Book 3: Chapter 3 - Horse Riding with Hibiscus

Ellie and Flippy let out a squeal of excitement and Ronnie asked them what was going on. "We're going horse riding!" they exclaimed and Ronnie jumped up and down. "Oh, I can hardly wait!" he said and then Tumbarumba came over and broke the news to him. "It's only Flippy, Dovic, Ellie and me," he said quietly, "I'm sorry Ronnie. You're not coming this time." Ronnie held back the tears and looked on enviously, wondering why Tumba and Dovic got to go horse riding again when he had never had a turn. He stomped around the house and groaned loudly but no one paid any attention to him. He did a somersault off the couch and landed on Milly, the black Labrador but she just sighed and continued sleeping.

Finally, The Old Wise One came over to Ronnie and asked him why he was acting in that way. When Ronnie started complaining, TOWO listened without interrupting. When Ronnie finally stopped speaking, he took a deep breath and looked around the room. He saw Flippy, Lulu and Ellie working on a new dance routine, he saw Tumbarumba looking through photos of the brumbies in the Snowy Mountains and he saw Bruiser, Richo and Harley playing outside with the footy.

The Old Wise One asked him, “Are you happy for your friends that they are going on an adventure, even though it is without you?” Ronnie gulped. He was happy for them but it was so hard to be missing out on an adventure. TOWO put his paw on Ronnie’s shoulder and said some more words, that were just between them both and then they went and looked at the photos with Tumbarumba.

As they drove up the mountain, the four could barely contain their excitement. “I can’t wait to meet Shorty!” exclaimed Dovic. “I hear he’s not so short,” said Tumbarumba. Flippy was imagining all the flips she could do while she was on Shorty. She had watched a video clip of stunt riders and thought it would be epic to try hand-standing on Shorty. She had downloaded a picture from the internet and she kept it hidden away in her pocket.

When they got to the farm, they toppled out of the car and waited while Hibiscus got the halter and lead rope. She pulled out some grass and called out to Shorty and while he ate the grass out of her hand, she put the rope around his neck and gave him a good pat. Hibiscus explained that Shorty doesn’t like apples or carrots as a treat. One time she had tried to give him liquorice but he had snorted and flicked it out of her hand.

While he stood still, the four climbed up on to his back. They had a special tie to hold on to and Flippy was the last to get up. Tumbarumba sat at the front and looked all around him. ‘Wow!” he breathed out, “It’s so beautiful up here!” They walked around a few steps and they all held on very tightly. They saw the other horses grazing in the green grass and heard the donkey braying in the next paddock.

Flippy slid down the tie and held on while Shorty moved. He stopped and looked at her as if to say, “What are you doing, Flippy?” She wanted to do a flip and hang upside down but when she looked down, she got scared so she climbed back up again. A kookaburra sitting in the old gum tree laughed when he saw Flippy hanging on the side and Flippy blushed.

After they all got down, Hibiscus gave Shorty a handful of chaff and thanked him for being such a gentle giant. She led him back to the paddock with the other horses and took the halter off his head. As he trotted off to join the others, he gave a little dance of joy that he had given so much fun to Hibiscus and her clan.