Diary of a Horse Mad Girl: My First Pony - Book 1 - A Perfect Horse Book for Girls aged 9 to 12, Page 3

  I had the best ride today! After jumping I had a go at barrels, bending and even bounce pony. Sparkle knows exactly what to do. I just have to push her on using my leg aids. She’s pretty fast and I’m becoming so much more confident.

  I’m going to keep practicing every afternoon if I can, so I’ll be ready for our gymkhana. We’ll probably have it in a couple of weeks. We have to work out a day when all the girls and the parents are free. Hopefully we’ll be able to have it soon.

  Oh and the best news as well – Miss Johnson told me today that I can bring Sparkle to school any day this week. I just have to check when Dad can get some time off work to take her. This is so exciting! I can’t believe I’ll get to take my pony to school for show and tell!

  Thursday 22 November

  Oh my gosh!!! Today was incredible. Dad brought Sparkle to school in the horse trailer. It was during the morning session before the morning tea play break. He drove the trailer onto the oval and unloaded her right there. My whole class went down to look at her but Miss Johnson made everyone stand right back, just to be safe.

  She asked me to demonstrate how to groom and brush her and how to clean her hooves with the hoof pick. Dad held her lead rope and she just stood there so quietly the whole time. Then Miss Johnson just couldn’t resist – she had to go and pat her and she thought she was beautiful. She even gave her a hug.

  Then all the kids wanted to pat her too and Miss Johnson said it was okay because she could see how quiet Sparkle is. They all had turns patting her and she just stood there so quietly the whole time. Everyone adored her – she’s so well-behaved. Miss Johnson was raving about how beautiful she is and I felt so proud!

  Everyone said that it was the best show and tell they’ve ever seen. And so did Miss Johnson. I’m so lucky to have her for a teacher. And I’m so lucky to have Sparkle for a pony.

  Tuesday 11 December

  I can’t believe it’s been almost 3 whole weeks since I’ve had a chance to write! I never seem to get much time for my diary lately - things have been so hectic lately, especially with all the horses.

  Grace now has her own pony – a beautiful 14 hand chestnut called, Trixie. So now she won’t have to share Rocket with Cammie. They’ll each have their own pony and this is perfect for our gymkhana. We’ve decided to have it on the Saturday after Christmas because everyone’s busy until then.

  I can’t believe that Christmas is only 14 days away and the school holidays are almost here! In 3 days I’ll have 6 weeks off school and I’ll be able to spend every day with Sparkle. The girls and I are so excited. We have so much planned! We’re going to have sleep-overs at each other’s houses and go riding EVERY day. We’ll have to get up really early to ride though because it’s SO hot now. Yesterday was almost 100 degrees and way too hot for riding! But the early mornings are perfect and so are the late afternoons when it cools down. I think that’s my favorite time. It’s so good in summer because it gets dark so much later and we now have more time in the afternoons to ride.

  I’m so glad we have a pool! It’s so hot, we’ll be able to go swimming every day. And Grace and Cammie are getting a pool put in too. They’re hoping it’ll be ready for Christmas.

  And the best news is, they’re now going to keep their two horses in our front paddock rather than at Ali’s. Our front paddock is right across the road from their driveway and it’s much quicker and easier for them to feed and look after their horses. So Dad is going to buy a heap of special wire and posts to fence the paddock for them. The money that Jim pays Dad for keeping Rocket and Trixie will help to pay for Sparkle. We’ve started giving her special food and it’s really expensive. But she seems to be getting skinny and we don’t know why. We’re hoping that the new food will fatten her up and make her really healthy. I’m so happy because the girls will be at my house all the time now, instead of always being at Ali’s. This is going to be so cool!

  I can’t wait for Christmas. My list this year is full of horsey stuff. I might even get those jodhpurs that I’ve been wanting. They’re so expensive, I still haven’t saved up enough to buy them myself. Luckily Ali has given me her old ones to wear and Mom even found some blue ones at the 2nd hand shop that almost look brand new. And they fit me perfectly! I’d love to have the brand new pair that I saw at Saddle World though. I know they still have them because I saw them when I was in there with Grace the other day. Maybe Santa will give them to me?

  I can’t wait!

  Tuesday 25 Dec

  We had an awesome Christmas Day!

  Nate and I got up at 5am and ran in to wake up Mom and Dad. But we had to wait for Nana to get up and make a cup of tea before we could start opening our presents. She always takes so long! She arrived a few days ago and she’s staying for 2 weeks. I was really excited because I thought that she could come to the gymkhana, but Mom said that she probably won’t be able to make it across our creek. She’s pretty wobbly when she walks and needs some help. Mom said that she’ll have to get her a special walker soon so that she can get around easily.

  I got the best presents and Santa gave me the jodhpurs I wanted. They’re exactly the same as the ones in Saddle World and they look so cool. I tried them on and they fit perfectly. I’m so glad that he got the size right!

  I got a new pair of chaps as well – they’re the same as Ali’s. I’ve been wanting some like hers for ages. As well as that I got some new riding boots. Now I don’t have to wear Ali’s hand me downs - but Mom said that I should still keep them as a spare pair. It’s always good to have a pair to lend to friends when they come over for a ride, so they’ll be perfect for that.

  I got a brand new grooming kit as well. Sparkle stepped on my old one and the case is all broken, so now I’ll have lots of brushes. When my friends come over there’ll be plenty of brushes to groom Sparkle with. I also got a new purple lead rope. I’ve just been using a faded old green one that Josh’s mom gave me when we brought Sparkle home. This one will look so much better!

  It’s funny because I got pretty much all horsey stuff and Nate got things for motorbike riding. He also got a drum kit. Mom says that he’s spoilt but Dad says that it’s fair because I have Sparkle. Dad wants us all to be musicians and play instruments like him. Nate is really good on the guitar and I guess now, he’ll have to learn the drums as well. He’s so excited about it. At least he can play them in Dad’s music room up at our shed. Lucky it’s sound proof!

  I made Sparkle a special mash for her Christmas breakfast. I chopped up apples and carrots and added her favorite – some mashed banana. Then I mixed it with oats and chaff and added some of her favorite grass hay. She thought it was delicious! You should have seen her licking her lips. It was so cute! She kept dropping bits on the ground but that made Sheba happy. I think she enjoyed it as much as Sparkle! Sheba’s our golden retriever and she ÁLWAYS comes over to the paddock with me when I go to ride or feed Sparkle. She loves it and always has her nose in a bush somewhere. All we can see is her backside and tail poking out and her tail is always wagging. She’s so happy just sniffing around looking to see what she can find. She’s great in the paddock too and loves wandering around when I’m riding. The horses are used to her and don’t mind her at all.

  It’s so funny because my cat Soxy - who is the most adorable ginger cat you’ve ever seen - has started coming over to the paddock with us. Mom says it looks hilarious. There’s me, Sheba and Soxy all walking together. I would have thought a cat would be scared of horses but Soxy loves it over there. When we get to the creek though, I have to carry him. He just sits there looking at me and waiting to be picked up. The creek is really low at the moment because we haven’t had rain for ages. So he can jump across without getting wet. When there’s more water in it though, I have to carefully cross by jumping from one big rock to another. Dad’s going to get a proper crossing made soon. That’ll be so much better. He’s just worried about it getting washed away if the creek floods. This happens when there’s lots of rain, but hope
fully he’ll be able to work something out.

  I had the best Christmas! Mom, Dad, Nate and Nana loved the presents I gave them as well. It was great this year because I saved enough money from feeding all the horses and I could buy really good presents for everyone.

  Now we’ve got the gymkhana to look forward to! We’re going to have it next Saturday afternoon and that’s actually New Year’s Eve. The girls are all really excited and so am I!

  I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

  Tuesday 1 January

  New Year’s Day!

  Yesterday we finally got to have our gymkhana. We spent all morning getting ready and we were so excited! The girls and I set up a really cool jumping course, the bending poles and also bounce pony. The paddock looked so good with all the colored stripes that we painted on the equipment. And we were so glad that the weather was fine! We were really worried because there’s a cyclone up north and the weatherman said that heavy rain and flooding is on the way. But there was no sign of it at our place, just more beaming sunshine.

  The parents started arriving at 3:00 in the afternoon. They all brought fold up chairs and we set them up under the shade of some trees. So they had a really good spot to sit. Dad even drove Nana around to Ali’s place and set up a comfy chair for her in the shade so she could watch the gymkhana from there. They all brought some drinks and snacks and said they were getting ready to celebrate New Year’s Eve.

  It all started off really well. We each did the jumping course a couple of times. In the end we decided not to score each other, but just have fun. Tom was helping us all with our jumping and pretty much giving us each a jumping lesson as we went along. This was really cool because he knows a lot about jumping and was really helpful. Then everyone ended up getting a ribbon. Ali ended up making one for everyone!

  Just as we were about to start the other events, we suddenly heard a scream. Cammie decided to take Rocket for a ride in the big paddock and for some reason, he bolted. Then almost in a flash I saw Cammie on the ground. She had fallen off Rocket and then he raced off up the hill. Everyone went running towards her in a panic – it was really scary!

  I felt my heart stop and I couldn’t move. I could see her lying on the ground but she was completely still. Her Dad bent over her and we just stood waiting – I was really hoping that she was okay. Then he moved away from her and she slowly stood up. She was shaken up and she was crying. I was praying that she wasn’t hurt. We’ve heard terrible stories of people coming off horses and being badly injured and I didn’t want that happening to Cammie.

  She took her helmet off and sat down with all the parents. Tom then went to catch Rocket and we all rushed over to her – we were so worried, but thank goodness, she was fine. She told us to go on with the gymkhana, so we did but it kind of wasn’t the same after that.

  Then Shelley and Kate’s parents said that they had to go and get ready for New Year’s Eve. Cammie, Grace and Ali asked me if they could stay the night at my house. Their parents said that they might come over as well and have a barbecue with us. Mom and Dad said that this was a great idea.

  The girls and I decided to set the tent up so we could camp out for the night, just like at my birthday party. So Dad helped us get organized and set up while Mom got the food ready. Thank goodness, Cammie wasn’t hurt badly. She said that her wrist hurt a bit from the fall and she had some bruises on her hip, but that was all. She was so lucky!

  I ended up having so much fun with the girls last night and Nate joined in as well. We had a nighttime swim in the pool and later on we all got torches and played spotlight. It gets so dark on our property at nighttime though and hiding in the bushes can get pretty scary. There was a lot of screaming going on, that’s for sure! Then Mom and Dad gave us some sparklers and party poppers and we let them off right on midnight. We all counted down and then called out HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

  Finally we went to sleep in the tent. Mom and Dad had to get up during the night though because it started to rain and they wanted to check that we weren’t getting wet. Then at about 6:00 this morning, Jim arrived to pick the girls up. That was so early for them to leave and the bad part was, I was left to clean up all the mess!

  Now it’s pouring with rain. Mom and Dad said that it’s meant to get worse and there might even be flooding. I hope my baby is okay. I brought her down near the house this afternoon so she could graze on the nice grass. But there’s thunder and lightning right now so I hope she’s not getting spooked! I wish I had stables to keep her in, so she can stay nice and dry. I’m glad she now has a summer rug! That will help to protect her from some of the rain at least.

  Oh no – the lights are flickering. This storm definitely seems to be getting worse. I hope we don’t have a blackout! I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep tonight – I’m too worried about Sparkle! Maybe I should go and look for her and check that she’s safe. I can’t stop thinking about her. Is she going to be alright????

  Look out for Diary of a Horse Mad Girl – Book 2

  “My First Pony”

  Thank you for reading my book, I hope you really loved it! If you could leave a review, I would be really grateful!

  Your support really does make a difference!

  “I LOVE horses!”

  Katrina Kahler xx

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