"I can't believe that girl's got another horse!" Dylan Walsh groaned to Poppy as the two girls left the science classroom. Poppy's first day of lessons had proven better than she had expected, but she was desperate to visit the stables and have her first riding lesson. Dylan and the others hadn't stopped complaining about the arrival of Simba but Poppy didn't understand what was wrong. She hadn't yet Lynsey yet, but surely she wasn't as snobby as her friends made her out to be?
"How many people are in our riding lesson?" Poppy asked Dylan, keen to change the subject.
Dylan cocked her head as she counted on her fingers. "There's just you, Honey, Mal, Lani, Lynsey...oh, and me, this year. We tried to get Lynsey out of our group, but..."
"Which horse do you ride, then?" Poppy tried in vain to keep Dylan from discussing her favourite topic of Lynsey.
"Morello," Dylan responded without a second's doubt. Her eyes glazed over slightly and she smiled blissfully. "He belongs to my aunt- you know, Ms Carmichael- but I treat him like he's my own. He has his quirks, but I love him anyway!"
The pair returned to their bedrooms to get changed into their riding clothes. They were meeting the rest of the riders down at the yard but they had to be ready in five minutes. Poppy pulled on her jodhpurs and grabbed a jacket before racing to meet Dylan in the hallway. Together they raced down to the riding school, skidding to a halt just as Ms Carmichael appeared out of her office.
"How kind of you girls to finally join us!" She joked, the twinkle in her eye ironing out her serious tone of voice.
Dylan rolled her eyes. "We were what- two minutes late? Give us a break, Aunt- I mean Ms Carmichael!"
Poppy shot an apologetic smile at Lani, Malory and Honey, who were standing, grinning, beside a pile of hay. Standing to Honey's right was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl who cast an annoyed glance in Poppy's direction. Poppy shuddered. This must be the infamous Lynsey Harrison, who everyone loved to hate. With her French-manicured nails and fashionable riding wear, Lynsey looked out of place amongst the girls with untidy hair and muddy boots.
"So..." Ms Carmichael held up her clipboard, "I've assigned you with your horses. I've put you on different horses than maybe you're used to, because the more horses you ride, the better rider you become. It's nice to get you girls out of your comfort zones, too. However, Lynsey, I understand you want to ride your new horse, which is your choice as he does belong to you."
With a smirk, Lynsey left the group, brushing past Poppy's shoulder as she did so. Honey rolled her eyes and Dylan bit back a sharp retort. Ms Carmichael ignored her pupils and consulted her list. "Next, I'd like you to ride Colorado, Malory."
Malory and Lani exchanged looks. "But Lani rides Colorado?" Malory said, puzzled.
Ms Carmichael laughed. "That's the point! I want you to ride other horses to stretch your riding abilities." Malory looked aghast but went to tack up Colorado. "Dylan, I want you to ride Minnie."
Poppy already knew that Minnie was Honey's dressage horse who she adored. But Dylan seemed excited to ride a pony other than her favourite coloured. "Sure thing," She replied airily as she retreated.
"I've put you on Morello, Lani, and Honey, you're on Tybalt," said Ms Carmichael after a few seconds pause. Honey gulped with fright but Lani looked pleased, and they left just Ms Carmichael and Poppy in the barn.
"Poppy Tyler..." Ms Carmichael hummed as she scanned the paper, "Today you'll be riding Bluegrass. You might know this already, but Bluegrass was Lynsey's horse. Her parents sold him to us to use for lessons. Don't let Lynsey intimidate you into riding him how she likes him to be ridden- see for yourself what he's like and make your own mind up." Poppy smiled gratefully at her riding instructor as she directed her to Bluegrass' stable. Standing with his head over the door was a stunning blue roan, who nickered at Poppy as she arrived.
"Hello, gorgeous," Poppy murmured as she quickly but gently tacked up the handsome gelding. Bluegrass fidgeted and sidestepped as she tightened the girth, breathing heavily. Poppy wasn't scared but she hoped that he would calm down in time for the lesson.
"We'd better head over to the indoor school," said Honey, peering over Bluegrass' stable door with Tybalt in tow. "Bluegrass looks a bit lively- you'll be okay on him, though."
Poppy nodded. "It's probably just too much nice grass," She agreed, leading him out his stable alongside Tybalt. The blue roan bared his teeth at the bay, who skidded to the side.
"Watch it!"
Lynsey Harrison scowled at Poppy as she led Simba past the two girls and their ponies. The horse's muscles rippled with every powerful stride and as they walked into the arena, all eyes were on Simba. Poppy quietly mounted and tightened the girth again before nudging Bluegrass forwards into an active walk. The gelding impatiently played with the bit in his mouth as they circled the arena.
"You look good on him, Poppy!" Dylan called from Minnie's back.
"Thanks- you suit Minnie too," Poppy responded, because Dylan really did look the perfect size for the diminutive pony.
"How do you stop this thing!" Lani yelled as she trotted past Dylan, pretending to be out of control as Morello stretched his legs happily. Dylan and Poppy laughed but Ms Carmichael's stern look made Lani ride properly. Poppy was impressed by how Lani deftly turned the paint pony around the corners of the school.
As the lesson progressed, it appeared that Honey and Malory weren't getting on with their mounts as well as Dylan and Lani were. Tybalt had taken it upon himself to buck every time he was asked to canter and Honey was nearly unseated when he spooked at a sunbeam.
"Keep breathing, Honey," Ms Carmichael encouraged her, "If you tense up, so will Tybalt."
Malory was having more trouble getting Colorado into the canter itself. The buckskin was fast when he wanted to be, but during lessons he tended to become incredibly lazy to avoid doing anything that involved hard work. Malory was used to the forward-going Tybalt so she struggled to get Colorado moving forward off her leg.
Lynsey and Simba were cantering figure of eight movements around the school, with Simba perfectly balanced and accepting the bit. Ms Carmichael smiled approvingly at Simba's elegant transitions whereas Dylan snorted and muttered every time the pair passed.
"Keep an even rhythm with Bluegrass," Ms Carmichael instructed Poppy, "I can tell he's being a bit of a handful but keep his attention and do lots of changes of rein."
After the fifteen-minute warm-up, Poppy's arms were hurting from having to hold back Bluegrass every time one of the other horses cantered. He would jog whenever anybody overtook them and Poppy practically had to force him to halt when Ms Carmichael asked them to slow down. Poppy was glad for the few minutes of relief as Ms Carmichael put up a simple cross pole in the centre of the school.
"Well, I have to say that I'm satisfied that this lesson is a success," announced the instructor as she strode over to her pupils, "However I would like to test your new-found partnerships even further by asking you to tackle a jump."
There was muttering among the girls, and Poppy patted Bluegrass' neck reassuringly. She had heard from Dylan that Bluegrass was a fantastic jumper so she had faith in him. She spotted Lynsey cast a disapproving glance in her direction but ignored her.
"Lynsey, can you please go first with Simba."
Lynsey nodded confidently and pushed her horse into a controlled canter. Upon turning to the jump, the pace picked up and Simba cleared the poles with a foot to spare.
"Great, Lynsey," Ms Carmichael shouted. "We'll have you next, Dylan."
One by one, the girls cleared the jumps- some with just a millimetre to spare. Poppy had been left until last which aggravated Bluegrass even more. As she nudged him into trot, the gelding shot into canter and headed towards the jump at an angle. Poppy encouraged him towards the middle of the jump but Bluegrass raised his head and careered towards the highest part of the jump.
They were just a metre away when Lynsey sneezed. The sound echoed around the covered arena and caused Tybalt to leap into the air. Bluegrass cat-leaped over the jump, causing Poppy to cling onto his neck, before landing and bucking four times in a row. She tried in vain to stay on his back, however after losing a stirrup she lost her balance and found herself dumped on the floor after Bluegrass' bucking spree.
The sand from the arena floor had got in her eyes and a searing pain in her ankle made her unable to stand. Poppy lay on the floor in a heap, wanting to cry but feeling humiliated at falling off.
"Are you alright?"
Poppy had expected to hear Ms Carmichael's voice, but it sounded like a boy was beside her. Wincing, she rubbed her eyes and slowly opened them. Crouched next to her was a boy who was staring at her with a concerned look in his blue eyes. The way his curly brown hair fell over his left eye was adorable and Poppy found herself coming back to life.
"I'll take over... Poppy, can you hear me?"
Poppy shuffled to her feet and winced as her ankle attempted to bear her weight. "I-I'm fine," She stammered, blushing as she felt her friends' stares burn into her back. The boy remained by her side, his face worried, but Ms Carmichael turned to him.
"Thank you, Caleb," She smiled wanly, "Can you go and inform the Chestnut Hill nurse that we need her down here."
Caleb glanced once more at Poppy before jogging to the gate and leaving. Poppy stared at the floor as she heard the instructor give directions to the rest of the girls. Chestnut Hill was meant to be a new start, but she had managed to embarrass herself on the first day. Her new friends were whispering about her but Poppy didn't blame them. She hadn't exactly made the best of first impressions on Caleb, either. As she watched Bluegrass come to a halt beside the gate, Poppy wondered if coming to America had been the right decision after all.