Endurance Ride (13 page)

“I agree,” Stevie said. “When you really think about it, we were almost as bad as Phil. We weren’t prepared at all. I’ve got raw skin on the insides of both knees from riding fifty miles in blue jeans.”

“I’ve got blisters that’ll take weeks to heal,” Carole added.

Lisa laughed. “I may never wear high boots again. But let’s talk about all that tomorrow. I’m tired. We finished our endurance ride, and we’ve got the belt buckles to prove it.”

“Good thing,” Stevie mumbled, as they drifted off to sleep, “because I’m never doing that again.”

B
ONNIE
B
RYANT
is the author of more than a hundred books about horses, including The Saddle Club series, Saddle Club Super Editions, the Pony Tails series, and Pine Hollow, which follows the Saddle Club girls into their teens. She has also written novels and movie novelizations under her married name, B. B. Hiller.

Ms. Bryant began writing The Saddle Club in 1986. Although she had done some riding before that, she intensified her studies then and found herself learning right along with her characters Stevie, Carole, and Lisa. She claims that they are all much better riders than she is.

Ms. Bryant was born and raised in New York City. She still lives there, in Greenwich Village, with her two sons.