Chapter One
"Come on, please?" Emma begged the elderly grey pony, who was stubbornly refusing to move from the spring grass at the side of the field. "We've got a trailer to catch - this is no time for a snack!"
The early spring weather was clear, with the sun shining brightly and not a cloud in sight. But a dark and rainy cloud was hanging over Emma's head. She'd be tagging along on a camping trip to the local moors with her friend Paula, but Eddie wasn't listening to Emma at all.
Paula's trailer was situated in front of the rickety stables, the paint peeling and rusty ramp lowered. And still, Eddie wasn't moving from the grass.
Paula had owned Eddie ever since she was five; her father trained ponies and showed them on their small farm. But now, Eddie was almost twenty and a professional plodder. When Paula told Emma about the camp trip, she had been excited, but her attitude had quickly diminished when Eddie was presented to her. Paula herself was riding the young and green Bud, a chestnut Connemara with kind eyes but a hyper personality.
It took a fair bit of work to get Eddie onto the trailer, but Emma managed and then Bud was loaded shortly after. Emma fell back with Paula, who was smiling happily, as she always did. Paula was a tall girl for her age, with dirty blonde hair and bright green eyes. She was a talented rider who didn't care much for other's opinions, only caring if it was important. Emma was much different; dark hair, grey eyes and a beginner rider. But their love of horses never altered their friendship - it was something they shared.
Driving the trailer was Paula's father, Ronaldo, who was a thick-set balding man. He sat in the front seat with his jaw set and hands tightened around the steering wheel, whilst Paula and Emma clambered into the back seats of the four-by-four car. As the car and trailer began rumbling towards the meeting point on a small yard known as High Key Stables, Paula launched into a conversation about a rude instructor. Emma hardly listened, too worried about the camping and embarrassing herself.
They finally arrived at High Key, a run-down place that bordered the local moorland. It was windy as it was set so high up, and Emma was forced to pull the hood of her coat up and around her wild hair. Paula and Ronaldo were already unloading the ponies, their faces returning to the signature family expression, one that Emma had come to know as the 'work' face.
High Key Stables was made up of ten loose stalls and a small sand arena, and a couple of dry fields. Emma spotted a dark bay Shetland Pony and a short Welsh Pony, both nibbling at the short tufts of grass that the fields had to offer. There were only a few trailers in the yard, with stony-faced riders preparing their horses and ponies.
"Sarah! Tiger is looking good." Paula nodded to a younger girl as she walked past with a chestnut gelding. "And you, Leah!"
Emma didn't actually know who Sarah or Leah were, but she smiled anyway. Quietly, she wobbled up to Eddie's side and attempted to tighten the girth, but she only managed to make Eddie upset; the grey pony turned and tried to nip at her arm. Her face growing red, Emma stepped back and let Ronaldo do it, who did it so easily that Emma was left gaping in place.
"The flies around here are ferocious." Paula hissed teasingly. "Better close your mouth before they attack you!"
Emma rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. So, what next?"
"We have to wait for a few more people, I think." Paula glanced around the stables, looking at each rider and horse carefully. "Dani isn't here. And I don't think Chloe is either."
They proceeded to wait, before both said riders appeared with trailers and horses in tow. Dani rode a charming bay pony named Harvey and Chloe rode a piebald mare called Humbug. Before long, an older lady came into the yard and the riders gathered around (Ronaldo had left a few minutes after arriving at High Key). The lady had dark hair that was slowly greying and brown eyes that glanced smartly between each rider and horse. Emma knew she was an experienced lady when it came to horses.
"Hello, everyone. Are we ready for a little camping trip?" The riders answered back charismatically. "My name is Anna, and I will be leading for this trip. A few ground rules first. Listen to everything I say, stay away from anything you are not sure of and don't try to ride any of the ponies on the moors. They are not yours; they are semi-wild. Thank you. Right, let's saddle up and get going, alright?"
I know that some of you don't really like horses and I'm quite new here, but I hope you enjoyed Chapter One. I love to write and so I'll probably be in the creative sections of the forum a lot. Thanks so much!
Ivy xxx |
