A Star Discovered

by JoAnn S. Dawson

  “Well, he looks a lot better than he did a half hour ago,” Willie observed dryly. “Walk him back over to the stable and keep him walkin’ in the sun until he dries some more. I’ll put the hose away and get the truck ready.”

  Jody took the lead rope from Willie’s grasp, while Mary hung the wet rags over the fence to dry.

  “Mare, don’t forget to gather up all the bathing supplies,” Jody called over her shoulder as she turned Star toward Lucky Foot Stable.

  “Since when did I get to be the groom?” Mary muttered good-naturedly, gathering up the supplies as fast as she could and taking off at a trot to catch up to Jody and Star.

  “I didn’t realize how sunny it is already,” Mary panted when she reached Star’s side. “Are we going to be late?”

  The girls had been so busy working on Star that they hadn’t noticed how far the sun had risen and how quickly the morning was getting away from them.

  “Willie, are we going to be late?” Jody called to Willie who was on the barn hill getting the truck ready for Star. “Is Star’s class in the very beginning of the day?”

  “Close to, but we still have time. We won’t be as early as I wanted to be, but we’ll make it,” Willie called back, hobbling down the hill and casting a critical eye on Star’s gleaming coat. “I reckon he looks alright. But there’s one thing you forgot.”

  Willie didn’t say any more; he just turned and walked back up the barn hill toward the truck. Mary and Jody looked at Star, then they looked at each other, then looked back at Star again, trying to remember what they had forgotten. Finally Jody’s eyes traveled to Star’s hooves.

  “The hoof dressing!” Jody exclaimed. “Mare, can you get it out of the tack trunk? Oh, and we forgot to wrap his tail! The wrap is in the trunk too!”

  Star stood perfectly still while the dressing was applied, and he only moved around a little while Mary wrapped his tail in a stretchy bandage to keep it clean. Then it was time to load.

  Mary led Star to the barn hill where Willie had carefully backed the truck. Willie lowered the tailgate so that it was resting flat on the side of the hill, making a ramp for Star. The girls had practiced loading and unloading him—making sure he didn’t run away again—several times in the past week when he felt up to it. Now the open tailgate was a familiar sight, and Star walked easily into the pickup bed and dropped his head to eat the hay and grain placed there. Jody ran back into the stable to gather up her show clothes while Mary made one last inspection of the tack box to make sure they weren’t forgetting anything, and they were finally off to the show!

  8

  At the Show

  “YOU’RE NOT NERVOUS, are you, Jody?” asked Mary as they jounced over the bumpy back road that led to the horse show. Jody had been silent for most of the ride, and as they neared the show-grounds, Mary thought it was time to break the ice.

  “I am, but not nearly as nervous as I was when we took Lady to the show,” Jody replied quietly. “At least this time I don’t have to ride. And I know what to expect now. And besides, it’s just for the fun and experience. It’s Star’s first show, and if he doesn’t win anything, there’s always next time.”

  Mary nodded and Willie smiled at Jody’s good judgment. As they rounded a bend in the road, a field full of horse trailers became visible, and Willie slowed to a stop at the hand-lettered sign reading, “HORSE SHOW.” Careful not to jostle Star, Willie put on his signal and turned slowly onto the long farm lane, and then he crept along, looking for a low hill to back up to for the unloading. As it turned out, Willie had to drive all the way to the end of the lane, where a bank barn much like the one on the McMurray farm sat at the top of an inviting knoll.

  “Mary, why don’t you get out and guide me back, and Jody, get ready to put the tailgate down,” Willie said, looking at his pocket watch. “We don’t have a lotta time.”

  Even before Willie had finished his sentence, the girls were out of the truck, Mary waving Willie back to the perfect spot on the hill and Jody poised to bring the tailgate down as soon as the truck was in position. In a flash, Star was led from the makeshift trailer and down the hill.

  “Now, just walk him around to get the kinks out of his legs while I find a place to park,” Willie instructed. “Then you’d better git entered in your classes.”

  Star lifted his head and gazed curiously in all directions—ears up and sniffing the air. He had only been off the farm once before, and that excursion had been a terrible mistake.

  “I hope Star doesn’t have any bad memories of his last trip away from the barn,” Mary commented. “Maybe we should take him down to the ring, so he can see it and get used to the idea. We still have a little time before we have to enter our classes.”

  “Good idea,” Jody agreed, turning toward the outdoor ring where a class was in progress. As the girls neared the ring, they saw a group of about ten young horses lined up for inspection. The judge paced up and down the front of the line, jotting down notes on a clipboard and occasionally stopping to speak to one of the competitors.

  “Look, Jody—these are just babies! This must be the weanling class. They sure aren’t squared up!”

  “Or even standing still,” Jody observed. It was all the handlers could do to get the weanlings to stop fidgeting and pawing when the judge approached.

  “Star, you can do better than that!” Mary assured the colt. But Star wasn’t listening to Mary. As he caught sight of the ring full of babies, he flung up his head, snorted once, and let out a joyful whinny of greeting.

  “Star, shhhhhh!” Jody warned. But it was too late. At the sound of Star’s hello, the weanlings became agitated, some whinnying back, some turning in circles, but all devoting their full attention to the black-and-white colt by the side of the ring. The competitors and even the judge turned to determine the cause of the disturbance.

  “Uh-oh,” Jody began, but she was cut short by a gnarly hand pulling the lead rope from her grasp. She looked up to see Willie turning Star abruptly from the ring.

  “Didn’t I tell ya to get over there and enter your classes?” he hissed, hobbling away from the ring as fast as he could go with Star in tow and the embarrassed girls trailing behind. “You don’t bring a horse down by a ring when a class is goin’ on, especially a ring full of weanlings. Haven’t I taught you anything?”

  “Sorry, Willie,” Jody squeaked. “We thought it would be good to get him used to it.”

  “Oh, ya did, huh? Well, if you don’t get over there and sign up, you’ll miss your classes altogether, and there won’t be any reason to get him used to anything. And Jody, are you plannin’ on changin’ your clothes anytime soon?”

  Without another word, Mary headed to the entry booth and filled out the paperwork for two yearling classes, while Jody retrieved her show clothes from the truck and changed into them in the bathroom of the barn.

  “I got your number, Jode. Your first class is grooming and showmanship,” Mary informed Jody as she emerged from the bathroom. “Wow! You look good,” she continued, surveying Jody’s outfit of white blouse, tan pants, green tie, and black paddock boots.

  “I don’t know how I’m going to stay clean,” Jody wondered while Mary tied the cardboard number around Jody’s waist. “I wanted to give Star one last going-over before the class. Willie said the judge is really picky about any dust or dirt they find on the coat. And they ask if you groomed the colt yourself, so it has to be me.”

  “I think you could do that and stay clean,” Mary observed. “We scrubbed him so well at the farm that he shouldn’t have a speck of dirt on him! I’ll get the mane and tail comb and the soft brush.”

  Mary was right—even with the vigorous last-minute brushing Jody gave Star’s coat, hardly a speck of dust could be raised. And his mane and tail only needed a quick combing. Willie walked in a circle around the handsome colt, looking him over with a practiced eye, finally nodding his approval with one reservation.

  “You’re forgettin’ one thing, ain’t you?
” he asked cryptically, eyeing Star’s leather lead shank as a hint.

  “The saddle soap! We almost forgot!” Mary cried, retrieving the can of leather cleaner from the little tack box. “Jody, I’ll do his lead shank, and you use the saddle soap to wipe your boots one last time, and then we’ll be ready!”

  A moment later the announcer’s voice came clearly over the sound system. “The next class is class number three, yearling grooming and showmanship. Please be ready with your yearlings at ring number one.”

  “Oh no! Wait, wait, I’m almost done,” Mary cried, rushing to buff up the brown leather shank with a soft cloth. There wasn’t time to do Jody’s boots, but they had been shined back at the barn and still looked fine. Willie stood by and observed, having decided that the girls should get Star ready for his class on their own. Finally he interrupted their frantic last-minute preparations.

  “Alright, he looks as good as he’s ever gonna. You better git over to the ring before you miss the class altogether,” he directed.

  “OK, Willie. Now, Jody, don’t forget to smile at the judge, answer all his questions, hold Star’s head up, try to square him up the best you can, oh, and don’t be nervous,” Mary babbled breathlessly, striding along beside Jody and Star on the way to the ring.

  “Mary, I’m not nervous. Not like last time. Star will be fine,” she said, glancing proudly at the colt prancing beside her.

  And Star was fine. Mary and Willie watched at ringside as Jody led him easily through the gate and to the fence rail as if he had been showing all his life. The judge, a tall gray-haired man with a clipboard in his hand, first asked the handlers to walk their yearlings around the ring, staying close to the rail, while he wrote down each of the numbers of the nine entrants. Willie squinted at the number displayed on Jody’s back as she led Star past.

  “I see Jody’s number is thirty-four,” he said to Mary. “Ain’t that the same number she had when she showed Lady?”

  Mary looked at the number, then at Willie, and screwed up her face in thought. “I think it is, Willie!” she finally exclaimed. “It was number thirty-four! It’s a good omen!”

  “Might be a bad omen, considerin’ what happened at that show,” Willie mumbled, but Mary had turned her full attention to the goings-on in the ring. The judge had instructed the handlers to line the yearlings up across the ring in a row facing him. Star happened to end up third in line, but even with colts and fillies close on either side of him, he stood quietly, only occasionally gazing curiously to his left and right. The judge gestured for the first yearling in line, a lively bay colt, to come forward. He instructed the handler to trot the colt along the fence line to the end of the ring and then turn and trot back again. The bay colt picked up a nice high-stepping trot going down the ring, but when the handler turned him, he sidestepped, snorted, and flung up his head, yanking the lead shank completely from the handler’s grasp!

  “Uh-oh, Willie, there he goes!” Mary exclaimed as the bay colt took off at a jouncy trot around the ring—tail up and nostrils flaring, whinnying at the other yearlings as if to say, “Hey, I’m free! Why don’t you join me?”

  The other yearlings responded by pulling on their own lead shanks and pawing the ground, some whinnying back as they watched the judge and the handler attempt to corner the frisky colt. Star was no exception. Jody did her best to hold him as he turned in a circle and whinnied gleefully to the runaway colt. Finally the judge and handler, their arms outstretched, managed to herd the outlaw into a corner of the ring, where he decided to stand quietly and let himself be caught.

  “That’s always the way with weanling and yearling classes,” said a voice by the rail. “One or two of ‘em will misbehave and rile everybody else up. Too bad it was the first one in line.”

  Mary and Willie turned to find the source of the comment—a man in jeans and cowboy hat, leaning over the rail and chewing on a piece of straw. Mary thought the man looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t place him. Willie’s reply brought her memory back vividly.

  “Hey there, good to see you again,” Willie said, shaking the man’s hand. “We’ve got a colt in this class today because of you.” As Willie pointed Star out to the man, Mary suddenly remembered where she had seen him before. He was the driver of the truck that had taken Star to the slaughterhouse by accident the year before.

  The bay colt took off at a jouncy trot around the ring, tail up, nostrils flaring, and whinnying.

  “Well, I’ll be . . . I remember that colt now. He got himself in quite a jam that day.”

  “And you told us about this show. Nice place you got here,” Willie commented. “This here is one of the girls that was goin’ crazy that day looking for the ornery bugger,” he continued. “And the other one is handlin’ the colt.”

  Their attention was once more drawn to the ring, where the second entry, a palomino filly, had just finished her trot for the judge. The runaway bay colt was back in line and behaving himself, but he had caused a lasting disturbance to the other yearlings in the ring, all of whom were now a little more nervous and fidgety because of his antics. Star had settled down somewhat and was standing fairly quietly, but Jody’s attempts to square him up were in vain.

  “Oh well,” Mary sighed, “he doesn’t look any worse than some of the others.”

  Just as Mary finished her comment, the judge pointed at Jody to bring Star out and trot him down the fence line. Seeing the nervousness on Jody’s face, Mary tried to send her friend a telepathic message.

  “Don’t worry about the commotion, Jode. You weren’t nervous before; you shouldn’t be nervous now,” she whispered as Jody and Star began their trot. Mary breathed a sigh of relief as Star trotted nicely down to the end of the ring and back again, his head held high. She noticed that the smile had returned to Jody’s face as the judge motioned for them to step back in line.

  “That is a right nice looking colt,” the owner of the farm commented to Willie. “If he doesn’t get placed in this class, he sure should in the conformation class. Well, good luck now.”

  Willie and Mary were left alone at ringside to watch the rest of the class in silence. There were no more problems as each yearling performed at the trot. Then it was time for the judge to go down the line, questioning each exhibitor and examining each yearling for good grooming.

  Jody faced Star as she waited for the judge and pulled gently on his halter in another attempt to square him up, this time more successfully. His hind legs were slightly askew, but he was almost perfect in front.

  “Please stay that way; please stay that way,” she prayed silently as the judge approached her, looking down at his clipboard.

  “Number thirty-four?”

  “Yes, sir,” Jody replied, lifting Star’s head slightly to give the judge a better look at him.

  “What is your name and the name of your colt?”

  “Jody Stafford, sir, and this is Star of Wonder,” she said proudly.

  “And his date of birth?” he asked.

  “He was born on Christmas Eve, sir. He’s a year-and-a-half old.”

  “Hmmph—Christmas Eve? Funny time for a foal to be born. Usually happens in the spring.”

  “Yes, sir. Well, it was quite a surprise,” Jody answered, smiling.

  “Do you know the name of his dam?”

  “His dam’s name is Lady, sir.” Jody replied.

  “Lady . . . ?”

  “Just Lady, sir.”

  “And his sire?”

  “Uh,” Jody stammered. “Um, I’m not sure of the name of his sire.”

  The judge was silent then as he ran his hand down the crest of Star’s mane to see if he could raise any dust. He walked in a circle around Star just as Willie had done, surveying him with a critical eye. He nodded once and patted him on the rump. Then he turned to Jody.

  “Could you pick up his right front foot for me?” The judge asked.

  Jody leaned down and ran her hand down Star’s right front leg. He immediately picked up h
is foot and stood quietly while Jody held it.

  “Thank you. That’s all,” the judge said. He jotted some notes on his clipboard and went on to the next yearling.

  Mary caught Jody’s eye from the sidelines and gave her a thumbs-up signal as Jody breathed a sigh of relief. “Star looks good, doesn’t he, Willie?” Mary asked nervously. “He’s behaving himself too!”

  “Well, he didn’t do anything stupid, at least not yet,” Willie replied dryly. “If you girls did your job grooming him, he should do alright in this class. Lots of competition though. They all look pretty clean and they’re trotting right good. Except for the bay, of course.”

  Mary watched silently as the judge continued down the line of yearlings, questioning each handler. One of the colts refused to pick up his hoof at all, nipping his handler the minute she tried to run her hand down his leg. Another pinned his ears and kicked out when the judge patted his rump, barely missing the judge’s leg. A few of the yearlings would square up perfectly for a minute but were too fidgety to hold the position for long. Star stood fairly still but occasionally would stomp his foot and try to rub his head up and down impatiently on Jody’s arm. Mary crossed her fingers and prayed for the class to end before Star decided to “do something stupid.” A moment later she got her wish, as the judge stepped back from the last yearling in line and jotted more notes on his clipboard.

  “This concludes class number three, yearling grooming and showmanship,” came the announcement at last. “If you are in the next class—class number four, yearling conformation—please remain in the ring after ribbons for class three are announced.”

  At this directive, Jody looked over at Willie, startled, while Mary’s mouth opened in a big round o. “Remain in the ring? Willie, does he have to stay in there? Doesn’t he get a break? He’s getting impatient, and he’s going to act up in a minute! Why do they do it that way?” Mary asked all in one breath.

  “Well, it makes the show move along quicker that way, instead of havin’ horses comin’ and goin’ so much, and I think they do it so they can see which of the yearlings can behave themselves the longest,” Willie replied calmly.