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

  “We’re going to do some jumps, Dad,” May called out.

  “I’ll keep an eye on you, but I can’t help you right now,” Mr. Grover replied.

  After a few minutes of riding, May and Corey set up some small jumps with Jasmine’s help. Jasmine continued to practice trotting and cantering around the ring. She concentrated on her hand and leg positions.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw May take Macaroni over the jumps. Then it was Corey’s turn.

  To Jasmine’s surprise, Corey seemed to be having trouble with Samurai. When May and Jasmine had first met Corey, Samurai had been a mischievous pony and not as well trained as Macaroni and Outlaw. But under Corey’s patient guidance, Samurai had been getting better and better.

  Today, though, he seemed more like his old self. He balked when Corey approached the first jump. He finally went over the rail, but he broke out of his canter and simply trotted over the second and third jumps. Jasmine stopped to watch. This was the only time she had ever seen Corey and Samurai mess up at jumping together.

  Then Corey rode over to Jasmine. She looked discouraged. “I guess Sam’s just in one of his moods today,” she said.

  “I can’t believe it,” said Jasmine. “He’s been so good.”

  Corey shook her head. “He still gets into his moods, and when he does, there’s nothing I can do.” She paused for a second, then said, “Hey, Jasmine, I really want to practice today. Would you mind if I borrowed Outlaw?”

  Jasmine nodded. She knew how much Corey loved jumping. She dismounted, and Corey took her place. Jasmine held Samurai by the reins.

  Corey swung Outlaw around and cantered toward the jumps. Outlaw sailed over them smoothly. Corey’s face was one big grin.

  Watching Outlaw and Corey, Jasmine felt proud of her pony. Outlaw had such a smooth canter, and he took the jumps with a lot of spirit.

  Then May and Macaroni went again. This time it didn’t go quite as smoothly as the first time. Jasmine could see May leaning over far too early—just the way Jasmine had during the jumping class—and then sitting up abruptly just before the jump.

  May almost lost her seat after the first jump, but regained it just in time. She rode up to Corey and Outlaw. “What did I do wrong?” Jasmine heard her ask Corey.

  Corey’s answer surprised Jasmine. “I don’t think you leaned forward far enough,” Corey told May. “I think you should be flatter against Macaroni’s neck.”

  Before she realized what she was doing, Jasmine joined the conversation. “That’s not right, Corey,” she said.

  May and Corey looked at Jasmine in innocent surprise. “Why? What’s wrong with my advice?” demanded Corey.

  “You’re supposed to stay in balance until just before the jump,” explained Jasmine. “Then lean forward—not too far. You want to lean forward naturally, at the same moment when Macaroni gets ready for the jump.”

  “You know, I think you’re right, Jazz,” said May. She grinned impishly at Corey. “That’s the last time I listen to you, Corey Takamura!”

  Both Corey and Jasmine laughed. Corey was usually the first person May and Jasmine went to for help. It was really unlike her to be wrong.

  May tried the jumps again. This time she leaned forward at the right moment, and Macaroni went over the jumps beautifully.

  “Good job, May!” said Corey. “Now it’s my turn again!” She cantered Outlaw toward the jump.

  Jasmine watched May and Corey jump a few more times. There was no denying it—they were having a blast. May even did a little cowgirl whoop as she finished her third turn, which made Macaroni canter even more briskly.

  Most importantly, Jasmine couldn’t help noticing how much Outlaw loved jumping. His ears were perked straight up, and he sassily swished his tail back and forth. He was having the time of his life.

  Jasmine started to feel hollow inside. She realized that if she never jumped again, Outlaw couldn’t jump much, either. He’d have to wait for Corey or May to take a turn on him.

  He’s my pony, thought Jasmine. I’m keeping him from something he loves to do.

  After May and Corey had done a few more rounds, they rode over to the edge of the ring where Jasmine stood with Samurai. They both dismounted.

  “Are you finished jumping?” asked Jasmine in amazement. The Pony Tails had only been practicing for a half hour.

  May nodded. “Yup,” she answered. “I, uh, just remembered something. I left the kitchen in a mess. I tried to make a super-huge triple-decker sandwich for lunch, and I forgot to clean up. Mom is probably ready to kill me by now.”

  Corey handed Outlaw’s reins to Jasmine and took Samurai’s reins back. “Don’t you want to try jumping with Samurai again?” asked Jasmine.

  Corey shook her head. “Nope,” she said. “I promised to help Jack bathe a few dogs.” Jack was Doc Tock’s student assistant. “We’re really swamped with patients,” she added.

  “See ya, Jazz, Corey,” said May, walking off with Macaroni.

  “See ya,” echoed Corey, walking off with Samurai.

  Jasmine was left alone in the schooling ring with Outlaw.

  10 Jasmine Jumps Again

  Jasmine took another look at the jumps in the ring. Once again, she remembered her fall last Wednesday. But then she started to really think about it. After all, she hadn’t gotten hurt. She had just made a mistake.

  She took a deep breath. Then another one.

  “Mr. Grover?” she called.

  Mr. Grover was still in the next ring with his student horse. Now, however, he appeared to be finished and was just leading the horse back to the stable. When he heard Jasmine, he quickly tied the horse to a post outside the stable and came over to her.

  “What’s up, Jasmine?” he asked gently.

  Jasmine nervously smiled at him. “Well, I took a jumping class last Wednesday, and I had a little accident,” she said.

  “A lot of riders do fall,” said Mr. Grover solemnly.

  “I—I was thinking,” stammered Jasmine. “I was thinking … of trying again. You see, I didn’t get back on Outlaw right after my fall. Do you think you could help me?”

  Mr. Grover nodded. “It’s tough getting your confidence back. But I’m happy that you’re willing to try again. That takes courage, Jasmine. I’d love to help.”

  Jasmine got back on Outlaw. Instead of directing her to go over the jumps already set up, Mr. Grover laid out some cavalletti on the ground.

  Jasmine concentrated on riding over the cavalletti. She made sure that her heels were down, her grip on the reins was firm yet light, and her posture was upright.

  “Terrific!” said Mr. Grover. “Are you ready for the real thing?”

  He motioned toward the jumps.

  Jasmine slowly turned Outlaw so that they faced the jumps.

  Mr. Grover started talking. “Remember what I told you, Jasmine? It’s like playing a duet together. You love Outlaw. He loves you. When you jump together, he’s just waiting for you to tell him to do the right thing. Everything should be in harmony.”

  Jasmine nodded at Mr. Grover. Then she and Outlaw cantered toward the first jump. She made sure that her heels stayed down and her head stayed up.

  As she approached the jump, Jasmine felt as if the fences were rushing at her in a blur. She could hear Outlaw’s hooves pounding the ground. For a split second, Jasmine relived the fall. She could remember the awful, terrible moment when she lost her balance and fell to the ground.

  Then she remembered what she was doing. She was riding Outlaw, her own pony. She knew how to ride Outlaw better than anyone else in the world. All Outlaw needed was the right guidance from her.

  When they got to the jump, Jasmine leaned forward with the natural motion of Outlaw’s body. Although she had a firm grip on the reins, she gave Outlaw lots of room to extend his neck. She looked straight ahead.

  Outlaw gathered himself and effortlessly cleared the first jump, then the second, and finally the third.

  Jasmine couldn’
t stop a big grin from spreading all over her face. Mr. Grover chuckled. “You look like a totally different girl,” he teased. “When you started toward the jump, you looked like you were going to the dentist! Now you look like you’ve just gotten a Christmas present!”

  “I want to try again,” said Jasmine eagerly.

  “Be my guest,” said Mr. Grover, smiling.

  Jasmine and Outlaw took the jumps again, and then again. Mr. Grover, his eyes twinkling, walked over to the cavalleti and raised each one two inches. Now they were almost a foot off the ground.

  “I think you’re ready to handle these,” he said. “You’re doing great.”

  Jasmine reminded herself that she was still a long way from six-foot fences. Now she knew that it was important to learn everything she could about the low jumps before she attempted the big ones.

  Best of all, she knew Outlaw was thrilled to be jumping with her. After each round, he couldn’t wait to get back to the beginning of the course.

  Jasmine and Outlaw took the higher jumps smoothly. Mr. Grover complimented Jasmine several times on her seat and balance. She wished Corey and May could see her jump.

  Soon Jasmine’s wish was granted. After a fourth successful round, she heard clapping and cheering from the side of the ring. May and Corey were back!

  “Way to go, Jazz!” May called out.

  “I have a new nickname for you,” said Corey. “Jumping Jasmine!”

  Jasmine turned a little pink, but she couldn’t help being pleased. She rode over to May and Corey.

  “I thought you had to clean up the kitchen,” Jasmine said, looking at May.

  “I was faster than lightning today!” grinned May.

  Jasmine looked at Corey. “Corey, I thought you had to help Jack,” she said.

  Corey looked at her innocently. “Oh, he decided at the last minute that he didn’t need my help,” she answered.

  “Anyway, what does it matter?” said May impatiently. “You did it, Jasmine! You jumped again!”

  “I couldn’t have done it without your dad’s help,” said Jasmine.

  “No, I think you’re wrong,” said Mr. Grover’s voice behind her. They turned and saw him standing there, smiling at them. “I think,” he said to Jasmine, “you should thank your friends first.”

  Jasmine looked puzzled for a minute. Then the pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place. She remembered watching Corey jump with Outlaw and then realizing how much fun her pony was missing.

  Then she remembered May’s mysterious mistakes at jumping, and how Corey had given her the wrong advice. Both Corey and May were really good at jumping—had they messed up on purpose? Finally Jasmine recalled her friends’ abrupt departures from the ring, and how Mr. Grover was suddenly free to help her.

  “This was all a setup!” she said, looking accusingly at May and Corey.

  “Yup,” said May. She and Corey were looking pleased with themselves. Their plan had worked.

  For a second Jasmine felt a flash of annoyance. She had been tricked into doing something she hadn’t wanted to do. How pushy could her friends get?

  Then she looked again at May and Corey. They were both beaming. Jasmine knew they were really happy that she was jumping again. They were happy for her. It didn’t matter if it was a setup. It had worked!

  Jasmine dismounted from Outlaw. Then she pulled May and Corey closer together and gave them both a big hug.

  “You guys are the best,” she said. “Thanks for your help.”

  “You would have done the same for us,” answered Corey. “You really saved me when you helped me with that poster. My mom loves it.”

  “You’ve helped me so many times, I’ve lost track,” said May.

  The three Pony Tails led a tired Outlaw back to his stall. Jasmine, Corey, and May gave him an extra-special grooming to reward him for his hard work.

  “A snack back at my house?” asked Jasmine, looking at May and Corey.

  They didn’t need any persuasion. The three girls jogged to Jasmine’s house.

  When they walked into the kitchen, Mr. James was doing the dishes. Mrs. James was just taking a sheet of oatmeal cookies from the oven, so Jasmine knew Sophie was probably taking a nap upstairs.

  “Mom, Dad,” said Jasmine excitedly, “I did it!”

  Mr. and Mrs. James looked confused.

  “Jasmine jumped again!” May told them.

  “She was a real pro!” said Corey.

  Mr. and Mrs. James smiled. Mr. James dried his hands and gave Jasmine a big hug. “That’s great, Jazzie,” he told her. “Your mom and I were worried that your fall shook you up—permanently.”

  Mrs. James also gave Jasmine a hug. “We don’t want you to fall ever again, but we’re proud that you learned about the dangers of jumping and then were able to put them behind you.”

  “You’re going to be a great jumper,” said Mr. James, pulling a curl of Jasmine’s hair affectionately.

  “I couldn’t have done it without the help of my friends,” Jasmine told him. “They helped me get over how scared I was to jump again.”

  “That’s nothing,” chimed in Corey. “Jasmine helps us all the time, too. We did a beautiful poster last week for my mom, and we couldn’t have done it without Jazz’s help!”

  That reminded May of something. “Speaking of posters,” she said, “where is that dinosaur chart you did for school, Jazz? We’re dying to see it.”

  Mr. James put a hand to his forehead and groaned. “Okay, you guys are moving much too fast for me. Animal posters? Dinosaur charts? I thought we were talking about jumping!”

  The Pony Tails giggled. As May and Corey explained about the dinosaur chart, Jasmine ran upstairs and got it from her closet.

  Mrs. James unrolled the chart and laid it out on the kitchen table. “Honey, this is incredible!” she exclaimed.

  Mr. James bent down to take a closer look. “This is terrific, Jasmine. Why didn’t you show it to us before?”

  “You and Mom were so busy …,” started Jasmine. Then she stopped. She knew what her parents were about to say.

  Mrs. James put an arm around Jasmine. “We are never too busy to look at your projects,” she said to Jasmine. “Even though we may seem distracted at times, that doesn’t mean we can’t stop for a minute and admire our daughter’s work.”

  “Everyone’s got to stop and smell the roses once in a while,” said Mr. James. Jasmine explained to May and Corey that this was her father’s way of saying that he had gotten too wrapped up in his work lately.

  Jasmine told her parents about the school art exhibition. Mr. and Mrs. James promised to come and to bring Sophie in her stroller. Then Mrs. James picked up the poster and carefully taped it to the kitchen wall.

  “Now I can look at it every day and learn about dinosaurs until it’s time for the school exhibition,” she told Jasmine.

  Jasmine looked at her poster again. She noticed the wrinkles on the edges of the chart, from when she’d stuffed the chart into her closet.

  Somehow, though, she didn’t mind the wrinkles. They reminded her that she sometimes made mistakes. They also reminded her that she could learn from her mistakes—especially with great friends like May and Corey.

  Jasmine also knew that her parents were busy people, with two girls to care for and full-time careers. They could make mistakes, too—like forgetting to ask Jasmine about certain things. But they loved her, and she knew it.

  “Are those cookies up for grabs?” Jasmine asked her mother, looking at the sheet of oatmeal cookies warm from the oven.

  “Help yourselves,” said Mrs. James, smiling. “I made them for you.”

  The Pony Tails started munching on oatmeal cookies. Mrs. James poured milk.

  As for Jasmine, she could hardly wait to jump again. She said to May and Corey, “Let’s try jumping again tomorrow.”

  May and Corey immediately agreed. The Pony Tails loved to find new activities. Now they could all jump—together.

  Jasmine�
��s Jumping Tips

  Max once told us that we can learn more from our mistakes than from the things we do right. As usual, he knew what he was talking about.

  I learned some things about jumping from my friends, some things about jumping from Max, and some things about jumping from Mr. Grover. I even learned some things from my pony. Mostly, though, I learned by doing it myself—wrong—and then doing it right.

  Maybe I can save you some trouble and bruises.

  There are three basic parts to jumping: approach, takeoff, and landing. Each of them is as important as the other two and if I mess up in one of them, the whole jump will be a mess.

  The approach sets the stage for everything else. I have to be completely balanced, not too far to one side or the other, not too far forward and not leaning back. That’s a lot of nots to remember, but balance is really important for anything I do when I ride. Almost every exercise Max ever has us do relates to balance. It’s a word I hear a lot. The more I hear it, the more I know it’s important.

  Next, I have to be sure my eyes are telling me where I’m going, because if I’m not sure where I’m going, Outlaw is definitely going to be confused! What that means is that I have to keep my eyes focused on the far side of the jump, not on the ground on this side of it—unless that’s where I want to end up!

  When it gets time for the takeoff, Outlaw has to do the work, but I have to tell him when and how to do it. I tell him the way I tell him almost everything—with my body. He can see the jump. I shift my seat back a little and lean forward at the same time. My weight is on the stirrups (balanced!) and my back is flat all the way from my hips to my neck. My head is head up (looking forward) and my legs are relaxed.

  Then, just at the moment of the actual takeoff, I move my arms forward as Outlaw stretches his neck forward. That loosens the reins so Outlaw can lead with his head. That’s called a release.

  Then there’s the finish. I’m as likely to end up in the dirt if I don’t finish the jump properly, as I am if I don’t start it right. Once Outlaw has his feet on the ground, I need to sit up straight again. That’ll draw in the reins some and I can tighten them more if they need it. I also have to keep my eye on where I want to go (not where I’ve been) and never, ever lose my—you got it—balance.