Contents
Cover
About the Book
Title Page
Dedication
1 A Good Cleaning
2 The Trouble with Sisters
3 Pony Practice
4 Temptation
5 A Good Idea
6 A Family Dinner
7 Taking Charge
8 Something in the Air
9 The Pony Parade
10 Back to the Basement
11 A Red-Letter Day
12 Sisters
13 A Good Grooming
May’s Tips on Recognizing Horse Breeds
About the Author
Also by Bonnie Bryant
Copyright
Don’t miss all the titles in the PONY TAILS series:
1. PONY CRAZY
2. MAY’S RIDING LESSON
3. COREY’S PONY IS MISSING
4. JASMINE’S CHRISTMAS RIDE
5. MAY TAKES THE LEAD
6. COREY IN THE SADDLE
7. JASMINE TROTS AHEAD
8. MAY RIDES A NEW PONY
9. COREY AND THE SPOOKY PONY
10. JASMINE HELPS A FOAL
For Penny and in memory of Molly and, of course, Mesa Verde
“I think I need sunglasses!” May Grover said to her pony, Macaroni. “Your golden yellow coat is so sparkly clean, the shine is blinding me!”
Macaroni looked over his shoulder and blinked his eyes slowly. That made May giggle. Maybe his coat was gleaming too brightly for him, too! Then Macaroni turned his attention back to the pile of fresh hay in front of him. He took a bite and munched happily.
May hugged her pony. “I can’t let you roll around in the muddy paddock when I finish cleaning you up,” she told him. “I’m going to put a rug on you and keep you in the stall. I won’t even give you a chance to be naughty!”
Macaroni gave a little snort.
“Now, now, behave yourself,” May teased. Macaroni went back to munching.
May always had fun when she was with Macaroni, even when it seemed to be work. May was working especially hard today to groom Macaroni. She and her best friends, Jasmine James and Corey Takamura, were going to be in a riding demonstration soon. Their Pony Club was helping to raise money for the local County Animal Rescue League, which everybody called CARL because of its initials. It was important for Macaroni to look his very best. People would be paying money to watch him perform.
May, Jasmine, and Corey all lived next door to one another. They had a lot in common. They all had ponies that they kept at home, they all went to the same school, and they were all in the same year. They also belonged to the same Pony Club, called Horse Wise. Best of all, they were all completely pony crazy. That was why they called themselves the Pony Tails.
Sometimes it seemed as if ponies and horses were May’s whole life. Her father was a horse-trainer. That meant he spent most of his time schooling horses for their owners. Mr Grover loved horses as much as May did. He had a horse named Rascal. May’s mother liked to ride as well. She had a bay gelding named Dobbin.
May’s two older sisters, Ellie and Dottie, were the only members of the family who didn’t have horses. When they were younger, they rode the Grovers’ other horse, an old grey named Hank. Now Ellie and Dottie didn’t ride any more. The only thing Ellie cared about was football. Dottie was too interested in boys to think about anything else. Sometimes May couldn’t believe they were really her sisters!
“Now, let me get a cloth and give you a rub-down,” May said to Macaroni. “That’s the part that really makes your coat shine.”
Macaroni stood completely still. May could have sworn he was smiling. If he’d been a cat, he would have been purring! May picked up the cloth and began the final part of grooming Macaroni. It was her favourite part, too.
The phone in the stable rang once, then stopped. May frowned at it. Usually when the phone rang once and stopped, it was May’s mother saying she should come into the house because dinner was ready. It wasn’t dinner-time yet.
May began rubbing Macaroni on his left shoulder and worked her way back and down, leaving behind a gleaming coat.
The phone rang once again. May looked at the clock by the phone. It still wasn’t dinner-time.
“It must be a wrong number,” she told Macaroni. He didn’t seem to care. He stood still and waited for her to continue rubbing his coat. So she did.
In a few minutes, the phone rang a third time. This time May decided to answer it so she could tell the person who was calling that they were making a mistake. She picked up the phone.
“That’s funny,” she told Macaroni. “Nobody’s there.”
Macaroni watched her hang up the phone, waiting for her to return to her important job – making him feel good and clean. May went back to work.
She had finished his left side and was walking around to the right when she heard her sister Dottie call her name.
“May!”
“I’m out here,” May answered.
“May!” Ellie called.
“In the stables!” May called back.
“May!” her sisters yelled together.
May put down the grooming cloth and walked to the door of the stable. Her sisters were standing together at the back door of the house.
“I’m grooming Macaroni!” May said.
“Well, you’re supposed to be in here!” said Dottie.
“Didn’t you hear the telephone?” Ellie demanded.
“Is dinner ready?” May asked. She was confused.
“Not dinner!” Dottie said.
“The basement!” said Ellie. “Did you forget the deal we made?”
May groaned. She’d forgotten completely. She and her sisters had made a pact with their parents to clean the basement. The Grovers’ house had a big basement that had been a playroom when the girls were little. When it rained, they used to ride bikes down there, make gigantic buildings from blocks, or play with dolls. Even though no-one played with those things any more, they were still there. So were dozens of cartons of old clothes, toys, and papers. Last week Mr and Mrs Grover had told the girls that if they cleaned it up they could use it and even have parties in it.
Ellie wanted to invite her football friends over after practice. Dottie wanted to have a boy-girl party there. May thought it would be fun for the Pony Tails to meet there when the weather kept them out of the hayloft in the stables.
Today was the day the sisters had agreed to do the clean-up.
“I’ll be right there,” May promised her sisters.
She ducked back into the stable and put everything into her grooming bucket. She told Macaroni she’d finish the job soon. He didn’t look happy when she put him back in his stall.
“I’ll be back tomorrow,” she promised the pony.
In the basement Ellie handed May a broom. “Didn’t you hear the phone ring?” she asked.
“Yes, but I was grooming Macaroni and I—” May started.
“Ponies, ponies. Everything’s ponies!” Dottie interrupted. “Some things are more important.” She pointed to the corner of the basement May was to sweep.
“It’s just that grooming—” May tried again.
“Brooming is what you’re doing today. Not grooming,” said Ellie.
Dottie and Ellie wouldn’t listen to May. They didn’t care about anything that had to do with ponies.
There’s no point in trying to explain, May decided. She started sweeping five years’ worth of dust and grime from the basement floor. As she worked, she thought about her friends Jasmine and Corey, who were only children and had no sisters.
“You missed a spot!” Ellie pointed out.