Horse Care

by Bonnie Bryant

  Lisa laughed. “No, that was twisted and wrenched,” she corrected.

  “Whatever,” Stevie said. “I’m just glad we found you before you were twisted and strained and wrenched and frozen.”

  Her tone was light, but both Carole and Lisa nodded seriously.

  “Believe me, so am I,” Lisa said. “I could hardly believe it when I heard your voices coming toward me. I thought I was dreaming—or maybe hallucinating.” She smiled. “Oh, and while we’re at it—I’m just glad Tiny is so talkative. If she hadn’t called you over, who knows when you might have found me?”

  Before the others could say anything, they heard loud voices coming down the aisle toward them. “Oh no,” Stevie whispered with a groan. “It’s the battle of the bores. And they’re headed this way.”

  “Quick,” Carole whispered. “We’ve got to hide!”

  Without another word, the three girls silently opened the door of the stall and slipped inside. Calypso gave them a quizzical look, then turned and pointed her ears toward the aisle, where Tate’s and Veronica’s loud voices were getting even closer. The foal didn’t wake up.

  The Saddle Club crouched down behind the half door, pressing themselves against it just in case Tate or Veronica stopped to look inside the stall at the new foal.

  “Anyway, as I was saying,” Tate said loudly outside, “it’s important to know all the different kinds of jumps you might encounter in a hunter class so that you’re well prepared. For instance, there’s the simple post-and-rail, the in-and-out, the stone wall, the Aachen oxer, the chicken coop, the white gate—”

  “Speaking of white gates,” Veronica interrupted, “did I mention that my parents and I had dinner last week at White Gates, that mansion over in Mendenhall? It was fabulous. They served caviar before dinner, and then …”

  Her voice faded out of earshot, and the three girls stood up, grinning.

  “Whew,” Carole said. “It’s a good thing they didn’t stop to look at the foal. I don’t think I could have kept myself from laughing out loud for another ten seconds.”

  “Same here,” Stevie agreed wholeheartedly. “I almost lost it when I thought about Tate trying to jump a real hunter course. The way he rides, if he tried it he’d probably fall off at the first jump, whether it was a simple post-and-rail or anything else.”

  “Please,” Lisa said, wincing a little. “Don’t mention falling off, okay? It’s a sensitive subject for me right now.” But then she smiled so that her friends could see she was joking—mostly.

  “Agreed,” Stevie said. As the girls let themselves out of the stall, she glanced down the aisle in the direction Veronica and Tate had gone. “So who’s winning the bragging contest between those two, anyway? I can’t tell.”

  “I think they both think they’re winning,” Carole said with a chuckle. “But if you ask me, we’re the real winners here. Those two have kept each other so busy lately that neither one of them has had any time left over to bother us!”

  Stevie grinned. “So does that mean you’re really and truly over your crush on Tate?”

  Carole gave her a sour look. “Like I told you yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that,” she said, “I never had a crush on Tate. Not really. I just thought he was smart and interesting. And nice-looking, of course.”

  “That sounds like a crush to me.” Stevie waggled her eyebrows.

  Carole sighed. “Well, now those two have a crush on each other. Tate even gave Veronica that hunting horn of his as a present.” She rolled her eyes. “Since her family is so socially prominent and all, he thought she could use it.”

  “I know who really could have used it,” Stevie said. “Lisa. When she was lost in the woods, she could have blown it and—”

  Lisa wasn’t paying attention. “Look!” she interrupted. “She’s waking up.”

  Carole and Stevie dropped their conversation and turned to see. The foal lifted her head off the straw, blinked, and looked around. Then she gave a big yawn.

  “Hi there, Tiny!” Carole crooned.

  Lisa smiled. She still liked hearing that name. After the foal was born, Max had asked for suggestions about what to name her. Lisa had spoken up immediately. She knew of one very special horse who deserved to have her name passed on to a new generation.

  That reminded her. She didn’t want to be late. “I’d better go,” she said, glancing at her watch. “Now that my brace is off, I think I should be able to handle the public bus system. I’m going to take a ride over to Fox Crest and visit Tiny. I’ve only seen her once since the accident. But from now on, I’m going to make a habit of stopping by whenever I can.” She patted her pocket, which was bulging with carrot sticks and other treats for the big gray horse.

  “Want some company?” Carole asked.

  Lisa smiled. “Sure,” she said. “Are you sure you want to come?”

  “Definitely,” Stevie declared. “As long as you promise we don’t have to stop and chat with Marguerite.”

  Lisa rolled her eyes. “Believe me, we won’t,” she said.

  “I won’t be upset if I never have to spend time with Marguerite Mills again, and I suspect that feeling is mutual. We’re just not compatible.” She called good-bye to Calypso and the new Tiny, then turned and headed down the aisle toward the locker room with her friends beside her. “Even my mother saw the light on that one.”

  “It sounds like your mother learned a lot from this whole thing, actually,” Carole said. “She learned to appreciate how wonderful horses are—at least a little more, right?”

  “Definitely,” Lisa said. “At first she thought Tiny was to blame for my accident. But then I explained it to her, and she finally understood that Tiny probably saved my life. If I hadn’t had her to keep me warm and to talk to …” She shuddered. “Let’s just say that Mom thinks Tiny is a pretty special horse, too.”

  Stevie nodded. “And she thinks Pine Hollow is a pretty wonderful place, right?”

  “Right,” Lisa said. “I don’t think she’ll be dragging me off to ride at any more strange stables.” For the first few days after Lisa’s fall, Mrs. Atwood had tried to convince Lisa to give up riding entirely. Lisa hadn’t paid her any attention. Instead, she had patiently explained over and over again that all riders fall off sometimes, and that accidents could happen to anyone. She had also been careful to tell her mother why she wouldn’t have ended up in such dire circumstances if she had been riding at Pine Hollow. The riders there knew better than to ride alone out on the trail, and besides that, she would have had The Saddle Club looking out for her.

  Lisa smiled at that thought. The Saddle Club had looked out for her. They’d just had to go a little farther than usual to do it. And they’d had someone else helping them.

  “What?” Stevie demanded, noticing Lisa’s expression as the girls entered the locker room. “What’s so funny?”

  “Oh, nothing,” Lisa replied. “I was just thinking about how Tiny took care of me out there. Now it’s my turn to take care of her, by visiting her and showing her how much I appreciate what she did.”

  Stevie nodded and grabbed her backpack out of her cubby. “That’s why Carole and I should come along with you on this visit. It sounds a lot like a Saddle Club project.”

  Lisa’s eyes widened. “You know, it does,” she said slowly. “In fact, now that I think about it, it almost feels like Tiny is a member of The Saddle Club. I mean, she fits the rules, right? You could say she’s horse-crazy, I guess. But more importantly, she helped me out when I needed it.”

  Carole and Stevie exchanged glaces. Then they both started to smile. “You know, you’re right,” Carole said, quickly pulling on her sneakers and stuffing her boots into her cubby. “When you put it that way, maybe The Saddle Club has a lot more members than just the three of us, and Phil and Emily and Kate and all the other out-of-town members. Human members, I mean.”

  By now, Stevie had broken into a full-fledged grin. “Absolutely,” she said. “The Saddle Club has lo
ts more members—really important members. In fact, the club couldn’t exist without them! Members like Tiny and Belle and Starlight and Prancer—”

  “And Barq and Samson and Topside and Patch and Diablo,” Carole added. “And Calypso and her baby.”

  Lisa linked her arms through those of her two best friends as they all left the locker room. “And don’t forget Chocolate and Berry and Stewball and Geronimo and Moonglow and Teddy and Jasper and Monkeyshines and Maverick and Eve …”

  As she paused for breath, her friends added more names. Lisa knew that their extended membership list was just getting started. And she thought that that was absolutely, positively, horstupendously wonderful!

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Bonnie Bryant is the author of nearly a hundred books about horses, including The Saddle Club series, Saddle Club Super Editions, and the Pony Tails series. She has also written novels and movie novelizations under her married name, B. B. Hiller.

  Ms. Bryant began writing The Saddle Club in 1986. Although she had done some riding before that, she intensified her studies then and found herself learning right along with her characters Stevie, Carole, and Lisa. She claims that they are all much better riders than she is.

  Ms. Bryant was born and raised in New York City. She still lives there, in Greenwich Village, with her two sons.