Ride a Bright Horse

Jennifer Dovey

Description

Jenny has always wanted to ride but has always been very nervous about doing so. However, today's the day and she approaches the horse chosen for her with a stomach full of butterflies - and finds, to her delight, a kindred spirit in Daisy.Daisy is a mischievous horse, full of quirky charm and ready to teach Jenny that the bond between a girl and her horse isunlike anything she could imagine. Without ideas about what horses should do, Jenny allows Daisy to be a free spirit,and as Jenny encourages Daisy to learn new skills, Daisy becomes both pupil and teacher and Jenny's confidence andability to ride improves.With only their instincts and deepening bond to guide them, this pair are about to embark upon the friendship of alifetime.Ride a Bright Horseportrays the fun and affection, laughter and tears, and harmony of spirit between a rider anda horse, as they share a most unusual journey.

Sujets

• Children's
• Riding

Informations

• Publié par: Troubador Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 15 février 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781838598396
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Copyright © 2020 Jennifer Dovey

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

This novel is a work of fiction inspired by the author’s memories of the actions and character of her own horse and the experiences which they shared. The people and places within the story are either from the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to any real person, either living or dead, or to any actual event is purely coincidental.

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ISBN 9781838598396

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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To the girls who shared our journey
– Clare, Helen, Jane, Julie, Lindsay, Sally – with my love.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Preface
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Glossary
Acknowledgements
I am sincerely grateful to my husband Trevor for his lovely illustrations, support, encouragement and enthusiasm.
Preface
Daisy was my first, last and only horse. She taught me to ride, we were best friends for thirteen years and I was privileged to own her for ten. She always had an opinion and always wanted to be in control, but nevertheless she always looked after me and did her very best to please me in any way she could. She had an uncanny ability to problem-solve, surprising me again and again with her intelligence, good memory and practical common sense. She would nod her head for ‘yes’ and shake it for ‘no’, and she could carry out her road drill without being asked to ‘look right, left and right again’ – to the amusement of many a passer-by.
Her memory was also excellent. My favourite route took us to a crossroads, and I could say,
“When we get to the bottom of the hill, turn left,” and she would do so without any further prompting, either physical or verbal. We must have hacked thousands and thousands of miles, and in our heyday we were riding for three or four hours several times a week. Friends used to say to me, “I worry about you, miles away from home, all on your own in the middle of no-where for hours,” and I would say, “I’m not on my own, I’m with Daisy.”
Going for long walks in hand became part of our lives as well, on days when it was too cold or too hot to ride. I spent many happy hours strolling with my friend in hand, high up on the Downs, watching the racehorses exercise, soaking up the sunshine, drinking in the view, listening to the birdsong. I could have made a journey of a thousand miles with her and there would not have been anything we could possibly encounter on the way which we could not have dealt with as a team, either in hand or under saddle. No matter what the obstacle – quick-sand, bogs, stampeding cattle, snarling angry dogs, lost sheep, roadblocks, pneumatic drills, accidents, ambulances, motorway bridges, heavy traffic, floods, or even the most extreme weather the countryside could throw at us – she never let me down or left me behind.
I remember so well the first day we met, the early days when I was learning to ride and my nervousness, when we rode out for the very first time, all on our own! We were always a team right from the start, and long before she became mine everyone called her ‘Jen’s Daisy’.
So many memories, so much love, so much mischief, so many times she saved the day, made me laugh or made me feel humbled. My greatest joy was to have known her and to have been her friend for so many years, and her gift to me was to set me free.
Chapter One
Daisy
Daisy was doing what she liked best, mooching around in the long grass, collecting bright golden dandelions. She loved the fact that the cheerful little flower heads had so many tiny petals and that they seemed to glow so brightly against the thick emerald green grass. The warm sun shone down on her back as she pottered about, foraging happily. The white farmhouse at the end of the lane gleamed in the sunlight against a perfectly clear, bright blue sky, and the warm breeze smelled deliciously of fragrant grasses and flowers. It was a perfect day. Daisy felt really quite sleepy with contentment and closed her eyes for a moment, basking in the warmth from the sun.
“Daisy! Daisy!”
She opened her eyes and saw Tina coming along the lane towards the gate, a bright red head collar in her hand.
“Come on, Daisy!” called Tina “It’s time to do some work.”
Daisy sauntered amiably towards the gate to meet Tina, whom she liked very much. Tina had not worked at the riding stable for very long but all the horses seemed to like her quiet and gentle manner, both on the ground and in the saddle. She deftly slid the head collar over Daisy’s soft black velvet ears and clipped the lead rope underneath her chin. Daisy yawned.
“Gosh, Daisy, you’ve been eating dandelions again – your tongue is all yellow,” said Tina, grinning. She patted Daisy’s neck and slid her hand up to the thick black and white mane, running her fingers through the tangle.
“Come on, girly.” she said. “We have to get you cleaned up for a hack, and that mane is going to take some work for a start. It’s a new lady; her name is Jenny. She’s learning to ride and is very nervous, so you have to be very, very good today. No mischief!”
To be fair, it was not often that Daisy was anything else but very, very good. She was not a big horse – technically she was a pony because of the height of her withers – and most of her work for the riding school was to teach teenagers and small adults. Daisy liked the teenagers best because, usually, they could already ride quite well. Most of them were keen to gallop about – when they were not supposed to – and often they were learning to jump as well. Fortunately, galloping about and jumping were Daisy’s second and third favourite things after eating dandelions. Neither the children nor the teenagers felt heavy on Daisy’s back and she enjoyed their noisy chatter and laughter. The only downside was that they invariably had lessons, these being usually ‘in school’, and Daisy much preferred to be out in the open and on the hills, cantering upon the soft downland grass under a big blue sky, with a warm breeze blowing through her mane. The bigger horses tended to go out on hacks more often because adults from the city came to ride at weekends; and at weekends the yard teemed with children having lessons. Consequently, opportunities to be used to hack out were quite rare in Daisy’s life, and the chance of a ride over the hills on such a gloriously sunny day as this was a real treat!
So, whilst it was true to say that Daisy was ordinarily very, very good… Well, there were the odd occasions, when being out on the downs was so good that Daisy just couldn’t resist taking off with her rider and cantering freely, her mane flying in the wind, her long thick white tail streaming out behind her, hooves featherlight on the thick green turf.
Such a pleasure, such a feeling of freedom, such a joy to be alive. Such behaviour, however, did not go down well with the escorts who were taking the rides, as it was their job to keep all the clients safe. If a client fell off, or was frightened because their horse misbehaved, it was not good for the reputation of the school. Of course, Daisy was not stupid and she knew better than anyone else the ability of her rider, since it was she who was being ridden! Quite often, as she well knew, the rider on those occasions was perfectly happy with Daisy’s mischief, and some of the teenagers actually encouraged it and egged her on.
Tina had thought about all of this. She knew Daisy very well and had ridden her more than most of the staff as she herself was quite slim and slightly built. She loved the fact that Daisy was spirited and full of fun, loved her athleticism and graceful movement, and fully appreciated her unfailing enthusiasm for everything.
Somewhere in Daisy’s ancestry there must have been a finely built racehorse or a thoroughbred or two as, although Daisy had the look of a light piebald cob, with thick hair, sturdy bottom, strong back and big feet, she was at the same time light on her feet and very nimble. Best of all, she was very fast. When the staff played games of ‘Chase me Charlie’ after their own training sessi