No Place Like Home (Horse Country #4) by Yamile Saied Méndez

Author:Yamile Saied Méndez [Saied Méndez, Yamile]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2023-02-02T00:00:00+00:00

Kimber and Tyler were helping Heidi, the new horse, down from the trailer. The whole ranch had gathered to welcome them, but Carolina, in a rare bout of generosity, had decided to keep Shadow company.

In spite of her grand gesture, the Arabian was moping. Carolina didn’t know how to lift his mood when she was struggling with hers. The news about Loretta moving to a boarding school, a fun one with an equestrian program, had upset her. She wasn’t jealous, exactly. The idea of making up with Loretta had excited her, and now she wondered what the point of trying would be.

As she walked Shadow slowly around the arena the way Dr. Rooney had instructed, Carolina also wondered if all her efforts to help him were in vain too. The weekly injections hadn’t made the effect they had expected, and the vet had reminded them that surgery might be the only way to help Shadow be pain free.

A few months ago, when Napoleon’s health had been a little delicate, the whole ranch had tried to make sure to give him extra love in the shape of food and treats. But with Shadow, the situation was a little more complicated. They could make his problems worse by messing with his diet, so treats were out of the question. Although green grass was best for his situation, he always managed to get ahold of things he shouldn’t eat when he went out in the large pastures.

For now Shadow had to stay in his stall or the small paddock beside it, which only made him sadder.

“I know you don’t understand why this is happening to you,” Carolina said, petting him as they finished his short daily walk. “But it’s for your own good, sweetheart.”

Even though she tried to convey all the love in her heart like Abuela Ceci had always taught her, Shadow didn’t seem understand her intentions. He tossed his mane like the offended heroine in a soap opera.

On any other occasion, Carolina would laugh at his attitude. But now she was just sad.

“She’s settled!” Chelsie exclaimed, running in Caro’s direction.

Carolina turned to smile at her friend, but Chelsie still sensed her worry about Shadow.

“My mom said we can both help groom Heidi tonight. She needs a lot of TLC,” Chelsie said, trying to cheer her up. “Come see!”

Carolina petted Shadow’s neck. “Ready to meet your new neighbor?”

She followed Chelsie back to Shadow’s stall and let the Arabian through his door. Heidi stood in the big box stall next door.

Like always, Carolina fell in love at first sight.

“She’s a beauty,” she said, smiling.

Heidi was a chestnut American quarter horse, the most common breed and color in the west. She was beautiful with her barely-rounder-than-usual tummy.

“You can tell she’s had a challenging last few months,” Chelsie said. “But Kimber said she’s friendly and patient. She didn’t pitch a fit even though the drive from Salt Lake was kind of long.”

“Look at Twinkletoes and Leilani,” Carolina said, pointing toward the pasture.

Chelsie chuckled. “Those two always notice the newcomers.

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.