Jessica and Jewel

THIS DIARY BELONGS TO

Dear Riders,

 

A warm welcome to Sunnyside Stables!

Sunnyside is our home and for the next week it will be yours, too! My husband Johnny and I have two children, Millie and James, plus two dogs … and all the ponies, of course!

We have friendly yard staff and a very talented instructor, Sally, to help you get the most out of your week. If you have any worries or questions about anything at all, just ask. We’re here to help, and we want your holiday to be as enjoyable as possible – so don’t be shy!

As you know, you will have a pony to look after as your own for the week. Your pony can’t wait to meet you and start having fun! During your stay, you’ll be caring for your pony, improving your riding, learning new skills and making new friends. And this week we’re off on a cowboy-style trail ride and camp out under the stars – yee hah! Add swimming, games and films, and you’re in for a fun-filled holiday to remember!

This special Pony Camp Diary is for you to fill with your holiday memories. We hope you’ll write all about your adventures here at Sunnyside Stables – because we know you’re going to have lots!

 

Wishing you a wonderful time with us!

 

Jody xx

Me and my little sister Tegan are first here because Mum had an early meeting and she needed to drop us off beforehand. Jody (the nice lady who runs Pony Camp) is still busy sorting out all the bedding upstairs, so we're sitting at the kitchen table at the moment. She gave us some juice and drawing stuff to keep us busy, and these cool Pony Camp Diaries, one each, which is what I'm writing in right now. Tegan's drawing a fairy, with pink wings but also skinny jeans like my ones and Ugg boots.

I'm so excited about Pony Camp! I can't wait to find out which pony I'm getting, and spending a whole week riding will be fantastic!

I usually go to the stables on Saturday mornings (Tegan comes too) and I'm not brilliant or anything, but I know the basics. I can walk, trot and canter, and do some of the trickier transitions like halt to trot (well, sometimes, if I'm on Molly!). I've even tried some jumping on Brandysnap, including a few combinations. My instructor, Jayne, tries to swap us round each week so we get lots of experience on different ponies. That's great, but it'll be so exciting to have the same pony all this week, as if he (or she!) is actually
mine
!

Oh, it's going to be so
– I'll have my own pony, and be sharing a room with girls my own age! At home I have to share with Tegan, which means I'm always tripping over her Barbies, and she's always pinching my glitter eyeshadow and wasting LOADS! And it means NO noise after 7.30p.m. when she goes to bed – so no PlayStation or TV or music. I'm allowed
my bedside lamp on to read, but I even have to turn the pages of my book quietly!

I'm madly into boarding school books at the moment and I'm extra excited because this week will be just like boarding school, but even better 'cos we'll have ponies. I've bought loads of stuff for a midnight feast, and I've been saving up a few really juicy secrets to tell when we do our whispering in the middle of the night.

And
I chose to come specially this week because there's going to be a trail ride and camp out! I've always been into cowboys and western stuff so going on a real trail ride is a dream come true! Getting to trek through miles and miles of open country, and camping out under the stars, and having sausages and beans, and singing round the fire will be so exciting!

Tegan isn't bothered about the trail ride, or even about ponies
that
much, but of course as soon as I showed Mum the brochure for Pony Camp, my sis wanted to come too. Mum and Dad were keen on that, because if we both went it meant they could have a break away on their own, so they're off to Cornwall tomorrow. I said, “What about
me
having a holiday by myself without Tegan?” and Mum laughed and replied, “Well, Dad and I haven't had a holiday by ourselves since before you were born, so I reckon we get priority, don't you, Jess? Anyway, think about your sister. She'd much rather be with you and a lot of other girls rather than just us two.”

Mum doesn't understand, and well, it
is
hard to explain. It's not like I
mind
T being here, but it's … well, I kind of just want to be me, Jess, and do my own thing, without having to worry about looking after her for a change. I mean, of
course I like doing things with her, she's my little sis, but she's 7 and I'm 10 and a half, so it's not exactly as though we enjoy the same things. She always wants me to play these made-up games with her, like schools or doctors, and sometimes they go on for
hours
. Mum and Dad run a mail order business together and they're usually in their office (i.e. the spare room) and they're always saying “in a minute” and “I just need to finish this”, so I'm left doing stuff with Tegan a lot of the time.

Oh well, we're both here now and that's that, so there's no point complaining about it. Hopefully there'll be some younger girls she can make friends with, anyway.

I can't wait for everyone else to get here so Pony Camp can really get started! Then I'll have LOADS to write about!