Poppy and Prince Read Online Free PDF

riding.”
    “Of course it will!” I cried. “It really helped my confidence and—”
    “Shhh!” went Millie.
    “Sorry,” I whispered. “And anyway, Jennifer, not everything’s about competition and improving. Some things can just be for fun. Like the gymkhana!”

    Jennifer did a kind of snort and said, “Don’t be so silly, Poppy. The gymkhana is going to be 100% competitive. Still, you won’t be able to win anything on Prince because he’s so slow, so maybe it’s best if you just try and enjoy it for fun.”
    I felt instantly sick then. This time I knew that she meant to be nasty to me.
    “Jennifer, what’s wrong—” I began, but she just jumped out of bed and flounced off to the bathroom. Millie whispered, “Don’t take any notice of her! She’s just cross because she really worships April and Amanda and they only complimented you. She’s jealous!”
    When Jennifer came back I tried to keep my voice from going wobbly and told her, “If you’re my friend you should be happy that I’m doing better now.”
    I thought she’d say sorry straight away but instead she turned and hissed at me, “First you used your fall to make everyone feel sorry for you, and now you’re some kind of expert on Western riding!”
    I couldn’t believe that! “I was NOT trying to make people feel sorry for me!” I shouted. “I didn’t even want anyone else to know. And it was YOU who told them! And it was YOU who claimed to be the expert on Western riding, not me!”
    “Shhh!” went Millie, again.
    “No more noise, girls!” Jody called up the stairs.
    Jennifer didn’t say anything after that. Instead she just huffed and puffed about, making thewhole bunk bed shake, but after a while it stopped so I guess she must have fallen asleep. Soon Millie had too. I was so tired, but I couldn’t sleep – I kept thinking about what had happened. I hate falling out with people, even if it’s not my fault. But I feel a lot better now I’ve put everything down in here. There’s no way I’m being friends with Jennifer any more – not after she said those things.
    Anyway, I’m going to forget about her and close my eyes and think about my lovely Prince.

Thursday breaktime
    This morning we’ve been having a Road Safety Lecture and getting our ponies ready to go on a hack out. It’s a lovely hot day and I really want to enjoy it, but I’m very nervous as well, because it’ll be the first time I’ve ridden out since my fall.
    When I was tacking up just now I whispered my worries to Prince and I could feel him promising not to go galloping off with me, or dump me in a bush or anything. But still, I’m planning to stay close to Sally and Millie so they can help me out if I get panicky. I am also going to stay away from Jennifer because I am NOT her friend after what she said last night!

Thursday, about 9.45 pm,
after lights-out
    I’ve been trying to write in here all evening, but I’ve been on washing up duty and then we had a video night and now it’s bedtime! I can’t believe it’s my last night here, or what happened out on the hack today!
    When we left the yard, I was tucked in behind Amanda on Fisher near the front of the ride. Sally was leading and Lydia was bringing up the rear. Jennifer was behind me in the line somewhere but I was trying not to think about her and just concentrate on the ride instead.

    I felt quite scared riding on the road, but we had our fluorescent bibs on and we kept in single file. I tried to think about what Western Bob had said about relaxing and being in tune with your horse and I sat deeply in the saddle and calmed down. Still, I felt really relieved when we signalled and turned up a track.
    Prince felt ever so springy when we were trotting along the bridle path, and I could tell he was enjoying himself. We even had a canter up one of the hills and it was great because I went with his rhythm and trusted him. I wasn’t even thinking, Hands down, sit up or anything – it just