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

Diary of a Horse Mad Girl

  My First Pony

  Book 1

  Katrina Kahler

  Copyright 2014 by KC Global Enterprises

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to my beautiful daughter. These are her adventures and we all loved going along for the ride. I hope you do too!

  Hi, my name is Abbie and this diary is all about me and my very first pony, Sparkle who is a beautiful 13 hand Palomino. She is the best first pony anyone could wish for and we’ve had so many great adventures together. Luckily, I live on a rural property with lots of land and also other neighborhood girls to ride with. We have our very own “Saddle Club” and it’s such a great way to grow up. I have many fun times to share with you and if you’re anywhere near as horse mad as me, I’m sure you’ll enjoy reading this book.

  Now, from the beginning…

  Monday 24 September

  When I heard Sparkle nicker this morning, I knew she was calling me. I raced over to the paddock still in my PJs. I couldn’t get there quickly enough! I can’t believe I now actually have my own pony! And she’s such a beautiful palomino. They’ve always been my favorite type of horse and now I have one of my very own. It’s like a dream come true. One minute, I’m being led around the paddock on my neighbor’s horse and the next minute I’m standing there with my own palomino.

  I’m lucky as well, to have a girl like Ali as my neighbor. She’s really nice to me and also a great rider. If it wasn’t for her living next door with horses of her own, this probably wouldn’t be happening. She and her mum know everything there is to know about horses, which is such a great help, because my parents don’t know much at all. And now that I have my own pony to ride, we can go riding together. It’s great having an older girl next door who is as horse mad as me. I always wanted a big sister. I’m very lucky!

  And guess what! Sparkle loves bananas. Who would ever have thought that horses would eat bananas – with the skin and all! I’m going to give her one every day as a special treat. I’ll have to make sure Mom buys lots of carrots as well. I’m so glad it’s the school holidays and I can spend every day with her. My new grooming kit is really cool too – it’s in a special pink box and everything in it is pink. And the best part is…Sparkle loves being brushed. She’s such a good pony and Ali says I’m very lucky to have found a pony with a quiet temperament like hers.

  I can’t wait for my first riding lesson on Thursday. The instructor is coming at 9:00 in the morning before it gets hot, so I’ll have to be up early to make sure I’m ready. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight, just thinking about it! I’m so excited!!!

  Thursday 27 September

  I thought that the day Sparkle arrived at our place was the best day of my life, but I think today was even better. That riding lesson was so awesome and Jane, the instructor, says I’m a natural. She said I have a really good seat and Mom was commenting on my posture and how straight I sit in the saddle. I just have to work on pulling Sparkle up when I want her to slow down. Even though she’s 16 years old, she’s very forward moving. But that’s why she’s such a good sporting pony and I can’t wait to see Josh ride her in the gymkhana on Sunday.

  He was really sad to sell her, but she’s too small for him now. His new horse Tara, is beautiful, but Josh says that Sparkle is the best sporting pony and he’s really keen to do well in the gymkhana. Anyway, I agreed to let him take her this Sunday so he can compete on her one last time. I can’t wait to go and watch! I’ve never been to a gymkhana before; it’s going to be so much fun.

  And Ali said that we could go riding together tomorrow. That will be cool. She’ll be able to give me a lesson and help me improve my riding. Mom said I can only ride in the small paddock though, until Sparkle and I get used to each other.

  Ali and I are becoming really close; I think she’s my best friend now. And it’s fun sitting in our special tree. That’s what we’ve decided to do now when we finish riding each day - take some snacks, climb up and sit in our special tree in the big paddock and just watch the horses grazing. Mom says I now have my very own saddle club. That’s my favorite TV show but I never thought I’d have a saddle club of my own. IT’S TOTALLY COOL!

  Sunday 29 September

  Oh my gosh, today was AMAZING!!! Sparkle won 4 blue ribbons, 2 red and one green and Josh gave them all to me. I’m so happy!

  Sparkle is the best sporting pony, I can’t wait to do gymkhanas on her myself. That bounce pony looks like so much fun and Sparkle is really good at it. And she’s so good at barrels as well. But the jumping was the best – Sparkle is such a good all-rounder! Of course, Josh is a really good rider and really pushed her on, but I know I’ll be able to do that too. Especially on Sparkle. What a talented pony!

  And she looked so pretty today. I spent all yesterday afternoon getting her ready. It was so much fun in the paddock with Ali. We bathed her with this special horsey shampoo that made her coat look really shiny and Ali showed me how to braid her mane and tail as well. It looked very professional, especially with the colored ribbon that we braided through it. And the brow band that Josh’s Mom made for her looked terrific. She said that I can keep it and she’s even going to make me another one with ribbon the colors of my pony club, when I eventually join.

  I can’t wait till school goes back and I can tell all my friends about her – they’ll be so jealous! I wonder if I’d be able to take her to school for show and tell? Miss Johnson might let me!

  Tuesday 2 October

  I can’t believe it! Cammie and Grace now have a horse too. They’re the girls who moved in across the road recently and with all 4 of us, we can have a proper saddle club. Four girls in the one street all with horses. They have to share Rocket – that’s the name of their new horse (apparently he’s really fast).

  We’re planning to meet up in the big paddock tomorrow. They don’t have anywhere to keep Rocket but Ali’s mum said it’s fine for him to stay in their paddock for the time being. We’ll all be able to go riding together. Their dad knows heaps about horses as well. He grew up on a horse property, so I guess he’ll teach them how to ride.

  I’m having another riding lesson with Jane tomorrow. This time I’m going to work on my rising trot. Ali’s been teaching me how to do it properly already, so I bet Jane will be surprised at how good I am.

  Sparkle loves the new hay that we’ve bought – it’s top quality grass hay and as soon as she sees me with it, she comes cantering over. She’s such a beautiful pony, the other girls all think so as well. I’m so lucky to have a palomino – she’s definitely the prettiest horse!

  Friday 5 October

  IT’S NOT FAIR! Ali is MY friend and the tree in the big paddock is OUR special tree! Now Cammie has come along and taken Ali off me. They spent the whole afternoon together in the paddock with the horses and Ali showed Cammie our tree. That’s where I found them when I finally got home today after going to the saddlery with Mom. She bought me a brand new pink feed bucket that is really cool. I was so happy because I found lots of things that I’d like for my birthday as well. It’s only a month away and Mom said that she’d think about them. Hopefully she’ll go back and buy them for me. Anyway, I raced over to the paddock to show Sparkle and give her a banana and there they were…both Ali and Cammie up in our tree together. And the worst part was that they weren’t even interested in me. It’s probably because they’re the same age and I’m younger but it’s not fair – Ali is MY special frien
d!

  Mom said that we’ll all have to just get along and that I can spend time with Grace, who is more my age. But I’m really upset about Ali. I can see that she and Cammie are going to become best friends now. I liked it when it was just the two of us. Why did the other girls have to come along and spoil it all?

  Sunday 7 October

  It was really scary today! My friend Ella came over with her brother Tim just as I was getting ready to go for a ride. Anyway, Mom said they could come to the paddock with us to have a little ride themselves. They were so excited as neither of them had ever been on a horse before.

  Mom put the saddle on while I did up the bridle (Mom still can’t figure out how to put it on properly). We led Ella around the paddock first. She was having such a great time. Then Tim decided that he wanted a turn. To make it a bit more exciting, Mom got Sparkle to trot while she was leading her. But then all of a sudden she turned Sparkle to the left. It was a really sharp turn. Sparkle was fine but it made the saddle slip completely down to her side. She just kept trotting along, not worried in the slightest, but Tim was almost on the ground.

  Mom hadn’t done the girth up tightly enough! She should know by now that it gets loose after a few minutes of riding. We all thought it looked so funny with Tim hanging on like that. Sparkle wasn’t going very fast and he was hanging on really tightly so he was actually okay. But he didn’t think so! It scared him half to death. He was even shaking. I’d forgotten it was his first ride on a horse – EVER – and he just isn’t used to it. I hope this doesn’t put him off riding.

  But it was what happened next that scared EVERYBODY! Someone must have left the gate open because Rocket had wandered into Sparkle’s paddock. When he saw us all gathered around Tim and Sparkle, he got all stirred up and galloped over. All of a sudden, he did a huge kick and came SO close to kicking Ella in the head. His hooves looked like they just missed her!

  She screamed and this made him go even crazier. I think it was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen! Just before that, all of us were laughing at Tim. Watching him slide down Sparkle’s side while she trotted along looked pretty funny. But then in the blink of an eye Ella was almost being kicked in the head by a huge horse. Mom was still freaking out about it after dinner tonight – she said she can’t stop thinking about what could have happened. I don’t think she’ll ever forget to tighten the girth again, that’s for sure!

  Actually, I don’t think any of us will ever forget what happened today!

  And now I have to go back to school tomorrow. At least I can see all my friends and tell them about Sparkle. (I don’t want to tell them about the near accident though – they mightn’t want to come over if I do).

  As soon as I get home, I’m going to race over to the paddock and give Sparkle a banana. I hope we have some. I’d better go and check – if there’s none maybe Mom can get some more on her way home from work.

  Monday 8 October

  School was so boring today. I just wanted to come home to Sparkle. All I could think about was my baby. I told all my friends about her and they’re so jealous! They all wish that they had a horse. Everyone wants to come over and have a ride. Mom said, maybe not just yet. She’s still getting over what happened yesterday. At least Ella is okay – and Tim as well. Ella and I were laughing about what happened to him. That was the funniest thing. But he doesn’t think so.

  Sparkle loved her banana this afternoon. I didn’t ride, I just patted her and watched her grazing. She’s the prettiest horse! I could see Ali and Cammie with their horses over at Ali’s place. They waved to me but didn’t come over.

  I knew they’d become best friends. I don’t know where Grace was.

  At least I have my baby – Sparkle…AND my darling cat Soxy – I know that THEY love me!!!!

  Wednesday 10 October

  Dad put an ad in the paper to see if we can agist our big paddock. If we can get someone to keep their horse here, the money will help to pay for Sparkle’s feed and my riding lessons. And just tonight a lady rang. She’s coming over tomorrow to have a look. Dad said that she has a daughter who needs somewhere to keep her horse. She has a friend with another 2 horses as well and she doesn’t have anywhere to keep them either. The lady told Dad that the girls are both good riders. They’re about 4 years older than me but he said she sounded very nice and he thinks this could work out really well. Maybe the girls will be able to help me with my riding? Maybe we’ll even become good friends! That would be cool, especially now that Ali is spending all her time with Cammie and Grace. It will be so good to have some other horsey friends of my own.

  I hope they’re friendly and that they do decide to keep their horses here. I can’t wait to meet them tomorrow. I wonder what their horses are like? I hope they get along with Sparkle!

  Thursday 11 October

  Shelley and Kate are super nice and their horses are gorgeous. They love our place and think it’ll be perfect. This is going to be so cool. If I introduce them to Cammie, Grace and Ali, they might even be happy to include me again and that means we can have a real saddle club – there’ll be so many of us. I just wish we had proper stables like in the Saddle Club TV show. That would be really cool. But instead, we have to cross over our creek to get to the horse paddocks and it’s so far to walk, especially carrying all the tack. I’m glad Mom carries the saddle for me!

  Shelley and Kate are going to bring their horses to our place on Saturday and we’ve planned to go riding together. This is so exciting, I can’t wait! And they’ve even said that they’ll pay me to feed their horses each day. That’s so good because now I’ll be able to save up and buy those really pretty jodhpurs that I saw at Saddle World last weekend. Mom said I’m going to have to get up even earlier in the mornings now, so that I’m ready for school on time. But I don’t mind.

  Saturday 13 October

  Our place is just like the Saddle Club now! Shelley and Kate brought their horses over today and we all went riding together. Then we spent the afternoon bathing and grooming them. It’s so much fun having girls at my house and doing all this horsey stuff together. It’s way better than having to do it on my own. Mom says the problem with Cammie and Grace is that they’re keeping their horses at Ali’s and that’s why they’ve become best friends. But I have my own special horsey friends now. And they’re keeping their horses at my house.

  This afternoon we all just got to hang out and talk about horses. Shelley has a bay and Kate has a chestnut. The other horse is a paint and he belongs to Kate as well, but she doesn’t ride him much. Sparkle seems to get along with them all so that’s really good. And now she has lots of horses in the paddocks around hers so she definitely won’t get lonely.

  We met Kate’s dad today when he brought the horses over and he told us that we could borrow his horse trailer anytime. This means I might be able to go to pony club when it starts up again next year. Shelley and Kate have told me all about it and it sounds amazing! I can’t wait for that!

  Sunday 14 October

  A sound like thunder woke me up at 5:30 this morning. At first I couldn’t work out what it was because I was still half asleep. But then I realized it was horses’ hooves galloping past my bedroom window. I heard Mom and Dad running down the stairs so I jumped out of bed and ran up the driveway after them.

  Shelley and Kate’s horses had escaped from the paddock and ran down the hill and across the creek. There’s not much water in it at the moment and it’s easy to cross. They must have been trying to get out the front gate but luckily they found the big feed bins that we keep in the shed. At least that stopped them from going out onto the road! We found them up there stuffing themselves with whatever they could find. Luckily it was only chaff but Mom and Dad were in a panic. The horses were really excited and stirring each other up, especially Nugget. He’s the paint and he seemed to be the ringleader.

  Mom, Dad and I were all running around in our PJs, with lead ropes and some hay, trying to catch them all. Mom and Dad were NOT impressed
- especially at 5:30 in the morning! It was so hard to catch them and calm them down. Luckily there were 3 of us – It took quite a while to get them under control and back in their paddock. Dad then had to fix the gate.

  What a way to start the day!

  Dad rang Tom (Kate’s dad) and he said that Nugget is an escape artist. When Shelley and Kate came over this afternoon, they said that he’s escaped from a lot of paddocks. Dad was annoyed because Tom hadn’t told us that before. He’s going to try to find somewhere else to keep Nugget now. This will be good because we don’t want that happening again!

  At least we all got to go for a ride. When we went over to the paddock, Ali, Cammie and Grace were riding at Ali’s. Our paddock is the best one for riding in though because it’s so big. I introduced them to Shelley and Kate and asked them if they wanted to ride with us. Ali, Cammie and Grace were SO nice to me. I could see that they really wanted to be friends with the older girls as well. But Cammie’s probably a bit jealous – I know that she wants to keep Ali to herself.

  It was heaps of fun with us all riding together though and hopefully now we can all meet up after school one day this week and go riding again – that will be awesome if we do!

  I hope the girls get on okay. It’d be great if we can all become good friends!

 

  Monday 15 October

  When I got home from school today, I found that Nugget was missing from the paddock. I was so worried because I thought he’d escaped again but then Dad told me they’ve found somewhere else to keep him. Dad was really relieved and said it would be less to worry about. It’s also one less horse for me to have to feed each morning and night. But that means less money as well and that’s not good because I really want to be able to buy those jodhpurs as soon as I can.

  I’m really excited though because Tom, Kate’s Dad, brought a heap of horse jumps over and put them in the paddock. Kate’s horse Lulu is a really good jumper and Kate loves jumping so she wants to practice. Tom said that he’d teach me how to jump on Sparkle as well. This is very exciting – I really want to learn how to jump – it looks like so much fun. It’ll probably be scary at first but Tom said I can just go over little jumps until I become confident. I know that Sparkle is a good jumper as well, so I’m sure she’ll love it too. This is so cool!!!