Popcorn the Golden Pony

POPCORN

GOLDEN PONY THE

Janet Rising

First published in Great Britain by DJ Murphy Publishers Ltd in 2022

DJ Murphy (Publishers) Ltd

Olive Studio

Grange Road

Farnham

Surrey

GU10 2DQ

www.djmurphy.co.uk

Text copyright © DJ Murphy Publishers Ltd 2022

All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written authority from DJ Murphy (Publishers) Ltd.

Popcorn the Golden Pony is a fictional story based on the life of Harlow Luna White. The characters in this book are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

ISBN 978-1-913787-13-4

Written

Edited

by Janet Rising

by

Nicky Moffatt

Designed by Sarah Garland

Photography by Chelsea White and Seth Zworestine

Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, Elcograf S.p.A.

For Nanny and Grandad

Thank you for your endless love and support.

The Harlow-and-Teddy show

‘Okay, Mum,’ called Harlow, as her mother looked through the viewfinder and flicked the switch that started the video camera. ‘Are you ready?’

‘Yes, it’s running,’ said her mum, who was looking forward to seeing what her daughter was going to say. When Harlow had said she wanted to make a video about grooming a pony, they both knew she had the perfect pony with which to demonstrate. Teddy was a tiny Shetland, with a snowy-white coat and an endearing tendency to close his eyes and doze whenever Harlow tied him up on the yard and brushed his coat until it shone like silver.

Although he didn’t belong to Harlow, Teddy’s owner had told Harlow’s mum, Chelsea, that they were welcome to visit to ride and care for him whenever they liked. Although Chelsea and Harlow didn’t have much time to devote to the Shetland pony, whenever they did go to the yard five-year-old Harlow, who was already pony-mad, always insisted that Teddy was ‘her’ pony.

And it was with ‘her’ pony that Harlow had decided to show other horse-mad young girls and boys how to groom via a video that they could upload to YouTube.

What Chelsea didn’t know was that her daughter had done her research. She had read her PONY Magazines and watched videos on YouTube, absorbing all the information she could about grooming ponies. Harlow was fully prepared for her vlogging debut, confident she had something to offer.

With the video camera running, and Harlow standing in front of Teddy, she took a deep breath and addressed her audience:

‘Hey guys!’ she began, confidently, ‘I’m going to show you how to groom your pony. But,’ she continued, already aware of the rules of health and safety, and keen to make sure her viewers were, too, ‘the first thing you need to know about horses is if you stand behind their bottom they will kick. Never, ever put your fingers in their mouth – they will bite you. Never, ever lie under them, they will step on you. But let’s just get on with the grooming.’

Chelsea was impressed by how much her daughter had listened to her advice about staying safe around ponies. But she didn’t have time to dwell on that as Harlow was already describing all the grooming brushes and equipment in Teddy’s grooming box, and

explaining to her future audience what each one was for. Harlow’s voice came across loud and clear, she explained everything in simple terms and made sure that she didn’t talk too fast. As a grooming tutorial, it seemed to her surprised mum that Harlow had all bases covered. Chelsea noted that her daughter seemed a natural in front of the camera, with no sign of any nerves.

As she progressed with brushing the pony Harlow explained about talking to Teddy so he knew she was there, so that he wouldn’t be startled and be tempted to kick out in surprise. After picking out his hooves Harlow went on to plait Teddy’s mane, which made him look quite glamorous, and another plait in his forelock kept it out of his eyes. She finished her tutorial by applying a coat of gold glitter oil to Teddy’s hooves. Finally, Harlow untied Teddy and summed up her efforts in the way she had seen other, older and more experienced girls do in their videos: ‘This is the final look,’ she said, ‘and I’m really happy how it has turned out. He looks so pretty, and he looks so cute, don’t you, Teddy?’

‘Finished?’ asked Chelsea.

Harlow nodded. ‘Yes, and I think Teddy was very well behaved. Are you impressed by how he looks, Mum?’

Chelsea was – but she was even more impressed by

her young daughter and how professional her video had been presented. She had expected Harlow to stumble her way through her tutorial and thought she might have been stuck for words, or keep saying erm, and repeating herself, but she hadn’t. It was as though Harlow had been practising for weeks – but as far as her mum knew, this was her very first time talking to camera. It was, Chelsea thought, quite impressive for a five-year-old!

‘Shall we put the video up on YouTube, Mum?’ asked Harlow.

‘I think we could do that,’ her mum replied. ‘But first, I think Teddy would like to go back out in the field. Do you want to take his plaits out?’

While Harlow pulled off Teddy’s plait bands and ran a comb through his hair to take out the kinks the plaits had left in his mane, Chelsea looked back through the video. Yes, she thought, they would post it up on the internet, it was as good as some other videos she and Harlow had viewed. It wasn’t polished and professional but it was cute, and Harlow could be heard clearly –and Teddy had real appeal. Who wouldn’t love to see a video of a cute, grey Shetland with a newly-plaited mane and gold-painted hooves?

When they got home, Chelsea uploaded the video to YouTube, and after Harlow had viewed it a few times

the novelty of seeing herself on screen wore off, the views topped out at a couple of hundred, life took over and they both got back to the familiar routine of school (for Harlow) and work as a photographer (Chelsea). Gradually, Harlow’s video all about grooming a pony faded to the back of their minds.