Emily and Emerald (6 page)

Wednesday
, after the most amazing time!

The others aren’t back from the carriage-driving trip yet, and I did offer to do extra yard duties in my spare time, but Sally said I’d earned a break. So I went upstairs to get this diary, and now I’m sitting outside in the sunshine, writing! I’ve had the most amazing day with Emerald. We’ve both learnt so much – and had loads of fun, too!

Emerald was hiding at the back of her stable when I arrived this morning, but as soon as she saw me she came up for a hug. After the others had set off on the trip, Sally asked me to help Lydia on the yard. Then, about half an hour later, she called me over to the car park.

A dusty old orange pick-up truck, with a wild mustang painted on the bonnet, was pulling up.
My heart was hammering as this huge man climbed out, wearing chaps, a blue checked shirt and a cowboy hat. He looked quite scary from the back, but as soon as he turned round, I knew he was really nice.

He gave me a big smile, then lifted Sally off the ground in a hug and said, “Western Bob at your service, Ma’am.” It was funny ’cos he didn’t sound American, as I’d expected, but like a normal Dorset person.

First of all, Western Bob asked me to bring Emerald into the manège wearing only her head collar. I’d thought I’d be riding straight away, but Bob said, “We need to get Emerald to trust you, and the best place for that is on the ground.”

Bob put Emerald on this really long lead rope, sort of like a lunge rein, and got her to walk round one way and then the other in a circle. Then he let me have a go. My circle was a lot wonkier than his to start with, but after a while Emerald stopped weaving in and out and went steadily round.

We did the same in trot, and then Bob got me to walk around wherever I wanted at the end of the rope and to let Emerald just follow me – I was amazed when she actually did! Then he showed me how to wiggle the rope a bit to get her to go backwards. At first she was confused, but she soon got the hang of it.

Then, when I thought I was finally going to ride, Bob said, “Now, let’s give you two a little free time together.” I didn’t really know what he meant, but then he took the lead rope off Emerald and let her hang out with me in the manège, doing whatever she wanted. And it was so cool that what she wanted to do was follow me around! So we had a walk one way and then the other, and then I tried jogging along and she trotted next to me.

Then she had a trot round and
I
followed
her
. She finished off with a snort and a roll in the woodchips. I didn’t copy
that
, of course!

“Good job, Miss Emily,” Western Bob said, as I walked back to the gate, and Sally was smiling loads, too. She said it was time for a break then – I felt really grown up that it was just me and the two adults, even though they had coffee and I had orange squash. When Bob asked me how Pony Camp was going I felt shy at first, but soon I started chatting away about Emerald and Frankie and all the other girls and ponies. I even ended up telling him about our secret midnight feast! 

When it was time to ride, Sally and I gave Emerald a brush down and tacked up, and soon I was out in the manège on my gorgeous pony. And guess what? Sally was riding, too, on her horse, Blue. She said it would help Emerald get used to being with other ponies in the manège.

Western Bob had a different style of teaching to Sally. He wanted us to focus on staying relaxed and in tune with our ponies (well, pony and horse!). Like, if they broke out of trot back to walk, we just let them, and then quietly asked them to pick up trot again when they were ready, rather than bothering too much about it. When Sally trotted to the back of the ride and came up behind us, I thought for a moment that Emerald was going to freak out, but she didn’t. All that work we’d done on the ground really had paid off!

After about twenty minutes we were nicely warmed up, and Western Bob asked me if there was anything special I wanted to work on. I said, “Not really, I’m just happy if Emerald’s happy…” I trailed off, but his smile encouraged me to be brave. “It would be great if Emerald and I could join in the gymkhana on Friday,” I said then. “But only if it’s the right thing for her.”

Western Bob agreed to give it a go, and soon me and Sally were doing the walk, trot, canter race and the weaving through cones one, and Emerald really did enjoy it!

Then Sally said we should make it more realistic, and called to Lydia and her friend Polly to tack up Fly (Lydia’s liver chestnut horse) and Rupert, one of the riding school horses. At first, with four of us tearing up and down the manège I really thought Emerald was going to freak out, but she did OK. She got quite razzed up when we were doing the relay race, though, because I had to ride her quite close to Polly and Rupert, but I stayed calm and held her together.

Sally said afterwards how well we’d done, but that in the real gymkhana it will be even more difficult, with people cheering and more ponies in the manège. She said she’d leave it up to me whether we wanted to just do some of the games on Friday, and added that we didn’t have to join in at all if I felt that Emerald wouldn’t like it. It was great that she was letting me judge for myself what was right for us. It made me feel like we’re really a team.

Afterwards, I tied Emerald up in the yard and gave her a proper head-to-hoof groom, and Sally let me wash her tail and then plait it up so it would dry all wavy! Then she came with me while I took Emerald for a walk up and down the lane. I thought we might turn her out
into the field with the other ponies, but Sally said we should probably leave it one more day. So my little Emerald is all cosy in her stable now, tired out and very pleased with herself. I can’t believe how much I love her after only three days!

Oh, the minibus has just pulled up. I hope the others had a good time – but, urgh, I just had a horrible thought – what if Frankie has got really friendly with someone else after today and she doesn’t want to hang around with me any more? GULP! I really hope not! 

Well, I was just being silly about Frankie (phew!). It sounds like they all had a great time on the carriage-driving trip, though. They each had a ride in this trap pulled by a pony called Bayleaf. And they saw all these gorgeous ponies and horses and different carriages, and they sat in this really grand one from Victorian times that’s actually been on TV.

It sounded like fun, but I still didn’t mind missing it because I got to spend the day with Emerald. Frankie said she wished I’d come, but that she wasn’t lonely ’cos she hung around with her sister and the older girls. Then she said, “You are coming on the hack tomorrow, though, aren’t you?” And I went, “What hack?”

Frankie said Jody told them about it in the minibus. Both groups are going together for a
long ride through the countryside, with a picnic lunch halfway. I really want to go and I’m sure Emerald can handle it, so long as I stay calm and focused. But I’ll have to see what Sally thinks.

At teatime, all the girls were chattering away about the trip. Because I didn’t go I felt kind of left out and I was tempted to just fade away into the background. But something, maybe seeing Emerald’s courage in the lessons with Western Bob today, made me try to join in. I asked a few questions, and everyone was really keen to chat to me about it.

Then Elena asked me how
my
day was, and at that moment everyone seemed to have finished talking and they were all paying attention to
me
. I blushed and that old feeling of wanting to turn invisible came back, but then I thought,
If Emerald can be brave, so can I.
And once I started talking about Emerald, I got pulled along with excitement about what we’d done and
how much she’d come on today. Then Morgan started telling a story, and I was just sitting there thinking,
Wow, did I actually have everyone listening to me and being really interested?

That made me feel so happy, and when we went swimming this evening I went and joined in doing handstands on the bottom of the pool and having races and playing water volleyball without even
thinking
that I was joining in. That’s amazing for me!

So it’s not just Emerald who has gained a lot of confidence with Sally and Western Bob’s help. I have, too!

Gotta go, Frankie’s saying hurry up ’cos my hot chocolate’s getting cold!