“You’re my favorite Rosie in the world!” Grandma handed Jet’s reins to her granddaughter, and they walked side by side to the arena.
“Need any help getting—” Before Grandma could finish her question, Rosie had her foot in the stirrup and, with a little spring, was on the pony’s back. Grandma laughed. “You’ll be giving me riding lessons before long!”
Rosie beamed. Everyone in her family rode horses—her grandmother, parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Rosie couldn’t wait until she could ride as well as everyone else. Well, she and her dad were about equal. Eric didn’t have much time to ride, but he had occasionally ridden Kezzie alongside Rosie and Jet that summer, with Grandma giving him a few pointers as well.
Grandma stepped outside the arena and leaned against the top rail of the fence, raising a hand to her forehead to shield her eyes from the sun. “Walk her around and let her stretch her legs for a few minutes. Then let me see a nice slow jog.”
Rosie squeezed lightly with her heels, and leaned forward to pet the pony’s neck. “I love you, Jet!”
“Sit up straight,” Grandma called out.
Rosie sat up and looked ahead through Jet’s short, fuzzy ears, listening for her grandmother’s next instructions.
After Grandma ran Rosie through several schooling exercises, she nodded approvingly. “You’re doing very well. I’ll be right back. I’m going to get Kezzie saddled.”
“Okay.” Rosie signaled Jet to trot. She broke into a song as they trotted around the ring. The pony’s ears flicked back and forth, listening to her rider’s slightly off-key voice.
Soon Grandma reappeared, leading her chestnut mare toward the arena. “Let’s ride in the woods.” She waved her hand in front of her face. “I don’t know about you, but I think Jet’s had enough of this dust.”
Rosie loved any kind of riding, but she especially liked it when she was allowed to leave the arena and ride around the property of Sonrise Stable. Jet whinnied a greeting to her friend, Kezzie. Rosie envied the horses’ friendship. Someday she hoped to have a best friend too.
Grandma opened the arena gate for Rosie, then mounted Kezzie. They rode the horses at a walk past the barn, across the pasture, and into the woods.
“Fall is my favorite time of year,” Grandma said. “Don’t you love the sound of the horses crunching through the leaves?”
“What? I can’t hear you,” Rosie shouted. “The leaves are making too much noise!”
“Whoa.” Grandma pulled back on the reins, and Kezzie stopped. She turned the horse around to face Rosie. “Those leaves against Jet’s black coat would make a beautiful picture. I wish I had brought my camera.”
Rosie leaned over, laughing as she tried to catch the multicolored leaves spiraling down from the trees. “It’s snowing leaves!”
Jet stopped when she felt her rider’s weight shift in the saddle. The pony stood patiently, leaves swirling around her, and waited for Rosie to reposition herself.
“You silly girl.” Grandma smiled. “It’s a good thing that pony knows how to take care of you, otherwise you’d probably land on your head.”
“Jet won’t let me fall off,” Rosie said. “It’s not that far to the ground anyway.”
“Come on, you two.” Grandma waved Rosie forward.
Rosie urged her pony into a trot to catch up. When she got close enough, Jet gave Kezzie a playful nip on the hindquarters. The chestnut mare squealed and stomped her foot as a warning to the mischievous pony. Although she was much smaller, Jet didn’t seem to realize it. She loved to be the leader and was not intimidated by trail obstacles that often frightened larger horses.
Rosie and her grandmother rode side by side along the trail, rocking gently to the horses’ rhythm.
“This is the kind of riding I love. No horse shows or competitions—just taking it easy, enjoying my horse and the beauty of God’s creation.”
The breeze flipped a section of Kezzie’s long, flaxen mane over her neck. Grandma reached down and moved the hair back to the correct side. “Sometimes it seems like only yesterday that I began training her. Good horses are rare, and she’s been a great one.”
“But she’s not as good as Jet,” Rosie insisted.
“Maybe not, but almost.” Grandma paused with a mysterious smile on her face. “Next year, I’ll have another training project. You’re learning so quickly; I think you’ll be ready to help me.”
Rosie tilted her head and looked up at her grandmother. “Me? Train a horse? How could I do that? I’m not that good yet.”
“Not exactly a horse. A foal.”
“A foal?” Rosie repeated, still not understanding. “Yes. Jet’s foal.”
As the meaning of her grandmother’s words sank in, Rosie nearly bounced off the pony. “A foal? Jet’s going to have a baby? When?”
Grandma smiled at Rosie’s reaction.
“Oh, no! Am I hurting her?” Rosie stood in the stirrups. “Should I be riding her now?”
“Calm down. She’s not going to have it tomorrow! It takes horses eleven months to have a foal.”
“Oh.” Rosie gently sat down and tried to calculate when eleven months would be.
“You can keep riding Jet for a while. The exercise will be good for her. She won’t have the foal until early next spring.”
***
When they returned to the barn, Rosie helped her grandmother removed the saddle, then she ran a brush lightly over the pony’s side.
“She won’t break. You can groom her like you always have.”
Next, Rosie dumped a wheelbarrow full of fresh shavings into Jet’s stall. “This will make a nice, soft bed for you.”
The pony pawed at the pile of shavings.
“I know you like to arrange it yourself. That’s why I didn’t spread them out.” Rosie moved the wheelbarrow into the aisle, then stood by the open stall door watching the pony paw the shavings around until she was satisfied with the arrangement.
Rosie dumped Jet’s water bucket outside the barn and refilled it, then put a flake of grass hay in the rack. “Is there anything else I should do, Grandma?”
“That’s everything for now. We can ride again this evening if you want to.”
“Of course!” Rosie slipped her small, soft hand into Grandma’s strong one, and they walked toward the house together.
***
Rosie spent most of the next three days at the barn with her grandmother and the horses. She wished every day could be like that, but her brief vacation soon came to an end. When her mother returned, Rosie eagerly told her the news about Jet.
Kristy looked surprised. “Why didn’t you tell me, Mom? There haven’t been any foals at Sonrise Stable since Ebony had Jet.”
“I just found out last week for sure and wanted Rosie to be the first to know.”
“It’s a good thing we homeschool, Rosie. If you work hard and finish your work early, we’ll come out twice a week now so you can ride and help Grandma with Jet and Kezzie.”
“I will, Mom,” Rosie promised. “Grandma needs my help.” And Rosie kept her word.
Kristy suggested that maybe Jet should have a foal every year, if it would motivate Rosie to do so well with her schoolwork.
***
The days shortened and grew increasingly crisp and cool as winter approached. The trees were bare now, having long ago shed their leaves. Everything was a dull, drab brown, except for a few green pines—reminders that spring and new life would come again.
With the cold weather, Rosie wasn’t riding as much, but she still enjoyed spending time with her pony. Rosie shivered as she and her grandmother walked to the barn one particularly cold day.
“Don’t you have a heavier coat?”
Rosie nodded. “I didn’t think it would be this cold.” She crossed her arms tightly, her teeth chattering. When they reached the barn, she slid Jet’s stall door open. “She looks bigger.”
“You’ve been feeding her too many carrots, haven’t you?” Rosie jerked her head toward the pony, then looked back at Grandma. It dawned on her that her grandmother was joking. “I better not feed her quite so many—just in case.”
“We’ll have to be careful about her diet,” Grandma agreed. “We don’t want her to gain too much weight too soon.”
Rosie watched the pony chew her hay. “I still can’t believe Jet’s going to have a foal!”