Free Sophie and Shine by Kelly McKain Page A

haven’t I mentioned yet? Oh, yes, Daisy and Grace are the youngest, they’re identical twins and even their riding gear is exactly the same (I don’t know how we’ll ever tell them apart!).

    After a quick tour round the yard, we were all given our ponies. It was so exciting waiting to hear who I’d got. Sally read our names off a list as Lydia brought the ponies out one by one, and that’s when I met my gorgeous Shine! Lydia had tacked up the ponies for us this once but we’ll be doing that ourselves for the rest of the week. It’s so great that we get to do everything for them as well as all the riding. It’s almost like actually owning one. I used to ask and ask and ask Mum and Dad if I could have my own pony,but they kept saying no, so I stopped eventually. But it’s still my number one dream and I secretly think about it a lot and imagine what it would be like.
    Shine’s exactly the sort of pony I’ve been dreaming about! She’s a really pretty bay and so sweet and friendly. At 13.2hh she’s the perfect size for me too! She’s got a beautiful glossy coat and I’m going to make it gleam for the gymkhana on Friday. I feel so lucky that I got her!

    I’ve brought my digital camera and I’ve taken pix of everyone and their ponies, but there’s nowhere here to print them off, so instead I’ll have to do some drawings of us all. I know, I’ll make it into a puzzle.

    As we were given our ponies, we led them over to the mounting block and got on, ready for the assessment lesson. I had to walk Shine away from the crowd a bit before sorting out my stirrups. She wasn’t that keen on standing right near the others and she kept on swishing her tail and shifting about.

    It felt strange being back on a pony at first, but in the assessment lesson we had a good long walk round on each rein, so I had time to think about my position and get used to Shine. We did lots of halts, circles and changes of direction to get our ponies listening to us. It took me a while to remember to look around to see where I was going, though! Shine is quite forward-going in trot so I could go rising in anice rhythm without nagging her all the time. Sally called out to me to change my trot diagonal, though, and I realized I’d forgotten to even check it!

    When we had a canter I slid my outside leg back and Shine did as I asked straight away. I’d forgotten how fast it felt – but also how fun! Sally had to tell me to sit back and down, and stop clinging to the reins, but I didn’t really mind her saying that because she yells things out to everyone. Shanice hasn’t cantered before so she had a trot instead, and Sally said she’d be cantering by the end of the week, no worries. It’s great that things are coming back to me already – and it helps that Shine’s so lovely to ride! It was just so exciting – and to think, I’ve got loads more canters to go before the end of the week!
    Afterwards we untacked (I helped Shanice with Prince as she hadn’t done it before), andthen we all gathered back on the yard to hear what groups we’d be in. Sally said I was borderline but she’s putting me in Group A to start off with (the beginners’ group) so I can find my feet and brush up my skills. If I do well she’s going to move me up to Group B. I’m really disappointed to be honest, and can’t help thinking that if Mum and Dad hadn’t been so busy with Albie… Still, I suppose moving groups can be a goal for me to work towards.

    We then had a lecture about safety on the yard and Lydia showed us where everything was and how to put things away properly so nothing got tripped over or lost. It was fun because she pretended to do dangerous things like mounting without her chin strap done up, or tying up a pony without using a slip-knot, and we had to stop her by calling out “No!” and saying what