The Auditions

The Auditions
Stacy Gregg

Competition is fierce at the All-Stars Academy – can the new girl outshine her rivals?The Blainford ‘All-Stars’ Academy is the most elite horse riding school ever and it’s auditions time for next year’s new students!The hopefuls must battle for a place against the most talented riders from around the world. Friendships are quickly made, but with rivalries hotting up inside AND outside the arena, who will stay focused and outshine the competition?With all the glitz and glamour of international eventing and the daily dramas of high school life, ‘Pony Club Rivals’ is a sure-fire hit!

PONYCLUB

RIVALS

The Auditions

STACY GREGG

Copyright (#ulink_cab777e0-a543-5695-8e64-8dc5b62698d0)

HarperCollins Children’s Books A division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/)

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2010

Text copyright © Stacy Gregg 2010

Stacy Gregg asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of the work.

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

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks

HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content or written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication

Source ISBN: 9780007333431

Ebook edition © OCTOBER 2010 ISBN: 9780007351985 Version: 2018-11-08

Contents

Title Page (#ufaf490e3-1df1-546e-9f97-43fe9fac59df)

Copyright (#u00ac872e-6487-5aff-afa8-a997e0e88c61)

Chapter One (#u118207a3-f838-5eef-8040-7d32c80d36ce)

Chapter Two (#u93cabe95-1dc1-565c-bf10-39de8f9d3aab)

Chapter Three (#ufaf1f5c5-45a5-577b-a58a-5479d491881d)

Chapter Four (#u9e0802a3-dc5a-5968-a929-a0ed5978a5cf)

Chapter Five (#u6e9ea612-7e08-5e39-a914-e34b0bae539d)

Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)

Keep Reading (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

Also by Stacy Gregg (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter One (#ulink_9b7a8a3f-7f37-58a9-84d6-8c08895b6ecd)

The black gelding snorted and fretted, moving anxiously from side to side in the start box. Holding him back, the girl tightened her grip on the reins as she waited for the steward to check his clipboard.

“Number forty-two… forty-two … let me see …” the steward ran his eyes down the list, “forty-two … here you are! Georgina Parker, yes?” He cast a glance at the pony dancing and crab-stepping. “And this must be Tyro.”

As the steward said his name, the black pony went straight up on his hind legs in a half-rear and then lunged forward, trying to bolt. The sudden movement threw his rider back in the saddle, but she regained her seat with lightning speed. Before the pony could getaway, she had pulled hard to the left, turning him in a tight circle so that he was back in the same position as moments before, in the start box facing out over the hill that led down to the first jump of the cross-country course.

“Nearly lost you!” the steward joked. “You don’t want to fall off before you even get started, do you?”

“Falling off is most definitely not part of the plan,” Georgie agreed. She was trying to stay calm, but as the steward fussed over his clipboard she could feel the adrenalin surging through her. She was ready to go and so was Tyro. Hurry up, she thought, I can’t keep holding him! My arms already feel as feeble as worn-out knicker elastic from hanging on so long!

The steward seemed to understand her silent plea. “Right then, bring him up to the start line,” he told her. “Are you ready? On your marks … and … three … two… one… GO!”

Tyro broke from the start box and this time Georgie didn’t try to hold him back. She stood up in her stirrups like a jockey and put her reins in her left hand, freeing up her right hand to press the button on her stopwatch.

She was battling the clock today. She had to make it round the course with a clear round and no time faults if she wanted to retain her first place ranking.