• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 314 0

was much more spacious, because Hayley had three rooms in a row. The feed was kept in large clear plastic bins and not the corroded forty-four gallon drums that everybody else used. There were four saddles, all wrapped in cloth covers, and bridles in proper leather bridle bags. In the corner was a small table and Hayley's bar fridge. Two fold-out chairs stood against the side wall. Bales of hay were stacked in the corner and filled the air with their musty sweet smell.

On the back wall, draped across coathangers and enclosed in plastic dry-cleaning bags, were masses of ribbons piled on top of each other, some purple, some green, but mostly red, white and blue striped with a gold fringe – Champion ribbons.

Shelby looked out into the sunshine where Blue was standing with his ears drooped. He looked like a donkey. She thought again about the ad she had seen. Fully educated. Royal quality. Blue was hardly even Pony Club quality. He was definitely a beginner's mount. Still, he was her beginner's mount.

Mrs Crook stepped through the doorway, lifted one of the saddles off its peg on the wall and carried it over her forearm to where Ditto was tied in the yard. The saddle was old, but its leather was soft and smooth – not rough and rigid like Shelby's.

Hayley rubbed her face with sunscreen carefully, so as not to smudge her mascara. She handed the tube to Erin, who squeezed a small amount into her hand.

Shelby watched as Hayley's mother saddled the horse and wrapped his legs in protective bandages. The idea of her own mother trying to get a horse ready for riding made Shelby want to laugh. She wouldn't know which end was which.

'Have you got your vest?' asked Mrs Crook.

Hayley rolled her eyes. 'Do I have to?'

'Yes, you do,' replied her mother.

'It's so ugly,' Hayley complained. She disappeared into the tack room for a few seconds and came back pulling her arms through a dark blue padded body protector.

Hayley led Ditto out into the laneway while her mother gave last minute instructions.

'Watch out for snakes. Don't let him drink from any of those dirty puddles. Don't jump over anything – you never know what's on the other side. Keep on the sand where you can. You shouldn't really be taking him out there. We have to be ready for the next show, and we won't qualify for anything if he spends half the season lame.'

'Yes, Mum.'

'Just be careful.'

The three girls led their horses to the end of the laneway where it opened out into a paddock. Mrs Crook boosted Hayley onto Ditto's back and held the stirrup steady while she pushed her foot into it.

Shelby led the way towards the gate. Once she was out of earshot, she asked, 'Is your mum always like that?'

'Like what?' asked Hayley.

Shelby hesitated. 'Kind of . . . protective.'

'I guess so,' Hayley replied with a shrug.

'My mum wouldn't know the front of a horse from the back,' Shelby said, giggling.

Hayley flicked her eyes at Blue, but she didn't say anything. 'So did you watch McLeod's Daughters the other night?' she asked Erin.

Shelby had watched it. It was one of her favourite shows, and the only one she made an effort to watch every week. She was glad that she and Hayley had something in common.

'Yeah. That's such a cool show,' said Erin.

'You should come and watch it at my place,' Hayley said. 'Some of the others usually come over. Do you know Monica and Kim? They have the stables opposite mine. A few of the others from Pony Club come too.'

'That would be fun,' said Erin.

Shelby wondered if she was included in the invitation. Hayley hadn't actually looked at her while she was speaking. She decided to test the waters.

'What time?' she asked.

Hayley blinked. 'It's on at seven thirty.'

That didn't make anything any clearer.

They made their way through the back paddock of the property. The grass was tall and yellow, and whispered as the horses stepped through it. Scraggly eucalypts were clumped together here and there, dappling the ground with shade, and providing relief from the hot morning sun. There were about fifteen horses congregated around the dam – mostly