Charlie and Charm (7 page)

I’ve tried going to sleep (like Millie and Skye) but I’m too excited about everything! So I’ve put my torch on and I’m writing this under the covers instead.

Tonight, after me and Skye had done our drying-up duty, we had another games evening … but in the swimming pool this time! It was so funny – we had these relay races where you do different strokes, and then hopping and jogging, passing a float, throwing a ball to the next person and things like that.

Jody put us into teams, and when she said, “Charlie, you’re with Skye, Jemima and Yasmin,” it was really cool because Skye went, “
Yes!
” like she was really happy they were getting me, and Jemima smiled at me as well. Millie’s brother James joined in to even out the numbers and Ricosha and Tameka kept giggling
about having a boy on their team. That was cool because it put them off a bit and we won the first two races! Hee hee!

Then they won two and then it was the final race – the tiebreaker.

When the last person in each team was on the way back we all started cheering madly. Molly was our last one, jogging through the water with the float, and we all cheered her on, and guess what… We won! Jody said it was because we’d worked really well as a team. I just hope I can make a good team with Charm, too, so we trust each other more in the cross country. If we can do that I still think we might have a chance to win.

I’ve got to put this diary down now, ’cos my eyes are closing on their own…

We had such a great time at the beach today! Before we left we had our Pony Care lecture about bandages for travelling. Lydia did a demo on Shine, then we all had a go on our ponies’ legs and tails. It was quite hard to get the tail bandage right – when Lydia inspected them we were all laughing ’cos she only just touched Molly’s and it fell off Sugar’s tail, and mine wasn’t much better either!

We didn’t have space in the horse box to take all the ponies to the beach, so we had to double up and share. Sally brought her own horse, Blue, and she let Jemima ride him, too! Skye and me rode Charm (yay!), Ricosha and Tameka shared Flame, Millie and Yasmin rode Prince, and Ruby and Molly rode Sugar.

I let Skye ride first, and she kept to the sand because Charm wasn’t too keen on the water.
But when it was my turn, with Sally helping me, I got him into the foamy waves. She told me to ride him forward and act like everything was fine, and after a couple of little panics he decided it must be OK if I thought so!

Soon we were playing that game where you wait for the waves, and then turn around and try to race away from them. I always play it with Hughie on holiday in Cornwall, but it was loads more fun on horseback. Charm loved it, too! He shook his head in delight as this one big wave crashed round his legs, and he looked so cute I just had to lean forward and give him a big hug!

After that, me, Millie and Tameka had a canter up the beach with Sally, and she showed us how to get lots of impulsion without getting the ponies too excited. I think I’ve finally got the hang of half halts now and how to squeeze Charm forward with my leg
so he has more energy in the canter instead of just getting faster. He’s certainly not going along with his nose poking out any more!

Later on, Sally found these two bits of driftwood and set them up as jumps. Flame wouldn’t take Tameka over on her own, so Sally gave her a lead and they went flying over! Then we all wanted to try giving leads, so we kept going over in pairs in different combinations. I went with Millie, then with Tam, then Sally, and afterwards I just couldn’t stop grinning! Then we swapped round and Jemima, Skye and Ricosha had a few goes over the jumps, too, and we all cheered for them.

The trip was so brilliant I didn’t want it to end! On the minibus home we were all singing songs and giggling about girly stuff, like Jemima liking this boy in her village. Sally came and chatted to us, too, and when everyone else was busy singing, she asked how I was.

That’s when I realized I’d been so caught up in the fun I’d hardly missed Apple all day. And I said, “I feel great! I wanted to practise on the cross-country course today, but it’s actually lucky that we came to the beach, because I got the chance to get Charm to trust me about splashing in the waves and I know how to get a collected canter now and he jumped that driftwood even better than the logs on the course!” Sally did a mysterious kind of smile and said, “Yeah,
lucky
that. I hadn’t planned it at all!” and I knew she meant that she had! She’s such an amazing teacher, and so is Charm. We’re really turning into a team now!

Oh, gotta go, it’s time for our DVD night (with popcorn – yum!). We’re going to watch this one about the Burghley Horse Trials and get some inspiration for the cross-country comp tomorrow!

It's cross-country day – hooray!! But also our last day at Pony Camp – boo!!

The DVD we saw last night was amazing. The fences were HUGE! We were all going “oooh!” and “ahhhh!” watching the horses and riders go over them, and “eeeeeekkkk!” and “wow!” when they were jumping the really tricky ones like the coffin. We're even more excited about getting out on to the crosscountry course after seeing that!

Skye, Millie and me had planned to stay up and have a midnight feast because it was our last night here (well, mine and Skye's anyway), but we all fell asleep by accident! I've just remembered I had a really weird dream about Apple. We were on a beach and I was cantering
along on her, and then suddenly I was on Charm instead and Apple was standing with Laura, the girl who bought her. Somehow I just knew Apple was happy, and I felt happy for her. When I woke up I still felt that way, too! Of course I'll always miss Apple, but I'm sure she's having fun with Laura, and I suppose it is nicer to have an owner the right size to ride you, so that you can have lots of adventures together.

I've got to get dressed now because we're having another lesson on the cross-country course this morning, and then getting our ponies ready for the comp!

I can't wait!!!

I’m back at home, I’ve had a shower and I’m in my pyjamas – Mum couldn’t believe it when I said I wanted to go to bed early! Really I wanted to come up to my room and finish off my Pony Camp diary before I forget one single thing about my amazing day!

For our morning lesson we warmed up in the manège, and then went out to practise on the cross-country course. Sally asked me to give Skye a lead over the log to get her started on a good note. I was so proud that she’d chosen me and Charm to lead someone else over a jump! And I could tell that Charm was pleased with himself, too! After jumping in pairs on the beach yesterday we just flew over, and Skye and Fisher followed on with no worries.

Everyone was much less nervous and giggly than the first time we came out on to the course, probably because the beach ride had given us more confidence. Plus, it wasn’t as hot today, so we weren’t so absolutely boiling in our body protectors and long sleeves and hats and everything! We did the course in two parts – first we had a go at the log pile, the double and the hedge, and then when we were all over in the next field we tried the gate, tyre jump and…

Yes, we finally tackled the ditch!

The water looked a bit
because the bank either side was really grassy and there were bushes hanging over it, which made strange reflections. But after getting Charm into the waves, I knew that he would trust me around spooky-looking water, as long as I acted like it was fine. In fact, I stayed so calm and confident, and Charm was so into his
stride after the tyre jump that he didn’t even
think
about standing off at the ditch and just popped straight over it!

Once Skye had seen us clearing it, she decided to have a go, too. It was a bit messy, with Fisher putting the brakes on, and then doing a massive leap so she had to cling on, but at least they got over! Sally said, “Well, now you’ve done the ditch and both halves of the course, you might as well go in for the competition this afternoon. But, of course, you
don’t have to if you don’t feel like it…”

“I’d like to,” Skye said shyly and we all gave her a cheer. “But I’m telling you now I’m probably going to come last,” she added.

We all started saying how it was just for fun and it didn’t matter who came where. Sally laughed and said, “Well, I was about to say that myself, but you girls have said it for me. I’ve taught you everything you need to know. I might as well go home!”

Ricosha didn’t realize she was joking and cried, “Oh no, don’t! We need you!” and that made everyone else laugh, too.

Sally also said we could do up our ponies for the cross country however we liked, as long as they were well groomed and tidy, and it didn’t have to be all proper like the official Pony Club comps or anything. I got really creative on Charm and did a running plait in the mane with blue ribbons in, and gave him
heart-shaped quarter marks using a stencil and some hairspray.

We all cleaned our tack until it gleamed, and then got into our best gear. I’d saved my cream jodhs especially for the comp and my pink stripy top had least mud on it so I wore that, too, with my body protector underneath. My pink silk almost matches it, and with that and my long boots on I felt like a proper cross-country rider! I felt even
more
like one when Jody gave us numbers to pin on to our tops. No one else wanted to go last and I said I didn’t mind, so I was number 6!

Just as the parents started arriving, Sally gathered us round in the yard and explained
the scoring system, which is like this:

First refusal – 4 penalty points

2nd refusal – 8 penalty points

3rd refusal – elimination

Knocking the gate down – 4 penalty points

Fall of pony – elimination

Fall of rider – 8 penalty points

2nd fall of rider – elimination.

I was so excited when our car pulled up and Mum
and
Dad
and
Hughie spilled out. Mum had told me she’d be coming on her own, so it was fab to see them all! Dad said, “A little bird gave us a call last night and said how well you were doing, so I took the day off work and we picked up Hughie on the way. We can’t wait to see you in action, Charlie!” I gave them all hugs (even my smelly bro!). It was great seeing how proud they were of me before they’d even watched
me ride one single step! And by the way, I found out later that the little bird was Sally!

When all the parents had arrived we mounted up and rode out to the field. I was feeling quite nervous, and Charm picked up on that and began prancing about, so I sat deep in my saddle, slowed my breathing down and relaxed through my shoulders and arms. It made me feel much better, and Charm soon settled down, too!

After the warm-up and a practice jump each, it was time for the comp. The mums and dads, and Group A, and Lydia and Jody and James all leaned on the fence beside the ditch so that they could still see us when we jumped the hedge.

This is how we did:

 Ricosha + Flame

Ricosha had a refusal at the log pile, so it wasn’t a great start. But she got it together and they flew round the rest of the course with no problems!
4 penalty points.

Jemima + Mischief

Mischief ran out at the gate – twice! Jemima managed to get him over on the third try, so she didn’t get eliminated, but she kept giggling, which didn’t exactly help. And after the ditch Mischief did another lap round the field because he didn’t want to stop!
12 penalty points!!

Tameka + Shine