Megan and Mischief (6 page)

 I'm writing this while I'm waiting for the others to come back from their afternoon ride out. I didn't go, which is a long story but I'll try to write it all down in here before Millie and Gabrielle get back.

Well, I felt really ill after lunch with a tummy ache – it must have been the fish fingers. Gabrielle and Millie tried to take my mind off it, but then it got worse so Jody suggested I have a lie down. I went and cuddled up on my bed with Millie's black Labrador, Ponty, and tried not to think about Sally's decision.

 Millie came to get me just before the hack, but I still didn't feel well, so she went down and told Sally and Sally said I could miss it. When everyone had gone, Jody came in and sat down on the bed and asked if I was feeling any better. I started off talking about my stomach ache and ended up telling her about the disaster-filled gymkhana practice and how Sally might swap me off Mischief.

Jody smiled in a kind way. “Sally told me,” she said. “And I wonder if you're not feeling well because you're worried about Sally's decision.”

I realized then that while it was mainly the fish fingers it might have been the worry as well, just a little bit. I nodded, and then I suddenly blurted out, “Sally thinks I'm rubbish.”

Jody said, “Megan, that's nonsense. If you're not learning and improving then it's our fault for putting you on the wrong pony. We just want you to enjoy yourself.”

“But I enjoy myself on Mischief!” I cried.

Jody gave me a look like she wasn't sure.

I said, “Well, maybe it's not exactly fun in the ménage when he's playing up, but it was brill on the beach and I just love having him as my pony and grooming him and looking after him and…” I felt myself nearly start crying then. I really REALLY didn't want to lose Mischief. “It just feels as if he's mine,” I sniffled.

Jody nodded. “Well, Megan, maybe we can do something about this. In the end it's Sally's decision, of course, but perhaps… Get your boots on and meet me in the yard by Mischief's stable in five minutes.” Then she stood up and bustled out of the door.

By a lucky coincidence I didn't feel ill any more, so I went to the bathroom and washed my face, then went down to the porch, grabbed my crash hat and pulled on my boots. I poked my head round Mischief's stable door and there
was Jody, tacking him up. She passed the girth to me and asked, “What's the thing you're having the most difficulty with?”

“Everything,” I grumbled, lifting the saddle flap and buckling it up.

“Well, let's just choose one thing to start with,” she said, and even though I couldn't see her face, I could hear in her voice that she was smiling. “If Mischief knows you're going to keep trying till you get something right it'll make everything else easier too, because you'll have more confidence. And he'll know you mean business.”

“Okay,” I said, thinking quickly. “Can we work on turning a circle, because it was my worst thing this morning and so it's probably sticking in Sally's memory right now!”

Once we got into the ménage, Mischief and I warmed up on both reins and rode a few circles in walk. Then we got to work and Jody explained that my outside leg controls the shape of the circle and my inside leg controls the size. She said I shouldn't think about turning more
tightly,
but more
smoothly
instead and she even gave me a schooling whip to tap Mischief with if he ignored my leg aids. Every time Mischief tried to fall in, Jody called, “Keep going, Megan! Leg! Leg! Leg!”

Well, I was giving it so much inside leg I thought my leg might actually fall off, but it still didn't work. I pulled hard on my outside rein to try and bring Mischief back on track, but all that happened was that his head twisted round and
his body stayed where it was.

“Relax!” called Jody. “You're so busy yanking those reins you've forgotten about your seat and legs. If you turn it into a battle of wills, I think we know who'll win!”

So I tried to relax my hands and concentrate on keeping a good leg and seat position.

It didn't work at first and Mischief still kept falling in and leaning on me, but I was determined not to give up. Jody called, “Sit up tall and look where you're meant to be going, rather than where you're afraid Mischief will actually go!” This made me laugh and then Jody laughed too and I started to feel a bit better. Jody was right – when I started acting like the boss, Mischief did stop being so naughty.

Pretty soon I'd got the hang of riding a circle in trot from the A marker to the centre point and back round, without it looking
triangle-shaped
. I even managed to do some figure of eights to C!

“You see,” said Jody. “You can do it!”

Then we practised cantering up to the end of the ménage and the turn to come back again, like in the gymkhana games. Jody showed me how to make my turns tighter by using my body weight. At first it felt like just another complicated thing to remember, but then I started to get the idea. Jody was delighted and said we should stop there on a high note and that I'd done really well. By the end I felt brilliant, and I made a big fuss of Mischief too, to show him what a clever boy he is.

I could tell he was pleased with himself too, by the way he snorted and nuzzled up to me when I was leading him out of the ménage.

Before today I couldn't understand it when Mischief ignored me, but now I know it's up to me to be clear in whatever I'm asking and not give up asking for it, and then everything works much better! With all Jody's help this afternoon I secretly think I might have a chance in the gymkhana, not to come first, but maybe to get a third or something.

Back on the yard, I got up the courage to ask Jody the BIG QUESTION, which was,

Jody sighed. “You know that's not up to me, Megan,” she said. “But hopefully with what we've done today, you'll have improved enough to get more out of riding Mischief.”

 Yay! So
she
thinks we should stay together at least!

Jody let me tie Mischief up in the yard and groom him, with Lydia supervising me while she skipped out the surrounding stables and refilled the water buckets. When I was cleaning round Mischief's eyes with the pink sponge, I told him how well he'd done, and how much I love him. He sort of nodded his head down and blinked at me so I know for sure now that he loves me too. Then I had to explain the bad news that we might get separated. I could tell he was sad about that, so I gave him a big hug. But I also said that because of our good teamwork today we might be able to stay together, and he cheered up a tiny bit.

I can hear hooves in the yard – I'll go and help the others untack and turn out the ponies – and tell Millie and Gabrielle what happened this afternoon!

Well, the rounders match last night was fun – Tam turned out to be a great batter and Karen scored loads for our team – but I was still mainly thinking about Mischief and whether we will be split up. We played in the field next door to where the ponies live, so when I was fielding I went really deep so I could watch Mischief chomping the grass.

Me and Millie and Gabrielle didn't have a midnight feast last night – again! – even though I was actually still awake at exactly 12 o'clock. I decided not to wake them up because I was having a nice daydream (are they still called daydreams if you have them at night?) about Mischief and me rescuing a sheep that had fallen down a ditch.

I was also too busy being nervous about what Sally will decide. Now the moment is here and I've got to go down to the yard and find out the news…