Ponigirl writes:
In the picture
it looks like the horse is saying, "What's that? Is it edible?"
Pam Crandal writes:
Meredith tells
her horse, "You silly, I'm learning to drive…."
NB Elementary writes:
"You'll hurt
my feelings. Why are you riding that funny little machine instead
of me?" whinnies Squirrel.
Pam Crandal writes:
Meredith laughs.
Then she says, "You are too big for me, Squirrel. I want a
pony. Then I would ride with the Pony Pals, and...."
Summer F. writes:
"I'm not
too big!" neighs Squirrel. "I'm just the right size!"
Lulu Sanders writes:
Meredith thought
Squirrel was funny. She looked very serious. Really she was trying
not to laugh. Then she said, "Some little ponies want to be
big horses. You're lucky to be so big. "
Summer F. writes:
"I am not
too big!" yelled Squirrel. "See, I can lay down and you
can just hop on!"
Anna Harley writes:
Squirrel sniffed
the ground with his nose. He pawed the dirt and bent his front legs.
Then he bent his back legs. Whump. He was on the ground. "Its
nice down here," Squirrel thought. "While I'm down here
I'll ...."
Isabelle M. writes:
"... just
eat some of this clover. Hey when are you getting on?????!"
Anna Harley writes:
Meredith looked at Squirrel decided maybe jumping on without
a saddle or bridle could mean problems.
Isabelle M. writes:
"Ok Squirrel
I will go home and see if I can find someone to ride you."
Anna Harley writes:
Meredith drove off to the barn. When she got there she
was really surprised because she found...
Summer F. writes:
...A girl sitting
in a stool. She had dark blonde hair, and was petting a dapple gray
pony with a black mane and tail. "Who are you?" Meredith
asked.
Lulu Sanders writes:
She quiet and seemed to be thinking, but....
Summer F. continues:
The girl didn't
stop petting the pony. "Wait a minute," said Meredith
to herself, "she isn't petting, she is writing a note."
When
the girl was done, she clipped on her helmet, and tacked up
her pony. "He ya!" shouted the girl. The gray pony galloped.
Meredith saw when the girl was away from the light, her hair was
brown. When she was in the light, her hair was very dark blond.
When the girl and the pony left, Meredith read the note.
It said;
DEAR ALL
PONY PALS: Pongo, the Appaloosa foal is missing. He's in the Darkwood
Forest, (I found tracks). If you want to help, grab a pony and
go. P.S. Sorry if I'm scared about Darkwood Forest; I had
nightmares about it. SUMMER
Meredith
was scared. "I have to help," she said.
She
ran to find Squirrel. He was hiding behind a bush. "Squirrel!
shouted Meredith.
Squirrel
came out from hiding. "A foal has gone missing," Meredith
said, we have to help them find it."
Meredith
tacked up Squirrel.
"But,
I thought I was too big for you," said Squirrel. "Your
size isn't what matters," said Meredith, "the foal is
what matters now."
Meredith
swung herself on the saddle and chipped her helmet on. "Hy-ho,
Squirrel! Away"
With
an angry blow, Squirrel galloped. "To Darkwood Forest!"
Squirrel slowed to a canter, then back to a gallop. No matter how
scared they were, they had to help the girl find the foal. "This
could be he greatest adventure in all of Pony Pals History,"
Meredith said to herself, "We could be heroes. Just wait
till the Pony Pals read this!"
Ginny
S. writes:
Meredith
and Squirrel rode carefully through Darkwood Forest so that they
could hear any sounds that would help them find Pongo. Meredith
had tracked deer with her father so she knew the signs to look for,
that would tell her if an animal had come this way.
Rider and trusted pony moved slowly along the leaf-covered trail.
When he came to a tree that had fallen across the trail, Squirrel
refused to go any further.
Photo by Jeanne Betancourt
In
this strange situation, Meredith thought about what her parents
had said about horse behavior: "Mer-Mer, your pony has a special
sense that tells it when something is wrong. Trust your pony when
it stops and find out why it won't listen when you tell it to go
on." Using caution, Mer-Mer slid off of Squirrel and approached
the ground that was hidden under the fallen tree. Something was
trapped...
Summer
F. writes:
Meredith
looked at the fallen tree. She was about to, till a sound if hoof
beats made Meredith look up.
She
saw two girls on ponyback. One was the girl she saw in the barn
riding her dapple gray pony, the other was a blond haired girl on
a Piebald pony. Meredith rode to them. The girl slowed their ponies
to stop.
"Are you Summer?" Meredith asked to dark haired girl.
The girl looked at her in surprise.
"yes," she said, "yes I'm Summer."
"And my name is Sunshine," said the blond girl, "and
my pony is Piddles."
More
girls came on ponyback. One was a dark skinned girl with short,
curly, black hair. Her pony was a sleek chestnut with a upside-down
heart for a star.
Another
was a pale skinned girl with thick, blond, wavy hair. Her pony was
a dark colored, cute looking, dun Shetland pony.
The
last girl was a pale skin colored girl with short, smooth, black
hair. Her pony was a pure white one.
"We're here," said the white pony's rider.
"Are you the Pony Pals?!" Meredith asked is amazement.
"Yes," said the dark skinned girl, "I'm Pam, this
is Anna, and Lulu."
"And our ponies are Lightning, Acorn, and Snow White,"
said Lulu.
"Wow!" said Meredith in amazement, "may I have you
autograph?"
"I promise we'll give you our autograph when we find Pongo,"
said Anna. Meredith put the paper in her saddlebag. Meredith looked
under the tree. Nothing. So the gang galloped on.
"Meredith!"Summer
shouted, "look out!" Meredith halted Squirrel just in
time before his hoof sunk into a puddle of quick-sand.
"That
was close!" he said.
"Tell
me about it!" said Hugo. He tossed his flowing black mane.
"Let's keep looking," said Pam.
"Let's go!" said all the ponies at the same time. As the
gang of girls and ponies went deeper into the forest, a screeching
sound came from the canopy. Lightning gulped.
"I don't like the sounds of this," said Snow White.
Suddenly,
frightened whinnying came from deeper in the forest. The sound frightened
everybody.
Hugo
reared and neighed loudly. Piddles pranced in place. Squirrel jogged
in circles. Lightning tried to run away. Acorn tried to buck Anna
off. Snow White blew her nostrils.
"Wait!" said Lightning. She pricked up her ears. "I'd
know that cry anywhere!'
"Pongo!" everybody said at once. They galloped farther.
The sound was so loud, the girls felt like they were deaf.
"Look!" said Sunshine, pointing her finger to a Appaloosa
foal. "It's Pongo!"
Yes
it was Pongo, but he was stuck in a big puddle of quick-sand. The
girls dismounted. They had to think of something, and fast!
Kayla writes a note to the rescue party:
Take a bunch
of Wooden Boards and put then on top of the quicksand.
Walk
slowly and carefully across to Pongo.
Then
take shovels and carefully remove the quicksand away from Pongo's
legs and hoofs.
Then
you take Pongo's halter and put it on him. Then you take Pongo's
lead rope and clip it to Pongo's halter and tie some rope to the
lead rope and you and the pony's pull until Pongo is free.
Then you can walk back on the boards and walk home. Then you can
wash and groom Pongo and feed and water him.
Pam Crandal writes:
Sunshine looked at Kayla's suggestion.
"That
might work but we are in the middle of the woods and Pongo is sinking
now! Does anybody else have a Pony Pal Plan?" she yelled.
Bobby writes:
Pongo is so afraid and
so tired and he can’t pick up his legs.
The Pony Pals, Summer and Meredith start to make a plan. Pam has
a spare halter and a long lead rope in her saddlebag.
If they could only put that halter on Pongo, they could lead him
and help him pull free of the quicksand.
Summer got off her pony and poked down into the quicksand with a
stick. It was not really deep where she could reach.
The Pony Pals decide to try and get to Pongo by tying lead ropes
on to their waists. The third Pony Pal can wrap a rope around her
saddle tie down.
A
pony is much heavier than a foal. If the Pony Pal backs up her pony
after the halter is on, it can pull both everyone out all at once.
Pam is the tallest girl there, so she...
