Chapter 4

      Floyd wasn’t such a bad consolation prize. At least no one else had chosen the stunning cremello before Issie had the chance to put her hand up for him. It turned out that as well as being a cool colour, Floyd had a gorgeous nature. He stood perfectly still and well-behaved in his stall while Issie threw on the numnah and saddle, cinched the girth and slipped the bridle over his head. Adjusting her helmet, she put her left foot in the stirrup and bounced up neatly into the saddle.

      Issie had ridden big horses before. Destiny, her Aunt Hester’s warmblood stallion, was massive, and Angel, the big grey Andalusian at El Caballo Danza Magnifico, was at least sixteen hands. Floyd was about the same—much bigger than Blaze or Comet, who were both only ponies. It felt a long way off the ground up on his back, and for a moment, the butterflies in Issie’s tummy began to churn. She was about to go into the arena on a horse that she had never ridden before, with the great Tara Kelly watching her every move. It was a nerve-wracking prospect.

      Issie took a deep breath and subconsciously told herself to relax. Nerves were bad. If she got tense then her horse would get stressed out too.

      In the arena Charlotte and Kanga, and Dee Dee and Victory were ready and waiting. If Dee Dee is half as clumsy on a horse as she is on the ground, Issie thought, then I don’t want to be anywhere near her! She rode past her room-mate and headed for the other end of the line, pulling up next to Charlotte to wait for the others.

      Issie had been expecting Charlotte to be quite snooty, with her make-up and her blonde-streaked hair. But she was just the reverse and super-friendly. “I’m Morgan’s room-mate,” she told Issie. “You go to the same pony club as her, right?”

      “Uh-huh,” Issie replied. “We…” She was about to tell Charlotte about Chevalier Point, but she didn’t get a word out because Dee Dee interjected and took over the conversation.

      “Issie and I are roomies too!” Dee Dee said brightly. “We’re like best friends already, aren’t we, Issie?”

      “Well…I wouldn’t…”

      “We even use each other’s stuff,” Dee Dee added. “Like, this morning, after breakfast, I couldn’t find my toothbrush and so I used Issie’s instead.”

      Charlotte pulled a face at this. “Ewww.”

      “You did what?” Issie couldn’t believe it. She felt like gagging. She had just brushed her teeth before they left for the arena—she must have used her toothbrush after Dee Dee had brushed with it!

      “I didn’t think you’d mind,” Dee Dee shrugged.

      “What! Ohmygod…”

      Issie was about to tell Dee Dee exactly how much she did mind actually, but she didn’t get the chance because at that moment the other riders entered the ring on their chosen horses.

      Kate had been thrilled with her choice of the Clydesdale-cross. “His name is Costa,” she told Issie with a huge grin on her face. “I’m so glad I got him. I love his fluffy feet!”

      Emily had picked the Skewbald and her twin sister, Laura, had taken the chestnut mare with the white star. Since they’d been choosing in alphabetical order, Stella had been the last to pick and was left with the stocky little chocolate dun. Despite the fact that she didn’t have a choice, Stella actually didn’t mind. The dun was just her type.

      “His name is Woody,” she told them, giving the pony a slappy pat on his neck. “He even tried to bite me when I did up his girth—do you remember how Coco always did that?” Stella looked quite wistful as she said this. Since she had sold Coco last season, she had been struck with misty-eyed nostalgia for her tubby, grumpy old pony—she was even sentimental about Coco’s nasty vices!

      Morgan, meanwhile, was mounted up on the dapple-grey gelding whose name was Arista. “What do you think we’ll actually have to do?” she wondered out loud as they watched Tara walk towards them, talking intently to Tom. As it turned out, their instruction was to do whatever they liked.

      “You’ve got twenty minutes to work your horse in. Just treat it as if you were training them yourself at home,” Tara explained. “I want to see how you ride and how the horse responds. Try them at a walk, trot and canter, and also pop them over the cavaletti we’ve set up in the centre of the ring if you like.

      “After the twenty minutes is up, you will choose another rider to swap horses with. You must choose your next horse carefully because you won’t be trying all of them today. You’ll each try just three different horses before you have to make a decision.”

      “But what if we all want the same horse?” Stella asked.

      “Then I’ll make the decision for you,” said Tara firmly.

      “OK,” Avery said. “Find a free space and work your horse in. Remember, with eight of you riding freestyle in the arena, it’s important to remember to always obey the rules of arena riding. Can anyone tell me what they are?”

      “Ohhh!” Stella raised her hand. “Always pass each other so that your left shoulder is passing the other rider’s left shoulder?”

      “That’s right,” Avery nodded. “And make way for anyone doing a faster pace than you. We don’t want a game of dodgems going on out there.”

      Issie looked over at Dee Dee, who grinned at her from the other end of the lineup and gave a wave. Issie was still feeling queasy after the toothbrush story. And if Dee Dee really thought she was her new best friend, she must be crazy!

      Determined to be as far away from Dee Dee as possible, Issie rode all the way to the far end of the arena before she began to work Floyd in. She gathered him up and pressed him into a trot, sitting for a few paces before she began to rise. As soon as the cremello settled into a stride though, Issie was thrown back. Floyd’s paces were huge! It was like the horse covered half the length of the arena with each trot stride. He was so forward, so free-moving, that Issie was really struggling to keep in time with him.

      Issie decided to try a canter instead, and discovered that Floyd’s canter stride was even bigger that his trot. She brought him back to a trot almost immediately, a bit freaked out by the speed that the cremello had in him. Perhaps she’d try walking him for a bit.

      “Are you all right there, Isadora?” Tara called out to her. She looked concerned.

      “I’m fine,” Issie said. “He’s just got a really big stride.”

      “He’s a very forward horse,” agreed Tara. “Try and collect him up a bit.”

      Issie asked Floyd to listen to her hands and accept the bit, asking him to drop his head into that wonderful arched outline that dressage horses need to have.

      She was so busy focusing on Floyd’s head that she kept looking down and forgot to look where she was going. Floyd was racing forward, doing a particularly huge trot, when Issie heard Dee Dee’s voice bearing down on her from the other direction.

      “Hey, roomie!”

      By the time she saw Dee Dee, it was too late. Dee Dee was just a few metres away on Victory and heading straight for her. She was about to crash into them head first! At that moment Issie’s mind went blank. She totally forgot what Avery had just told them five minutes ago about arena etiquette. All she knew was that they were on a collision course. Issie didn’t know which way to turn to avoid a head-on crash.

      “Dee Dee!” Issie shrieked.

      She needn’t have panicked. Dee Dee knew exactly what she was doing. When she was just a couple