Jessica and Jewel (4 page)

Tuesday morning (early!) –
urgh, I'm so tired!

I hardly got any sleep last night because Tegan insisted on squishing into my bed with me, even though she actually
chose
the top bunk – typical! She thrashed around all night, keeping me awake – probably dreaming of riding Twinkle. I've had to move up to
her
bed to get any peace!

This isn't how I imagined Pony Camp nights at all! I wanted to be telling sleepover secrets and having midnight feasts with girls my own age, but instead I've ended up getting kicked all night because my little sister sneaked into my bed!

Well, never mind. I'll creep out and visit my friends tonight once Tegan's asleep! Oh, that's my alarm clock going off. I bet I'll be the first one up and dressed!

Tuesday –
I'm writing this after lunch while Bailey and Dannii are on washing-up duty

We had a really fun lecture this morning on colours, breeds, markings and points of the horse. (Well, points of the
pony
, because Lydia demonstrated on Prince!) After the demo she set a little competition. We had to go round the yard visiting all the ponies and seeing how many different colours and markings we could find. It was a great excuse to make a big fuss of them all! I went with Claudia (and Tegan, of course – she was supposed to go with Summer but she wouldn't leave me so the younger ones ended up in a three). We got
loads
, including blue roan and yellow dun colours (i.e. Twinkle) and stockings as well as socks. Bailey and Dannii still managed to find the most, though (they'd 
gone up to the field and counted in some of the horses as well – sneaky!). So they won and got a clap at the end and a choccy bar each.

Our lesson was
too – we did flat work this morning, with another long, tough warm-up, including lots of turns, circles and changes of rein to really get our ponies listening. Then we went on to balance exercises, which Sally says will help on the trail ride when we're going over rough ground. Thinking about that makes me feel so excited – I can't wait for tomorrow! We tried riding without stirrups, which was so easy on Jewel as she just glides round really smoothly – even while she was trotting I didn't get a sore bum! We had a go at cantering without stirrups, too, which really got me sitting back and down. I could feel Jewel's western spirit coming out then and I imagined her loping across the countryside in America after loads of galloping cows. (Do cows gallop? Oh well, you know what I mean!)

The other ponies are total stars, too. Fisher's really laid back, and Dannii rides him so well. Shine was still being nervy today, though. She was especially flighty when we had to do round-the-worlds, and she skittered about as Claudia swung her leg up over her neck. That sent poor Claudia sliding to the ground! But even with dust all over her jodhs and woodchips in her hair she still looked amazing – typical!

During the lesson the older ones all kept saying “caramel” in this funny voice and giggling, and when I asked Dannii what it was about, she said, “Nothing, just a joke from last night, I can't say in front of Sally.” That's when I really,
really
wished I was sharing a room with them so I could have been in on it.

Afterwards when we were dismounting in the yard and running up our stirrups, Dannii said to me, “Sorry you missed out last night, Jess. Sneak in tonight once Tegan's asleep and we'll have a midnight feast. Oh, and I'll explain about ‘caramel'.” That was so lovely of her and I'm definitely going to do that – there's no way I'm missing anything else!

Oh, gotta go, we're due back on the yard – time for our lesson!

We had such a fab lesson, with
another
big warm-up (I'm getting used to these now and not ending up so puffed out). Then Sally split us into two rides and had us passing hand to hand, and crossing through X one after the other, so we could get used to being aware of what each other was doing, not just ourselves. She said we'll need that skill for the trail ride when we won't have a clear track or letter markings to guide us.

We had a go at jumping in the second half of the lesson, doing three combinations, including a triple. (Sally
still
won't tell us why we need the practice!) It took Jewel a couple of goes to get the hang of that, but I kept giving her loads of encouragement and soon we were flying over!

My heart was pounding really fast and I couldn't stop smiling and it was honestly the best time I've ever had in my life!

So afterwards I was feeling completely over the moon, and I still was when we untacked our ponies and made sure they had fresh water. But then we all gathered for the grooming lecture and that's when I came back down to earth with a BUMP! Honestly, it was as if Tegan couldn't do
anything
without me, not even tie up Twinkle or pick out his hooves. I'd hoped she was only clingy yesterday because everything was so new and strange, but today she's been worse than ever.

Later on when we all took our ponies up to the field to turn them out, Jewel stayed by the fence, so I hung back for a while. As I stroked her neck I told her how torn I feel between looking after Tegan and spending time with my own friends. Even though she's a pony, at the
exact second I finished speaking, she snorted and nuzzled my arm, so maybe she did understand me, in a way.

I only meant to be there for a few minutes, but I lost track of time talking to Jewel and the next thing I knew Sally was tapping me on the shoulder. She was cross at first that I hadn't come straight back with the group, and I had to say sorry
loads
before she smiled again. I wanted to explain why I'd hung back, so I ended up telling her what I'd been talking to Jewel about.

After a while Jewel trotted off to graze, and Sally and I sat on the fence watching the ponies roll around, kick their heels playfully and munch the grass. “Maybe you should try to see it differently,” she suggested. “I mean, it's kind of nice that Tegan looks up to you so much. My little brother just used to fight with me and hide worms in my sandwiches!”

I smiled at that, but it didn't actually make me feel any better.

“You're doing brilliantly with Jewel,” she said then. “You've really tuned into her style. She's a free spirit and you know how to let her be herself. Then she repays you by giving her best because she's so happy.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I love her so much – she's the best pony in the world.”

Sally smiled at that, and then she jumped down from the fence. “Come on,” she said, “you'd better get in for tea.” So I followed her, still grinning about the lovely things she'd said to me.

Great, at last Tegan's wandered off to find out what the younger ones are doing (she must have got bored of fiddling around with her drawing stuff while I've been writing this). I'll just go and see what Dannii, Bailey and Claudia are up to.