The Connemara Champion by Ann Henning

Author:Ann Henning [Ann Henning]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: F
Publisher: SAGA Egmont
Published: 2022-03-08T00:00:00+00:00

The storm broke in the early morning and Julia was woken up by the howling in the chimney, the rattling of roof tiles over her head, the lashing of rain on the windowpanes. She burrowed deep into the bed-clothes thinking this was the kind of day when any sensible person would stay indoors, make up a roaring big fire and sit in front of it drinking cups of tea and reading a good book.

No such luxury for her, though. She had arranged to go down to South Connemara to view some ponies. At the dance the previous night a couple of men and one woman had approached her in turn, discreetly as always, mumbling invitations to come and see what they had on offer. Julia wished she could forget all about it, but knew she had to go. So far she had managed to secure no more than a dozen suitable ponies, and the only way she'd ever get out of this troublesome situation was by completing the job in hand. However difficult it had proved to be, there was no other way. Her life wouldn't revert to normal until the lorry-load of ponies was on its way to England.

When she had first embarked on the task of putting this deal together, it had all seemed dead simple. For one thing, the English customers were the nicest of people, as straight as they come and, like most knowledgeable buyers, more concerned with obtaining good quality than striking a bargain. They had set down on paper exactly what they were after and what they did not like to see in a pony. Specified as desirable traits were a good sloping shoulder, well-pronounced withers, a free elbow and a good length of rein plus, of course, a beautiful head, strong clean legs and vigorous movement. The list of undesirables included things like cow hocks and dishing legs, choppy strides and weak hindquarters, roman noses and piggy eyes. On the whole, their idea of a good mount closely matched Julia's own. Moreover, countless ponies in Connemara fitted this bill. It summed up all that the breed was renowned for.

Her task really couldn't have been easier. All she had to do was put together a short-list of suitable ponies. She didn't even have to take responsibility for the selection. Once her job was done, the customers planned to come over themselves to make the final decisions.

But nothing is ever as simple and straightforward as you imagine, especially in pony circles in Connemara. Even disregarding things like telephone terror, nightly prowlers, anonymous letters and break-ins, Julia was beginning to feel that she had let herself in for more than she could comfortably handle.

One thing that she couldn't for her life understand was the reluctance of many people to have any dealings with her at all. It was as if they didn't trust her, though there was no way they could possibly be cheated. Everyone who sold a pony would receive the full payment in cash before handing it over, at a price agreed by themselves beforehand.

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