Jasmine and the Jumping Pony (Pony Tails Book 16) Read online

  Jasmine and the Jumping Pony

  Pony Tails, Book Sixteen

  Bonnie Bryant

  I would like to give my special thanks

  to Minna Jung for her help

  in the writing of this book.

  1 A Busy Breakfast

  Jasmine James finished brushing her long blond hair for school. She turned and looked again at the large poster lying on her desk.

  For the past month, Jasmine’s class at school had studied dinosaurs. Jasmine’s teacher had asked each student to do a final project showing what he or she had learned.

  Jasmine had decided to draw a poster that showed the different types of dinosaurs. Because she loved ponies, and loved to draw them, too, she also knew how to draw other animals.

  The poster was divided into several sections. One section showed that some dinosaurs had skeletons that looked like the skeletons of birds and others had skeletons that looked like the skeletons of lizards. Another section showed that some dinosaurs were meat-eaters and others ate only plants. Everything was labeled in Jasmine’s neat handwriting.

  Jasmine had used every single color in her marker set and worked for hours and hours on her poster. Looking at it, she knew she had done a good job. But she felt slightly flat inside. She wasn’t sure why. Then she heard her mother calling from downstairs.

  “Jasmine, your breakfast is ready!” Mrs. James said.

  Jasmine called back, “Be right down, Mom!”

  She carefully rolled up her poster and taped a large piece of paper around it so that it wouldn’t get dirty on the bus ride to school. Then she paused. If her poster was rolled up, her parents wouldn’t be able to see it at breakfast.

  Then she remembered what breakfast was usually like these days. It was total chaos!

  Lately, Jasmine’s parents were so busy that they rushed through breakfast with Jasmine and Sophie, her baby sister, before hurrying off to work. Mrs. James, who was an artist, had missed a conference with Jasmine’s teacher two days ago because Sophie had been slightly feverish that day. Now Mrs. James was working days and nights in her studio. She was trying to get ready for an exhibition in which her work would be shown along with the work of several other artists.

  Mr. James, who worked for an environmental group, also seemed busier than usual. He was spending a lot of time at his office in Washington, D.C., and in his study at home. When he wasn’t working, he took care of Sophie so that Mrs. James could get her work done.

  Somehow Jasmine didn’t feel right reminding her father that he had promised to take her and her two best friends, May and Corey, to a movie tonight.

  Jasmine looked at her rolled-up poster again. “They’re probably too busy—I’ll show it to them some other time,” she told herself. She picked up the poster and her school bag and went downstairs.

  On the way to the kitchen, Jasmine remembered something that cheered her up. Last night, May had called her and summoned the three Pony Tails—May, Jasmine, and Corey—to riding practice after school today.

  The three girls called themselves the Pony Tails because they were best friends who loved to ride ponies. They lived next door to each other and belonged to the same pony club. The Pony Tails also had weekly riding lessons at the same stable, Pine Hollow.

  The Pony Tails were so crazy about ponies that they took every opportunity to practice riding. Luckily, the winter in Virginia was really warm this year, warm enough to ride outdoors in the schooling ring next to May’s house.

  I’ll practice my cantering, Jasmine thought. She had a big smile on her face as she went into the kitchen.

  “Morning,” she greeted her mother and father. “Good morning,” she whispered as she leaned over Sophie in her baby seat.

  Mrs. James smiled at Jasmine. She looked tired. She plunked a bowl of oatmeal and a glass of orange juice in front of Jasmine. “Here, honey,” she said. “I wanted to make French toast this morning, but I was up so late last night …” Her voice trailed off as Sophie started to whimper.

  Mr. James was sitting at the table, drinking coffee and flipping through a thick three-ring notebook. He looked up and smiled at Jasmine. “Good morning, Jazzie,” he said. He looked down at the notebook again.

  Jasmine tucked her poster and school bag under her chair and sat down. No one had asked her about the poster.

  She looked around for the brown sugar. Her mother knew she loved brown sugar on her oatmeal, and she usually put it on the table the days when they had oatmeal for breakfast.

  But Jasmine didn’t see any brown sugar on the table. She got up and found the stepstool, then got the brown sugar from where it was kept above the sink.

  Her mother was picking up Sophie and cooing to her. “Honey,” she said to Mr. James, “I’m going to feed Sophie now. Then can you watch her for a few hours while I work this morning?”

  Mr. James nodded. “I have to go into the office this afternoon, though. We have a big meeting,” he said. “I won’t be home until dinnertime, so maybe we should get a baby-sitter this afternoon.”

  Mrs. James sighed and shook her head. “No, I can handle it,” she said. “Jasmine, where will you be?”

  “Riding with the other Pony Tails,” replied Jasmine. “Maybe I’ll do something with them tonight, too,” she added, looking at her father. She wondered if he would remember about the movie.

  He just smiled absently at her, though, and said, “Great. Don’t forget to call and let us know what you’re doing.”

  “Have a good day at school, Jasmine!” called Mrs. James as she hurried into the den to nurse Sophie. Mr. James looked at his notebook again.

  Jasmine finished her breakfast and placed her dishes neatly in the sink. She retrieved her poster and school bag from under the chair and went out to meet May and Corey at the bus stop.

  I bet we can still do something fun together tonight, she thought. The Pony Tails almost always had a good time. The key ingredients, as they all knew, were their love of ponies and each other.

  2 Jasmine Jumps Ahead

  Jasmine, May, and Corey got off the bus after school and waved good-bye to their friends. May started jumping around. Unlike Jasmine and Corey, who were usually calm, May was always excited about something. Today she had a good reason.

  “It’s Friday!” she sang out.

  Friday meant no school for two days. This Friday also meant that tomorrow, Saturday, the girls would go to Pine Hollow for a Pony Club meeting.

  The three friends belonged to a Pony Club called Horse Wise. Horse Wise held a mounted meeting every other week. For mounted meetings, the Pony Tails brought their own ponies from home.

  “Let’s change and start practicing right away,” suggested Corey.

  “Oh yeah, don’t forget—bring your ponies,” added May.

  Jasmine and Corey giggled. Then May put on a mock-stern expression and said, “We’ve got to work, work, work on our riding skills!”

  This made them laugh even more. Even though practice was good for their riding skills, none of them considered it work. It was too much fun!

  As Jasmine turned toward her house, Corey suddenly noticed the rolled-up poster under Jasmine’s arm. “Hey, what’s that?” she asked.

  May noticed the poster, too. “Is that your dinosaur project?” she asked.

  Jasmine shrugged. “It’s nothing,” she said. “Just a homework assignment.”

  Corey was about to ask Jasmine more questions, but May started jumping around impatiently again. “C’mon,” she said. “We’ve got to get started—it gets dark so early in the winter.” The three girls ran off toward their houses.

  When Jasmine got h
ome, the house was quiet. She peeked into the den and saw her mother, lying asleep on the couch with Sophie curled up by her side. Sophie was fast asleep, too.

  Jasmine tiptoed upstairs to her room. She set down her school bag and wondered where to put her dinosaur poster. Her teacher had loved it. She had asked Jasmine to bring it back for a school art exhibition in two weeks. In the meantime, Jasmine was supposed to keep it safe at home.

  Jasmine wondered if her parents would be able to go the art exhibition. Then she remembered how busy they were these days. She quickly shoved the poster into her closet. She noticed that the edges had gotten a little bent by a pair of shoes.

  She shrugged. It was just a poster.

  She put on her riding clothes and went outside.

  Outlaw, her pony, nickered when he saw her. “Hi, Outlaw,” Jasmine said, giving him a hug. He shook his mane happily.

  Unlike Jasmine, Outlaw had a mischievous, naughty streak—one that went with the banditlike white mask on his face, the reason for his name. Jasmine loved riding Outlaw, especially since he was always happy to spend time with her.

  After tacking up, Jasmine rode over to May’s house. Because May’s father trained horses for a living, the Grovers’ house had a large stable and two schooling rings in the back.

  Corey was already there, mounted on her pony, Samurai. Corey had named him for the white, sword-shaped streak across his nose.

  Jasmine could tell that Samurai was eager to start. He looked even friskier than usual. Since he was usually pretty lively, Corey had her hands full trying to get him to stand quietly.

  “Hi,” called Jasmine. Then May emerged from the stable, leading her pony, Macaroni—named because he was the color of May’s favorite food, macaroni and cheese. May led Macaroni to the mounting block and swung into the saddle.

  First, the three girls practiced their gaits. To start, they concentrated on the slow trot, which helped them balance in the saddle. Then they worked on the posting trot, and then they moved from the posting trot into the canter.

  Jasmine was having a great time. The biggest challenge in cantering was keeping your pony under control. Otherwise, the pony could break into a gallop. Outlaw, though, was behaving perfectly today. The three girls tried to keep in formation, single file, as if they were in riding class.

  After a half hour of practicing, they stopped for a break. “That was great!” exclaimed Corey. Samurai, too, had been behaving perfectly.

  “No, we were great,” declared May. “I think our practice and lessons are really working!”

  “I think we’re getting to be good riders,” Jasmine agreed.

  “Me too,” said May. “So I have an idea—why don’t we try a few jumps?”

  “I’m game,” answered Corey immediately. Then May and Corey looked at Jasmine.

  Jasmine felt a little nervous. “I haven’t done that much jumping,” she said. “Don’t you think we should take a lesson with Max first?” Max Regnery was their riding teacher at Pine Hollow.

  “We’ve already learned some stuff about jumping from Max,” May reminded Jasmine. “And anyway, you have jumped before. Remember the big sister-little sister competition? You and Carole Hanson won first prize!”

  Jasmine remembered how much fun that competition had been. She had been paired with Carole Hanson, one of the best riders at Pine Hollow and a member of the Saddle Club. The Saddle Club was an older group of girls who, like the Pony Tails, were best friends and loved riding. Jasmine and Carole had won the competition because of the last event, a jumping course.

  Still Jasmine hesitated. “I don’t know,” she said. “Carole’s so good, I think she won that competition for us.”

  “It’s no big deal, Jazz,” urged May. “You’re good, too—Carole said so. It’ll be fun, I promise!”

  Jasmine gave in. “Okay,” she agreed. “But nothing crazy,”

  Just then Mr. Grover walked out of the house. He smiled when he saw the girls.

  “Hey, Dad,” called May. “Can you help us set up for some jumps?”

  “Sure,” said Mr. Grover. He came over to the schooling ring. With his help, the Pony Tails dragged some cavalletti—long rails that hooked onto the approach side of a jump—into position.

  Mr. Grover made sure the cavalletti were spaced evenly. “This helps the ponies get used to the idea of the rails and adjust their stride,” he explained to the girls. They all nodded, having done this before with Max at Pine Hollow.

  For several minutes the three girls took turns trotting over the rails. Jasmine concentrated hard on keeping Outlaw at an even pace so that he wouldn’t hit the rails as he trotted over them.

  “You’re doing great!” called Mr. Grover. “Let’s try something a little more difficult.”

  Mr. Grover raised the cavalletti slightly from the ground on blocks. May went first, then Corey, and then Jasmine. This time the ponies had to pick their feet up and step over the rails. The girls concentrated on keeping their heads up and their seats balanced.

  Once again the exercise went perfectly. After her fourth try, May turned around and called back to Corey and Jasmine. She was grinning. “Hey, we’re not so bad!” she said. “I think we’re ready for some real jumping now. Let’s try raising it three feet!”

  Mr. Grover laughed. “Slow down, cowgirl,” he told May. “But you’re right, you are doing great. Let’s try a little jump.” He walked over and raised the cavalletti until they were six inches off the ground.

  Jasmine felt an uncomfortable butterfly in her stomach. Jumping was a lot harder than regular riding. A rider had to tell her pony what to do. Even more importantly, the rider needed to stay with the pony throughout the jump. If she didn’t, she was in danger of losing her balance.

  Jasmine wanted to say no. She looked at May and Corey. Both of them were grinning. She knew May was always excited about taking risks, but this time Corey looked eager to try jumping as well.

  Both Corey and May had more jumping experience than Jasmine did. But she didn’t want to look like a wimp in front of her best friends. So she took a deep breath and waited for her turn.

  Corey went first. She loved jumping. She and Samurai had taken first prize in the pony hunter event at a recent horse show. Under Corey’s guidance, Samurai sailed over the jumps.

  “Good balance, Corey!” Mr. Grover called out.

  Then May went. May was such a daredevil, she cantered Macaroni at the jumps a little too quickly. As a result, her form was not as good as Corey’s. As she approached the jumps, her hands clenched tightly on the reins. She looked down at the ground instead of straight ahead. Macaroni sailed over the jumps anyway.

  “This is so much fun!” May said as she trotted Macaroni back to wait for her next turn.

  “Nice jumping, May, but keep your head up,” instructed Mr. Grover. “Don’t look down; you need to guide the pony through the jump. Don’t hold the reins so tightly. You’ve got to give Macaroni room to stretch his neck as he takes the jump.” May nodded solemnly.

  Jasmine gulped. She rode Outlaw to face the jumps and looked at Mr. Grover. He must have sensed her nervousness because he started talking again.

  “Remember, Jasmine, most ponies love jumping,” he said. “It’s like playing a duet. You and Outlaw are such good friends, you should be able to tell him how to do this. Canter him slowly toward the jumps. Try to maintain your balance.”

  Jasmine nodded and started cantering toward the jumps. When she reached the first one, she leaned forward. She felt Outlaw gather himself and sail over the tiny jump. Then the second. Then the third. She’d done it!

  As she cleared the last jump, Jasmine was startled by a burst of clapping and cheering from the edge of the ring. She looked over and saw her parents standing there, with Sophie fast asleep in her stroller. They had watched the whole thing. “Great style, Jasmine!” Mrs. James called out. Mr. James whistled through his fingers.

  May and Corey watched Jasmine, who was grinning happily, ride over to say hello to
her parents. Then May turned to Corey. “What’s the big deal?” she asked. “We’ve all jumped before with Horse Wise.”

  Corey shrugged. “Jasmine hasn’t done that much jumping, I guess,” she said. “But it’s nice that her parents watch her do these things and cheer her on.” Corey’s parents were divorced. She lived with her mother, a veterinarian whom everyone called Doc Tock, short for Dr. Takamura. Corey got to see her father a lot, but she missed having her parents together.

  May seemed to understand because she changed the subject. “Let’s go say hi to Mr. and Mrs. James,” she suggested.

  Jasmine got to the edge of the ring where her parents were. “I didn’t know you were watching. I thought you’d be working all afternoon,” she said to them.

  “I got a lot of work done today. But honey, I didn’t know you were so good at jumping!” exclaimed Mrs. James.

  “You looked like a real pro!” chimed in Mr. James.

  Jasmine grinned again. She felt really good. She had been scared, but she had overcome her fear and made the jumps. More importantly, her parents had seen the whole thing and were really proud of her.

  “Hey, Jazzie,” said Mr. James. Jasmine was surprised to see her father looking a little bit sheepish, as if he had done something wrong.

  “What, Dad?” she asked.

  “After breakfast, I remembered that I promised to take you and the other Pony Tails to a movie tonight,” Mr. James said. “And then I remembered that I forgot all about the promise!”

  By this time May and Corey, along with Mr. Grover, had reached Jasmine’s parents. Everyone said hello, and then Mr. James kept on talking.

  “I’m sorry I forgot about the movie,” he said. “But I’m really too tired to do it tonight, it’s been such a long day. How about renting National Velvet and having a Pony Tails sleepover instead?”

  May, Corey, and Jasmine turned to each other and said at the same time, “Cool!” Then they gave each other a high five and exclaimed “Jake!” That was what they always did when they said the same thing at exactly the same time.