Horse Guest
Authors: Bonnie Bryant
MEET
T
HE
S
ADDLE
C
LUB
Horse lover
CAROLE…
Practical joker
STEVIE…
Straight-A
LISA…
#1 HORSE CRAZY
#2 HORSE SHY
#3 HORSE SENSE
#4 HORSE POWER
#5 TRAIL MATES
#6 DUDE RANCH
#7 HORSE PLAY
#8 HORSE SHOW
#9 HOOF BEAT
#10 RIDING CAMP
#11 HORSE WISE
#12 RODEO RIDER
#13 STARLIGHT CHRISTMAS
#14 SEA HORSE
#15 TEAM PLAY
#16 HORSE GAMES
#17 HORSENAPPED
#18 PACK TRIP
#19 STAR RIDER
#20 SNOW RIDE
#21 RACEHORSE
#22 FOX HUNT
#23 HORSE TROUBLE
#24 GHOST RIDER
#25 SHOW HORSE
#26 BEACH RIDE
#27 BRIDLE PATH
#28 STABLE MANNERS
#29 RANCH HANDS
#30 AUTUMN TRAIL
#31 HAYRIDE
#32 CHOCOLATE HORSE
#33 HIGH HORSE
#34 HAY FEVER
#35 HORSE TALE
#36 RIDING LESSON
#37 STAGE COACH
#38 HORSE TRADE
#39 PUREBRED
#40 GIFT HORSE
#41 STABLE WITCH
#42 SADDLEBAGS
#43 PHOTO FINISH
#44 HORSESHOE
#45 STABLE GROOM
#46 FLYING HORSE
#47 HORSE MAGIC
#48 MYSTERY RIDE
#49 STABLE FAREWELL
#50 YANKEE SWAP
#51 PLEASURE HORSE
#52 RIDING CLASS
#53 HORSE-SITTERS
#54 GOLD MEDAL RIDER
#55 GOLD MEDAL HORSE
#56 CUTTING HORSE
#57 TIGHT REIN
#58 WILD HORSES
#59 PHANTOM HORSE
#60 HOBBYHORSE
#61 BROKEN HORSE
#62 HORSE BLUES
#63 STABLE HEARTS
#64 HORSE CAPADES
#65 SILVER STIRRUPS
#66 SADDLE SORE
#67 SUMMER HORSE
#68 SUMMER RIDER
#69 ENDURANCE RIDE
#70 HORSE RACE
#71 HORSE TALK
#72 HOLIDAY HORSE
#73 HORSE GUEST
THE SADDLE CLUB SUPER EDITIONS
#1 A SUMMER WITHOUT HORSES
#2 THE SECRET OF THE STALLION
#3 WESTERN STAR
#4 DREAM HORSE
#5 BEFORE THEY RODE HORSES
#6 NIGHTMARE
Chad frowned. “This is serious,” he said. “We don’t want to make Grandma sick.”
Stevie thought about that for a second. It would be terrible if their behavior endangered Grandma Lake’s health. And she was only here for two weeks. The least her grandchildren could do was make her stay as pleasant and soothing as possible. “You’re right, Chad,” Stevie said. “We’ve got to be on our best behavior. All of us,” she added, shooting a glance at Alex. “No pranks or practical jokes.”
“No revenge plots,” Chad said.
“No horsing around,” Alex put in.
Stevie shot him another look, suspicious at his choice of words. But he spread his hands apologetically.
“Sorry,” he said. “You know what I mean. We have to act civilized and stuff, like Mom and Dad were saying earlier.”
“So for two weeks, all we have to do is act like good, quiet kids and not fight with each other, right?” Michael said.
Stevie nodded firmly. “It won’t be easy,” she said, “but we have no choice. Grandma’s life may depend on it.”
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HORSE GUEST
A Bantam Skylark Book / January 1998
Skylark Books is a registered trademark of Bantam Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and elsewhere
.
“The Saddle Club” is a registered trademark of Bonnie Bryant Hiller. The Saddle Club design/logo, which consists of a riding crop and a riding hat, is a trademark of Bantam Books
.
“USPC” and “Pony Club” are registered trademarks of The United States Pony Clubs, Inc., at The Kentucky Horse Park, 4071 Iron Works Pike, Lexington, KY 40511-8462
.
All rights reserved
.
Copyright © 1998 by Bonnie Bryant Hiller
.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher
.
For information address: Bantam Books
.
eISBN: 978-0-307-82574-2
Published simultaneously in the United States and Canada
.
Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words “Bantam Books” and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, 1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036
.
v3.1
I would like to express my special thanks
to Catherine Hapka for her
help in the writing of this book
.
“H
E DID IT
again,” Stevie Lake said, peering over the half door into the stall.
Lisa Atwood sighed. Carole Hanson just shook her head in dismay and opened the stall door. The horse inside, a big chestnut gelding named Magoo, rolled his eyes at her and snorted. He shifted his weight nervously from leg to leg, but he didn’t move. That was because he had managed to get a pile of the stall’s straw bedding built up between his legs.
“If we had given him a few more hours in there, he wouldn’t have been able to move at all,” Lisa commented.
“Hold him still for a second, will you?” Carole said. “I’ll
get some of this straw out of the way, and then we’ll take him out and put him in cross-ties in the aisle. That will make it easier to work on him.”
The three girls set to work. Being best friends, they didn’t have to talk much to work together perfectly as a team. Lisa stepped forward and slipped a halter onto the horse’s head. Then she held him while Carole pushed some of the straw out from under his belly. Carole was careful to keep one hand on the horse’s side to let him know where she was. Magoo was by nature a nervous and easily startled horse, and she didn’t want him to get scared and kick her.
Meanwhile, Stevie was in the aisle, unpacking the bucket that contained Magoo’s first aid and grooming kit. “Do you think we should hot soak his foot again today?” she asked as Lisa led Magoo into the aisle and cross-tied him.
“It can’t hurt,” Carole said. She glanced critically at Magoo’s slightly swollen left foreleg. “Judy says it’s not getting better as quickly as she’d like.”
Judy Barker was the equine vet who treated the horses at Pine Hollow Stables. Pine Hollow was where Carole, Stevie, and Lisa rode. It was also where the three girls had decided to form The Saddle Club, which had only two rules: Members had to be horse-crazy and they had to be willing to help each other out. The three founding members of the club had been talking to Judy a lot lately. That was because of Magoo. It was early January, and the girls
would be going back to school in a little more than a week. But in the meantime, their winter vacation had been more exciting than usual. That was also at least partly because of Magoo.
On New Year’s Eve, The Saddle Club had volunteered to baby-sit for Max Regnery, the owner and manager of Pine Hollow, and Deborah, his wife. The couple had a seven-month-old baby girl named Maxi. While they were baby-sitting, the three friends had received a frantic phone call from Hedgerow Farms, a stable about ten miles away. The roof of Hedgerow’s stable building had collapsed, and horses were trapped inside. The Saddle Club had rushed to help, taking Maxi with them, and with Elaine, Hedgerow’s manager, they had saved all the horses and brought them to Pine Hollow. Most of the horses had escaped with hardly a scratch. But not Magoo. He had sustained all sorts of injuries. None of them were life-threatening, but because there were so many and because the patient was known to be difficult, Judy had advised leaving Magoo at Pine Hollow until he got a little better. The Saddle Club had volunteered to nurse him, but they hadn’t realized quite how big a job they were taking on.
“Bruised sole,” Lisa said, beginning a list of Magoo’s medical problems as her friends crouched down and carefully checked the horse’s foreleg. “Capped hock. Broken knee.” She paused. “That last one always sounds so awful.”
Carole glanced up, looking surprised. “But Lisa,” she
said, “a broken knee isn’t like a broken leg. It doesn’t mean that the bones in the knee are actually fractured. It just means that the skin is broken on the—”
“I know, I know,” Lisa said, holding up a hand. “I don’t need one of your famous lectures, Carole.”
All three girls laughed at that. Carole was well known for launching into lengthy, detailed monologues on horse care or riding at the least provocation. The lectures were almost always interesting—Carole really knew what she was talking about—but the timing wasn’t always appropriate. For instance, at the moment The Saddle Club had a lot of work to do with Magoo. What they needed was less talk and more action.