Show Jumper

“All right, Lisa—let’s go,” Max called out.

Despite her resolve, Lisa looked at the course and felt her heart begin hammering even faster. She couldn’t ride this course. The jumps were enormous. What was she thinking, asking to ride Samson in the Macrae?

Suddenly Lisa sat up straighter in the saddle and took up the reins firmly.
Max wouldn’t let you ride in the Macrae Valley Open if he thought you were going to completely fail. I mean
, she corrected herself,
Max must have confidence in you to let you ride in the Macrae. He must feel you have a chance.

She looked straight ahead at Samson’s ears, which were pricked up eagerly for her signal to start. Confidence, Lisa knew, was a huge part of jumping. Determinedly she shortened the reins and cantered Samson in a circle. They broke out of the circle and headed for the first fence.

T
HE SUN SHONE
brightly in a clear blue sky. A scattering of applause died down after the awarding of the second-place ribbon. A dramatic hush fell over the crowd as everyone waited for the announcement of the blue-ribbon winner.

Lisa Atwood, waiting near the entrance of the ring on Samson, felt a nervous flutter in her stomach. Even though she already knew what was coming next, she still couldn’t quite believe what had just happened. In fact, she couldn’t believe that she was even there, let alone about to experience the next moment.

Standing at the judges’ desk in their box, a stately, gray-haired man held up a microphone, and the loud-speakers blared. “I am pleased to announce the winner of today’s junior jumping division,” he said solemnly.
“This poised young rider gave a spectacular performance on a spectacular horse. I’m sure you were all as thrilled as I was to see this young lady take these fences on what is, in my opinion, one of the most promising horses we’ve seen in a long time.”

He held up a silver cup and smiled broadly. “The blue ribbon and challenge trophy for junior jumping goes to Lisa Atwood, riding Samson from Pine Hollow Stables!”

The crowd broke into loud applause. When she heard it, Lisa’s nervousness vanished. Suddenly she felt a tremendous surge of excitement and happiness. They were clapping for her! And, of course, for Samson, the best jumper she had ever ridden. She gently urged the black gelding into the ring and rode toward the judges to accept the trophy and the blue ribbon. Samson seemed to understand that he had performed well and that this was an extra-special occasion. He picked up his feet briskly and tossed his mane several times.

As she and Samson made their way to the judges’ box, Lisa searched the crowd. Although she was almost too excited to focus, she wanted to share this moment with several very important people. After scanning the blur of faces, she finally glimpsed her mother and her two best friends, Carole Hanson and Stevie Lake. All three were clapping madly, and both Carole and Stevie were giving her a huge V sign for victory. Lisa grinned and waved at them.

Then she caught a glimpse of Max Regnery III, the owner of Pine Hollow, sitting with his mother. She was Pine Hollow’s stable manager and universally known as Mrs. Reg. Max also owned Samson. Lisa was accustomed to seeing Max every week as her occasionally stern, always professional riding instructor, but now all his normal restraint was gone. He had a huge smile on his face, and he and Mrs. Reg were clapping like crazy.

As the applause grew even louder, Samson began to get a little bothered by the noise. Without warning, he pulled sideways with little, jerky steps. Lisa acted quickly, taking firmer hold of the reins and leaning forward so that Samson could hear her over the noise. “Easy, Samson—nothing to get worried about, just a little applause for you,” she said gently. She tightened the reins to maintain light contact with his mouth and urged him to walk a little more quickly toward the judges’ box. Immediately Samson calmed down.

Then Lisa reached the box, and a judge leaned over to pin the blue ribbon on Samson’s bridle. The man with the microphone handed Lisa the silver cup. “Congratulations, Ms. Atwood,” he said, shaking her hand. Lisa thanked him; then she and Samson joined the other competitors in the center of the ring.

As another round of applause began for the junior jumpers, Lisa leaned forward and patted Samson’s neck. “We did it, boy!” she whispered to him. “We won!”

“L
ISA
! W
HERE ARE
you? It’s time to go!”

Her mother’s voice shattered Lisa’s thoughts and she jumped. The crowd and the applause melted away and she blinked, looking around her in a daze. She recognized her neatly made bed, the horse posters, and the books that lined the walls. She was in her bedroom, sitting at her desk—exactly the same spot where she had been fifteen minutes before, when she had started daydreaming.

But what a daydream! She had imagined winning the blue ribbon at the Macrae Valley Open. And as she slowly came back to reality, she knew that it was Wednesday morning, and that the
real
Macrae Valley Open was only two days away. It was one of the biggest horse shows on the A-rated show circuit, and she, Lisa Atwood, was going to be competing in the junior jumping division.

Carole and Stevie were also going to the Macrae Valley Open, which made Lisa all the more excited. Without her best friends there, she would have felt lost at the Macrae. Since the three girls had met and formed The Saddle Club, they had gone through many adventures together: They had rescued horses from danger, met movie stars, and gone out West to ride at a dude ranch. Throughout these experiences, the girls had been brought even closer to each other and had won lots of friends by sticking to the two rules of The
Saddle Club. First, Saddle Club members had to be crazy about horses. Second, Saddle Club members had to be willing to help each other out.

Several weeks before, the prospect of going to the Macrae Valley Open had really put the two rules to the test. The girls, of course, were already familiar with the Macrae, one of the most famous horse shows in the country. The bad news was that Veronica diAngelo, The Saddle Club’s worst enemy, was also entered in the competition, and worse yet, she was bragging to everyone at Pine Hollow that she would win the junior jumping division. Veronica was the laziest, most spoiled member of the girls’ Pony Club, Horse Wise. With her parents’ wealth and her champion jumper, Danny, Veronica had managed to persuade Max to enter her in the Macrae and transport Danny there in the Pine Hollow horse trailer—with an extra stall reserved for her equipment.

When they had heard this news—and gotten a dose of Veronica’s bragging—The Saddle Club had put their heads together and acted quickly and decisively. Not only did the three girls want very badly to compete in the Macrae Valley Open, they also didn’t want Veronica to be the only representative of Pine Hollow at the show and possibly—their worst nightmare—win the junior jumping event. So they hatched a plan to convince Max to take them along to the Macrae.