Contents
Cover
About the Book
Title Page
1 Saying Goodbye
2 May and Jasmine
3 May Gets Suspicious
4 The Removal Van
5 Jasmine Hears Something
6 Jasmine Gets Some Help
7 Macaroni Needs a Hand
8 The Night Visitor
9 The New Girl
10 A New Teammate
11 Trouble
12 The New Neighbour
13 Samurai
14 Practice
15 The Picnic
16 Runaway
17 Mounted Games
18 Best Friends
May’s Pony Grooming Tips
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
Jasmine James jumped up and down with excitement. “Go for it, May!” she yelled.
May Grover heard Jasmine shout. She could also hear the pounding hooves of Jackie Rogers’s pony. Jackie had almost caught up with her. May leaned forward in her saddle.
“Come on, boy,” she said to Macaroni. Her pony’s yellow mane fluttered in the wind. He was going as fast as he knew how. Then, somehow, he sped up. They pulled ahead. May was going to win!
Her teammates were waiting for her at the end of the ring. They were leaping and waving at her. May was the final rider for the relay race and she had the red flag in her hand. All she had to do was get across the line.
May stayed low in the saddle. She gripped the reins tightly. She held on to Macaroni with her legs. She stared straight ahead at the finish line. With a final burst of speed she crossed it. She’d won!
“Yippee!” Jasmine yelled. She reached up and gave May a hug. Then she patted Macaroni on his neck. “If we can do this well in practice, just think how great we’ll be in the real race next week!”
May shook her head. “By the time we have the real race, Joey won’t be here,” she reminded her friend.
The two girls looked at the boy who stood next to them. Joey Dutton just stared at the ground.
“It’s not your fault that your family is moving,” Jasmine said softly.
May, Joey, and Jasmine lived next door to each other. Joey lived in between May and Jasmine. They had been neighbours since they were born eight years before. But that wasn’t all they had in common. They each had a pony that they kept in a stable at home. Now all that was going to change. Joey’s parents had sold their house. They were moving.
Joey and the girls had been dreading this day. Now here it was. While the three of them were riding their ponies, Joey’s parents were helping a removal firm load up a van. Dr Dutton was coming to pick up Joey and his pony, Crazy, in a little while. Then they’d both be gone.
Joey was only moving two towns away, but things would never be the same. His pony wouldn’t be in a stable between May’s and Jasmine’s houses. And he wouldn’t be at the Pony Club meeting every Saturday.
The three riders all belonged to a Pony Club called Horse Wise. Horse Wise met at Pine Hollow, a riding school in Willow Creek, Virginia. Now Joey would have to join a new Pony Club – Cross County Pony Club.
May and Jasmine didn’t like to think about Joey being gone.
Joey looked up at his friends. “Don’t worry,” he said. “There’s no way I’ll be able to beat you two in a relay race when I’m at Cross County.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” said May. “Who knows who Max will put on our team after you move?”
Max Regnery was their Pony Club instructor. He owned Pine Hollow and made his riders work very hard. He didn’t care if they won their competitions. He said the important thing was for his riders to do their best. May still thought riders did their best when they won.
Now Max was trying to get everyone’s attention. “Horse Wise, come to order!” he called out. “This was a good practice. We’re going to do well against Cross County Pony Club in two weeks. Because Joey is leaving, I’ll make up new teams and let you know what they are. That’s all for now. It’s time to untack your horses and ponies.”
Untacking meant removing saddles and bridles. May, Jasmine, and Joey were good at that because they owned their own ponies and knew what to do.
Today they finished quickly. Then the two girls tied up their ponies and walked with Joey and Crazy to the drive. His father, Dr Dutton, was there, waiting with the horsebox.
May could feel her eyes stinging. She turned away from Joey so he wouldn’t see the tears. Instead of saying goodbye to Joey, she said goodbye to Crazy. She gave him a carrot. Jasmine gave the pony a hug.
Then Joey led Crazy up the ramp on to the lorry. He snapped the door shut.
“I’m going to miss you two,” Joey said.
“We’ll miss you, too,” said Jasmine. “Come and visit us.”
Joey nodded. He looked as if he wanted to cry, too.
“Time to go,” said Dr Dutton to Joey. Then he said goodbye to May and Jasmine. “Don’t look so sad,” he said. “Wait until you meet your new neighbour. She’s very interesting.”
“Bye,” said Joey. He got into the front seat next to his father and waved.
“Bye,” called out Jasmine and May as the lorry pulled away.
The horsebox drove away. May swallowed hard. That was the last time Joey Dutton would be their neighbour. She knew Jasmine felt just as sad as she did. They stood there together until the horsebox disappeared down the dusty road.
“What do you think Dr Dutton meant when he said our new neighbour was interesting?” Jasmine asked as they headed back to the stables.
“Interesting usually means different,” said May. “When my mother says dinner is interesting, she means it didn’t come out right.” She stopped and looked at Jasmine. “I hate to tell you this. But I think Dr Dutton was trying to tell us that our new neighbour is strange!”
When May and Jasmine went back into the stables, Outlaw tugged at his lead rein. He was Jasmine’s pony and he was ready to get going. He knew he’d have fresh hay and water as soon as he got home.
“Don’t worry, boy. We’ll be home soon,” Jasmine said. Outlaw sniffed curiously at her pocket, looking for a treat.
Outlaw was a solid brown colour called liver chestnut. He had a white face that looked like a mask, which was why Jasmine had named him Outlaw. He was a Welsh pony with a long mane. He could be frisky. He could even be temperamental. May said he and Jasmine were a perfect combination because they were so different from each other.
Jasmine thought May and Macaroni were a perfect match, too. Macaroni was a sweet pony. He never nipped at May and he always did exactly what she told him to do. He was the colour of May’s favourite food – macaroni and cheese – which was how he’d got his name.
The girls collected their ponies and headed back down the drive.
“I hope Dad gets here soon,” said May. “Last time he picked us up, he was an hour late.”
“That was because your sister Ellie had football practice,” Jasmine reminded her.
“It was because she got into trouble at football practice and had to stay late,” May said. May had two older sisters, Ellie and Dottie. Neither of them loved ponies the way she did. She couldn’t understand how anyone could not love ponies. Her mother loved them. So did her father. Her father trained horses for a living, so the stables behind their house always had lots of horses and ponies in them.