Abbey watched people’s expressions change from adoration of the tiny fluffy chicks to horror, when they saw the photos of chickens crammed into wire cages with feathers missing and legs too weak to stand. Talika showed them the statistics of how many chickens lived in cages in Australia, and begged them to rethink the sort of eggs they bought.
‘Thank you for choosing to purchase free range eggs and doing your part to stop this cruelty,’ said Elizabeth, as people walked by.
Mr McPhail walked up with someone Abbey didn’t recognise.
‘This is my brother, Matt,’ he said to Mrs Parry. ‘He’s a reporter for the local newspaper. Would it help if he wrote a story about what you’re doing here?’
Mrs Parry was overjoyed. ‘That would be brilliant,’ she said.
Mr McPhail’s brother talked to lots of the girls about why they were against battery hens, taking notes and nodding all the while.
‘This is actually really interesting,’ he said to Mr McPhail. ‘I think we can make front-page news of this.’
It was Talika’s turn to show off her tricks, and Matt had his camera ready. Talika picked up her clicker and put a little scrambled egg and lettuce in the bowl. She placed three different shapes in front of her chick, a square, a circle and a triangle. Poopy saw them and immediately became interested. The little yellow chick walked over and pecked the square. Talika clicked and rewarded the chick with a peck from the dish. Hannah quickly shuffled the shapes around on the table. No matter what order she put them in, and how quickly she moved them, Poopy pecked the square every time.
A large crowd gathered to see what all the cheering was for.
Talika asked Matt if he would like to have a hold of Poopy. He looked a little hesitant, and had good reason to be. Right on cue, Poopy dropped one right in the palm of his hand. Talika was terribly embarrassed, but Hannah was there straightaway with the tissues. The laughter brought even more people to watch.
Abbey’s smile was short-lived when she saw a familiar face at the entry of the shopping centre. It was Mrs Bristow. She walked towards them with the usual scowl on her face, and stopped right in front of their table. Nobody spoke. She looked down at Rhody snuggled into Abbey’s hands and sniffed once. Then she looked up at the photos of the caged chickens and stared at them for a long, long time. Mrs Parry and Elizabeth had been chatting excitedly off to the side, but when they saw what was happening, they too turned to face the woman they all feared.
Then, without saying a word, Mrs Bristow walked into the shopping centre.
‘She doesn’t care at all,’ said Abbey, miserably.
Elizabeth cheered Abbey up by telling her and Mr McPhail that so far, forty-six families had bought a school chook each.
‘That’s wonderful news!’ said Mr McPhail. We should really help with supplying the school now, especially when these little guys grow up.’ He gave Rhody a scratch on the back of his neck.
A while later, Abbey spotted Mrs Bristow heading out of the shopping centre. She carried a shopping bag of groceries. The dining hall supervisor looked straight ahead as she passed the gathered group, but they could see the egg carton she had tucked under her arm.
‘It’s free range!’ whispered Clare.
Everyone gasped and looked in Mrs Bristow’s direction.
Abbey, cupping her hands around her mouth, yelled out loudly enough for all to hear, ‘Thank you, Mrs Bristow!’
Then every girl from Willowvale whooped and cheered.
It may have been a grimace, but Abbey thought she might have just glimpsed a smile cross Chuckles’s lips.
‘Can you believe it?’ Abbey beamed. ‘We changed her mind!’
They were all jumping around in excitement.
‘It does make me wonder though,’ said Abbey, suddenly very still and serious. ‘Do you think the bacon we eat at school is free range? I must ask Mrs Bristow tomorrow.’
Hannah and Talika just groaned.
‘Come on, Abbey!’ cheered Talika, holding the stopwatch up, ready to push the button. Drover, Mr McPhail’s border collie, was tied up beside her, watching the arena with great interest.
There were about a dozen other year seven Vet Cadet students from Willowvale Girls Grammar sitting on top of the fence or peering through it. They all had the same wide-brimmed Akubra hats, button-up shirts, jeans and riding boots.
Abbey was inside the arena astride her lively chestnut, Pepper. Together they eyed the small herd of steers at the other end of the arena. Hannah, her dorm mate, was weaving back and forth on her gorgeous thoroughbred, Bedazzled, keeping the herd together. Mr McPhail, their animal husbandry teacher, was helping Hannah on his stockhorse, Cal.
‘Okay, girls,’ called Mr McPhail. ‘Abbey and Pepper are going to demonstrate cattle cutting. This is a professional sport that has developed from a skill that many cattlemen and cattle-women still use today when working their herds. If an animal, such as one of these steers, needs to be separated – for medical treatment, sale or any other purpose – the best way to do it is working as a team with a horse to cut it away from the herd.’
Everyone could see that both Abbey and Pepper were totally focused on the restless cattle ahead of them.
‘What’s a steer?’ whispered Talika to the girl sitting on the fence next to her.
‘It’s a bull calf that has been castrated, so that it can’t breed.’
Talika pulled a face as Mr McPhail went on.
‘In cutting competitions, the horse and the rider have to demonstrate their ability to separate cattle from the herd, one at a time, and stop them from returning to the group. They only have two and a half minutes to do it as many times as they can.’
‘How many cattle can they usually cut in that amount of time?’ asked Charlotte.
‘Usually two or three at best,’ said Mr McPhail. ‘But it’s really judged on how agile the horse is, and how well it blocks the cattle. Once the rider has shown their horse which beast they want to cut, they drop the reins onto the horse’s neck, and it is then up to the horse to finish the job. The rider gives very little direction to the horse. When you see what Pepper does here, you’ll understand more.’
Mr McPhail nodded at Abbey to begin.
Many of the girls would have expected her to charge towards the cattle when the timer was started, but Abbey and Pepper approached them slowly and calmly.
The cattle all milled around nervously. Hannah and Mr McPhail kept the steers from wandering towards the sides of the arena or separating by sitting on their horses at either side of the herd.
‘The idea,’ said Mr McPhail, as Abbey and Pepper approached, ‘is for Abbey to select which steer she wants to cut. She then “commits” the horse by dropping the reins on its neck.’
They all looked on as Abbey studied the herd of steers in front of her. She chose a black one with white tips on its ears near the centre of the group. She chose it because it was looking straight at Pepper, and by moving slowly towards the group, she was able to point her horse at the black steer and allow the others to move to the sides. Then Abbey dropped her reins loosely onto Pepper’s neck.
‘So,’ said Mr McPhail, ‘see how Abbey has dropped her reins now that the steer and Pepper are facing each other? The term for this is “cueing”. Pepper knows that means he’s now in control of what happens. Watch how, no matter which way the cow moves, Pepper mirrors it, blocking it and cutting it off from rejoining the others.’
The whole class was amazed. Abbey seemed to be hanging onto Pepper just with her legs, not guiding him at all. Every way the black steer moved, Pepper was right there, blocking him off. He darted this way and that, sometimes propping back on his hindquarters and pivoting from side to side with his front legs.
‘It’s like watching a defender in basketball trying to block the player from getting through!’ said Milly excitedly.
‘Exactly,’ said Mr McPhail. ‘Now, watch. As the other cattle get away, Pepper’s whole focus is just on that one steer.’
‘How does it end?’ said Talika.
‘When the steer turns and heads away from the herd, then the rider is able to move on to the next beast to be cut, until the time runs out.’
‘Oh! Times up!’ called Talika.
Everyone started talking at once. ‘That was really amazing!’ said Hannah, riding up to Abbey. ‘I can’t believe Pepper knows what to do. Are you not controlling him at all?’
‘I use a few leg cues, where I might move my leg forwards or backwards if I want him to do something, but he’s been trained to do it all himself, haven’t you, Pep?’ Abbey gave her horse a big hug around the neck.
The rest of the lesson was spent with some of the more experienced riders and their horses having a go. Of course, it was much harder than Abbey and Pepper had made it look.
‘I think I’ll stick to getting Pudding to walk for two hundred metres without stopping for a snack,’ laughed Talika, as she led her fat little bay pony towards his stall. He was already trying to push past her, obviously hoping that his feed bin might be full again.
‘Is it possible for that little guts to get any fatter?’ said Hannah, rubbing down her big thoroughbred.
Abbey grinned. They all adored Talika’s little pony, and it was fun training him, and teaching Talika how to deal with him.
‘Come on, Drover,’ said Mr McPhail, taking his dog’s lead. ‘Time to take you home.’ The border collie fell in obediently beside his master.
‘I cannot believe how well Drover is already responding to his training,’ said Talika. ‘It is hard to believe that he was once causing the school sheep so much trouble.’
‘I think Mr McPhail is doing the right thing bringing him over on the lead,’ said Abbey.
‘He’s getting really good at being around the animals now.’
‘We’d better hurry up and get to assembly,’ said Hannah, packing the last of her grooming tools away. ‘I’m trying to stay in Ms Sterling’s good books!’
‘Well, you’d better stop hanging around with me,’ said Abbey, laughing. The school principal seemed to have a knack of catching the girls out when they were mucking around. And Hannah’s sister, the Sheriff, was usually not far behind.
I would like to thank Tamara Radke for sharing the pain she went through when her horse, Kalbar, died of Hendra virus and for helping me to gain a better understanding of this awful disease.
Abbey, Hannah and Talika are new recruits at Willowvale boarding school’s Vet Cadets program. They are excited to learn all about caring for farm animals and the work that country vets do. Riding horses, shearing sheep and treasure-hunting for parasites are all just part of their normal school day.
But when something starts attacking the school’s sheep, the three vet cadets must use their scientific skills, animal knowledge and teamwork to try and catch the culprit before it’s too late.
Hannah, Abbey and Talika are new recruits at Willowvale boarding school’s special Vet Cadets program. This term, it’s all about cattle. Abbey is determined to prove herself in a cattle-cutting competition against a nearby boys boarding school.
But when Talika’s little pony, Pudding, falls dangerously ill, the friends need all their investigation skills and determination if they’re to save his life.
Abbey, Hannah and Talika are new recruits at Willowvale boarding school’s Vet Cadets program. And what a year it is turning out to be! Henrietta, the school pig, has had a very large litter of piglets. But something is wrong with Itsy Bitsy, the smallest piglet, and the girls must work together to fight for her life.
There’s also the mystery of some stolen cattle to solve – it seems that saving lives and crime fighting through science are all just part of a normal school day for these clever Vet Cadets.
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First published by Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd, 2017
Text copyright © Rebecca Johnson, 2017
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
Cover and text design by Bruno Herfst © Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd
All other photographs and illustrations © Shutterstock.com
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ISBN: 978-1-76014-649-8
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Clever Chicks Page 7