Hadstock Manor, Thursday 6th April 1995

“Now Lady is sound again why don't we take her along to the show with Tiff?”

“Good idea!” said Joanna, “At least she won't spend the day having major hysterics because Tiffany isn't there.”

“Well, not just because of that, I was thinking that you could enter her into a class or two as well.”

“Oh Mum, I haven't done any of that sort of stuff for years, and anyway she's not allowed to do any show jumping.”

“I know, but I was thinking about showing classes. It doesn't have to be anything terribly competitive". Fiona thought now was the time to play her trump card, “She's such a stunner – looks and presence. I'm sure she'd love it.”

“Mmm, maybe your right … She did look glorious this afternoon ….”

“I'll get the schedule and we can see if there's anything suitable.”

In a couple of minutes they were pawing   over the list of unaffiliated classes where Joanna thought she would feel more comfortable, rather than vying for a place in an affiliated class to get to County or National levels. After eliminating the pony and ‘in hand' classes, the classes for Arabs, veterans, coloured horses and cobs and those for which she was either too young, too old or too tall, it appeared to be a choice between:

Ridden Horse – Mares or geldings ,   exceeding 14.2hh, 4yrs old or over, any breed/type, or -

Family Horse/Pony – Mares or geldings, any height or breed, suitable for any member of the family.

Fearing that her riding prowess might leave something to be desired, especially when she would be eaten up with nerves, Joanna was about to settle for going in for the Family Horse/Pony when her eye was caught by another class.

“Hang on, how about this one? The RRR (Rescued or Retrained Racehorse Society) Thoroughbred Show Horse Cup” she read aloud, “'This is a new class being run as a pilot this year open to Thoroughbred mares or geldings,15 hh or over, 4 yrs old or over, who may or may not have raced but who MUST be registered in the Weatherby's General Stud Book'. See below for details ….. yes , here we are.

‘We recognise that in some cases horses have been unable to race for a number of reasons. With this in mind, the class is open to Thoroughbreds that were bred to race but have started new careers as well as those who have raced at some time. There will also be a prize for the best placed horse over 10 years old.

Competitors must bring a photocopy of their horse's passport details which will be collected prior to the class. The horses will be judged as Riding Horses and must be shown plaited and ridden in a snaffle, pelham or double bridle. Horses will be ridden by the judge (Mr B Hobbs), riders 16 yrs or over.

The RRR   Society is hoping to find sponsors for this event so that in future years it can be run as a Championship with qualifiers held at venues across the country and culminating in a final held at the Hickstead Derby.'”

“Well that class seems to be made for her” said her mother “are you going to opt for that one? It will be fun going to a show together again.”

“Do you know I think it will. It will make a change from stressing out about ‘A' level studies at the weekend!”

*******

With only two days left before the Grangewood Show, Joanna thought she ought to make a start on getting Lady's coat into something like show condition and decided to give her an extra grooming session after tea. One good thing about having had her on box rest for ten days was that she had spent extra time on grooming. It had been a good way of keeping Lady company during the long hours of enforced inactivity.
She was surprised to find herself quite excited by the prospect of the forthcoming show because, as she had entered her teens, she had found her nerves had ruined her enjoyment of the competitions she had previously enjoyed. At first she had blamed other competitors for her self consciousness. She told herself that they were too stuck up, too ‘County'. When she had said as much to her mother as she announced that she wasn't going in for any more events she had been reminded that most of them were people she had been in the Pony Club or at school with.

“You'll always get one or two snobby people whatever you are doing, but most of the people involved with horses are just like you and me.” her mother had said.

Eventually she had to admit to herself that Fiona had been right and that it wasn't other people who were making horse shows a misery but her own nerves.   Now, she felt differently. Rather than being anxious about what other people might think of her she was far more interested in the how Lady would cope with the new experience. Of course she would like her to win a rosette: she even found herself imagining being presented with the winning trophy – who wouldn't like to have helped their best friend to do well? But in her heart of hearts she knew that she would be able to enjoy the day, irrespective of where they finished in the final line up.

‘I must be getting quite confident in my old age' she thought to herself, then chuckled as she wondered if she would feel quite so blasé on the day!

“Ouch, that hurt! Do you have to be quite so grumpy?” she asked when a disgruntled Lady swished her tail in irritation, stinging her cheek as she bent to brush the mare's hind leg. As if in reply Lady stretched out her neck, ears back, bit the air with a resounding snap of her teeth and gave another irate lash of her tail.

“Oh, very fierce!”   Joanna straightened up, drawing the body brush across the metal curry comb   to remove the dust and hair from the bristles. She had become well used to the theatrical but harmless face pulling at grooming time.

“Move over,” she added   “ not that way …. that's my TOES!” she wailed, leaning against Lady's shoulder to get her lift the foot that was planted on her own. “You did that on purpose!” she said as Lady obliged with an air of innocence.

A giggle rang through the still evening air of the stables and Joanna froze, afraid to turn around and find that there was no one there as she had done several times in the past week or so. It had started the first day after Lady's fall. That time she had heard a girl crying and she had heard it several more times since. On other occasions   when Tiffany and Sam were out she had been aware of the sound of horses shifting their weight from one foot to another, pulling at their hay or snorting softly. At times she could smell burning quite strongly and at others not at all. Sometimes she began to believe that the stables were haunted and sometimes she feared for her sanity. She had been half serious at tea time when she had spoken about being stressed out. Her latest theory about the things that were happening was that she had become obsessed by the story of the fire in this stable and was having delusions brought on by anxiety about her exams.

She had heard of people her age who hadn't been able to cope with the pressure and had ended up with depression or even a nervous breakdown as a result. GCSEs had been bad enough, she had got terribly wound up when she was studying for those, but despite some tearful times and some shockingly bad moods, she had passed with respectable grades. What made taking her ‘A' levels so much more stressful was that she felt that so much depended on passing them – it was an essential requirement for a place on the Instructor's Course and that was a must if she was to help expand the teaching part of the business at Hadstock Manor Stables. She would have to be properly qualified if they were to get a loan to build an indoor school.

Another giggle, and Lady tuned her head to catch a glimpse of her young friend, often so sad, but now laughing at her display of mock temper. Tiring of waiting for Joanna to untie her, she tugged expertly at the end of the rope that tethered her in a quick release knot to a metal ring mounted on the wall, pulled free and walked past her mistress to look out over the door of her box.

“Hello, you clever old thing, Copper could do that too!”