Five Stride Line (Pony Jumpers #5)

Chapter 1

I sat back in the saddle and steadied Squib's stride as he raced towards the next jump. I could feel the adrenalin pumping through his veins, his enthusiasm infecting me as he took off and I folded my body forward over the fence. Landing and looking left, making the tight turn that I'd walked with Katy, because she'd been out right before me and nailed it on Puppet. And anything Puppet could do, Squib could do better.

Except this time. Because where Puppet had made the turn effortlessly, and sliced the final vertical and raced through the flags to stop the clock two seconds ahead of the field, Squib slipped. His hindquarters skidded out from underneath him and I felt his whole back end go down. I got a flash of grass and mud and then my foot was on the ground and Squib was sliding towards the jump, and there was nothing I could do to stop any of it.

* * *

"I've told you already what the problem is, so there's no point muttering and complaining about being unlucky." Katy swished the towel around in the bucket of hot water, then pulled it out and handed it to me. "Squeeze the water out of that until it's just damp, then put it over his loins."

I frowned at her as I wrung the towel out as much as I could into the bucket, my hands still tingling from the liniment I'd been rubbing on Squib's strained hindquarters.

"So you're saying just put shoes on him and all my problems will be solved?"

"Pretty much, yeah. Give him some studs so he can grip onto the ground and he doesn't skid over on his arse whenever you cut a corner, and you'll be firing on all cylinders and ready for Grand Prix in no time. That's good, now drape it over his loins and cover it with the black plastic bag." Katy lifted the rubbish bag in question and Squib rolled his eyes and leapt sideways in pretend terror.

"Easy buddy," I told him, taking the bag from my friend and letting Squib sniff it with great suspicion before laying it over top of the towel. "What exactly is this supposed to do?"

"Hot compress. Draws the heat out and makes him feel better, like a heat pack," Katy told me. "Black plastic holds the heat in. Now chuck this wool rug on top for insulation." She watched approvingly as I added the heavy wool blanket to Squib's back. "That's the way. But I told you, it's only going to happen again if you don't do something to help him."

"Maybe."

Katy rolled her eyes. "It's common sense, AJ. If you want to jump decent fences, you need studs. It's not fair on Squib otherwise." She stepped back and looked at her watch. "Give him ten minutes then check the towel, see how warm it is. If it's cooled down too much, do it again. The farrier's coming on Wednesday," she continued seamlessly. "If you want to get Squib shod."

I looked at my pony's bare hooves, still unconvinced. I preferred the healthy look of his hooves without shoes nailed to them, and I'd read a lot of information on the internet about the evils of shoeing horses and all of the adverse effects it could have.

But my reservations fell on deaf ears. I'd tried to have the conversation with Katy once before and she'd shrugged it off.

"You can believe what you read, or you can believe what years of experience have taught me and Mum," she'd replied. "If you're jumping off grass, especially the dodgy surfaces we have here, you need studs. It's all very well if you're competing overseas on groomed arenas with superb footing, but it's different in New Zealand."

Robin leaned over the stall next door and sniffed noses with Squib, who started enthusiastically licking Robin's face in his usual peculiar way.

"Are you a pony or a dog?" I asked Squib as Katy wandered off to rug Lucas up for the night.