Beware the Mare by Jessie Haas

Author:Jessie Haas
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781497662636
Publisher: Open Road Media Teen & Tween

6

NO ONE NEEDS to tell Lily and Beware to have fun.

No longer does Lily have to kick a pony’s fat sides, hard, when she wants to go faster. No longer does she have to pull hard on the reins to slow down. No longer must she pass by a little log to jump or a nice flat stretch for cantering.

Beware comes to the fence every time she sees Lily. As soon as the pony realizes that he won’t be asked to work, he comes, too. The pony comes for treats. Beware comes because she wants to do something.

One day Mom rides out with them on one of the sale horses. They go up the trail to the woodlot. Beware steps eagerly and looks around at the new sights. But she doesn’t shy, even when a partridge flies up beside her with a sound like a roll of drums.

After that Lily can go out alone. Beware likes that best. She walks along with her neck stretched and her ears pointed forward. When she comes to a bend in the trail, she steps more eagerly, looking ahead for the fresh view. If she sees a log, she wants to jump it. If she sees a deer running, she wants to follow it.

Every morning, before breakfast, Lily and Gramp go to the barn together. Gramp gets his big can of fly repellent and his rag. Lily gets her small can and her rag. They each go to their own pastures and put fly repellent on their own horses.

The fly repellent doesn’t work perfectly. Some strong blackflies bite anyway. Lily does her best, but Beware still gets little bumps inside her ears and on her belly.

“That’s not too bad,” says Gramp when Lily calls him to look. “Better than poor old Stogie.” Stogie stands under a tree with his ears flattened out to the sides. His ears are full of itchy, stinging bites.

“They’re driving him crazy,” says Gramp. “Wish I could convince him I want to help.” He rubs the bumps on Beware’s belly. Beware makes her upper lip long, the way the Girls do when they scratch each other’s shoulders. She bends herself almost in a circle, and she scratches Gramp’s arm with her lip.

“Itch, don’t they?” says Gramp. “Never mind, blackfly season will be over soon. Then there’s just deerflies and horseflies and botflies and face flies.… Makes you glad you aren’t a horse, eh, Lily?” Then Gran rings the bell on the porch, and it is time for breakfast.

Today Gramp says, “I sold that sorrel to somebody over where your mare comes from, Lily. After I deliver him, I’ll go see what I can find out.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.