Horse Play by Bonnie Bryant

Author:Bonnie Bryant [Bryant, Bonnie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780307824844
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2012-09-25T14:00:00+00:00

CAROLE PUSHED THE “start” button on the stereo and mounted Diablo. Her friends were waiting on the other side of the riding ring for the music to begin.

“One-two-three, and … she said as the marching band began blasting out “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” On the second count of four, the horses began moving where their riders wanted them to go. The girls were working on an exercise that had proved very difficult in the past. Starting from the edge of the ring at equal distance from the others, each rider was to make her horse trot in spirals, like the groove of a record, so that the three would meet in the center. It took a lot of precision because if the girls didn’t watch out, the horses got all bunched up together while they were still supposed to be apart.

The music helped the girls to establish an even pace, but it didn’t solve everything.

“Slow down, Stevie!” Carole warned.

“I slowed down already,” Stevie shot back. “It’s Comanche who keeps trying to catch up to Pepper!”

“Very funny,” Carole returned. “Try using a little pressure from your outside hand to slow him down.”

“Maybe you guys should just go faster,” Stevie suggested. But just then Comanche responded to Stevie’s signal and shortened his stride.

“Good!” Carole said excitedly, for she could see that if all three of them maintained their pace exactly as it was, they’d succeed, meeting precisely in the middle of the ring.

“Very good!” Max’s voice boomed over the music. He had paused on his way across the ring to watch a few minutes of their practice.

A small part of Carole wanted to smile. A larger part made her face a picture of determination and concentration. She didn’t want compliments from Max to distract her. She only had eyes for her friends. She watched them as carefully as they watched her, and each other, until the magical moment when they were at the center of the ring. Their horses were still trotting, now nearly head to tail, in a tight circle.

“Now slow to a walk,” Carole said. The horses changed gaits at the same instant. She allowed herself to smile then. “And stop,” she said quietly. The music came to a climactic end. The horses stood still. The three girls grinned.

“We did it!” Stevie yelled, patting Comanche enthusiastically on the neck. “We really, really did it.”

“We really are getting better,” Lisa said, almost in disbelief

“Yeah, maybe we will be good enough by next Friday,” Stevie said.

“What’s happening Friday?” Max asked. He pushed the “off” button on the stereo and joined the girls in the center of the ring.

The girls glanced nervously at one another. One thing they hadn’t planned for was how to tell Max about their surprise.

“What’s happening next Friday?” he repeated. There was a little sharpness in his voice.

Lisa and Stevie looked to Carole. She knew they would. Lisa might be the oldest of them, and Stevie might be the boldest, but when it came to handling Max, they expected her to take the reins.

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