Read Online Issie and the Christmas Pony by Stacy Gregg - Free Book Online Page B

those ponies in a Thelwell book. At only twelve hands high Chico came up to Issie’s chest. “You’re too little for me,” Issie told the pony gently. “Besides, I’m looking for someone else.”
    Over the next hour Issie kept looking. She wound her way down the rows of horse floats and trucks, always expecting to see the grey pony. In fact she saw several grey ponies, but none of them was him. Grey ponies can look fairly alike and yet Issie knew quite definitely that none of them so far was the pony from her dream. She had a snapshot of his face clearly in her mind-his silvery forelock, his deep black eyes and thoughtful expression. She would have known him in an instant if she had seen him again.
    By the time she met Avery back at the barn as they had arranged, Issie was feeling deflated. She hadn’t found her dream pony.
    Avery, meanwhile, had found not one horse, but two. “Well, two that have definite potential anyway,” he told Issie. “One of them is a very nice bay with good, solid conformation. He’s thirteen-two hands high which is a good size for you, and he’s eight years old with no vices. He’s being sold by the owners; thegirl has outgrown him. The other one that I quite like the look of is a palomino. A very striking twelve-year-old mare with loads of pony-club experience. She’s won a mountain of ribbons, she’s a great jumper and she’d be perfect for you, I think. We could give them both a try now. You could ride them and see what you think, and if you like them then we can bid on both and see which one we get.”
    Issie should have been over the moon. The auction had turned up not just one, but two ponies that Avery thought were worth making a bid for. But , thought Issie, they aren’t my pony . They couldn’t be. Her pony was a grey and he must be here somewhere; the only problem was she couldn’t find him.
    Avery’s bay was called Juniper. He had a pretty face with ears that pointed in so far when they were pricked forward that they were almost touching at the tips. “That’s a sign of Arab blood; this pony has good breeding,” Avery said approvingly, running his hands over the bay, checking his conformation. He picked up all of Juniper’s feet and examined the hooves carefully before looking in his mouth to confirm that the pony was indeed eight years old. Then he legged Issie up on to Juniper’s back andthey took him over to the arena to try him out.
    Juniper proved to be a very well-mannered mount. “Give him a light workout to try his paces,” Avery told Issie. She put her legs on and felt Juniper rise up underneath her. “What’s his trot like to ride?” Avery shouted out as she breezed past him.
    Issie smiled. “It’s lovely! Really bouncy, but lovely!” Despite the fact Issie was still convinced that her grey pony was here somewhere, now that she was actually on Juniper and trying him out, she couldn’t help but love the bay pony just a little bit.
    â€œAsk him to canter,” said Avery. Juniper’s canter was lovely too. And the pony was a keen jumper. Issie took him back and forth over the trotting poles then tried him over a small jump and Juniper leapt clear with his ears pricked forward, a perfect gentleman.
    â€œHe’s brilliant, Tom!” Issie beamed from ear to ear. Maybe her obsession with the grey pony from her dream was just silly. There was nothing wrong with Juniper; he was really lovely. “I think we should definitely bid on him,” she told Avery.
    If Juniper was good, then Goldie the palomino proved to be even better. Issie loved the golden mare’s peppy paces. Goldie’s owners showed Issie all theribbons the mare had won. There were so many, it looked like Goldie had cleaned up at every gymkhana she’d ever been to. “Plus she’s good in traffic and good to float,” Avery said. “A perfect