Issie and the Christmas Pony by Stacy Gregg Page A

we’ll unload Bert.”
    Issie was just bringing Bert down the truck ramp when she heard her name being called and saw Stella riding towards her on Coco. The chocolate brown mare came trotting up, followed by Kate on Toby. Both girls pulled their horses up alongside Avery’s truck and dismounted beside Issie.
    â€œIs this Bert?” Stella said. “Oh, he looks like a total and utter sweetheart! I can’t believe this is the last time you’re going to ride him before he has to go away to his new home! How awful!”
    Kate looked at Stella as if she was a completeand utter twit and hissed through gritted teeth, “Stella! I’m sure Issie doesn’t want to think about that! How would you feel if someone was coming to take Coco away?”
    Stella shrugged. “Oh, today they can have her! She’s being so naughty. When we hacked up here this morning from the River Paddock she would barely move a hoof! She was a total slug! Then when we get here and she sees the other horses, she starts jumping around like she’s a racehorse in the starting gates. She’s completely bonkers!”
    Kate, who had given up on Stella saying anything sensible, turned her attention to Bert. “Isn’t he a cool colour?” she said to Issie.
    â€œHe’s a strawberry roan,” said Issie authoratitively. She would never have known this if Avery hadn’t explained it to her-she would probably have described Bert as pink. He was a sort of rosy chestnut colour with lots and lots of white hairs muddled all through his coat, which made him look, well…pink was probably the best word for it.
    â€œIssie, you’d better hurry and get him tacked up,” Kate said. “It’s our first rally today with Mr Avery, our new head instructor, and we don’t want to be late.”
    Stella and Kate had never met Avery. “You’ve been having lessons with him, haven’t you?” Stella asked Issie. “What’s he like? Everyone’s been going on about how great he is, but he’s probably just like the last instructor: a total fossil, at least a hundred years old and really, really boring…”
    â€œActually,” Tom Avery’s voice behind Stella made her turn around, “I’m thirty-six and I promise I’ll try my best to be extremely interesting.”
    Stella winced. “Issie!” she hissed. “You should have warned me he was right there!”
    Issie gave Avery a grin. “Tom, these are the friends I was telling you about. This is Kate Knight and Stella Tarrant.”
    â€œNice to meet you, girls,” said Avery. “I’m Tom Avery. Your new head instructor.”
    If the day got off to a dodgy start, it quickly improved. The riders all lined up for inspection at the start of the ride, and then Avery divided them up into groups, putting Stella, Issie and Kate together with two boys they had never met before.
    â€œI’m Ben,” said the first boy, introducing himself. “And this is Max.”
    â€œHi, Ben,” Issie said to the first boy. “Hi, Max.” Issie smiled at the good-looking boy sitting on the grey horse next to Ben. He grinned back, his blue eyes laughing at her.
    â€œI’m not Max!” he said. “Ben’s horse is called Max!”
    â€œOh!” Issie said. “Sorry! I thought…”
    â€œMy name is Dan, Dan Halliday,” the blond boy said, “and this is my horse Kismit.” He gave the fleabitten grey gelding that he was riding a slappy pat on his glossy neck.
    â€œNice to meet you, Kismit,” Issie said to the pony. “At least your name isn’t confusing! This is Bert,” she told them. Then she hastened to add, “He isn’t really mine.” And before she knew it, Issie found herself telling Dan and Ben the whole story, about how she had met Avery and how the instructor had given her lessons on Bert until she could buy a