Endurance Ride (6 page)

She turned Belle in a half circle and watched Mr. Baker’s horse complete the examination. Then she watched Phil bring Teddy in. He trotted Teddy down to the marker and back, just as Stevie had. The vet leaned
over and put her stethoscope between Teddy’s front legs. This was the easiest way to hear a horse’s heartbeat.

The vet frowned. She glanced at her wristwatch, then listened through her stethoscope again. Finally she nodded and passed Teddy through.

Phil’s face was white. He led Teddy up to Stevie and Mr. Baker and put his arm across his horse’s withers. “All bets are off, Stevie,” he said. “We’ll just have to say you’ve won, because I’m not racing Teddy anymore. He barely passed the check. His heart rate didn’t come down like it should have.”

“Wow,” Stevie said. “I’m sorry, Phil.”

“Yeah, well, it’s my fault,” he said miserably. “Go ahead and say it, Stevie. Say ‘I told you so.’ ”

Stevie shook her head. She felt too anxious about Teddy to be mean to Phil. “Do you want to continue?”

“What do you think, sir?” Phil asked Mr. Baker.

Mr. Baker looked at Teddy carefully. “What do
you
think?” he returned.

Phil took a deep breath. “Well, I guess the vet wouldn’t have passed him if she didn’t think he was okay. I know they’d rather pull a horse that might make it than pass one they don’t think will. So I guess we can go on. But all bets are seriously off, Stevie, and from now on we’re going more carefully. We’re not going to push it.”

“Sounds fine to me,” Stevie said.

“Sounds very fine to me,” Mr. Baker said. “I think you’ve got the right approach now, Phil.”

“Yeah, well, too bad it took me nineteen miles. Let me get Teddy another drink of water, and I’ll be ready to go. Stevie, I’m leaving my jacket with A.J. Do you want to leave yours?”

“No thanks.” Stevie had taken hers off and tied the sleeves around her waist. It got in the way, especially with her fanny pack and all, but she had apples stuffed in both pockets to give to Belle later on.

“Here,” Mrs. Baker said. She handed oranges to the three riders. They thanked her and said good-bye to their crew.

“See you at the next check!” A.J. yelled.

“Look!” May said, just as Stevie was riding away. “There’s Lisa and Carole!”

Stevie stood in the stirrups and twisted so that she could see them. “Lisa, Carole! Hi! Good luck!”

“L
OOK, THERE
’
S
S
TEVIE
!” Carole stood in her stirrups and waved. Lisa did the same.

“Gosh,” Carole said as she sat back gently, “they’re already leaving. Look at all the riders between us and them.
They must be at least half an hour in front of us.” She was a little bit sorry that they were so far behind.

“You know, they’re riding almost up with the people who are trying to win,” Chloe observed. “I’d say they’re going too fast.”

Carole bit back a retort. How would Chloe know? “Stevie’s a very good rider,” she said.

“Oh, sure,” Chloe said casually. “I’m sure you’re all very good at riding in a ring.”

“There are the Pony Tails,” Lisa said quickly, before Carole could answer. From the expression on Carole’s face, whatever she’d been about to say wouldn’t have been polite. “Look, Carole, they’ve come to help Mrs. Reg crew. Look, Max! There’s Deborah and Maxi.”

Both Chloe and Carole looked in the direction Lisa pointed. “Are those little kids going to be your crew?” Chloe asked.

“Those little kids,” Carole said, gritting her teeth, “are smart and hardworking. And they know tons about riding. In a ring and out of one.”

Chloe smiled. “At the rate we’re riding today, an inexperienced crew isn’t going to be a handicap at all. So I wouldn’t worry about that.”

“We weren’t,” Max said. It was the first he’d spoken for
three miles. Carole, turning around, saw that Max looked a little grim. Was Chloe finally getting to him, too? Max winked at Carole and she suddenly felt much better.

“Who’s your crew, Chloe?” she asked. She steered Starlight toward the waiting Pony Tails.

“My mom and dad. Just my mom was going to do both of us until my dad dropped out. Of course, we’re all pretty good at doing what we have to do. My mom knows everything about endurance riding.”

“Of course,” Carole said, with her last shred of politeness. “I’m sure she taught you everything you know.”

“Oh, no!” Chloe gave a startled laugh. “No, I taught her. I mean, my dad and I did. My mom doesn’t ride.”

As soon as they dismounted, all their support people rushed around the horses, making them as cool and comfortable as possible. Lisa gave Prancer’s reins to Jasmine and set out to find the farrier. He quickly nailed Prancer’s shoe back on her hoof.

Jasmine looked at the Easy Boot in Lisa’s hand. “What’s that?” she asked. “Why was it on Prancer’s foot?”

Lisa explained what the Easy Boot was and how she had gotten it. Jasmine looked over at Chloe with an expression of awe. “Cool!” she said. “Lisa, she saved the day for you!”

“I know,” Lisa said bitterly. “I know.”
Saved the day
, she
thought,
just so she could wreck it by being incredibly pompous and boring for the entire fifty miles
.

“It must be so cool riding with a girl like that,” Jasmine continued. “You can tell just by looking at her that she’s a real endurance rider.”

“Believe me,” Lisa told the smaller girl, “Carole and I are enduring plenty.”

Carole came up on Starlight. “We passed!” she said happily. Then, seeing the expression on Lisa’s face, she added comfortingly, “Thirty-one miles, Lisa. Only thirty-one miles to go.”

Lisa nodded grimly. She knew exactly what Carole meant. Thirty-one miles until they never had to see—or hear—Chloe again.

“W
AS IT SUPPOSED
to get this hot?” Carole asked. She wiped yet another drop of sweat off her nose. “I didn’t think it was going to be this warm today.”

“It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity,” Max said with a chuckle. Carole frowned. That seemed like such a stupid thing to say. Grown-ups were always saying things like that. What difference did a little humidity make? Sweltering heat was sweltering heat.

“Why don’t you take off your jacket?” Chloe asked. “I’m going to take off mine.” She stopped Whitey for a moment and removed her tunic.

Now Carole felt stupid. Why hadn’t she taken off her jacket? She’d forgotten she was wearing it, that was all.

Lisa giggled. “I forgot about mine, too, Carole,” she whispered. Carole felt a little better. The truth was, the trail had gotten much harder, and just plain riding was absorbing most of their attention. They were going up the face of a steep, rocky hill. Not only did Carole have to use her leg muscles to hold herself steady in the saddle, she had to continually watch the path. She didn’t want Starlight twisting an ankle or cutting himself on the edge of a sharp rock.

Carole stopped Starlight on a small patch of grass just off the trail, unzipped her jacket, and took it off. The breeze on her bare arms made her feel better instantly, but she wasn’t quite sure what to do with her jacket. If she folded it across her legs, it might get tangled in the reins. Usually when she wore a jacket on a trail ride, she just kept it on the whole time.
Usually
, she thought,
I don’t have twenty-four miles to go
. She looked to see what Chloe was doing and sighed.

Of course. Chloe’s jacket was some sort of special hiking jacket. With a few quick folds, Chloe stuffed it into its own little pouch, then hung the pouch among the bags hanging from her saddle.

Carole tied her jacket sleeves around her waist. She hated to do that—she sat on its hem every time she posted, and it bunched up funny over her fanny pack—but it sure beat wearing the thing. She wondered if her father would care if she somehow managed to lose her jacket on the trail. She decided he would.

“Rats!” Lisa said. Carole turned and laughed. Lisa was struggling with her jacket, too. “Don’t laugh!” she barked to Carole. “My mother just bought me this, and I hadn’t worn it riding before. I didn’t know.” Lisa’s jacket was a pullover, and she couldn’t get it off over her helmet. Prancer was standing perfectly still while Lisa went through amazing contortions, trying to yank the collar over her head.

“You know,” Chloe said, “pullover styles probably aren’t good for riding, at least not for endurance riding.”

“Thank you, Dr. Einstein,” Lisa replied sharply. “I hadn’t quite figured that out myself.”

Chloe looked a little upset by Lisa’s words. It was the first time she had looked anything but cheerful.
Could it be
, Carole thought,
that she doesn’t realize how obnoxious she is?

“Lisa.” Max’s voice was sharp. “You’re getting yourself into an unsafe situation. Dismount, take off your helmet, and then take your jacket off. Right now if Prancer shied, you’d have no chance.”

“Sorry, Max.” Lisa slid to the ground, and in a moment she had her jacket off and her helmet back on. “Okay,” she said, looking at her jacket, “what do I do with this thing?”

Carole laughed. “Don’t ask me,” Max said. “I’ve had to tie mine around my waist, and it’s driving me crazy.” Lisa tied hers around her waist anyway. There was nothing else she could do.

They continued on. To Carole’s dismay, the trail became even more rocky. “I’m surprised the ride organizers considered this footing safe,” she said as she let Starlight delicately pick his way up the hillside. They were all walking now.

“It’s bad,” Chloe agreed, “but I think it’s safe enough. Whitey’s wearing pads, of course. Aren’t your horses?”

“You mean saddle pads?” Lisa asked. “Of course.”

Max cleared his throat gently. “Chloe means pads under their shoes,” he explained. To Chloe he added, “No, none of our horses have them. They aren’t necessary where we usually ride.”

“Oh. Well, you’ll want to be careful, then. I’m careful anyway. The rocks shouldn’t last too much longer. Once we get to the top of this hill, I think the other side will be better.” Chloe gave them all an encouraging smile. Carole wanted to puke. Chloe knew everything, it seemed, and here was poor Starlight walking on rocks without pads.

“Tell me about the pads,” Lisa said to Max. “I’ve never even heard of them.”

Max smiled encouragingly. Somehow, there was a world of difference between Max’s encouraging smile and Chloe’s. Max’s actually made Lisa feel encouraged. “Don’t worry, Prancer will be fine,” he said. “Pads are just pieces of leather or plastic put under the shoe to protect the sole of a horse’s foot. Some horses need them all the time, but most only need them if they’re
usually
ridden in conditions like this. We’ll be okay, Lisa. The rocks will be over soon.”

“Okay.” Lisa clucked to Prancer. The mare didn’t seem upset by the rocks, or by anything—not even by Chloe, who was sure upsetting Lisa. Prancer was doing great.

“Hey, look,” Carole cried a few minutes later, “the rocks are gone. The trail looks much better here.” They were still climbing, but Carole was right—the footing did get much better.

“Good,” Chloe said. “We can trot.” She urged Whitey forward.

“Trot?” Lisa asked, under her breath. She was finding it hard enough to sit on a walking horse just now. Every muscle in her body ached. At Lisa’s command, Prancer trotted forward willingly, her ears pricked with enthusiasm, but to Lisa it felt like Prancer’s smooth stride was jarring
her bones loose from their sockets. She couldn’t believe she’d worn tall boots. Her feet were dying—cramped and hot. For a moment she slipped her feet from their stirrups and let her legs stretch, but that made posting so much more difficult that she couldn’t keep it up. She looked enviously at Chloe’s sneakers.

Riding in sneakers was usually a really dumb idea, Lisa knew. In fact, it was specifically against Max’s safety rules. Sneakers had smooth soles. Any shoe with a smooth sole could slip through the stirrup if the rider fell off the horse, and the rider could be dragged. For safety, all riders were supposed to wear shoes that came over the ankle and had heels—in other words, boots. But Chloe’s sneakers were special, just like all the rest of her gear. They came up snug over her ankle, and they actually had heels. Real heels. Riding sneakers. Lisa started calculating the time until her birthday. Maybe she could ask for sneakers like that. She sighed. Even if she got the sneakers tomorrow, she wouldn’t be able to wear them on this ride. Her right foot especially was killing her.

Carole wished with all her heart that she’d worn tall boots like Lisa’s. At the point where her paddock boots hit her calf, pressure from her stirrup leather was starting to hurt. Really hurt. It felt like she was getting blisters on
both legs. She gritted her teeth and looked enviously at Chloe’s sneakers. Maybe she could ask for a pair at Christmas.

Max let out a very soft groan. Carole looked over at him in alarm. He seemed to be wincing slightly every third or fourth stride. “Are you okay?” she asked him.

He grinned ruefully. “Remember the Pony Club lecture last spring on getting a saddle that fits? I don’t think I was listening. This isn’t the saddle I use at home; it’s the one Barq usually wears for lessons. It’s only an inch smaller than mine, so I thought, what does an inch matter?” He winced again. “It matters.”