Before They Rode Horses (2 page)

Lisa was the most organized of the three girls. Stevie sometimes teased her, saying that she probably dreamed in alphabetical order. Lisa told her she’d tried that once, but when she got to
h
for
horse
, she’d lost track of the alphabet. She was always neatly dressed, never made a mess and never seemed to get her clothes wrinkled. Her report card was very dull, according to Stevie, because it had nothing but As on it (Stevie’s was often dangerously colorful, by comparison). Lisa was the oldest of the three friends, but she’d been riding for the shortest time. However, she was such an apt pupil at riding, as with everything else, that she was nearly as good as her two friends. Lisa’s mother was of the opinion that a properly raised young lady had many skills, and as a result Lisa had taken lessons in dance, painting, music, and even knitting. It
seemed that no matter how many activities her mother loaded on her, Lisa always managed to do each of them well. But she liked riding the best and always found a way to make time for doing it with her two best friends.

While Lisa was an expert in everything she did, Carole focused all of her efforts on horses. Of the three girls, she was the horse-craziest. She’d known from the first time she’d been on a horse that all she ever wanted to do in her life was to be with horses. When she grew up, she’d work with them. Sometimes she thought she’d be a trainer. Then the next day, she’d decide to be a vet. Or maybe she’d be a show rider, or perhaps a breeder, or a trader, or maybe— She simply couldn’t pick one. For now, she’d decided to be all of them.

While Carole never forgot a detail having to do with horses and their riding and care and stable management, she often forget details about the rest of her life. If she went on a trip, she always packed her riding clothes, but she might leave her toothbrush, nightgown, or shoes behind. When she left the house in the morning, she might leave her book bag on the kitchen table, but the backpack that held her riding gear never left her side!

Carole lived with her father, a colonel in the
Marine Corps. Almost all her life, she and her family had moved wherever the Marine Corps had sent them. It hadn’t been easy on Carole or her mother, but they’d learned to adjust to their new homes. Then, finally, her father had been stationed at Quantico, outside of Washington, and they’d known this would be where they would stay for a long time. They’d bought a house—the first time they’d ever owned a house off a base—and they’d settled in Willow Creek. That was when Carole had started riding at Pine Hollow. It was a wonderfully happy time until Carole’s mother had gotten ill with cancer. She had died of it soon after.

During her mother’s illness and after her death, Carole had found that the only place she could be content was with horses. She somehow managed to put all her worry and sadness aside when she was in the saddle, concentrating completely on the one thing she could count on, the one thing that would never change in her life—her love of horses.

While Lisa was serious about everything and Carole was serious about horses, it sometimes seemed to the two of them that Stevie was serious about only one thing: fun. Stevie was famous for her weird sense of humor and her passion for pranks and practical jokes. Not everybody agreed with Stevie’s idea
of fun, and the result was that she spent a lot of time in hot water. That had merely honed her abilities to get out of it. Her teachers sometimes complained that she spent more time in the principal’s office than she did in class. She assured everyone that that was a wild exaggeration and, if the principal would just listen more attentively while Stevie explained things, it wouldn’t take nearly as much time.

Stevie’s parents were both lawyers working in Washington. Stevie had three brothers: an older brother named Chad, a twin brother named Alex, and a younger brother named Michael. Being the only girl wasn’t always easy, and Stevie often relied on her resourceful imagination to figure out how to get back at them when they teased her or played jokes on her. It didn’t always make for peace at home, but—much to her parents’ consternation—there was never a dull moment at the Lake household.

As Stevie had become expert at getting herself into trouble, she’d also gotten pretty good at taking her friends along with her. Carole and Lisa never knew what was going to happen when Stevie came up with one of her harebrained schemes. Stevie was fond of pointing out to them that, more often than
not, her schemes worked. She had accomplished some pretty amazing things with her pranks and jokes. She’d also spent more time than she usually recalled being grounded for them.

The one thing the girls always agreed on was that they loved horses. Stevie and Carole each had her own horse. Carole’s, a half-Thoroughbred bay gelding, was named Starlight for the nearly perfect six-pointed star on his forehead. Her father had given him to her for Christmas one year, and Carole was convinced he was the best Christmas present anyone could ever have.

Stevie’s horse, Belle, was an Arabian-Saddlebred mix. She was sweet and spirited just like Stevie and even sometimes got into trouble. Belle had an allergy to certain weeds that seemed to taste good—at least to her—so whenever the girls rode, Stevie had to be sure Belle didn’t get anywhere near temptation. Stevie was happy to do whatever was necessary to protect her beloved horse.

Lisa didn’t own a horse. Part of her wanted badly to own one, but another part of her knew that she was still a relatively new rider, and it was good for her to have the experience of riding a lot of different horses. Most of the time, she rode a Thoroughbred mare named Prancer that belonged to the
stable. Prancer had retired from the racetrack when she’d developed a weakness in her legs that had ended her racing career, but that didn’t impede her quality as a hackney at Pine Hollow. Lisa was sure, too, that Prancer would make a great show horse eventually, and she was bound and determined to be the rider who won Prancer’s first blue ribbon.

“Done!” Stevie called out from Nero’s stall.

“Me too, almost,” Lisa announced as she peered out the doorway of Prancer’s stall. “I just have to make the bedding more even.”

“I’ll give you a hand,” Stevie offered.

With a few quick, smooth strokes, the job was done. The girls led Prancer back into her fresh clean stall and latched the door.

“Why don’t you bring in a bale of hay and distribute it while I clean Penny’s stall?” Carole suggested.

The girls divided their tasks naturally and helped one another easily as they finished up the chores. When the last stall was clean and every horse and pony in the stable had fresh hay and water, the three of them went to check on Patch.

Patch was one of their favorite lesson horses. He was a black-and-white paint gelding that a lot of new riders started on at Pine Hollow. Carole
clipped a lead line on his halter and patted his neck affectionately.

“Come on, boy, let’s take a look at that foot of yours before Judy gets here.”

Patch’s ears perked up curiously as she talked. He always responded to kindness. It was one of the things that made him a favorite.

Carole tugged gently. Patch stepped gingerly out of the stall. Stevie watched his feet; Lisa watched his head and his ears; Carole listened.

There was no mistake about it. Something was wrong with his foot or leg. Lisa saw his ears go back when he put weight on the sore foot. Stevie saw him pull the foot off the floor as soon as he could transfer weight to his other feet. Carole heard Patch’s uneven footsteps as he moved forward.

Stevie, Carole, and Lisa all knew that Max would have checked Patch for obvious problems before he’d called Judy, but they wanted to look for themselves. Carole held the lead line and comforted the ailing horse while Stevie and Lisa checked for sources of the problem. Stevie looked at Patch’s hoof first. Sometimes a stone could get stuck under a horse’s shoe. She ran her finger around the underside of the shoe and found nothing. She checked the bottom of his foot for soreness, but he didn’t
flinch, so she decided it wasn’t a bruised frog. She felt his hoof and then his ankle for warmth, knowing that if there was infection, there might be inflammation. It felt all right to her, but to be sure, she also felt his other foot. It seemed to be the same temperature. She felt along his lower leg for any swelling. She didn’t find anything. Then she checked the left leg against the right one just to be sure they were the same size.

“Beats me,” she said finally.

“Then I guess it’s a good idea that Judy’s coming to take a look at it,” Lisa said.

The girls decided that it might help Patch to put a wrap on the leg until Judy got there. At the very least, it wouldn’t hurt, and it might make Patch more comfortable. Stevie got the bandage and Carole held Patch’s lead while Lisa wrapped the leg.

“What a team we are!” Stevie said proudly when they’d finished taking care of Patch. “I think we can accomplish anything, as long as we work together.”

“And as long as it has to do with horses,” said Lisa.

Carole smiled at her two friends. “Okay, okay, enough of this work stuff. Did somebody say something about a trail ride a while back?”

It was time for some fun.

“W
HY DON
’
T WE
go see how Deborah’s doing?” Lisa asked.

“Better still, why don’t we see if Deborah would like to come along with us?” Stevie suggested.

“Great idea,” Carole said.

They found Deborah sitting at her desk, glaring at her computer screen.

“Are we interrupting?” Lisa asked.

“I wish you were!” Deborah said. “I’ve been looking at this thing for an hour and absolutely nothing has come of it. I just can’t figure out how I want to start my article. I’m totally stuck. Any ideas?”

“You bet,” said Stevie. “Whenever I have trouble
thinking about what I want to do, I just go for a ride. How about that?”

“Yeah, we’re going on a trail ride,” Lisa said. “Would you like to come with us?”

“Like this?” Deborah asked, pointing to her enlarged belly.

“The doctor said you could ride, didn’t he?” Carole asked.

“Oh, sure,” Deborah said. “I’m just supposed to take it easy. No galloping, no jumping, no steeple-chasing.”

“You never did that stuff
before
you were pregnant!” Lisa said.

“That was his point,” Deborah said, grinning. “He told me that I could and, actually,
should
keep on doing everything I’d been doing before I became pregnant, and I guess that includes being a beginning rider. Do you really want to go on a trail ride with someone who can’t go faster than a walk?”

“Yes!” said Lisa.

“I guarantee it’ll help you think better,” said Stevie.

“I’ll tack up Delilah,” Carole offered.

“I’ll change my clothes and meet you at the good-luck horseshoe,” said Deborah.

Fifteen minutes later, the four of them were ready
to ride. Before they left, they each touched the stable’s good-luck horseshoe. According to tradition, no rider at Pine Hollow who touched the horseshoe had ever been seriously hurt in a riding accident. Some of the younger riders thought that meant the horseshoe had magic powers. The older riders suspected that touching the shoe was a way to remind riders that they needed to be careful. Whatever the cause, the effect was a good one. Safety was the first rule of riding at Pine Hollow, and the girls were determined to make this a safe ride for Deborah.

They rode four abreast across the fields as they headed for the woods.

“I’ve been thinking about a horse,” Carole said.

“You’re always thinking about horses,” said Lisa.

They all laughed because they knew that was true.

“Well, more specifically, I’ve been thinking about Patch,” she said. “I wish I could figure out what’s wrong with him.”

“He’s got a sore foot. That’s what Max said,” Deborah told them.

“Ah, yes, but there are so many things that could cause it,” said Stevie. “I mean, lameness can be caused by laminitis, a bruise, a sprain, a strain, a
problem with the shoe, a feed problem, bog spavin, bone spavin, thoroughpin, or splints.”

“It could be from an injury, disease, or parasite,” said Lisa.

“It could be minor, major, or even permanent,” Carole added.

“Oh my,” said Deborah. “Every time I think I’ve learned something about horses, I find that there are a million more things to learn.”

“A zillion,” Lisa corrected her. “Million just covers what there is to learn about the art and science of riding. Zillion is how many things there are to learn about equine health and care.”

“And if you add stable management, you’re definitely up around a jillion,” Stevie said.

“How did you girls manage to learn all these things?” Deborah asked.

“Max, Pine Hollow, Horse Wise,” said Lisa.

“Just wanting to know because we love horses,” Stevie explained.

“And you, Carole,” Deborah asked, “were you born knowing these things?”

“Oh, no,” Carole said. “I learned them. I followed the stable boys around at every stable where I rode. Every time they said or did anything, I
watched and listened. Sometimes they got a little tired of me, but my father was an officer so they couldn’t ignore me—at least, not at the Marine Corps base stables! But any kid who loves horses will find a way to learn these things.”