Hot Potato (Shelby and Blue) - Alyssa Brugman [16]
Blockhead took long swaggering strides. Shelby leaned back, resting her weight on her hands on the top of his rump. She knew his flank was behind her foot and she was careful not to touch it with her heel.
'We'll ride in the round yard,' Lindsey said as Shelby slid down to open the gate.
The round yard was at the very back of the riding school ponies' paddock. It was part of the original setup on the property, before Mrs Edel had the new stables and arenas built. Nobody went down there. It was fenced off, because the structures were rickety and unsafe.
Shelby was disappointed. What was the point of having a fancy new show pony if no one could see it? Especially since she wouldn't have her for long, if Lindsey got her way.
Then again, maybe Lindsey was right. It was turning out to be much harder keeping Hotty a secret than she had imagined. She had assumed Erin would be the blabbermouth, but Shelby had already talked too much. She'd told her mum and dad one thing, and Hayley another. They'd told Clint something different altogether.
Shelby decided that from now on she wouldn't say anything to anyone before she remembered what she'd said to whom.
11 Broken Tree
Shelby watched Lindsey canter away along the laneway on the big Percheron. The new pony was standing next to her and they were alone at last. She slipped the bridle on.
'Hello, little one,' she said, brushing the pony's forelock back from her eyes. 'You and I are going to be best friends. How about that?'
The pony sniffed at Shelby's hand, her nostrils dilating. Shelby thought she was the prettiest pony she had ever seen. She should be in one of those horse calendars you get for Christmas.
She ran her hand down the pony's nose and tried out her name. 'Hotty. What do you think? Hotty is your favourite name, isn't it? Much better than Bess.'
Normally when she hopped on Blue without a saddle she jumped up so that her tummy was across his back, and then she would swing her right leg over his rump, but she didn't know Hotty enough to predict how she would behave, so she led her to a nearby stump and used that as a mounting block. The pony didn't move and, once she was settled, Shelby patted her on the shoulder. She gathered up the reins and squeezed gently with her legs. 'Come on then, little one.'
As they made their way up the laneway the pony nodded her head and picked up each of her hooves deliberately, covering the ground like a much bigger horse.
'Maybe you would make a nice harness horse?' Shelby said. She recalled how her father always teased her about putting Blue in front of a sulky. She made a mental note to joke with him when she got home, but then she remembered Hotty was a secret.
It was a shame because things had been strained with her dad ever since Blue had squashed his vegetable garden, and it would have been good to find some common ground to ease the tension.
Shelby relaxed into the rhythm, enjoying the scenery and allowing her mind to wander. Since she had started helping with the trail rides, she had ridden lots of different horses, including Blockhead and Cracker – a little fiery barrel of a pony. There was a flea-bitten grey mare called Penelope who was Shelby's current favourite of the riding school horses. She had a very elongated back, which made her oddlooking, but Shelby liked her gentleness. Clint called her his 'long friend'.
Lindsey's mum said that her riding was getting better. Shelby had hoped to start lessons with Miss Anita, but she had to fit around Miss Anita's regular clients, and as the days grew shorter it was looking less and less likely, at least until the next school holidays.
Shelby imagined what it must be like for Miss Anita. In the afternoons and on weekends she held lessons, and during the weekdays she trained horses. Shelby wondered