Free Riding Star by Stacy Gregg Page A

bay mare called Lucy.
    Lucy was a ‘made’ pony –which meant that she was well trained and knew precisely what to do on the polo field. Lucy fell into a polo canter and maintained a steady lope, even on a loose rein as Daisy got comfortable practising her stops and turns.
    Daisy looked quite smug with her progress until Georgie handed her the polo stick.
    Daisy reached out her left hand to take it, but Georgie shook her head. “You have to use your right hand.”
    â€œBut I’m left-handed,” Daisy said.
    â€œNot on the polo field,” Georgie told her. “It’s illegal to play left-handed. You’ll have to swap to your right hand like everyone else.”
    JP showed Daisy how to hold the reins and stick and she quickly adapted to her new right-handed grip. Meanwhile Alex was showing Emily how to take a forehand shot – she seemed quite tentative, but when she finally laid the mallet to the ball it went for miles.
    â€œWow!” Alex was impressed. “You’ve got a great swing!”
    â€œAre we ready to play a chukka now?” JP asked.
    â€œHow are we splitting up the teams?” Cameron asked.
    â€œGirls against boys,” Alice said.
    â€œWe’re ready. Let’s do it!” Daisy raised her mallet in the air like a sword in challenge.
    As the two teams took to the field Georgie, who had been devouring How to Play Polo since she borrowed it from the school library the week before, took charge of the girls’ team strategy.
    â€œDaisy, you’re upfront in number one position,” she instructed. “Your job is to attack the goal.”
    Daisy looked extremely pleased about this. Georgie didn’t burst her bubble by telling her that the number one position was traditionally allocated to the Patron – the player who paid for the team’s expenses but wasn’t actually a great player.
    The player in the number three jersey is the star rider on the team and the one in the most pivotal role. The number three is a goal shooter, but they are also responsible for covering the field and fighting for possession.
    â€œAlice,” Georgie instructed, “you should go in at three.”
    Emily was deployed to the back of the field at number four.
    â€œIt’s a defensive position,” Georgie explained. “Your job is to protect the goal.” Georgie was at number two, a roaming position. It was her responsibility to keep the ball moving forward, passing to Alice and Daisy upfront.
    When the girls had been practising stick-and-ball the atmosphere on the field had been light-hearted and silly as they giggled at mistimed strokes and flubbed hits. But now, as they arranged themselves in the lineout, they all had their game faces on.
    There was no ref to throw the ball in to start them off so JP tossed it down the lineout. Alex was first to get his stick to it and he struck it cleanly down the field. Emily was immediately off after it on Barclay, running down the ball. She swung at it, but misjudged her shot and missed entirely. There were screams from the other girls on the team as Cameron and Alex both closed in and threatened to snatch the ball for a quick early goal. Emily didn’t lose her cool though. She quickly regained her line on the ball and took a second swing, keeping her shoulder loose like Alex had shown her, and this time she struck the ball cleanly and sent it flying back up the pitch towards the halfway mark.
    Everyone turned their ponies to give chase and there was a thundering of hooves as they galloped hard down on the ball.
    Georgie suddenly found herself in the thick of the pack, ponies on either side of her as she urged Belle on into a gallop, the mare stretching out with every stride. It was like being in a horse race, except much more crowded – plus you knew that you were going to have to come to a screeching halt at any moment and take a swipe at the small white ball that was whizzing ahead