by Amy Brown
Jade squinted down past Brandy and Hamlet. She saw a couple of old logs, but nothing else.
‘You mean those logs?’
Mr White laughed. ‘Saddle up and meet me down there.’
When Jade rode down, she saw not only old logs, but an impressive ditch and a reinforced bank, similar to the one at the pony club grounds.
‘It’s only small, but it should give you a taste. I built this when Abby was one-day-eventing.’
It was as if Pip knew it was Jade’s birthday and wanted to please her. She was brave and clever, jumping the logs and clearing the ditch like she’d been doing it all her life.
‘Do you think she’s done this before?’ Jade asked, patting Pip’s sweaty neck as they walked back to the yards.
‘I’d be surprised if she hadn’t,’ Mr White said. ‘I do wonder how old she is; it’s so hard to tell.’
Once Pip had been fed, watered and put back in the paddock, Mr White suggested that Jade come in for a birthday cup of tea with him and Mrs White.
‘OK,’ Jade said. ‘But please don’t try to give me a present—everything you’ve done for me since I arrived has been the best gift ever. I really am very grateful.’
‘Don’t go getting soppy on me,’ Mr White said. ‘It’s just a cup of tea and maybe a piece of cake.’
When Jade walked into the kitchen and found not only Mrs White, but Laura, Becca and a young woman sitting around a table covered with baking, she couldn’t be angry.
‘Surprise!’ Laura yelled.
‘I know you didn’t want a party, so this is more of a morning tea,’ Mrs White said innocently.
‘Thanks, everyone. This is lovely,’ Jade said, sitting down next to the unfamiliar girl.
‘Jade, this is Abby,’ Mrs White said, and the unfamiliar girl shook Jade’s hand.
‘It’s nice to finally meet you,’ Abby said. ‘I’ve heard that you’re making good use of my hand-me-downs.’
‘Yes, thanks,’ Jade said shyly.
‘I’ve got you a little present,’ Abby said, passing Jade a parcel.
‘You really shouldn’t have—your parents have given me heaps already.’
‘I know, I know. Just open it.’
Jade unwrapped the paper and found a slightly faded but spotless pale blue sweatshirt with FLAXTON PONY CLUB across the front and a small horseshoe motif at either end of the text.
‘See—it’s just another boring hand-me-down.’ Abby said.
‘No, it’s better than that!’ Jade said, delighted. ‘I won’t stand out like a sore thumb in my red jersey any more. Do riders wear their pony club sweatshirts to the One Day Event?’ Jade asked hopefully.
‘Yes, they do,’ Abby said, smiling.
Laura and Becca had a gift for Jade, too. ‘Well, more for Pip really,’ Becca said, handing over another parcel.
Jade opened it eagerly and found a pair of elegant black tendon boots.
‘Those’ll be great in summer, when you’re jumping Pip on harder ground,’ Abby said.
‘Does all this make you want to go out for a ride, Abby?’ Mr White asked, pouring himself a cup of tea.
‘Maybe tomorrow,’ Abby said. ‘If Jade’s free after school, we could go for a ride together.’
Jade had to admit that she’d enjoyed her little party, and couldn’t have wished for better presents. That night in bed she wore her new sweatshirt while she read the Pony Club manuals that Mr White had loaned her, skipping ahead to the B-Certificate section just to see how far she still had to go.
The following wintry weeks were filled with cleaning—muddy boots, muddy ponies, muddy paddocks—and practising. Both Jade and Becca had memorized and become proficient at their dressage test and were now enjoying jumping at the fortnightly pony club rallies, gradually testing out the course they’d have to do for the One Day Event. They were even clearing some of the fences Jade had watched Ryan and Amanda jumping on her first day at pony club.
‘I wish Amanda would fall off for once,’ Becca said, as they watched the intermediate group cantering around the grounds. ‘I know that sounds horrible, but she’s just so good, and she knows it.’
Jade laughed. ‘I felt just like that when I met her on my first day here. Is she friends with Ryan?’
‘Yeah, they’ve been competing against each other for years. I think he’s got a crush on her.’
It was Becca’s turn to jump the tyres, so the girls stopped chatting. For some reason—perhaps he’d seen a golfer in amongst the trees on the course next to the pony club—Dusty baulked at the fence, leaving Becca to slide over his head and land on the other side.
‘Oh dear!’ said a mean voice. ‘It wasn’t even a real jump either.’
Jade looked round and saw Ryan and Amanda trotting past, laughing.
‘Are you going to let her talk like that about your cousin?’ Jade said, looking Ryan straight in the eye.
‘Yes, of course,’ he said, laughing.
Amanda laughed, too. Then, casting an imperious eye over Jade, said, ‘Love your new sweatshirt, Jade. But it’s not quite new, is it?’
‘You two! Get back over here!’ their instructor yelled.
‘Nice to talk,’ Ryan said, ‘but we’ve got some proper jumping to do, and an Olympian’s instructing us.’
‘Is that Jade?’ their instructor called, coming over. Ryan and Amanda looked shocked.
‘Hi, Michaela,’ Jade said, beaming. ‘This is my friend Becca.’ She pointed to Becca, who’d remounted and just cleared the tyre fence without any problem.
‘Good to see you here. I usually teach showjumping, but with the ODE coming up, the kids wanted to practise their cross-country,’ Michaela said, gesturing at Ryan and Amanda. ‘You two, we’d better get back to it. The rest of the group is waiting. Good luck at the ODE, Jade.’
When they’d gone, Jade and Becca couldn’t stop laughing.
‘That was better than seeing Amanda fall off, wasn’t it?’ Jade asked. Becca agreed.
10
Ribbons
September the sixth: the day of the One Day Event and also Father’s Day. Jade had remembered to post a card to her father earlier that week. In it, she’d told him about how hard she’d been training with Pip. She said that she missed him and hoped he was all right. However, on the crisp Sunday morning, she tried not to think about him at all as she clumsily plaited Pip’s long black mane. While Abby White had been home, she’d taught Jade how to divide the mane into fourteen little pigtails, fasten them with tiny black rubber bands, and then how to plait and roll up each section into a neat bun. Abby had made it look easy, but now she was back at university, and Jade was alone, cold and nervous, and making a mess of it.
In the end Mr White had a try, but his attempts weren’t much better.
‘One Day Events aren’t judged on appearances,’ he consoled. ‘So long as you ride well, you’ll be in with a chance.’
However, Becca’s mum disagreed: when Jade rode Pip over to where Dusty was tied up at the truck, she insisted on fixing the plaits. In less than five minutes, and with a few deft movements involving a needle, black thread and some hairspray, she’d transformed Pip from dishevelled to chic.
The first event was the dressage. The girls collected their numbers and walked and trotted in circles to keep calm.
Becca went first and rode well.
‘You could have loosened up a bit, dear—you were clearly nervous—but at this level it’s better to be stiff and controlled than relaxed and all over the place. Don’t you agree, Jim?’ Becca’s mum asked Mr White, who’d come over with a deck chair and a bottle of water mixed with lime cordial.
‘Yes. I think you did a fine job, Becca. Stop fretting, Jade!’
Jade was walking Pip in a tight figure of eight, pulling nervously at her mouth, despite the pony already being on the bit.
‘Sorry, I’m just—’
‘I know, nervous. No time to be nervous, though, you’re next after this girl.’
Ja
de rode slowly around the ring, pleased that Pip’s ears were pricked. It’s just dressage, she thought to herself. Nothing to be afraid of. It’s not like I’m going to fall off or embarrass myself. And it’s not the end of the world if it isn’t perfect. Jade didn’t quite manage to convince herself of this, however.
She was almost relaxed as Pip trotted into the arena and up the centre line. She remembered to halt halfway and salute the judge. I think that was a square halt, Jade thought, remembering not to look down or make too many encouraging noises to Pip.
Trotting in 20-metre circles and doing an extended walk in a diagonal line were a piece of cake for Pip, who seemed to be taking the ceremony in her stride. As they finished and left the arena, Jade heard clapping. It was only Mr White, Becca and Becca’s mum, but it still felt nice.
‘How was it?’ Jade asked, dismounting and loosening the girth.
‘Not bad. Not bad at all,’ Mr White said. ‘Pip was a touch sluggish to begin with, but it was a very competent performance.’
Not wanting to be too full for the cross-country, Becca and Jade shared a punnet of chips for lunch while Dusty and Pip rested beside Becca’s truck.
The cross-country course was small, but included a range of jumps—ditches, logs, the Helsinki steps; smaller versions of all the preintermediate jumps, except the water.
Becca went first again. She was terribly nervous and Dusty picked up on it. In the starting box he did a little rear, which didn’t make her feel any better. At the first jump, a friendly log, he refused. This was simple naughtiness that Becca wasn’t going to stand for. She tapped him gently behind her leg with her whip, pointed him at the jump again and flew over. After that initial hiccup, both pony and rider performed beautifully, cantering up hill and down dale as if they’d been doing it much longer than a few months.
‘Shame about the beginning, Becca, because otherwise that was a first-class round,’ Mr White said. ‘You rode masterfully.’
‘Thanks. I was just so nervous at the start. I feel like doing it again now, though,’ Becca said, flushed from her ride.
‘Well, you can’t. It’s my turn now,’ Jade said, grimly trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. A small girl called Lana Stewart had just been eliminated for a fall at the tricky in-and-out. She was fine, but it seemed like a bad omen to Jade.
However, once she and Pip had left the starting box it was no longer a competition with people watching so much as a canter around a paddock filled with fun obstacles. The only one that Pip looked like refusing was the Helsinki steps—three steep banks in a row like a staircase. But, with a click of her tongue and a press of the legs, Jade encouraged her pony and scrambled up the jump satisfactorily.
‘That was fantastic!’ she said after she’d cantered through the finish flags, slowed down in a circle, then walked back to the others.
‘Pip looked like she was enjoying herself too,’ Becca said.
There wasn’t a long wait before the showjumping, just time to give the horses a drink and a quick rest.
Although the show-jumps weren’t more than 70 centimetres high, the course was twisty and some earlier riders had come to grief. Becca and Jade had walked the course, noting the number of strides between the double and the relatively tight turn they’d need to take between fences eight and nine.
‘No one has had a clear round yet, apparently,’ Mr White warned, as Becca warmed up over the practice fence.
‘I probably won’t either,’ Becca said, despondently.
‘Not with that attitude!’ Becca’s mum said. ‘Just ride sensibly—don’t go too fast, remember the course. You’ll be fine.’
Dusty had learnt to be a clever little showjumper during his time with the McAlpines, so Becca really didn’t have to worry. Her nerves meant that she got a couple of strides wrong and ended up on his neck at one point, but competitive Dusty would settle for nothing less than a clear round.
‘I didn’t deserve that; he did everything,’ Becca said gratefully, jumping out of the saddle with a sigh of relief. ‘He’s been great today.’
‘I hope Pip’s just as good,’ Jade said, enviously. She knew Pip was a bit too big for this course, but she also knew that if she did what Michaela had told her—kept her horse slow and calm so that she could judge the strides correctly—a clear round was possible.
‘Good luck, Jade,’ Mr White called as she entered the ring, but Jade didn’t hear: she was completely focused on the course.
The first jump, a low red-and-white oxer, was fine and Pip cleared it easily. But as they turned towards the second jump, a blue straight-bar, a dog barked, upsetting Pip. She cantered too fast and Jade had to sit right back and hold her until the last moment. It wasn’t an elegant leap, but they got over clear. The rest of the course was manageable until the double, which was slightly too short for Pip’s long legs. Again, Jade held her back, trying to keep her stride short but still full of impulsion. Pip’s hind hooves touched the pole in the second jump of the double, but nothing fell. Now there was just the tricky turn from jumps eight to nine. Jade made sure Pip was on the right leg as she turned, and leaned out slightly, to keep her horse balanced. It worked: they approached the last jump perfectly and Pip cleared it.
‘Was that clear?’ Jade asked Mr White as she dismounted.
‘Yes, it was. You were a bit lucky that 7B didn’t fall though.’
‘It wasn’t luck at all!’ Becca’s mum said. ‘That was a really nicely ridden round. You’re going to be in a good position for a ribbon, Jade.’
Before any ribbons were awarded, there was still the pre-intermediate pony showjumping to go. Jade and Becca unsaddled, washed and fed their well-behaved steeds, before buying a couple of steak sandwiches from the food caravan and going back to watch Ryan’s and Amanda’s rounds.
Ryan did a fast, showy clear round, which Mr White said should have been slower. Amanda, riding in the same style, didn’t fare so well. At the tight corner, her bay mare overbalanced and slipped right over, with Amanda underneath her.
‘Oh, no!’ Becca said sincerely, as they watched Amanda’s mother and someone from St John’s run across the ring to her. ‘I feel awful now.’
‘Why?’ Becca’s mother said. ‘That wasn’t your fault.’
‘No, it’s just, well, a couple of weeks ago I said I’d love to see her fall off.’
‘That’ll teach you for being nasty,’ Becca’s mum said. ‘Don’t worry, it looks like they’re both standing up now. No broken bones.’
It was nearly five o’clock and the sun was setting as the prize-giving began. The Pony Club District Commissioner, none other than Mrs Thompson, the D-Certificate examiner, distributed pretraining pony prizes first.
‘In fourth place, we have number nine: Theresa Hopkins on Rose Red.’ A small freckly girl in a turquoise sweatshirt came up to collect her green ribbon and her prize, a bottle of hoof oil.
‘In third place is number five: Jacqueline Kelly on Lancelot.’ A tall girl with blonde plaits shook Mrs Thompson’s hand and accepted the yellow ribbon and a small grooming kit.
‘In second place is number six: Rebecca Brown on Gold Dust.’ Becca, blushing, stepped forward and took the blue ribbon and a year’s subscription to Horse and Pony.
‘Well done, darling!’ Becca’s mum whispered, hugging her daughter as she came back.
‘And finally, in first place, we have number seven: Jade Lennox on Pip.’
Jade honestly hadn’t thought about ribbons, let alone red ones—she’d been happy just to get around the cross-country course without falling off and to have a clear round in the showjumping. Mrs Thompson handed her the red ribbon and a beautiful red travel rug.
Jade thought she couldn’t be happier until a voice from the crowd shouted, ‘Her name’s not Pip—it’s Onyx. And she’s not yours!’
Suddenly it felt like everyone was looking at Jade, especially the short, stocky woman who’d spoken.
‘Come on, Jade,’ Mr White said. ‘Let’s tal
k about this away from the prize-giving.’
Becca looked at Jade sympathetically as she left, but most people were staring at her with disgust. Ryan was smirking, and, as she passed him, he muttered, ‘I can’t believe you actually stole a horse.’
‘I didn’t steal her!’ Jade shouted. ‘I saved her from the pound.’
‘Shh, Jade. Come on,’ Mr White said.
Outside the pony club shed, the stocky woman was looking pleased with herself.
‘That’s my horse you’re riding,’ she said.
‘I’m sorry,’ Jade said. ‘I didn’t know.’
‘Didn’t stop to wonder who you were stealing from when you took her?’ The woman was enjoying the fight.
‘I knew I was taking her from the pound. In fact, the pound know I have her.’ Mr White had his hand on Jade’s shoulder, which gave her some confidence.
‘Well, she’s still mine,’ the woman said. ‘And I want her back.’
‘How long ago did she go missing from your paddock?’ Mr White asked.
‘About a year ago. I never thought I’d see her again—and then today she wins a pony club One Day Event! I only came along to drive the truck for my niece. Lucky there’s room in it for an extra horse.’
‘You can’t take her,’ Jade said in a small voice, knowing that the stocky woman probably could.
‘Do you have her papers? Did you buy her?’ the woman asked nastily. ‘No, so I think you’ll find that I can take her. Actually, I already have.’
‘What!’ Mr White exclaimed. Jade was already running back to the horse-float. Pip had gone.
When she ran back to where Mr White and the stocky woman were standing, Jade yelled, ‘Where’s your truck? Just let me say goodbye to her.’
‘I’m not going to encourage a thief like you,’ the stocky woman hissed. Jade started to defend herself, but the woman cut her off. ‘I don’t want to hear any excuses about the pound. You’ve taken what isn’t yours and that’s theft in my book.’