New Rider (2 page)

The three friends loved spending their time learning about horses almost as much as they loved riding and being with horses. In fact, together the three girls had formed The Saddle Club. It was a club with only two rules: First, you had to be head over heels in love with horses, and second, you had to be willing to help the other members out, no matter what.

“That’s a good question, Lisa.”

The girls turned to find Judy Barker standing behind them.

“Mr. Wooten wants to get as many foals out of Sunset as he can before she gets too old, and the next best time for getting her pregnant will be immediately after she gives birth, because mares go into heat about a week after they foal. Also, it’s a lot less dangerous to move her now than it would be to transport a nervous mother and a fragile newborn.”

The horse was covered with a light blanket to keep her warm during travel, so the girls couldn’t see her conformation. They waited expectantly as Mr. Wooten stripped the cover off.

“What a looker!” Stevie exclaimed.

“She obviously has excellent bloodlines,” Carole observed.

“You’re right, Carole,” Max said, striding toward the group. “Sunset’s a very valuable broodmare, and many of her offspring have been quite successful. Let’s hope Geronimo can add quality.” Geronimo was Pine Hollow’s stallion. Mr. Wooten was paying to breed Sunset with him.

Lisa was puzzled by Max’s last remark. “If she’s as valuable as you say, what makes you think she doesn’t have quality?”

Max smiled at her. “
Adding quality
is a horse breeders’ term for a stallion’s ability to pass on his best traits to his offspring. It doesn’t mean Sunset’s aren’t good, but we hope to make them even better in her next foal.” He turned to Judy. “Would you like to look her over now?”

“Absolutely,” said the vet, moving toward the animal.

“In the meantime I’d like the three of you to double-check the foaling stall for me. We want to
make sure our new tenant is absolutely comfortable and safe, right?”

“You got it, Max,” Carole said, throwing him a playful salute. They headed inside the stable.

“I wish they wouldn’t put the foaling stalls so far from the regular ones,” Lisa said. “It’s going to make it harder to keep an eye on Sunset.”

“They have to,” Stevie replied, grabbing a handful of hay and banking it a little steeper against the foaling stall’s rounded corners. “Horses are pretty nosy creatures, so all the ones that don’t have babies will want to meet the new one. That might upset the dam.”

“There’s also a small chance that the foal might get confused and think a different animal was its mother,” Carole offered as she checked the water supply and manger. “It’s called imprinting. Foals need to imprint on the right mother.”

A few moments later, Max and Judy arrived leading Sunset. On either side of them, curious horses peered out from their stalls, watching the newcomer. Max and Judy took her into the stall and stayed with her to make sure nothing in the unfamiliar surroundings alarmed her.

To Stevie, Sunset appeared completely indifferent
to both Max
and
her new surroundings. Instead she seemed more interested in going outside to her private little paddock.

“What do you say, Judy? Is it okay to let her go?” Max asked.

“She’s fit and healthy, Max. I don’t think you’ll have any excitement around here for at least three weeks.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” he said, unclipping Sunset’s halter and allowing her to move outside. “Unless I’m mistaken, there’s a mounted Horse Wise meeting in a few minutes.” He looked pointedly at Lisa, Stevie, and Carole. “Not to mention that we have a new member starting today. Don’t you girls have some getting ready to do?”

“In all the excitement I almost forgot,” admitted Carole.

“We’d better get moving,” Stevie urged.

Lisa hurried after her friends “Hey, do you two know who this new rider is?”

“I haven’t got a clue,” Stevie said as she entered the locker room.

“Why should today be any different?” said a haughty voice from the corner. Veronica diAngelo was putting on lip gloss.

Stevie glared at her. “Oh, terrific, it’s Pine Hollow’s answer to the Wicked Witch of the West. Exactly what I need.”

“I’d say what you need is someone to dress you in the morning,” Veronica smirked. “Nice shirt, Lake. Hah!” She strode out the door.

Veronica diAngelo was a thorn in the side of The Saddle Club. She was rich, and she never let anyone forget it. She was also spoiled and lazy, and she tried to get everyone else to do her work. She and Stevie especially seemed to rub each other the wrong way.

Stevie looked down at her shirt. Okay, it was a little wrinkled, but outside of that what was wrong with it? She was about to go after Veronica and give her a few choice words, but Carole blocked her path.

“Let it go, the meeting’s going to start in a minute.”

“I know who it is,” Lisa suddenly volunteered.

“Who what is?” Stevie asked, confused by Lisa’s abrupt change of subject.

“I know who the new rider is,” Lisa insisted.

“Who?” cried Carole.

“How long have you known?” demanded Stevie.

“Who?” repeated Carole.

Lisa laughed. “You sound like an owl.”

“Who, who, who?” Carole said, playing along.

“Zach,” Lisa declared triumphantly.

“The new boy from school?” squealed Carole.

“You got it in one,” Lisa confirmed.

“Excuse me,” said Stevie.

“I didn’t know he was into horses,” Carole said.

“Excuse me,” Stevie said louder. “I seem to have had a flat tire on the information highway.”

“Sorry, Stevie. I forgot you don’t go to our school. Zachary Simpson just moved here, but I’m not sure from where.”

“He’s kind of cute, too,” added Carole.

“Cute and into horses…,” Stevie speculated. “Sounds promising.”

“Hey, you’re booked, remember!” Lisa reminded her.

“Booked, yes. Embalmed, no,” Stevie declared with a grin.

“What does Phil think about this liberal attitude?” asked Carole, crossing her arms.

“Just kidding.” Stevie looked anxiously from friend to friend. “You do know I’m kidding, right?”

Phil Marsten was Stevie’s steady boyfriend. Because he lived about twenty minutes from Willow Creek, they didn’t get to see each other very often, but they
called each other almost every day and got together whenever they could.

Lisa laughed. “Don’t worry. We know you’re devoted to Phil.”

“Come on, you two, we’ve got to scoot or we’ll be late for the meeting.”

T
HE
S
ADDLE
C
LUB
girls were among the last to enter the room. Stevie spotted the new rider immediately. He was lounging against a wall. Tall and slender, his hair was almost white-blond, and long bangs hung over his eyes. His shirt sleeves were rolled back, and Stevie could tell by his muscles that he exercised. “Hey, Carole,” she whispered. “You were right, he is kind of cute.”

“Okay, everyone, settle down,” Max called. “We have a busy day ahead of us. As you all know, today I’ve planned a gymkhana.”

A buzz of excitement swept the room. Everybody loved games on horseback.

“In a few minutes I’m going to divide you up into teams, but first I’d like to introduce you to the newest member of our Horse Wise group, Zachary Simpson.” He gestured to the boy. “I know you’ll all do your best to make him feel welcome. Zachary, would you like to say a few words?”

Stevie thought the boy looked a bit self-conscious as he moved toward Max. He pushed his bangs to the side and gave a shy grin.

“Well, first of all, you can call me Zach. My family just moved here from California.” He slipped his hands in his pockets as if he didn’t know what to do with them. “I’m new to all this horse stuff. I mean
really
new. I went to stay with my cousin in Texas for a while and he took me riding, which turned out to be pretty awesome, so I decided it would be cool to learn more about it.” He shrugged. “I guess that’s why I’m here.”

“I’d like to think you came to the right place, Zach,” Max said. “That’s what Pine Hollow is all about. Learning.”

There were murmurs of agreement throughout the room.

“I’ve posted a list outside showing who’s on which team for the gymkhana. Everyone tack up and meet me in the outdoor ring. Pronto.”

“Come on, you two, I’ll introduce you to Zach,” Lisa offered.

Carole agreed. “Yeah, like Max said, we should make him feel welcome. Maybe show him the ropes.”

The girls trooped outside to find Zach waiting his turn to see the list.

Lisa joined him. “Hi, Zach. I’m Lisa. We’re both in Mrs. Mathios’s social studies class.

“Sure, I remember,” he responded with a smile.

“These are my friends, Carole and Stevie. They’re the best riders at Pine Hollow.”

“That’s a matter of opinion,” Veronica diAngelo snorted.

“That’s Veronica,” Stevie said. “Feel free to ignore her. Everybody else does.”

“Do you know which horse Max assigned you?” Lisa asked.

“Yeah, his name is Barq. I got to see him when Max gave me the grand tour.”

Stevie was surprised. “I guess Max has confidence in your riding abilities then. Barq is pretty spirited.”

“I like that in a horse,” Zach assured her.

“Hey, guys,” Carole called. “I checked the list and guess what? We’re all on the same team!”

“You mean all three of us?” asked Stevie excitedly.

“Nope.” Carole shook her head. “All four!”

“I’m on your team?” Zach asked.

“That definitely puts you guys out of the running,” crowed Veronica. “With a beginner on your team, I suggest you don’t even bother to play.” With a laugh, she flounced away.

Stevie bristled. “I’ve got a few suggestions I’d like to share with her, too!”

“She’s probably right,” Zach said. “I may tank the whole thing for you.”

“Look, you do your best,” Carole told him. “That’s all we want.”

“Come on. We’ll help you tack up,” Lisa offered.

W
HEN
C
AROLE WAS
finished saddling Starlight, she went to talk to Stevie. “What did you think of Zach’s saddling technique?” she asked, careful to keep her voice low.

“He’s kind of rough around the edges,” Stevie chuckled. “But you can’t fault him on his enthusiasm.”

Carole rested her chin on her arms as she leaned on the stall door. “That’s true, but we could have given him a lot more pointers if he hadn’t been so impatient to get in the saddle.”

Stevie put the finishing touches to Belle and stroked her horse’s long nose thoughtfully. “Maybe his blood was up. I know some days all I want to do is hit the trail and not bother with all the other stuff.”

“I know how that feels,” Carole admitted, “but the
difference is that we
do
the other stuff no matter how eager we are to get going.”

Stevie shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry about it yet. I’m sure he’ll settle down. We did.” She led her horse out of the stall. “Now, let’s go see how he rides.”

A
S THE GIRLS
guided their horses toward the stable exit, Zach, leading Barq, fell into step with them.

“Looks like Barq is raring to go,” Lisa remarked, observing the prancing horse.

“That makes two of us,” Zach said, smiling with undisguised enthusiasm.

Out of habit Carole found herself scanning his mount for any problems. One became immediately apparent. “Zach, you know you’re going to have to tighten up Barq’s girth again before you mount, right?”

“I already did that when I tacked him up.”

The group came to a halt.

“Barq is trying to pull a fast one on you,” Lisa told him. She gestured toward the horse’s belly.

Zach was clearly puzzled. “Looks okay to me.”

Stevie stepped forward. “Here, I’ll hold Barq while you give the girth a tug.”

Zach did as she suggested, and the leather slid a few inches tighter. “Hey! I know I pulled this as tight as I could the first time.”

The girls all chuckled.

“Barq took a big breath of air and held it just as you pulled, then he let it out when you were done,” Lisa told him. “It’s an old horse trick. A lot of animals do it, so it’s something you have to check for every time you saddle up.”

“Otherwise when you put your weight in the stirrup to mount, you’ll find yourself sitting on the ground and your saddle under his belly,” Carole warned him.

“If you pull it as tight as you can, then walk him around for a minute, he’ll have to exhale. When you hear him do that, you quickly make it tighter,” Stevie added.

“I didn’t think horses were that smart,” Zach said.

Carole shared a knowing look with her friends. “Boy, are you in for some surprises!”

Sunset poked her head over her door to see what was going on.

“Hey, girl.” Zach reached out to stroke her. “Why the long face?”

Stevie immediately broke into laughter. “Why the long face! That’s funny.”

“Oh, I get it,” Carole said after a moment and chuckled.

“Of course! All horses have long faces,” Lisa giggled, catching on.

Sunset avoided Zach’s touch by moving deeper into her stall.