Rocking Horse by Bonnie Bryant

Author:Bonnie Bryant [Bryant, Bonnie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-82578-0
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2013-01-30T05:00:00+00:00

CAROLE AND LISA had their horses bathed and were drying them in front of the stabling tent when Stevie finished the course. She rode Belle right up to them. “Hey,” she called, “want to hear some good news? Sixteen of the twenty teams have completed cross-country. One—just one—has a perfect score. Guess which team that is?” Stevie’s broad grin told them the answer.

Lisa cut her voice off in midcheer. She saw Betsy standing right next to them, and she felt bad about celebrating so loudly. Betsy had ridden well.

“Don’t worry about it,” Betsy said. She walked the horse she was leading into their circle. “Do you see who I’m taking care of?”

The Saddle Club girls nodded. Betsy had given Danny a much-needed bath. She shook her head in frustration. “Veronica and her father are off complaining to the show officials. She did go off course—she jumped some of the younger kids’ fences and almost collided with an eight-year-old boy riding a pony. She’s been eliminated from the competition, so, of course, our team has been eliminated, too.”

“And she asked you to take care of Danny?” Carole held her hand under his velvety nose. Danny blew into it.

“Nope,” Betsy said. “She just yanked her saddle off him and left him steaming in his stall.” She looked furious. “Meg’s getting started on our tack while I cool him out. Trust me, we are not cleaning Veronica’s tack. But we couldn’t let Danny suffer.”

“Of course not,” Carole said. “I’m done with Starlight; I’ll help you.”

“Thanks.” Betsy seemed about to say something, then stopped. Finally she said, “I heard about the mud in Belle’s tail. I don’t know for sure that Veronica did it, but she could have. She left the tack room late last night, when Meg and I were almost asleep. I thought she was just going to the bathroom. She could have done it then.”

“Thanks,” Stevie said. “We were pretty sure she’d done it.”

“You’re welcome.” Betsy shook her head. “You know, when we’re not around horses, Veronica and I are pretty good friends. We have a lot of fun together at school. I almost think I’d like her better if she didn’t ride.”

Lisa put Prancer back in her stall and helped Stevie untack Belle. “That’s pretty sad, what Betsy said,” she commented. “I love the fact that you and Carole ride. How were those coops, Stevie?”

Stevie grinned. “I didn’t even see them,” she said. “I made sure Belle was straight to them, but I looked over the top of them. I never looked at the jumps. Then, when she was coming right up to them, I shut my eyes and grabbed her mane. Belle did just fine.”

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