# Random story I started writing



## Ponywhisperer (Dec 3, 2013)

If anyone cares, here's the next chapter....

The door knocked and slowly opened, waking Melody, she heard her Aunty Kay’s voice,
“Morning Honeydew!” She opened the curtains allowing the sun to stream in.
“We’ve got a full day today, you’ll need that present your mother got you.” Kay winked and gently closed the door. Melody had forgotten about the present, she now remembered to look. It was a pair of new black boots and some of the same tight bottoms as Aunty Kay’s. They looked nice with her favourite ruffled, peach tank top.
“Breakfast?” she heard Kay ask as she walked through to the kitchen. They both sat down to eat and chatted the whole time,
“So, what are we doing today?”
“You’ll soon find out!” Kay sang with her bubbly charm. They finished breakfast and Kay led the way out of the front door, across to where she had appeared from the day before when Melody had arrived. Melody stood in the entrance shocked at how she could have missed it when she walked past yesterday. A beautiful stables, all light wood, a concrete ground and maybe ten or so stalls. Kay walked to the middle of the area spun on her heels to face her and put out her arms,
“Ta-da! This is what we’re doing today!” you could tell she was proud of what she’d obviously worked so hard to achieve. Kay walked over to a large, muscular dapple grey gelding and lovingly patted his neck, lifting his short wiry mane with her fingers,
“This is Mystery, or Mysty for short….This is Isabelle, or Belle….”
She walked over to a beautiful golden palomino mare, the sunlight shining on her turned white against the sheen of her coat, highlighting her well defined muscles.
“Arianna, Ari….” A bulky liver chestnut mare with a long mane and tail of a similar shade of red, her coat darkened with sweat from the heat of the day.
“No offence to the others, but here’s my pride and joy, Pandora….” The regal mare lowered her head and Kay gave a loving hug from over the top of the horse’s neck and Pandora whickered softly to greet her, her glossy, dark brown coat ruffled between Kay’s fingers and her black forelock brushed against her eyelashes, she had no white markings and she was well worked as Kay’s show pony.
“And over here is Jessica, your new best friend.” Kay scratched behind the 14.2hh horse’s ear and mumbled greetings to her.
“Jess will keep you safe. Won’t you Jessy?”
Jess had four white socks and a white star that dripped down to a slim blaze, her white markings looked beautiful against her golden toned, chocolate bay coat. She looked agile and muscular, her eyes were kind and of an amber shade, reminiscent of flames. Melody walked straight to her and Jess nuzzled her hand that was resting on the stable door with her whiskery muzzle. Melody had never been around horses, she couldn’t remember ever even touching one and it was an accomplishment to know that they typically had four legs and said ‘neigh’. Melody was in awe looking at Jessica, she lightly brushed her fingers against her velvety nose. Pandora stretched her neck across from the next stable and touched her shoulder with her nose, it made Melody jump and snapped her back into reality.
‘_Maybe this summer will be fun…._’ Melody though to herself.


----------



## BlueEyedPaint (Apr 1, 2014)

Looks really good!!! 

If I would critique anything, it would just be to describe your terms. For example, we here on the forum all know what a liver chestnut looks like, but to someone non horsey, they might get the wrong picture in their head. Same with a 14.2hh horse lol! 

But it really does sound good!! Are you going to keep going with it?


----------



## FoxyRider22 (Feb 26, 2013)

I'm enjoying this story so far.. 
. Awaiting the next chapter! 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## horsedream568 (Nov 29, 2013)

This is super good! I'm interested to see where it goes from here.


----------



## Ponywhisperer (Dec 3, 2013)

Thank you, I really appreciate all of your opinions and I'm really glad you like it! Thanks for the critisism too. PW.X


----------



## Ponywhisperer (Dec 3, 2013)

Here's the end of the last chapter....

‘_Maybe this summer will be fun…._’ Melody smiled as she thought to herself.
“Here you go, I’ll show you how.” Kay said, handing Melody a tatty nylon head collar and a lead rope. Kay unlocked Jess’ stable door and opened it. She grabbed onto her jet-black forelock and encouraged her forward, Jess quickly responded and walked with her. They stood on the right side of the door where there was a metal ring in the wall and a loop of string tied through it, there was one beside every stable. Kay demonstrated how to put on the head collar and then how to tie a quick release knot, lecturing Melody about it at the same time. Kay walked into the tack room in the corner and came back out with a collection of grooming tools in a plastic crate. She set it down on the floor beside Melody and smiled at her as if she was waiting for her to react.
“This one for her body and this one for her mane and tail.” Kay said picking up a body brush and a plastic curry comb and handing them to her. Melody nodded once in agreement, looking down at her armful of unfamiliar tools. She stepped forward and put the comb on the floor, she quickly ran her fingers through the soft bristles of the body brush to examine it, before wrapping her hand around the lilac plastic and touching it to jess’ sleek summer coat. Kay was on Jess’ other side grooming her, so Melody copied her to make sure she was doing it right, carefully paying attention to the direction of every hair. She traded the brush for the comb and pulled the hard plastic bristles through her medium length, wiry mane, whilst Kay did her tail.
“Done?” Kay asked, standing up straight from her bent position at the horses back legs, spitting hairs from her mouth. Them both now covered in Jess’ hair.
“I think so.” Melody replied, stepping back to see if she had really made any difference.
“Perfect.” Kay said with a smile walking round to Melody’s side. Jess’ chocolate body seemed to shimmer even more and she flicked her previously half-asleep attention to their direction as she peered at them from her caramel surrounded eyes. Kay then showed Melody how to pick her hooves and went over some necessary safety information. She untied the rope and held it out to Melody,
“Just walk her round, get a feel for her.” Melody took the purple, half-chewed rope into her hands and lightly tugged, whilst Kay made a clucking noise to encourage Jess. After a while of walking and trotting Jess around, they returned her to her stable as it was to hot to work her for much longer. Melody now had a reason to be excited about this summer.

Does anyone have any ideas for names for this story? If the main horse character was Pandora, I could have called it 'Pandora's Horse Box' lol.X


----------



## Tex1904 (Jul 12, 2013)

I REALLY like your story .. Please keep writing !!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## Ponywhisperer (Dec 3, 2013)

The first part of chapter 3....

The next morning Melody woke to what was now becoming familiar, Kay’s knock on her solid wooden bedroom door. The drapes didn’t need to be opened this morning to fill the room with light and the air was already hot and sticky, Melody could only imagine what it would be like outside.
“Sun-block is a must today, your going to be nearly 5ft closer to the sun than you anticipated.” Melody’s eyes were now wide open and she felt the motivation to get out of bed.
‘_Jess is 14.2hh, which measures 4ft10”-nearly 5ft…..I’m going to ride for the first time today!_’ Melody had never really thought about horses or riding before and she’d only been around them for a day, but now given the opportunity, she really wanted to do it. She was out of bed and ready in a matter of minutes, which in her case was a personal record. She sat down for breakfast with Kay,
“So, I’m riding today?” She could just about hide her excitement at the idea in her voice.
“Yep. I’m going to teach you about tack first though.” Kay said nonchalantly, sipping cold liquid from her glass. Melody wondered how she could be so calm about this, it was exciting!
“What’s tack?” She then fully realised what Kay had said and hoped her response hadn’t jeopardised her chances at riding because she didn’t know.
“Saddle, bridle, stuff like that.” Kay smiled, trying not to let the overwhelming heat make her irritable, Melody wasn’t a fan of the heat either but her mind was preoccupied. When they were finished they went out to the stables, Kay had to turn out the horses into the surrounding fields. They tied them up and Kay put on their fly sheets and fly masks to protect them out in the pastures. She walked into the tack room and returned with a bottle of sun-cream which she began to apply to Mysty’s muzzle, Melody couldn’t help but laugh, how could something so robust and strong need to be protected from such a delicate matter?
“You laugh now but if he got burnt, then no one would be happy!” Kay laughed, the sun couldn’t make her snippy when she was around the horses. They walked all of the horses apart from Jessica out to the fields, passing another area that Melody had failed to notice the previous day; behind the stable yard was an outdoor schooling arena, nailed onto the inside of the fences were signs with letters on them and the ground covered in sand-coloured fibres. Melody was walking Arianna, who towered over her at 17.2hh, her dark berry-red legs were almost as tall as her. Melody was distracted looking at the school and Ari’s nearly-a-ton, quarter horse frame almost crushed her foot.
‘_Rule number one: Always stay focused around horses…._’
Melody thought to herself. Once all of the horses were turned out, Melody and Kay returned to the yard and got Jess out of her stable. Once tied Melody groomed Jess whilst Kay clattered around in the tack room. Melody just stepped back to check her work as she heard Kay’s footsteps on the concrete floor and she felt a pressure push down on her head-A riding hat that fit her perfectly. Kay tapped her fist against the black velvet surface creating a hollow noise directly in Melody’s ears. Kay stepped around the corner of the door and hefted an English saddle off of it’s rack, carrying it to them and lifting it up behind Jess’ withers. Checking it’s position and informing Melody of the names and uses of each part, she pulled the girth strap from beneath Jess’ barrel-shaped stomach from the opposite side and fastened it with a burst of might. She walked back to the tack room and emerged again with a bridle.
“Come here, you can do this with some help.” Kay smiled, quickly turning on her heels in realisation, Melody stepped forward and Kay showed her to put on the bridle correctly. Kay unbuckled the head collar that was draped around Jess’ neck and took the lead rope that was clipped to it, now clipping it to Jess’ bridle.
“Over there.” Kay pointed to the school holding out the rope to Melody. Melody’s stomach began doing somersaults.
“Are you sure your licensed to teach me?” Melody joked, walking Jess to the arena.
“Yep, definitely. I want to turn this place into a public lesson stables so I had to make sure I was licensed, I got it all ready and then something happened to one of the horses and the vet bill meant I couldn’t afford it anymore.” Kay’s voice suddenly sounded sad and she looked down as they walked, Melody couldn’t tell if it was because of what happened to the horse or if it was because of losing out on her dream,
‘_Maybe both…._’ Melody thought. Kay unlatched the gate of the school and gestured for Melody to take Jess through, she thanked her and then stopped at the side of the fence unsure what to do next. Kay walked in locking the gate behind her,
“Right, checked your stirrups?”
“Um….” Melody wasn’t really sure what that meant.
“Undo them like this and then check them against the length of your arm. Then you’ll know which way to adjust them.” Melody followed orders and Kay put them up a few holes.
“Ok, I’ll hold this side, you put your left foot in the stirrup and give a little bounce, then hoist yourself up and swing your other leg over.”

More to come of this chapter, I just need to write it first lol.X


----------



## FoxyRider22 (Feb 26, 2013)

I'm definitely enjoying this story....is melody's first time riding similar to your own experience? Lol I remember the first time I ever rode....it was in September I was 4y/o and my father had just bought me my first horse...I was a bit worried as she was a 4 year old hot head that we picked up from an auction...she had already spazzed out and bucked with my father but it went great and turns out I'm the only one who has ever gotten along with her! And I still ride her to this day! 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## Ponywhisperer (Dec 3, 2013)

End of chapter 3....

“Are you sure your licensed to teach me Aunty Kayla?” Melody joked, walking Jess to the arena. Kay patted the shiny, well cared for brown leather saddle and wiggled it to check it was stable,
“Yep, definitely. I wanted to turn this place into a public lesson stables so I had to make sure I was licensed, I got it all ready and then something happened to one of the horses and the vet bill meant I couldn’t afford it anymore.” Kay’s voice suddenly sounded sad and she looked down as they walked, Melody couldn’t tell if it was because of what happened to the horse or if it was because of losing out on her dream,
‘_Maybe both…._’ Melody thought. Kay unlatched the gate of the school and gestured for Melody to take Jess through, she thanked her and then stopped beside the fence unsure what to do next. Kay walked in locking the gate behind her,
“Right, checked your stirrups?”
“Um….” Melody wasn’t really sure what that meant.
“Pull them out like this and then check them against the length of your arm. Then you’ll know which way to adjust them.” Melody followed orders and Kay put them up a few holes.
“Ok, I’ll hold this side, you put your left foot in the stirrup and give a little bounce, then hoist yourself up and swing your other leg over.” Kay smiled to herself knowing that it sounded extremely awkward to someone who had never done it before, and momentarily lost her concentration. Melody forced all of her little amount of strength onto the left stirrup and forced her body into the saddle grabbing the reins in her fists.
“You in?” Melody nodded in response finding her other stirrup and pushing it back to her heel. Kay began to correct Melody’s incorrect behaviour,
“First things first, reins between these two fingers, shorten them up, thumbs on top. Stirrups forward at the balls of your feet, heels down. Sit up, look up, stay up, remember that! I‘m going to take a picture to send to Alex.” Kay pulled out her phone and quickly snapped a picture before putting it back in her pocket.
“Off you go!” Kay stepped back and gestured with her arms with a playful sense of superiority towards Melody.
“Um….How?” Melody felt her cheeks burning with embarrassment.
“Ah right sorry, squeeze with your thighs, that’s called legging her on, and click your tongue, tell her to walk on.” Kay stepped forward holding the lead rope, she was going to lead Melody first to give her time to get her balance and get comfortable with the rhythm. Melody clucked as Kay had taught her to, and squeezed Jessica on,
“Walk on, Jess.” The horse slowly moved forward taking great care of her precious cargo mounted upon her back. Melody was still nervous although she was only walking and Kay was trying her best to put her at ease by talking to her. Melody soon began to relax and take in her surroundings; The birds singing in the tall green, leafy trees, the other horses out in the pastures and the sky was the bluest she’d ever seen it in her life.
“I’m going to unclip you now you’ve got your balance, but I’m still going to walk next to you for a bit and see how you do.”
Kay smiled looking up at her niece, it reminded her of the first time she ever rode, that was the day she fell in love with it.
“Heels down.” Kay pulled her foot down level with the stirrup.
“Hands too….Elbows inwards. Sway your pelvis with the movement, your too rigid.” Melody followed Kay’s instructions, trying to remember everything she‘d been told.
“Ok, I’m going to the middle so that I can see you properly.” Kay trudged to the centre of the school turning to look, her hand shading her eyes from the sun.
“Great! You look good on a horse!” Kay grinned,
“Alright, change rein!” Kay told her how to turn around and Melody successfully turned a circle that wasn’t too tight and changed to left hand rein.
“Do you want to try a trot?!” Melody wasn’t really sure but she wouldn’t know unless she tried.
“Shorten the reins but keep your elbows back, bring her head to you, squeeze her on and keep your knees on! Heels down, Melody! Tell her to trot on!” Jessica responded quickly to Melody’s clumsy cues that were far from invisible as every rider hopes for, but Jess still trotted steadily and at an even pace. Kay taught her how to post and sit the trot and Melody was already doing well, after only thirty minutes of riding the heat was too much to continue. Mikayla stood watching Melody trot around the school nicely before she had to dismount, at this point she knew that she definitely wanted to turn her private stables into a lesson stables and be an instructor.


----------



## Ponywhisperer (Dec 3, 2013)

Does anyone have any ideas for how to get more characters involved or how they can get enough money for Mikayla to turn it into a public stables? I have a general outline of things to happen in the plot but it feels quite lonely already I think :/


----------



## FoxyRider22 (Feb 26, 2013)

Don't know if you wanna go a route like this........but a neighbor's horses could get loose on Kay's property. Then when trying to help catch them melody meets the son of the neighbor and they fall in love and together they raise money for Kay.Lol I'm not very good with writing stories so feel free to ignore me! 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## Ponywhisperer (Dec 3, 2013)

No, that's a really, REALLY good idea! But maybe she could meet the daughter and befriend her, as I kind of imagine Melody as a bit of an anxious mess (Think i'm basing this too heavily on my own life....) and typically has problems with other people. To me it just started feeling a bit: 'Kay said, Melody said' because of having read it 101 times it all started to feel the same lol.X PW.X


----------



## BlueEyedPaint (Apr 1, 2014)

Ponywhisperer said:


> Does anyone have any ideas for how to get more characters involved or how they can get enough money for Mikayla to turn it into a public stables? I have a general outline of things to happen in the plot but it feels quite lonely already I think :/


Think about horse people... Vet, farrier, Hay delivery, feed sales, etc. 

Are you going to have an antagonist in your story?

Think of horsey type fundraisers... horse shows, trail rides, etc... Or maybe Melody could somehow get the money for her aunt... 

Hope these help!!!


----------



## Ponywhisperer (Dec 3, 2013)

The start of chapter 4, with some inspiration from Sevastion27's idea-Thank you!

Morning broke, the copious amounts of sun were becoming usual now and Melody woke before Kay knocked her door this time. She lay listening to the bird song and the ducks that were residing in the lake. She felt like riding Jess had all seemed too dreamy in her memory to have been real, she hoped it was, but she wasn’t sure. Melody had almost fallen back to sleep when she heard a distant, desperate cry from the paddock that was visible from one of her windows,
‘Lexi! Oh, Lexi where are you?!” Melody decided it was too tempting not to look, she could see a young girl walking through the field with her dog,
‘Alexis! Come here now! Please….!” she seemed to get frustrated and then nearly burst into tears.
‘_Whatever she’s looking for, she isn’t finding it…._’ Melody thought,
‘_Maybe she’d like some help?_’ Melody grinned at her idea, she wasn’t usually the helpful type, normally the one causing the problem in the first place; but back home she’d lost her dogs a few times and knew how it ripped your heart out when you’re desperately trying to find something that you love more than life itself. She quickly got ready to go outside, she opened her bedroom door and jogged through the hallway realising now just how saddle-sore and achy she actually was. Kay was in the kitchen,
“I was just about to come and wake you up, the neighbour’s horses have gotten loose and I thought that you could help them.”
“I was going out there anyway because I heard someone calling something back to them, but it wasn’t working.” Melody recalled the situation and remembered the horse the girl was looking for was called Alexis. Kay gestured towards the kitchen door that led to the fields and widened her eyes as if to say: ‘Well, go on then!’ Melody slid open the glass patio door and jogged out to the girl, trying not to spook the horses. She could still hear her echoing cry’s, that were bordering on sobbing to Lexi.
“Would you like some help?!” Melody called across the field when she was close enough not to shout too loud as to scare the horses.
“Oh, thank you so much! I really would!” she seemed to visibly breathe a sigh of relief that she was no longer looking alone on someone else’s property that was unfamiliar to her.
“I’m looking for a skewbald pony. A Welsh, Shetland cross mare, called Lexi.”
“Ok, I’ll help you look, there’s another field over there that she might have gotten into….Oh, I’m Melody Loper by the way.” she offered quite a formal introduction in the form of a handshake. The girl smiled and shook her hand, her eyes no longer welling up with tears,
“I’m Laura Myer. I live over there.” pointing over her shoulder. Melody could only see tall trees in that direction before she noticed an open, black metal gate leading to a small wooden bridge that was just wide enough for a horse to get across. Laura’s streaky blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her fringe scruffily covered her right eye as she had probably rushed when she heard the news that her horses had gotten out.
“This is Florence.” she looked down at the fluffy, black and white border collie puppy that was bouncing around Laura’s feet, pulling on her black and floral lead like it was tug-of-war.
“How many horses have you got?” Melody asked to try and find out how many had gotten loose,
“Alexis, Willow, Conker, Rebecca, Rebel, Gravetye, Wisdom and Traveller, and Willow’s in foal.” counting on her fingers as she went through their names, obviously too tired from searching for them to count them in her head.
“Eight and a half. You?” Laura asked, pointing towards Kay’s herd gathered at the gate they were walking towards.
“They’re my Aunt’s, she’s got….Five.” Pointing them out and telling her each of their names.
“Oh! Over there!” Laura said excitedly, spotting two horses in the top corner of the next field. A short brown and white pony and a stocky white pony stood grazing side by side in the hedge, unaware of the initial panic. Laura jumped over the wooden gate and let Florence slip under it before picking up her lead again, running up to the horses from a side angle so that they could see her coming.
“Lexi! Wizzy! I found you!” Laura hugged the two ponies in turn and took the lead rope she had tied around her waist and clipped it to Lexi’s head collar. She only had one rope and needed to keep a tight hold of Florence so that she wouldn’t spook Kay’s horses as they weren’t used to her. She couldn’t use Florence’s lead, or walk Wisdom by his head collar as Flo was pulling quite a lot.
“Could you please help me?! Can I borrow a lead rope?!” Melody was quarter of the way across the field as she chose to leisurely amble, she held up a thumb in response and spun around to get the rope that was tied on the fence. She jogged up to the horses and clipped the rope to the grey pony’s blue, head collar that had ‘Wisdom’ embroidered onto it in metallic silver thread.
“And there’s Becca.” Laura said as they walked back down to the gate, watching a black mare with white markings canter into the field they’d just crossed.
“Don’t worry, I’ll get her.” Melody reassured her, opening the wooden gate and letting Laura through to part the small sea of horses on the other side. Once in the other field, Melody unclipped Wisdom’s rope and decided it would be better to use it for Rebecca, as she was already showing her that she was feeling energetic. Melody walked across to the shiny, jet-black horse as she cantered circles around the far side of the field, whilst Laura stood beside Wizzy. Melody felt that the best thing to do was to sit on the ground and wait for her to calm down, she didn’t know why, it just felt right.


----------



## Ponywhisperer (Dec 3, 2013)

she noticed a black metal gate leading to a small wooden bridge that was just wide enough for a horse to get across. Laura’s streaky, highlighted blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her fringe scruffily covered her right eye as she had probably rushed when she heard the news that her horses had gotten out.
“This is Florence.” she looked down at the fluffy, black and white border collie puppy that was bouncing around Laura’s feet, pulling on her black, floral lead like it was a tug-of-war.
“How many horses have you got?” Melody asked to try and find out how many had gotten loose,
“Alexis, Willow, Conker, Rebecca, Rebel, Gravetye, Wisdom and Traveller, and Willow’s in foal.” counting on her fingers as she went through their names, obviously too tired from searching for them to count them in her head.
“Eight and a half. You?” Laura asked, pointing towards Kay’s herd gathered at the gate they were walking towards.
“They’re my Aunt’s, she’s got….Five.” Pointing them out and telling her each of their names.
“Oh! Over there!” Laura said excitedly, spotting two horses in the top corner of the next field. A short brown and white pony and a stocky white pony stood grazing side by side in the hedge, unaware of the initial panic. Laura jumped over the wooden gate and let Florence slip under it before picking up her lead again, running up to the horses from a side angle so that they could see her coming.
“Lexi! Wizzy! I found you!” Laura hugged the two ponies in turn and took the lead rope she had tied around her waist and clipped it to Lexi’s head collar. She only had one rope and needed to keep a tight hold of Florence so that she wouldn’t spook Kay’s horses as they weren’t used to her. She couldn’t use Florence’s lead, or walk Wisdom by his head collar as Flo was pulling quite a lot.
“Could you please help me?! Can I borrow a lead rope?!” Melody was quarter of the way across the field as she chose to leisurely amble, she held up a thumb in response and spun around to get the rope that was tied on the fence. She jogged up to the horses and clipped the rope to the grey pony’s blue head collar that had ‘Wisdom’ embroidered onto it in metallic silver thread. Once down the field, Melody opened the gate and let Laura through to part the small sea of horses on the other side. They got to the footbridge and Melody opened the gate for Laura, on the other side was a winding dirt track that seemed to lead to nowhere. Over the hedges all you could see were immaculate grassy fields that stretched for miles, Laura let Florence off of her lead and she sensibly walked alongside them.
“Whoa, stand. Good girl.” Lexi stood still, anticipating her owner’s next move, Laura clipped the lead rope to the side-ring of her head collar and tied the other end to the opposite side, creating makeshift reins. She stepped to Lexi’s side, bundling the rope-reins in her left hand and lifted her right leg onto her horse’s back. Her other hand firmly against the other side of Alexis’ withers, she put all of her strength into the right side of her body, pulling herself up onto Lexi’s back. Laura dragged her body forwards, towards Lexi’s neck, so that she was in the correct position to ride her bareback.
“You can ride Wizzy if you like.” Laura looked across to Melody with a bright smile.
“I’ve only ever ridden once and I don’t know how to ride without a saddle or a bridle.” Melody felt slightly disheartened, she had already decided that she kind of liked this girl and she’d never really had any friends. The fact that she didn’t know how to ride was probably a deal breaker in Laura’s opinion, a girl that seemed popular and was totally happy with her life, she probably had loads of friends and didn’t really need Melody in her world anyway.
“It’s easy once you get used to it. He’s a babysitter, totally bombproof.” Laura pressed on smiling, hopeful that maybe she’d have someone new to ride with.
“You can hold onto his mane and I’ll use the lead rope to pony you along if you want, just to be safe.” Melody realised that the deal was too sweet to resist, but she was still doubtful.
“Alright then. How do I get on?” Melody said handing Laura the lead rope, measuring up Wisdom’s body in her head.
“Thank you. Go to his left side and lift your right leg up onto his back.” Melody lifted her leg onto the pony and remembered what she had watched Laura do moments before, gripping a handful of mane and pressing her right hand against his withers, she shifted her weight over and clumsily pulled herself up over.
“Sit forward a bit, when you ride bareback you need to sit closer to the withy’s.” Laura smiled to herself, her mission was completed. She had plenty of friends, but none of them wanted to get their shoes dirty and didn’t appreciate horses as being anything other than ‘pretty’. The kind of friends who were shocked to find out that horses had personality’s and would talk over her when she’d mention horses, it wasn’t that she went on talking about ponies all day, just that they didn’t care about what she had to say.
“Ok, I don’t have a clue what I’m doing, mind.” Melody said looking down around her, repeatedly lifting her legs into the position they would be if they were in stirrups, and losing her strength letting them hang and then pulling them up again. Laura laughed,
“Let your legs hang but keep them away from his legs.” Tapping Lexi’s sides with her feet and clicking her tongue she moved them into a walk.
“I’m probably quite dangerous by the way.” Melody joked, the feeling of her balance shifting side to side felt like she was going to slide off with every step.
“Don’t worry were not going to gallop or do a 6ft course or anything!” Melody was now fully aware of her lack of knowledge on this subject, unsure of what ‘a 6ft course’ meant. As she had now gained her balance and felt more comfortable, the relentless heat made her long for the wind in her hair and on her skin.
“Can we trot maybe?” She already kind of regretted saying it, that doubt seeping back into her conscience.
“Sure, if you think you’re ok to.” She kicked Lexi again and told her to trot on, she followed orders and Wisdom followed suit. Melody felt her balance slipping away from her like she was in slow-motion and she knew she didn’t want to fall onto solid ground, especially without a riding hat. She squeezed her knees into Wizzy’s pale, clean hide, steadying herself momentarily. The sound of hoof beats multiplied as two large horses trotted towards them,
“Ha! Amateurs!” one rider shouted mockingly, purposely making sure they could hear her, the other laughing. Laura looked over her shoulder at Melody looking as if her ego had been bruised, realising Melody was visibly in distress she quickly slowed Lexi down to a walk. Melody was very glad to be walking again and silently sighed a deep breath of relief, closing her eyes for a moment to collect herself.
“Who was that?” Melody asked, now letting the other girl’s words sink in, it was surely hurtful to Laura who obviously devoted her life to riding and her horses,
“Abagail Teedy and her sidekick Tiegan Miller. They board their horses at that really big, really expensive equestrian centre on Greensdon Avenue. I don’t like them, they don’t like me.” Laura told her with little emotion in her voice.
“How come?” Melody asked, there was clearly more to this story,
“I used to take lessons there too, but they bullied me so I started taking them at home, with my parents teaching me.” She said nothing else and Melody understood why she wouldn’t want to. A few moments of silence followed but it wasn’t awkward at all, which was a first for Melody, in her opinion all silence was awkward. A large building appeared to their left surrounded by fields, Alexis turned her head towards it and whinnied to the horses that were turned out around it, Wisdom copied a few seconds after.
“This is my house.” Laura sang, taking a sharp turn into a gap in the hedge. Melody watched as Lexi turned her side against a black metal gate that looked quite decorative, there was a sign made out of a piece of wood that read ‘Horseshoe House’. Laura reached over backwards to open it, letting Melody, Wisdom and Florence through. They stood in a large field, Laura dismounted at the electric fence that was in front of them and untied the rope from Lexi’s head collar, then taking off the clip connecting the ribbon to the battery, therefore disarming it. She opened up a gap in the fence to let her pony through, she walked over to Melody once again untying the rope and holding Wizzy so that she could get off. Melody swung her right leg over heavily hitting the ground, momentarily sending a painful shock through her joints as she had forgotten to bend her knees. Laura lead Wisdom into the field unclipping him as he walked past her. She proceeded to make sure the fence was correct as she didn’t feel like trying to find all of the horses again, Laura stood for a moment counting the ponies happily grazing ahead of her to check they were all there, she counted to eight under her breath but just loud enough that Melody could hear her. Satisfied, Laura turned on her heels and set off towards the house motioning for Melody to follow her, Melody looked down at her now white-hair covered, previously clean clothes and sighed. They got to the front door which had a rusty old horseshoe hung over it and Laura opened it, trudging through the clean, shiny wooden floored hallway in her boots that were covered in dry mud, leaving a trail behind her. She looked behind at Melody who was stood in the doorway unsure if she should still be following her,
“You can come in, you know.” Laura smiled continuing through to the room in front of her. Melody quietly shut the door and traced Laura’s journey into the kitchen, she peered around the doorway before entering and saw Laura sat talking to a slim, brunette lady who was leant across the unit.
“This is Melody, she helped me find Lexi and Wizzy.” Laura pointed to her and the women, who Melody was guessing was Laura’s mother turned to look at her, greeting her with a smile,
“Hi, I’m Claire Myer. Call me Claire.” Melody stepped into the room and shook her hand as she had her daughter’s a while before.
“Thank you so much for helping find the ponies, they’ve been a total nightmare this morning. We didn’t realise the battery was getting low, I guess they did though. They just had to realise at six in the morning, the time when everyone wants to running around.” Claire said sarcastically, looking out the window a them.
“Any news on Willow?” Laura asked,
“Well she’s due any day, and I’d imagine all of that exercise should certainly speed the process along.” Claire answered never taking her eyes off of the horses. Melody stayed a while and then decided to go back to Kay’s house, Laura walked back with her and they talked the entire journey. Melody got back to Kay’s house and as soon as she stepped through the door Kay told her to saddle up.


----------

