Daisy and Dancer (7 page)

Gradually we started giving the ribbons a little swish, but still by the sides of us, not near the ponies’ heads or anything, and in the end we could do quite large circles without bothering them.
We’re not going to ask for more than that, though, as we don’t want to push our luck! We’ve adapted our routine slightly too, so that instead of coming in swishing the ribbons straight away, first we’re going to walk the twenty-metre circle just holding them, and then we’re going to do it again, in rising trot, swishing them. There’s a kind of intro bit on the music we chose that’s quite slow, and then as the tempo picks up we’ll start the trotting and swishing. I was really pleased because that was my idea, and Isabel and Rosie said they thought it would look even better than before!

After that, Sasha and Libby worked on their routine (which looks amazing, by the way!) and us three got to join in with some of it. We had a go at the dismount in trot and I managed it OK, so we’re putting that in our routine too – after the ribbon waving we’re going to leap off and run alongside our ponies, and then hand
our ribbon sticks to Jody. As she takes each one, she’s going to give us a leg-up back on, so I don’t have to worry about trying to throw myself over the saddle – phew!

Seeing Dancer get over her fear of the ribbons gave me the confidence to be extra brave too! When we went back to practising our routine, Jody suggested leaving out the trotting down the long side standing up with our arms out, but it was actually
me
who said, “Could we try to adapt the routine instead? I think I can manage four paces.” So we came up with the idea of Isabel doing twelve steps, and after four of them, Rosie joining in, and then after four more, me joining in. It looks really good, like a proper formation team, and you’d never guess that four is the most I
can
do! And when we do the Round the Worlds, we’re
all
going to walk forwards, which means that no one will guess Dancer won’t actually stay still.

So this is what our final routine looks like:

Oh, looking back now I’m just so glad I was honest about how I felt – everyone’s helped me so much, including Dancer. Having to be positive and help her get over her fears has given me the confidence to be brave myself and tackle the things I was scared of!

When the lesson ended, Jody told us all how well we’d done and I said a big thank you to her for helping me so much. “Oh, I didn’t do a lot,” she said. “It’s you who helped yourself. I’m so proud of you for turning things around, Daisy.”

Well, I was absolutely beaming with happiness then! And as soon as us three got back to the barn I gave my friends massive hugs and thanked them loads too! I can’t believe how much things can change in such a short time if you really decide to have a positive attitude. I was dreading the display tomorrow, but now I’m really looking forward to it! And even better, I know my lovely Dancer is too!

I’m just quickly writing this sitting at the kitchen table after our tea of jacket potatoes, beans and cheese – scrummy!

We had such a brilliant time on the hack out this afternoon. The straw fields have been cut now and the bales taken away, so there’s just stubble left. We had permission to ride over it, too, instead of sticking to the paths at the sides as usual. So we all cantered over this entire field together and it was so exciting!

Millie went
galloping
off on Magic, and when Sally told her to slow down, she shouted back that she couldn’t (yeah, right!). Then we did it again in the next field!

Dancer absolutely loved it and I didn’t think about trying to balance or how to stop or anything, I was having too much fun! Jody noticed that too, because as we were walking along the track back to Sunnyside, she came up beside us on her lovely mare Bella and said, “If you can just relax and enjoy yourself tomorrow as much as you have today, the display’s going to go fantastically!” And she’s right! Of course I’m getting a bit nervous, it is in front of LOADS of people after all, but from what the other girls were saying at tea, everyone’s starting to feel the same way!

OK, Brooke and Lara have finished now (they were on the clearing-up rota tonight) so Libby’s put some music on and we’re all going to hang out in here and help Jody prepare the food for tomorrow.

We’re all ready for the party and everything looks fantastic. We’ve set up a long table outside the front of the farmhouse, and as well as the sauces and rolls for the barbecue, we put out all the lovely things we made last night. There are four different salads and three huge cakes (one carrot and two choc, which we got to ice and decorate – yum!) and a big bowl of our special tropical punch that we made up from all the different fruit juices Jody had bought.

It was so much fun helping with everything last night, while singing along to the CDs Lara
had brought with her. Sasha and Libby made a huge “thank you” banner for everyone who’s helped out with Pony Camp this year and it was so big they had to spread it out along the hall so they could paint the letters. Then we all helped do horseshoes, flowers and stars round the edge. It’s hanging above the door of the farmhouse right now and it looks amazing!

I think
we
look pretty amazing too! We’re all dressed up ready for the display – us three are each wearing one of Isabel’s pink T-shirts with our jodhs, and Lara lent us some hair mascara so we’ve got purple streaks in our hair! Sally said we could put some in our ponies’ manes too, and it looks really cool. We’ve even taped a few pink feathers to the inside of their brow bands, so now they look like real performing ponies!

Libby and Sasha look fab in their leggings, legwarmers and slash-neck dance tops, and Sally found Lara and Brooke a pair of chaps each in the borrowing cupboard to wear over their jeans, so they really do look cowgirl-ish. But she said no to them wearing cowboy hats instead of their normal ones, of course!

I did feel a bit sad this morning as it was the last time I’d be bringing Dancer in from the field, but all the grooming, chat and fun this morning has really cheered me up, and there’s still the display to look forward to. Our lesson was like a proper rehearsal – after the warm-up,
we went out of the manège and stood by the fence with our ponies so that Sasha and Libby could have a few run-throughs of their routine, and then they did the same for us.

We went through it once with Jody calling out what was coming next from the piece of paper we’d given her, and then she put the music on her MP3 speakers and we had a go from memory. We all completely forgot what we were supposed to be doing the first time, but after that we got it into our heads and the next few goes went OK. We only managed to get the right number of strides each when we were standing up in trot down the long side
once
, but we agreed it doesn’t matter too much as long as me and Rosie sit down again at the same time as Isabel.

Oh, people are starting to arrive… Gotta go! Fingers crossed it’ll all go well!

I wish I could have stayed at Pony Camp for ever! Today was the best day of all in the end! Loads of people came to the barbecue party, far more than I was expecting. And we all got a big surprise when Kate turned up (Sally had kept it a secret that she was coming!). We were really excited to see her, but I felt even more nervous knowing that she’d be watching our riding display. In fact, by the time Mum, Dad and my bros turned up, I was a total wreck!

When Sally stood up on a chair and announced that we’d be putting on special displays I knew I had to pull myself together – and fast! I thought about how Kate had said that even
she
felt nervous before a show, but that she knew she had to stay calm for Starlight. I told myself I had to do the same for Dancer and that
really helped. I also thought of how supportive and encouraging Jody, Isabel and Rosie have been to me and that made me feel a lot stronger too.

Well, us three were first up and when we led our ponies out of the barn we saw that everyone had gathered by the manège fence to watch us. They started clapping as soon as they saw us walking up, which was nice because it felt like everyone was being friendly and wanted us to do well, so it wasn’t as scary after that. As we mounted up and rode into the manège, Jody reminded us to relax and SMILE! As she went to start our music, I leaned down and gave Dancer a big pat. “Just enjoy yourself,” I told her. “This is our chance to shine!”

And guess what? It went really well (no, Dancer didn’t shy at the ribbons and yes, we did actually get the right number of strides of the standing trot, and it must have looked cool, because everyone clapped after that move!). In fact, it was such fun that when we finished I wished we could have
another
go! Everyone went wild clapping when Isabel and Rosie came down from the handstands, and we all linked arms and took a bow.

It was such a wonderful feeling, doing our display and then seeing how much everyone had enjoyed it, and it’s really made me want to do something like that again! Especially because I could see how proud Mum and Dad were. Even my brothers were staring at me with a look of amazement on their faces! Kate was clapping and cheering too, and later she said
how well I’d done and that she would never even have known I was nervous about performing if I hadn’t told her! That just completely made my day! And yes, this time I grabbed some paper from the kitchen and managed to get her autograph!

Anyway, we took another bow, ran up our stirrups and led our ponies out, giving them loads of praise and fuss (and the carrots Jody had handed us for them too!). We popped them into the barn and made it back to the manège in time to watch Libby and Sasha’s display. It was great – they really are fantastic dancers as well as great riders, and they got a huge clap and cheer at the end, too.

Millie and Stephanie’s act was completely different, but just as good. They were wearing
brightly-coloured clothes and had painted faces and clown noses on. They did lots of funny things like passing hand to hand and pretending to try and push each other off. Millie actually
did
fall off at one point, when they were pretending to lose their balance as their ponies suddenly went into trot. Everyone except us lot just thought it was part of the act, though, and she got a massive clap for it! And their juggling was a disaster, but I think that just made it even funnier!

Lara and Brooke were fantastic, almost like professionals. Their whole routine was really fast and daring, with lots of cantering up and down the manège and sudden halts and speedy turns and shouting
Yee-ha!

By the end everyone was clapping along to their music, and when they finished they got the loudest cheer of all!

When we’d all done our displays, we got a
big
surprise because Kate came riding out on Starlight in a fantastic spangly show costume! They did the most amazing act, and everyone was gasping and going “wow” and clapping and cheering.

The party was brilliant, we all had loads to eat (and I had two slices of the choccy cake – yum!). I took Mum, Dad, Jack and Ali to meet Dancer and they all thought she was fantastic, and gave her loads of fuss and cuddles (even Jack, who’s usually a bit nervous of ponies!). The party went on for ages and ages with music and dancing and all the lovely food, and none of us Pony Camp girls wanted to go home. We had to bring our suitcases down in the end, though, and start saying our goodbyes.

The mums and dads took some pictures of us all together, and then we had a massive group hug, and we gave Jody loads of hugs too, and then Isabel and Rosie both gave me hugs, and finally we went back to the barn and gave our ponies the biggest hugs of all.

I could hardly stand to leave Dancer, and I kept patting her and telling her how fantastic she was, and how brave she’d been about the ribbons, and how brave she’d made
me
too. Finally, Mum came in and said it was absolutely, definitely time to go.

Isabel and Rosie are going to keep in touch (in fact, as soon as we got home I was on Mum’s laptop messaging them!). We’re already planning to go back to Pony Camp together next year. And guess what? I’ve even decided to join gymnastics club after school. Now that’s something I
never
imagined I’d say!