Quarter Horse by Bonnie Bryant

Author:Bonnie Bryant [Bryant, Bonnie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-82583-4
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2013-01-30T05:00:00+00:00

THE NEXT EVENT was calf roping. Since the grounds crew didn’t need to set anything up, Lisa and Carole and Sal stayed on their horses and waited for the action to begin. Carole was to haze the calves just as she had done with the goats, and Lisa was to keep an eye on the riders. Sal clowned and coordinated them from the far end of the ring.

As before, Mary Corona was the first contestant. She bounded out on her pinto mare and roped her calf successfully, but the calf had long, wiggly legs and she lost a lot of time trying to tie them up. The next few contestants did better. Then it was Gabriel’s turn. He carefully positioned Napoleon in the gate, then nodded. With the same lightning speed he’d used in the goat wrestling, he roped his calf and had its legs tied almost before Carole and Lisa could blink. They had nothing to do but sit on their horses and watch while he took his hat off and waved again to the cheering crowd.

“Give that young man a hand,” the announcer cried as Gabriel and Napoleon made another triumphant circle around the ring. “He’s as fast a calf roper as he is a goat wrestler!”

Stevie was next. Carole and Lisa glanced worriedly at each other as she got ready to ride. When she settled down in the gate they turned their attention to the business at hand. With a quick nod, Stevie signaled to open the chute. She and Tumbleweed thundered out of the gate just behind a brown calf that galloped along like a little racehorse. The calf tried to veer off to the right, but Carole rode alongside him and kept him running straight. Stevie began swinging her lasso in a tight circle, and when Tumbleweed had drawn even with the calf’s shoulders, she let the noose go. It fell over his head, right on target. Immediately Tumbleweed stopped and began to back up, keeping the rope taut. Stevie leaped off the right side of the saddle and rushed down to the calf. She had no difficulty pulling him over, but his legs flailed as wildly as the goat’s, and it took her a long time to tie three of them together. When she finally stood up and held her arms out, her time had almost run out. She looked disappointedly at Lisa and Carole as she got back on Tumbleweed, and when they announced the winners of the event, Gabriel had come in first, Stevie a distant third.

“Uh-oh,” Lisa said to Carole after the announcer had read the results. “It’s two events to one, in favor of Gabriel. I think Stevie might really be in trouble.”

“I know.” Carole frowned. “I hate to admit this, but Gabriel is really good. If Stevie doesn’t win the pole bending and the quarter-mile race, she’s going to be doing something awful.”

“Wonder what it will be?” asked Lisa.

“I don’t even want to think about it,” said Carole with a grimace.

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