Ride a Bright Horse Abroad

By Jennifer Dovey

Introducing the sequel to Ride A Bright Horse.  
Ride A Bright Horse Abroad stars a girl called Jenny and her mischievous, adorable horse, Daisy.
Jenny and Daisy have settled happily into their new life and their daily routine, exploring the countryside around them as together, they master new skills. 
Jenny has become accustomed to occasional mischievous behaviour from Daisy and is usually amused by it, but once in a while it can take her by surprise! 
Nevertheless, she greatly enjoys their shared escapades and they have a lot of fun together. They make good progress while developing their partnership, as their adventures introduce them to new animals, new people and new situations. 
However to Jenny’s surprise, before long the path through their cosy, settled life, unexpectedly leads them in a different direction. Ultimately Jenny has to decide, can she triumph over her biggest challenge yet, and can they together, begin a new life...in a new country?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd
• Release date: Feb 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9781800469112

Jennifer Dovey

Jennifer Dovey was raised in a sleepy village in Wiltshire. She has now retired and lives on a hilltop in deeply rural South West France with her husband. Her love of the countryside and fond memories of the irresistible charm of her mischievous horse Daisy have inspired her first novel.

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Copyright © 2021 Jennifer Dovey

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries

concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

This novel is a work of fiction inspired by the author’s memories of the actions and character of her own horse and the experiences which they shared. The people and places within the story are either from the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to any real person, either living or dead, or to any actual event is purely coincidental.

Matador

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ISBN 9781800469112

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Matador® is an imprint of Troubador Publishing Ltd

for

DAISY

Such a uniquely clever horse, a great teacher. I’ve known many horses in my lifetime and in my work, but I never met another horse as Bright as Daisy!

Lindsay Cotterell DAEP

Contents

Preface

1.The Fallen Tree

2.The Iron Bridge

3.Walking In Hand To The Village

4.The Foal At The Gate

5.A Ride With An Apache

6.The Ice Cream Van

7.Out On The Gallops

8.The Cross-Country Cycle Race

9.Meeting The Racehorses

10.The Photo Shoot

11.Samantha Has A Problem

12.The Roar Of The Crowd

13.France Here We Come

14.A Lazy Weekend

15.The First Ride In France

16.From Bad To Worse

17.Scooter

18.Supper With Heathcliff

19.The Heatwave

20.An Invitation

21.A Weekend With Heathcliff

22.Daisy Makes A Point

23.Heathcliff Has Some News

24.Challenging Weather

25.A Winter Wonderland

26.Christmas

27.A New Start

28.Moving On

29.A Bright And Beautiful Day

30.Looking Back

Glossary

Acknowledgements

I am sincerely grateful to my wonderful husband Trevor for his lovely illustrations, support, encouragement and enthusiasm.

Preface

Following the success of my first novel, Ride A Bright Horse, readers wanted to know more about the star of the book, Daisy, on whom the story was based.

Did she actually do all the things which were mentioned in the first novel? Yes, she did.

Did she ever get over her fear of pigs? No, most definitely not!

And the question asked most often – what happened next?

Someone also asked me whether my account of my unconventional way of learning to ride and my tolerance of Daisy’s mischief were intended to suggest to readers that they should dispense with formal riding lessons, take risks, or allow their horses to take charge. Certainly not; I advocate nothing of the sort. Initially, I had formal riding lessons myself and thoroughly enjoyed them.

However, my exceptional nervousness while learning to ride was very difficult to overcome, and for me, conventional lessons were not the answer. I have often thought that without the help of Daisy, my very Bright Horse, I may never have learned at all. We all learn in different ways and perhaps the most important thing is to find the right person to help and advise, in a way which suits us best, whatever it is that we want to achieve in life.

It is not always possible to approve of all the personality traits and behaviours of those you love, be they four- or two-legged. What you can do, though, is find an acceptable way to learn to live with them.

Writing the first novel was great fun and I thoroughly enjoyed remembering some of the mischief which Daisy got up to and weaving it into my story. So I am delighted to introduce Ride A Bright Horse Abroad. It follows both the escapades, and the progress, of Jenny and Daisy, as they continue to develop their partnership through the ups and downs of, not just the beautiful English countryside, but life itself.

This, for those who were wondering, is what happened next…

Throughout this book ** refers to an incident

in the first book about Daisy and Jenny.

Ride A Bright Horse

Published in 2020 by Troubador Publishing Ltd

Chapter One

The Fallen Tree

What do you think, Daisy, is the ground soft enough for a nice canter today? Jenny asked her.

Jenny gave Daisy a nudge with her right foot and steered her off the lane and up the bank onto the wide grass margin which lay between the young crop of oilseed rape and the hedge. There had been no rain for a month, which was unusual for March, and the ground was very dry. Jenny knew that Daisy was as desperate to stretch her limbs in a nice long canter as she herself was; it seemed ages since they had both felt the breeze in their faces for 800 metres or so. This margin was absolutely perfect as the grass was very thick, even when it was dry. They always had to be mindful of ground-nesting birds though and occasionally, a hare would jump up and surprise them too, but Daisy was pretty steady at such times and would merely dance quickly to one side to avoid the obstacle before dancing back just as quickly to get back on course.

This field was over an hour away from their normal hacking territory but today was Jenny’s day off and she tried to vary their rides as much as possible to keep things interesting for Daisy. During the ride Jenny had chosen for today, they would cross the river, go through the woods and also have some useful practice at riding on the road.

Jenny had written to the farmer who owned this particular field to ask for permission to canter on it occasionally. He had responded positively and very quickly, delighted that she had taken the trouble to ask for his permission, which so many other riders and dog-walkers didn’t do. The last thing Jenny wanted was either to trespass or upset the local people, and she was always careful to ride only on permissible tracks.

They set off at a steady trot and Jenny gently encouraged Daisy into canter, which she commenced with a lively bounce and a buck, throwing her bottom into the air and kicking her legs out high behind her before powering off up the field. Jenny laughed out loud. There was a time when good manners were incredibly important but long hacks on days off were for relaxation, not education. Daisy had no malice in her and the occasional display of high spirits was, in Jenny’s opinion, quite acceptable. Daisy would have to concentrate when they returned to the main road later in the ride but for now, it was time for some fun.

Their relationship had never been one of mistress and servant; they were, and had always been, good friends. The responsibility for controlling what was happening while they were out passed between them seamlessly, depending upon the situation, and Jenny often relied upon Daisy’s good sense and experience and was grateful for it.

A non-riding friend, when hearing an anecdote about mischief out on the hills, had once said to Jenny, But – doesn’t your horse do as it’s told? and to make a point, Jenny had replied,

"No, but she frequently does as she’s asked."

Jenny had first met Daisy at a riding school, learned to ride upon her, fallen in love with her and eventually, after a few ups and downs and some heartache and tears, they found themselves living side by side on her friend Tina’s farm**. Jenny was now working as the manager of Tina’s expanding livery yard and Daisy was resident-in-chief, escort, babysitter for troubled newcomers and generally speaking, boss of the yard. Certainly where the horses were concerned, although her ability to charm and manipulate humans for her own benefit was well known too and frequently commented upon by her ‘victims’.

The ground stretched away in front of them and Jenny found herself involuntarily smiling broadly, with the pleasure of the wonderful feeling of total freedom and complete happiness that a long bouncy canter on soft green turf evoked.

Daisy showed no signs of wanting to slow her pace as they drew level with a large beech tree, which was roughly three-quarters of the way along the field and Jenny gently scratched the side of Daisy’s neck with three fingers and said to her, I hope you’re going to stop, young lady!

She need not have worried; Daisy checked her stride and changed legs without being asked to as they rode past the beech tree, and Jenny knew that her friend was satisfied, and happy to slow down and stop.

There was a large gap in the hedge in the corner of the field, wide enough for a farm vehicle to enter. It led directly onto the lane and as they dropped their pace to trot and then to walk and they were almost at the hedge in front of them, Jenny noticed that there was a large deer approaching them in the field on the other side of the hedge. Jenny knew that it would jump up and possibly come over the hedge as well!

She halted Daisy and with her bottom still off the saddle, she leaned forward over Daisy’s shoulder to give her a pat and warn her in case she was startled by the sudden movement directly in front of her. Jenny had just begun to say, Look Daisy, look at the hedge, we’re going to see a deer in a minute, he— when suddenly the deer jumped up at exactly the same time as a motorbike went past the gap in the hedge and backfired as it did so!

Whether Daisy was startled by the motorbike, or thought that the deer had made the sudden noise, Jenny didn’t know, but Daisy reacted by suddenly spinning 180 degrees and cantered rapidly back up the field the way they had come. As she spun, Jenny slid off and landed on the ground and Daisy, surprised by the sudden obstacle in her path, jumped over Jenny and kicked Jenny’s thumb as she did so.

Daisy! Jenny bellowed after Daisy’s disappearing bottom and thick white tail. Come here!

And to her delight, Daisy stopped in an instant, spun another 180 degrees and just as rapidly, cantered back to where Jenny was still sitting on the ground, and stopped.

Clever girl! exclaimed Jenny as she got up and brushed herself off, giggling. Gosh, Daisy, it’s like the Wild West out here today, I can see you would make an excellent horse for a cowboy. I can’t believe I actually fell off while you were standing still!

Daisy stood patiently, her eyes fixed firmly on the hedge in front of her, taking no chances.

Jenny was still chuckling as she placed her toe in the stirrup and nimbly hopped back on again, giving Daisy a good rub and a pat once she had done so.

They made their way out on to the lane and on down the steep hill. There was a shortcut to their right, a narrow bare-earth track, just wide enough for a horse at this time of year, before the cow parsley and other wild plants really became thick and luscious along its edges. Jenny preferred to come up it rather than go down it as there were a number of large tree roots across it in several places and Jenny was always worried that Daisy would either slip or trip on her way down. Today, however, Daisy was in a very mellow mood, it was not windy and she had just let off a bit of steam with a nice long canter, so Jenny decided they would try it.

The track descended sharply and they had to make their way very carefully until it levelled out at the bottom again before joining a busy main road. Jenny was not at all worried about Daisy coping with a main road as they had negotiated them many times. From the very first occasion, if Daisy was at all fazed by the traffic coming up behind her, she would step slightly to the left as near to the edge of the road as she could and stop and stand still. As soon as the vehicle which was bothering her, be it a petrol tanker or perhaps a coach or a large lorry, had overtaken them, Jenny would look behind them to make sure the road was clear and nudge Daisy to step to the right and back on course again. This little routine had been Daisy’s idea from the outset and Jenny didn’t know whether it was something which Daisy had been trained to do or not, but it seemed very practical and her action had the advantage of encouraging the vehicles behind them to overtake.

Jenny and Daisy were well known all over the area; Daisy, distinctive with her piebald markings and abundant thick white tail and Jenny, who was petite but who always dressed in black apart from a luminous pink band around her riding hat. Adrian, Tina’s husband who owned the farm where Jenny and Daisy lived, had once met one of the locals in the pub and had been pleased to pass on to Jenny the gentleman’s compliments on their impressive little road drill, which he had watched earlier that day.

It was late morning and the clouds had evaporated, leaving a clear blue sky. In spite of the little breeze, it was really quite warm in the sunshine and Jenny felt that it was too soon for them to go home, especially as it was her day off. What better way to spend it, she thought to herself, than to be out in this sweet, fresh air enjoying the countryside with my best friend.

She halted Daisy and thought for a moment. They were about to turn right off the main road to cross the river bridge and make their way up the hill again and through the woods. The farm would be in sight once they were at the top of the hill. However, if they crossed the main road, turned right and headed east, they would skirt the base of another very large hill. From there they could ride through a very pretty natural avenue, which Jenny rarely visited but which was another of her favourite places. Meadow Lane, it was called, and it had probably been a farm track several hundred years ago. It was now a narrow avenue between two large arable fields and the hedging and trees, which had once contained the fields but had been allowed to grow wild, had grown upwards and inwards and provided the little lane with a natural leafy roof. The ground beneath would be covered in fragrant wild flowers later on in the spring; in high summer it was a cool and leafy dappled shelter, a respite from the hot summer sun.

Jenny made up her mind to stay out for longer and after crossing the main road, turned right and headed for Meadow Lane.

The lane was not yet in leaf but there was already the reddish tint of buds along the hedgerows. The ground inside the tunnel was overgrown and thick with long grass and dead flower heads from the previous autumn. Here and there, a young sapling had fallen and twigs and branches littered the floor, evidence of damage from the very high winds they had experienced during the previous November.

Nevertheless, Jenny was glad that they had come and she stopped to watch a robin which came to join them. It sat upon a low branch, trilling merrily as they passed, clearly not seeing them as any kind of threat to its territory. Near to the end of the lane one of the bigger trees on their left had fallen awkwardly right across their path. It leaned precariously upon the hedge on the opposite side, its branches forming a low arch.

Jenny halted Daisy and they both looked at the arch. It was certainly very low, but Jenny knew that Daisy would not walk underneath it if she could not safely do so. It seemed such a shame to retrace their steps and head back towards the yard through the woods, and there would be a most spectacular view once they had left this lane and climbed to the top of the hill. It was such a clear, fine day and they had not been up there for ages, so Jenny decided to give it a try. She leaned over to Daisy’s right side, keeping herself just below Daisy’s wither. Jenny’s coat was not too bulky and she was quite slim; if she stayed at this height, they could pass underneath the arch without the need for her to dismount.

Quietly, Daisy, nice and slow, girly, Jenny said softly as Daisy approached the arch cautiously. They had walked underneath it and were actually at the other side when suddenly, Jenny felt something hit the underneath of the peak of her riding hat and she was pulled up and backwards. She was too slow to react and halt Daisy, who continued to walk on, oblivious to what was happening above her!

Jenny felt as if her head was being pulled off. The back of her head touched something – she thought it was actually the back of her coat – and simultaneously whatever was pulling at her hat gave way and she catapulted upright again into her normal sitting position. Searing pain ran up her spine and into her head; everything went black and she could neither see nor hear. Instinctively, she pulled Daisy’s rein back towards her and she felt Daisy halt. Jenny sat quite still, too frightened to move, unable to see; she felt dizzy and tried to concentrate on breathing steadily and keeping calm. The pain was so intense that tears rolled down her face.

Stand, Daisy, stand still, she said in a wobbly little voice. The blackness in front of her eyes gradually began to be mingled with the dazzle of white flashing lights. She had no idea how long she had sat there but she knew that it was imperative that she let someone