Chapter 17

New Experiences

WEEKS PASSED, AND WITH every ride Vicki and Dandy’s bond grew stronger. Soon they were riding out on the hills with the other horses. First Dandy was ridden bareback, then he progressed to being ridden with a saddle and bridle.

However, the palamino stallion still had to be sold. By early December Squizzy was ready to be advertised, and, just like when his golden daughter went up for sale, the phone didn’t stop ringing.

Out of all the people who came to look him over, Dad felt the best home for Squizzy might be with a fourteen-year-old girl who was very confident at working with young ponies. Her family owned a farm, and they all rode — it sounded like the perfect home.

When they arrived, Vicki caught Squizzy and saddled him, before riding him so they could see how he worked. Impressed, the girl rode him next. She soon fell in love with his golden colouring, sweet temperament and dependable nature.

“I absolutely love him,” she said, as she swung from the saddle and hugged him. “I’ve looked at a lot of ponies and he’s the best by far.”

Determined not to miss out, the girl and her parents returned later that day to pay for him, with their horse trailer in tow so they could take him home. Everyone was sad to see Squizzy leave.

“I’m going to miss that pony,” Dad said sadly.

The sale of Squizzy brought in more than enough money to pay the bills, which had been building up while the three wild ponies were being worked with. The remaining money was put into a special new account, which would be the start of a nest egg for when they needed to buy bigger ponies for Kelly and Amanda, or for new riding gear as they outgrew their old things.

With Squizzy gone, Dad had more spare time in the evenings. To keep busy, he dragged a few logs out of the river for Vicki to teach Dandy to jump over.

“We’ll have him ready for shows in no time,” he said at dinner that night.

“You really think so?” Vicki asked.

“Let’s take him to Pony Club next week and see how he copes,” her mum said. “If that goes well, you could aim for the local Ribbon Day next month.”

It had been about eight months since Vicki, Kelly and Amanda had last attended Pony Club, back when they still had Cardiff, and they were excited by the prospect of catching up with all their riding friends and entering a show. It had been hard work over winter, with the wild ponies needing so much attention.

Because it was Dandy’s first rally, Vicki was unsure how he would go. “He’s never jumped over coloured poles before, and I’m not sure how he’ll cope with the other ponies, either,” she told the instructor.

“No worries,” the instructor said. “We’ll take it slowly.”

They warmed up slowly, focusing on their transitions between paces: walk, trot, walk, halt, trot, canter, walk.

“It’s pretty complicated, isn’t it, Dandy?” Vicki said, as he shook his head in confusion.

At home they’d mostly been riding out on the farm, so the flat work was good practice for Dandy. He’d need to be confident working in a big circle with lots of other ponies if they wanted to compete at the upcoming Ribbon Day.

Once they began jumping, Dandy was still a little unsure, spooking in front of the scarier fences. Vicki was relieved the jumps were small enough for Dandy to clear, even if he hesitated and had to jump from a standstill. Each time they landed, Vicki gave him a pat so he knew he’d been good, and the second time around he jumped them perfectly, boldly cantering into the jumps.

Dandy’s next round was even better, and he kept a consistent rhythm as he made his way around the jumps. “That was good, Vicki,” the instructor called out. “Excellent job getting him around that course. You can finish with that — it’s a good note to end on.” Once Vicki finished, the instructor raised the fences to 60 centimetres for the other riders. Vicki watched as Kelly jumped Twinkle around the course clear.

As they drove home late that evening, the three sisters chatted away, talking about the highlights of their day. They couldn’t wait to return to Pony Club the following week.

“Dandy was amazing!” Vicki said proudly. “I’m sure he’ll be ready for the Ribbon Day in three weeks.”