For Sale or Swap - Alyssa Brugman [7]
In the distance Shelby could see the riding school ponies trudging along nose to tail, the beginners on them clutching onto the front of the saddles. Lindsey, the girl who lived on the property and was about Shelby's age, was in the lead. Erin and Hayley waved to her.
'Race you to the top of the hill,' said Shelby, gathering up the reins. She and Erin usually raced up this hillside.
'No!' said Hayley. 'Ditto's not warmed up yet. Mum would kill me if he stretched a muscle.'
'What about you?' Shelby asked Erin.
Erin and Hayley exchanged a glance. 'Maybe in a minute,' she responded.
'OK,' Shelby said. 'Meet you up there.' She leaned forward and Blue bounded up the slope.
She heard a little yelp from behind her, and when she looked back she saw Ditto hopping up and down on the spot. Hayley tugged on the reins, trying to contain him.
'What are you doing, you idiot?' Hayley yelled. 'You can't just go galloping off up the hill.'
'Why not?' asked Shelby, turning Blue around and waiting for them to catch up. She looked at Erin, but Erin looked away.
'Because it makes the other horses go berserk. Don't you know anything?' Hayley snapped.
'Sorry,' said Shelby. She was surprised. She'd seen Hayley compete at the Pony Club gymkhanas. Horses ran around each other all the time there, but that never seemed to worry Hayley. It was almost as though out here she was scared.
They made their way at a sedate pace across the paddock towards the far side, where it joined the trails through the gully. Shelby didn't know what to say so she kept quiet. She saw several logs on the ground that normally she would have jumped, but now she was worried about what the other girls might think.
Erin and Hayley rode side by side, talking about different movies that they had watched and about the horse show that was coming up in a few weeks' time.
'I was hoping to take Scamp, but I don't think he'll be back,' Hayley said.
'I'll have to get Bandit's mane pulled before then,' Erin said, flicking at it with her hand.
Shelby hadn't decided whether to go to the show. She'd gone a few times and been humiliated – coming home without a single ribbon. Erin had consoled her by telling her it was because Blue was a paint. 'It's not your fault. You know that judges never even look at coloured breeds.'
She listened to their banter, but she was disappointed. She'd thought that going out with superior riders – the Pony Club's 'Rider of the Year' even – would have been more fun, but it was boring. She was also still smarting from Hayley calling her an idiot.
They reached the back gate and Shelby drew Blue alongside it, reaching through to unclasp the latch. 'Come on,' she said, manoeuvring him through the gap. The other two passed through.
The trail narrowed as the scrub crept up on either side. They walked single file with Hayley in the lead.
'Shelby's thinking about getting a new horse,' Erin said.
'Yeah? What are you going to get?' Hayley asked, turning around. She rested her hand on Ditto's rump.
She might be excellent in the show ring, but she's not good on the trails, Shelby thought. Anything could jump out of the bush – a kangaroo, or a lizard – or there could be a low-hanging branch. When you were in the lead you needed to watch where you were going.
Shelby shrugged. 'Not sure yet. I was thinking of leasing something.'
'Are you going through a broker?'
Shelby shook her head. 'I was going to swap Blue for something a bit more . . .' She trailed off.
Hayley nodded. 'Getting rid of your first horse is really hard. I cried for ages when we sold my first one, but after a while you get used to it.'
'How many have you had?' asked Shelby.
'I don't know,' said Hayley, smiling. 'Ten, maybe?'
'Wow,' said Shelby.
'At first I just had one, and then we decided to get two so I could compete in different classes. Then we sold the first one and got two more, and so on, and now we have these three. I don't mind any more, as long as they go to good homes. We'll probably end up selling