. So what could she do?
Jasmine loved to draw. One of the ways she got better at riding was by drawing ponies and riders. She realized that drawing would be a good way of getting ready for the show, and it would be fun, too. She picked up her drawing pad.
But the pony she drew had a huge head and a tiny tail. And the rider looked as if she was about to fall off. Jasmine crumpled the drawing and tossed it at the wastebasket.
She missed.
“Some great athlete I am,” she muttered. “I’ll probably fall right out of the saddle.”
She drew another horse. This one looked more like a pig than a pony.
“Forget it,” she said. She crumpled up the sheet of paper and tossed it at the wastebasket.
The paper flew past the wastebasket and out the door of her room.
“What’s this?” said her father’s voice. He stuck his head into her room.
“I can’t even hit the wastebasket,” she said. “I’m hopeless.”
Her father smoothed out the sheet of paper. He didn’t say anything, but Jasmine saw him blink with surprise.
“It’s the worst drawing ever,” she said.
He put his arm around her. “What’s up, Jazzie?”
Jasmine liked it when he called her that. “Corey and May have been in pony shows before, so it’s no big deal for them. But I’ve never been in a show before, and”—she took a deep breath—“I’m going to make a total fool of myself.”
Mr. James smoothed her hair. “You’ll be great. The thing is not to try too hard.” He sat on the window seat beside her. “When I’m working on an experiment, sometimes I want it to work so much that I try too hard.” Mr. James was an ecologist. “When I do that I ruin it.”
“That’s me,” Jasmine said. “I’m going to wreck everything.”
“You have to let things take their course,” Mr. James said. “You have to let serendipity happen.”
Jasmine giggled. Her dad was a professor of ecology, and he was always using five-dollar words. “What’s serendipity?” she asked.
Her father grinned. “Luck.”
“I don’t feel lucky,” Jasmine said gloomily.
Her father hugged her. “Wait and see.”
2 Out of the Gloom
May opened her eyes. Something was wrong. Plunk, her cat, was on the dresser, ears perked, tail straight up. He was worried.
May sat straight up. It was still dark, but Plunk seemed to be watching something. May got out of bed. The floor was cold under her bare feet. She crossed her arms, trying to warm herself, and tiptoed toward the window. She peered outside and thought she saw someone moving across the Jameses’ yard. It was Jasmine.
“I don’t believe it,” May muttered. She pulled on her jeans, a T-shirt, and a sweatshirt. She padded down to the mudroom and pulled on her rubber boots because she knew the grass would be covered with dew.
Yawning, May walked out of her house. Next to her yard was Corey’s yard. Beyond it was Jasmine’s yard. And there was Jasmine feeding Outlaw a carrot while she talked to him.
May shook her head. The horse show wasn’t until Saturday, five days away, and already Jasmine was lecturing Outlaw. What had happened to Jasmine’s goal of letting Outlaw shine on his own?
May walked onto the Pony Trail, the path that linked the Pony Tails’ three backyards. She was planning to point out to Jasmine that six in the morning was too early to achieve perfection. But as May got closer, she could see that Jasmine had put her arms around Outlaw’s neck as if she were hanging on to him for dear life.
“Hi,” May said.
Jasmine jumped. “Hi,” she said, brushing her hair out of her eyes. “Don’t you love early mornings?”
May was about to say that she loved to get up at the crack of dawn. But she was afraid Jasmine might take her seriously. “I’m hungry,” May said. “I woke up thinking about food. You know me, I hate to eat alone, so I came looking to see if I could find someone to eat with me.”
“For real?” Jasmine asked.
“Can’t you hear my stomach growling?” May asked.
Jasmine listened, but she couldn’t hear May’s stomach growling. Still, it was nice to have company, so she said, “I could eat.”
She and May walked Outlaw to the pasture behind the barn. Then they headed for May’s house.
“How come you’re up so early?” May asked.
“I was riding in my dreams. And everything I did was wrong,” Jasmine said. “My heels were up and my wrists were down and the reins kept slipping through my fingers.”
May knew Jasmine needed to think about something else. So she said, “I’ve got this great idea for a super-duper cereal. I’m thinking about packaging it, selling it nationwide, and becoming a millionaire.” The idea had only occurred to May that minute. But already it sounded good.
“Only a millionaire?” asked Jasmine with a grin. “What’s wrong with being a billionaire?”
“I’m saving that for my teens,” May said.
“What’s up?” said a voice over their heads. They looked up and saw Corey peering out of her bedroom window.
“You’re in luck,” May said. “You’re about to have the greatest breakfast experience of your life.”
“I can’t wait,” Corey said. Her head disappeared from the window, and she was downstairs in minutes.
Soon Corey and Jasmine were sitting at the table in May’s kitchen. May was standing at the counter preparing breakfast. She poured puffed rice into a big bowl. She tossed raisins on top and sprinkled walnuts and sunflower seeds on top of them. Then she scattered some coconut over all that. To top it off, she lobbed in a handful of chocolate chips.
May filled three smaller bowls and carried them to the table. “Dig in,” she said.
Corey took the first spoonful. She chewed. Her eyes widened. She swallowed. “It’s good, but I could do without the coconut.”
“And the sunflower seeds are a little too much,” said Jasmine with a grin.
“And the chocolate chips are over the top,” said Corey.
“And the walnuts and raisins don’t add much,” said Jasmine.
“But the puffed rice is good,” Corey said. “I think you’ve got something, May. Puffed rice for breakfast.”
May groaned.
“What’s this?” said Mrs. Grover, who was standing in the doorway.
“Great cereal,” May said.
“Then why is there coconut in the soap dish?” asked Mrs. Grover, holding up a sliver of coconut.
“A mere accident,” May said. “Part of the creative process.”
“And sunflower seeds in the cat bowl?” asked Mrs. Grover.
“I guess I got a little sloppy,” May said.
<
br /> “If you want to be in the horse show, May, you are going to have to clean this up,” Mrs. Grover said.
“Ho boy,” May said.
There were nuts on the kitchen sponge and a curl of coconut next to the telephone.
“As a slob I have talent,” May said. “I wonder if this could lead to a career.”
“Look at this,” Corey said. She lifted a chocolate chip out of the juicer. “Chocolate orange juice could be great.”
“Hey, what about chocolate carrot juice?” May said.
As they rinsed out the juicer, Corey said, “How come it’s so easy to make a mess, and so hard to clean up?”
“That’s one of life’s mysteries,” said May.
They put the juicer back on the counter and swept the floor and loaded the dishwasher. “Next time I have a great idea, stop me,” said May.
“Are we done?” Jasmine asked. She glanced toward the door, clearly wanting to be on her way. Corey and May looked at her in surprise. It wasn’t like Jasmine to rush off.
“What’s up?” Corey said.
“Nothing much,” Jasmine said. “A few odds and ends. See you, guys.” She headed for the door and left.
“What’s with her?” asked Corey.
“I found her talking to Outlaw this morning. She was giving him show tips,” May said.
“She’s got to relax,” Corey said.
“But the more you tell her to relax, the more nervous she gets,” said May.
They went to look for Jasmine.
Jasmine was in the pasture with Outlaw. He was trying to munch on tender green grass while Jasmine gave him instructions. “You have a nice long stride,” she said to him. “Don’t lose it under pressure.” Outlaw shook his head. His white mask stood out against his dark chestnut coat. He looked frazzled.
May and Corey looked at each other. Pretty soon Outlaw was going to be a nervous wreck.
“We’re going over to Pine Hollow,” Corey said. “Max wants every saddle cleaned before the show on Saturday. Why don’t you come?”
“Maybe later,” Jasmine said.
Corey's Secret Friend (Pony Tails Book 12) Page 5