Angel and the Flying Stallions
The tenth exciting adventure in the ‘Pony Club Secrets’ series sees Issie travel back to Spain to reclaim her beloved colt, Storm… and learn to ride haute ecole on flying stallion, Angel!Issie returns to El Caballo Danza Magnifico, this time determined to bring her colt Storm back home. But first she must master haut ecole moves on stallion Angel to prove herself to the best riders in Spain.Meanwhile, devious Miguel Vega is involved when mares go missing. And is love in the air at the El Caballo stables?
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Pony Club Secrets (10)
Angel and the Flying Stallions
Stacy Gregg
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Childrenâs Books in 2010 HarperCollins Childrenâs Books is a division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd, 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
Text copyright © Stacy Gregg 2010 Illustrations © Fiona Land 2009
Stacy Gregg asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of the work.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book 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.
EPub Edition © MAY 2010 ISBN: 978-0-007-37483-0
Version: 2015-10-07
This book is dedicated to my super agent Nancy Miles and to her gorgeous horses Beamish and Apache
Contents
It was after midnight in the stables of El Caballo Danza Magnifico, but the bay stallion was wide awake. He paced restlessly in his loose box, his noble head held high as he caught the scent on the night air, nostrils flared and muzzle quivering.
He was not like the other stallions here in Southern Spain. The Lipizzaners and Andalusians in these stables boasted famous bloodlines that could be traced back for centuries. Valuable beyond measure, each of the stallions had been schooled in the ways of classical dressage, trained to perform the elaborate manoeuvres of the haute école.
The bay stallion was leaner and more streamlined than the stocky Spanish purebreds in the stalls around him. His Andalusian blood had been mixed with Arabian and Thoroughbred, which imbued him with a rare speed and stamina that the heavy-set purebreds could never possess.
His name was Storm, and when he had first arrived at El Caballo he had been no more than a leggy and headstrong young colt. Since then he had grown strong, grazing with the herd on the upper pastures in the shadow of the mountains of the Sierra de Grazalema. The colt had become a stallion, and at sixteen-three hands high he was even taller than his sire, the great grey stallion Marius, who was currently asleep in his loose box just a few doors along.
In the still of the night, Storm could hear the sound of hoofbeats approaching at a gallop. He raised his elegant head into the air and let loose a whinny. His sharp call was a warning cry to the herd of mares grazing the pastures outside the walls of the compound. Danger was coming.
The mares heard the bay stallionâs clarion call and a moment later they too heard the thunder of hooves drawing closer.
The herd was gripped with panic and the mares and their foals began to scatter in every direction. One of the mares, Margarita, a pale grey beauty with coal-black eyes, immediately took charge of the situation. She was the alpha mare â the leader of the herd â and the others would follow her command. She acted quickly, nipping and kicking at the mares to make them do her bidding, rounding them up to move away from the approaching threat. Many of the mares had young foals at foot slowing them down, but Margarita urged them to be quick, attacking stragglers with squeals and bites, keeping the group tight so that no foal or mare would be left behind. Within seconds they were grouped together, ready to run â but where to? The gates to the hacienda had been closed for the evening so they could not come in to the safety of the courtyard.
The mares began to circle helplessly, driven into a frenzy, as Margarita fought to keep the herd together. If any foal or mare broke away now and left the safety of the herd they would be in even greater danger!
Inside the stables, Storm sensed that the galloping horses were very near now, but he could do nothing to help the mares. In desperation, he rose up on his hind legs and brought his front hooves crashing down hard on the door of his stall. But the doors were made of solid oak, built to withstand a thousand strikes, and his hooves barely scratched their surface. Frustrated and helpless, the bay stallion held his head high and whinnied again. This time the piercing urgency in his cry carried through the night and reached not only the mares, but the sleeping occupants of the hacienda.
Inside the house, lights flickered on. There were shouts of confusion and a moment later three figures came out on to the front step â Roberto Nunez, the owner of El Caballo Danza Magnifico, his son Alfonso, and his head dressage trainer Francoise Dâarth. All three were still in their pyjamas and they hurriedly pulled on riding boots and raced down the steps into the cobbled courtyard.
