A Place To Call Home

Couldn't you find anything smaller

Chapter 4

The weekend had finally come and School wasn't too bad surprisingly.

Becky and I had become really good friends over the week, which is nice because I haven't had a real friend in ages!

Ping 'Do you want to come over for the weekend?' read Becky's text

'Yeah, sure be there in 10' I thumbed back.

Aunty El was in town for the day so I left a short note saying that I'd be at Becky's for the weekend...she didn't usually mind where I went

I rode my bike a short way down to Becky's house; which was just across the road and lent my bike up against their veranda.

The Bush's house was nice it was a white timber 5 bedroom house and it had a really nice red roof that looked very Australian.

Becky ran out to greet me and said something about a great idea for the weekend...

"Come straight to my room" Becky said enthusiastically

"Okay, what's this all about" I said laughing as I walked into their house.

.............

"Remember during school how you told me that you hadn't ridden a horse in like AGES!" Becky said as we both sat on her bed

"Yeah..." I said sceptically

"Well I thought that we, I mean me, teach you to ride one of our horses" she said happily with a massive grin on her face

"Then we can ride all summer" She added quickly her eyes lighting up with enthusiasm

"Okay, okay...but on one condition" I said slowly. Becky looking at me sceptically

"If I don't like it I get off straight away" I said as I looked her straight in the eye.

"Yeah, yeah sure" She said with a smug smile on her face.

"I mean it" I warned her

.......................................

"You'll be fine, He couldn't hurt a fly" Becky told me as I sat trembling atop her 16hh bay Thoroughbred X Cob gelding named Yowie his name meant 'place of echoes', he was cute but in my eyes he was huge

"Couldn't you find anything smaller?" I said as I looked dead at the ground

"Sally, he's like the quietest one of the lot" she said as she laughed

"C'mon relax a little...you're making him nervous" She said seriously

I gave him a slight nudge with my heel and he immediately started walking around the arena

Just don't look down I told myself

"You look great" Becky said faking seriousness as she stood there trying not to laugh

All of a sudden he was trotting and I was getting thrown about in the saddle; my hands bobbed up and down at a fast pace it must have looked ridiculous!

"H-how do you stop him?" I said as I was thrown about in the saddle

"Quieten down your arms" Becky told me quickly trying not to laugh

"How the heck do I do that?" I said as I held the rains up in the air

"Lower them, then shorten them...and don't hold them so tightly" I heard a voice outside the arena say to me with humor in his voice.

I tried to do as I was told, but my legs began to flap against the saddle like wings.

I swung my head around to see Tom standing at the arena fence laughing quietly to him self