Hot Potato (Shelby and Blue) - Alyssa Brugman [15]
On the way to the back paddock they saw that both arenas were occupied. Some of the older girls that Shelby didn't know well were in the jumping arena. Hayley Crook was riding one of her show horses in the dressage arena, while her mum sat in a plastic chair in the middle and yelled at her.
'Tighten up those reins. Sloppy! Push him out. He looks like a plough horse. Elbows, Hales! You're not skiing!'
The horse Hayley was riding was called Scamp. He had been away at a trainer's further up the Gully, and Shelby hadn't seen him working since he came back. She asked Lindsey to stop at the fence so she could watch.
Scamp was a small, dark, bay thoroughbred with a zigzag stripe running down his face. Shelby admired the way that he picked up all his hooves neatly, the athletic way he used his whole body, and yet Hayley sat so still on him you would think she was sitting on a rocking horse.
With his white saddle blanket and white boots he looked like a proper dressage horse on television. Hayley cantered in a smooth arc and then, as she crossed the middle of the arena, she asked him to yield to her leg – trotting on an angle. His legs criss-crossed over each other. The skin on Shelby's arm raised in goose flesh as she watched him dance across the sand.
She had thought Hayley's other horses were special, but Scamp was a class above.
Shelby wondered if she would ever have a horse as magic as that. Probably not, she decided. For the same money the Crooks had spent on Scamp she could have five halfway good horses that she could train herself. Hayley Crook lived in a different world altogether.
Hotty may not be as fancy as Scamp, but she could almost be as good as Hayley's show pony, Echo – once they had taught her some things and rugged her so that her coat was short and shiny.
When Hayley saw Lindsey and Shelby she halted at the fence. Scamp stood square with his neck arched and crunched on his bit. Flecks of foam dropped out of his mouth.
'How long are you going to be?' Lindsey asked.
Hayley rolled her eyes. 'Forever! Mum's on a rampage. Where's Blue? Are you guys going out on a trail?'
'Not this afternoon,' said Shelby. 'One of the agisters has asked us to ride her horse. It's going to be a show pony. You should see it. It's beautiful. We're schooling it.'
'You are?' Hayley asked.
Shelby nodded, and then she blushed. Now that the words were out they sounded ridiculous. Especially when Hayley knew Shelby didn't even have riding lessons. She hadn't trained Blue to do anything special either.
'We're just getting it started,' she amended.
Mrs Crook interrupted. 'There'll be plenty of time for talking later. Chop, chop, missy!'
Hayley grimaced and then said, 'Catch you after,' as she pushed Scamp into a loping canter.
Lindsey waited until she got further down the laneway before she spoke. Shelby could tell she was cranky because her shoulders were stiff. 'Why did you say that?'
'She asked. I had to tell her something.'
'You could have said that we're going down to the back paddock. You didn't have to be specific.'
'I'm sorry, OK? You don't need to get grouchy.'
Lindsey shook her head. 'You can't just say whatever comes into your head, Shelby.'
'Why does it matter?'
'Because, you nitwit, everyone talks around here. If Hayley tells her mum, and Mrs Crook tells other people that you and I are doing schooling then it will get back to Miss Anita. She'll be angry, thinking we're trying to steal business away from her, and she'll go somewhere else. Half our clients only agist here because they want Miss Anita's training.'
'Oh,' said Shelby. She didn't think Miss Anita would take them any more seriously than Hayley Crook, but Lindsey seemed genuinely worried. 'Hayley won't say anything if we ask her not to. Let's go back now and tell her it's a secret.'
'That's even worse!'
Shelby huffed. 'What do you want me to do?'
'Don't do anything. If anyone asks we'll just say Hayley got her wires crossed. It won't matter because Bess will be gone soon anyway.'
They rode along in silence to the end of