Next came Lois. She grabbed the crop from Jeff’s hand and sped forward. “Not a good team player,” said May to Jasmine. Lois cantered to the ribbon. Showily she tapped the crop against it and said something to her pony, Silver, who tore back to the starting line. Disdainfully Lois handed the crop to Jasmine. She seemed to be saying that Jasmine couldn’t do half as well as she had.
“Let’s show her,” Jasmine said to Samurai. “Go for it.” Sam put his head down and stretched his legs into a long, swift canter. (Galloping was forbidden in the Relay Race.) Jasmine headed Samurai into a loop so that she could reach out and touch the ribbon without stopping. When they got back to the finish line, the Red Team was two pony lengths ahead of the Blues. The judges awarded the Reds ten points and the Blues eight.
“Nice racing,” May said to her team. “In the apple toss we’re going to do even better.”
Two of the judges came out of the judges’ box. They stood close to May and the Blue Team rider and tossed them red apples.
May, who loved to play catch with her father, caught the apple in one hand and took off. She headed toward the three bales of hay at the far end of the ring. She kept her heels down and her knees tight. Mac, who was totally into the spirit of the race, tore around the bales. By the time they got to the finish line, they were three lengths ahead.
May rode up to Jeff. She tossed the apple to him from two inches away.
The apple rolled out of his hand. Quick as a flash, Zoom took a bite out of it. The crowd roared with laughter. Under his riding hat, Jeff seemed to shrink.
A judge came over and carefully tossed another apple to Jeff. He caught it, but by this time the Blue Team was three lengths ahead. Bravely Jeff urged Zoom forward. Zoom took off.
Jeff rounded the three bales and headed for the finish line.
“Throw me the apple,” Lois yelled. “I’m a great catcher.”
Jeff looked at her with horror. He’s probably a terrible thrower, Jasmine thought. Jeff rode up to the finish line and gave the apple a tiny little toss to Lois.
“You ruined everything,” Lois said as she caught it. She and her pony sped around the bales. When Lois was ten feet from the finish line, she raised her arm and fired the apple at Jasmine.
Jasmine’s stomach lurched. She wasn’t a good catcher. She put up her hand and felt something hit it. She looked at her hand in astonishment. Somehow her fingers had closed around the apple.
“Go!” May yelled.
Samurai seemed to know it was up to him. He tore around the bales, his mane streaming in the wind. He and Jasmine passed the Blue rider. By the time they got to the finish line, they were a length ahead.
The Red Team had finished ahead of the Blue, but there was a three-point penalty for dropping the apple. The judges awarded the Red Team seven points and the Blue Team nine. Going into the last stage of the race, the teams were tied 17 to 17.
In the egg and spoon race riders had to balance an egg while they followed a twisting, turning course. It was by far the toughest part of the race.
“This is going to be a million laughs,” said Lois, looking at Jeff.
“It’s going to be the Red Team’s finest hour,” said May. “Wait and see.”
May was first. She let out a whoop, and she and Macaroni took off. Macaroni cantered around the orange marker and made a perfect curve toward the trash can. He ran around the trash can twice, the way he was supposed to, and headed for the pile of hay bales. He passed them on the right and headed for home. By the time he and May got to the handoff, the Red Team was two lengths ahead.
Carefully May rolled the egg into Jeff’s spoon.
“You’ll be great,” May said.
“Don’t drop it,” Lois said.
That did it. Jeff held the spoon so stiffly that the egg skittered back and forth. Looking at the wobbling egg with horror, Jeff slowed Zoom to a crawl. By the time he got to the handoff, the Reds were three lengths behind.
“Watch this,” said Lois as Jeff rolled the egg into her spoon. “You’re going to see some real riding.” She kicked Silver. The pony took off like a rocket. Lois leaned forward, balancing the egg.
“Ho boy,” May said. “She’s going to drop it.”
As Lois made the turn around the orange marker, her face filled with fear. She was going so fast, she’d lost control of her pony. Silver’s head was down, his hoofs flying. Lois wasn’t even trying to steer him; she was too busy balancing the egg. As Silver careened around the trash basket, the egg rolled. As they zoomed past the hay bales, it bounced.
As Lois came closer and closer, Jasmine held out her spoon.
The egg flew off Lois’s spoon.
8 Splat!
“Catch that egg,” yelled May.
Jasmine stretched and leaned and caught the egg. The spoon and egg were down by her boot. It would be impossible to get them up. But Sam seemed to understand. He ran so gently, his feet seemed to barely touch the ground. Jasmine pulled the spoon up and up. It was at waist level now. She heaved a sigh of relief.
“Go, Red!” came a piercing shriek. Sam jumped, rattled by the noise. Jasmine knew that voice. It was Lois. She was trying to spook Samurai. Thanks, Lois, Jasmine thought.
“We’re going to turn now,” she said to Samurai. “Turn gently. Turn …”
Samurai floated around the orange marker.
“You are the greatest,” Jasmine said.
It was time to circle the trash can. “Easy,” she said. Samurai ran gently right. The egg wobbled. Jasmine rose high in her stirrups and crouched like a jockey. Her form was terrible. But she had to hold on to that egg.
The Blue rider was slightly ahead. Jasmine pressed her knees to Samurai’s sides, urging him to go faster. They caught up to the Blue rider as they rounded the bales and headed for the finish line.
“Go, Sam,” she said.
Sam gave it all he had. The egg started to roll off the spoon. It trembled on the edge. Jasmine extended her arm until she was riding with it held straight out.
The finish line was straight ahead. “Almost there,” she yelled. She held the spoon out in front of her because the first egg to cross the line was the winner. One step, two steps. They were almost there. Jasmine was about to make a yell of victory, when …
The egg rolled off the spoon and went splat! on the finish line.
The Blue Team had won.
Jasmine sat staring down at the smashed egg. It was so small—it was nothing. While she was carrying it, the egg had seemed very big. For a second she was angry at the egg. What was its problem? Why hadn’t it hung on for one second more?
Members of the Blue Team were yelling and cheering. In the stands their families were jumping and hugging each other. For a second Jasmine hated the Blue Team.
And then she hated herself. If it hadn’t been for her, the Red Team would have been cheering now. And Jeff wouldn’t have been crying. He had gotten off his pony and he was wiping his eyes. “It’s my fault,” he said. “I dropped the apple. I lost the race for everyone.”
Jasmine realized that, more than anything, she wanted to make Jeff feel better.
“Hey!” she said. “Who dropped the egg?” She jumped off Samurai and gave his reins to Corey. “I dropped it,” Jasmine said. “And don’t you forget it.”
Jeff looked at her in wonder.
Jasmine put her hand on his shoulder. “The Red Team has pluck, and spirit, and determination, and butterfingers.”
Jeff gave a grin that was halfway between laughter and tears.
“I bet this was your first show,” Jasmine said. Jeff nodded. “Mine, too,” Jasmine said. “I’ve been a nervous wreck for a week.”
Jeff looked astonished that someone else could have had the same problem he had.
“I was sure everyone would laugh when I rode into the ring,” Jasmine said. “I was sure I’d make a fool of myself. But that didn’t happen at all. I didn’t make a fool of myself. I made a complete creep of myself.”
Jeff
giggled.
Over Jeff’s shoulder Jasmine saw Max. He had heard practically the whole conversation. Jasmine thought, Now Max is really going to think I’m a meatball. But she noticed that Max’s blue eyes were shining.
“Time for riders to assess their goals,” announced the voice over the loudspeaker.
“Goals?” said Jasmine, as her stomach fell to her feet. “Can’t we just forget about them?”
“That’s how they decide Best in Show,” May said. “They see if riders have met their goals.”
Max walked toward them with a handful of white envelopes. Never had envelopes looked so big or so scary to Jasmine.
Max turned to May. “You first,” he said. He handed May her envelopes, one for each of the classes she’d ridden in. May opened the Sitting and Showing envelope and read her goal. “‘In the first two classes I want to be calm,’” she read. “‘Sometimes I get so excited I make Macaroni nervous.’” She shook her head. “I certainly didn’t make him nervous today. He practically fell asleep.”
“You let him be too relaxed,” Max said. “But you’re on the right track.”
May opened the envelope for the Pony Hunter Class. “My goal was to not rush Macaroni,” she said. “I started rushing him, but then I stopped. So I confused him, and we messed up the jump.”
“At least you were trying,” Max said. “That’s why it’s important to write down goals—so you can focus on what needs improvement.”
May nodded. In her next show, she knew she’d do better.
May opened her last envelope. It was for the Relay Race. “My goal was to get the riders excited without making them nervous.” She looked at Jeff, who was still jumpy and pale. “I don’t seem to have succeeded.”
Max cleared his throat and looked at Lois. May knew that Max never criticized Pine Hollow riders in front of other riders, but she had the feeling that he was sorely tempted at the moment. Max looked at her, his eyes shining. “There are some things you can’t control,” he said. “You did an excellent job.”
May glowed.
“Corey, what about you?” Max said.
She opened her first envelope, the one for Showing and Sitting. “My goal was help Samurai stay interested,” she said.
Max grinned. “You did a good job. He didn’t goof off.”
“In the Pony Hunter Class I wanted to keep my heels down and my wrists relaxed,” Corey said.
“You did a fine job,” Max said. He turned to Jasmine.
“It was my first show,” Jasmine said. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything.”
“Read your goals,” said Max.
“In Equitation my goal was to have poise.” She laughed miserably. “That’s a joke.”
“You didn’t fall off Macaroni,” Max said. “You finished the event.”
“Big deal,” Jasmine muttered. Figuring she might as well get it over with, she opened the last envelope and read her goal for the Relay Race. She felt her face turn pink. “‘My goal for the Relay Race is to not drop the egg.’”
Into Jasmine’s mind flashed a picture of the egg splattering on the finish line.
“You kept your cool under difficult circumstances. That’s what horse shows are about.” Max patted her shoulder. “And when it did drop, you were at the finish line in first place. After all it didn’t splatter. Not bad.” Max moved on to the other riders with a twinkle in his eye.
“You should feel really good,” May said to Jasmine. “Max was impressed.”
“Yeah, right,” Jasmine said.
The Pony Tails waited nervously while Max talked to the other judges.
“Riders, assemble in the ring on your mounts,” said the voice over the loudspeaker.
Jasmine straightened her hat and checked the buttons on her coat. Only then did she remember that she had no pony to ride. She looked at Max, who seemed to know exactly what she was thinking.
“Go on foot,” he said. “Stand in the center near the judges.”
As Jasmine walked into the ring, she felt silly. There were kids on ponies and horses, and then there were the judges, and then there was Jasmine. She must look as if she’d wandered into the ring by accident.
Jasmine realized that Max was watching her. She put her shoulders back and her head up and marched into the ring. She felt shy about standing near the judges. But Max motioned to her to come and stand near him.
The rows of ponies and horses were impressive. The kids on them were sitting straight. The loudspeaker was playing march music. The crowd was standing. Jasmine spotted her mother down at the front, camera raised, videotaping everything.
The music stopped. Not a single horse or pony fooled around. They seemed to understand the seriousness of the moment.
The head judge, a woman in a red jacket, took the microphone and said, “We will now announce Best in Show for the Pony Division.” Her voice sounded scratchy and far away. “Corey Takamura on Samurai.”
Jasmine whooped with joy. This was the greatest. For a second she felt she should have been more dignified, but then she realized that the other riders were yelling and clapping, too.
The judge walked over to Corey and gave her the ribbon. Corey sat very still while the crowd applauded.
“Second Best in Show in the Pony Division, May Grover on Macaroni,” said the judge.
Jasmine felt relieved. She had been afraid that by wrecking the Relay Race she had wrecked things for May. But the judges had seen how well May led her team. They understood that it wasn’t her fault when Jasmine dropped the egg.
May touched her hat and grinned. Since May was popular not just with the riders but with their parents, there was lots of applause. Even May’s sisters were applauding. Probably, Jasmine thought, they were applauding May’s ponytail.
Then came the awards for the Horse Division. Carole Hanson came in first. Stevie Lake came in second. And Lisa Atwood came in third. Jasmine wasn’t surprised. Carole, Stevie, and Lisa were members of The Saddle Club. The Pony Tails dreamed of being half as good as they were.
Jasmine thought that maybe, someday, she’d win a prize. But that day was far off.
Max stepped up to the microphone. “Finally,” he said, “I want to announce the winner of the Max Award. This award is named after my grandfather, Max Regnery the First, the founder of Pine Hollow Stables. The Max Award is for the rider who has the most courage. Or, in the words of the award …” Max read the inscription: “‘the rider who has the most heart.’”
Max looked up. “In my opinion, and the opinion of the judges, there is only one candidate for this award. One rider suffered a loss but participated anyway. One rider was able to put her own feelings aside and comfort another.”
Jasmine thought, That must be some rider. She looked around, trying to figure out who it was.
“Jasmine James,” Max said.
There was an eruption of noise. Thunderstruck, Jasmine stared at the cheering, smiling people. She saw her mother waving the camera in the air and jumping up and down. Most of all, she saw Max’s warm blue eyes.
She walked forward, feeling a little wobbly. What if I trip? she thought. That would be the worst thing on earth. But then she thought, I’ve done every other silly thing on earth, so tripping wouldn’t be that big a deal.
She grinned. She relaxed.
Max gave her the award. It was a brass plaque attached to a piece of wood. He raised her hand so that she was holding it high in the air and everyone could see it.
May and Corey were practically dancing on their ponies. With all the cheering and the shouting, Jasmine couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she didn’t have to. She knew they were saying that the Dream Team was number one.
Jasmine realized they were right. The Dream Team had taken the top three prizes in the show.
9 Peace and Quiet?
“You’ve got heart,” Mrs. James said proudly as they drove home in the family station wagon.
“Heartburn is more like it,” Jasmine said. She hadn’t e
aten any breakfast or lunch, so the minute she got in the station wagon she had eaten four cookies, plus a brownie. Then she had drunk a container of orange juice, and now she felt … dreadful.
“Thank heavens I caught the whole thing on tape,” Mrs. James said.
Jasmine shuddered, remembering how she’d nearly fallen off Macaroni in the morning, and how her ponytail had stood on end, and how she’d dropped the egg on the finish line. But then she thought it was nice that her mother had taped her getting the award. And without the bad stuff, the good stuff didn’t make sense.
“Erp,” Jasmine said.
“What’s that, dear?” her mother said.
“A burp,” Jasmine said.
“Is there something wrong with the cookies?” Mrs. James asked worriedly.
“Mom, they were great,” Jasmine said. “It’s just that I ate too many.”
The minute they had parked in the Jameses’ garage, Jasmine jumped out of the car and ran to the stable. Outlaw was half asleep.
“You’ll never believe what I won,” Jasmine said to him. “Look at this.” She held out the award.
Outlaw woke up. He put his nose next to the award and sniffed it. But when he realized it wasn’t something to eat, he yawned.
“It’s the first of many,” said May. She and Corey were leaning over the stall door, grinning. The Grovers had driven them and their ponies back from Pine Hollow.
“You’re going to need a trophy room,” said Corey.
“Not right this minute,” Jasmine said. “I mean, it would have to be a really small trophy room. Like about six inches tall.”
“Just wait,” Corey said.
“So, admit it, your first horse show wasn’t so bad,” May said.
“Bad? It was the worst, the most terrifying, the most horrible experience of my life,” Jasmine said. She sighed. “And the best because the three of us were together.”
“Do you think Outlaw feels left out?” Corey asked. “He was the only one who wasn’t there.”
Jasmine's First Horse Show (Pony Tails Book 13) Page 4