Horseshoe

The photograph made the Pony Clubbers gasp. The dog, a long-haired Irish setter, was nothing but skin and bones. His ribs showed plainly under his thin, matted coat, and his dark eyes looked toward the camera with despair.

“He’d been kept chained in a concrete pen that was never cleaned. His water was soiled and he was hardly given enough food to keep him alive,” Doc Tock told the Pony Clubbers. “The owners weren’t trying to punish him—they just didn’t bother to take care of him.”

Carole felt tears come to her eyes. She couldn’t believe that anyone would allow a helpless animal to suffer so. She glanced at Stevie, who looked horror-struck. “Unbelievable,” Stevie whispered.

“R
IDERS
,
CIRCLE LEFT
!”

Carole Hanson swung her horse, Starlight, into a smooth circle. There were many things to think about just to make a horse turn—Carole moved her left hand back slightly, toward her hip, and let her right hand move the same amount forward, keeping an even contact with Starlight’s mouth. She sank her weight more heavily into her outside heel, kept her back straight, moved her left shoulder back, and turned her head to look in the direction she wanted Starlight to go. She pressed her left leg against Starlight’s side but supported his other side with her right
leg. Steady, steady. She made tiny adjustments with her legs, seat, and hands all throughout the circle.

All that, she thought ruefully, for one simple circle—one one-hundredth of the drill she and the rest of the riders in her Pony Club, Horse Wise, were practicing. Yet Starlight had responded perfectly, curving his neck and back in a gentle arch and turning without fuss or hesitation. Carole felt a flush of pride for him. He was doing so well—she had worked so hard to train him. Surely the drill would be a perfect chance to show—

“Carole!” Max Regnery, the head of Horse Wise and the owner of Pine Hollow Stables, shouted across the ring. Carole looked up, startled. “Nice circle, Carole. But don’t forget that this is a team effort, okay? Pay attention!” Max was smiling, so Carole knew he wasn’t really mad. She knew, too, that he understood how easy it was for her to get totally wrapped up in her riding. Only this time, Carole realized that Outlaw’s tail was swishing just under Starlight’s nose!

“Sorry, Jasmine,” Carole said to the little girl who was riding Outlaw. She pulled Starlight up to avoid a collision.

“That’s okay,” Jasmine answered, grinning because she almost never saw Carole Hanson make a riding mistake. Everyone knew that Carole was really good.
Jasmine moved Outlaw, her own Welsh pony, back to the rail and away from Starlight. “Should we try it again, Max?” she called.

“Again!” Max confirmed.

This time Carole paid attention to Jasmine and Outlaw as well as to Starlight. Horse Wise was made up of both younger and older riders, and in the drill each older rider was paired with a younger one. Carole was supposed to ride the exact same circle as Jasmine and Outlaw, only she had to keep Starlight exactly half a circle away from Outlaw. This wasn’t easy, because Starlight’s strides were so much bigger than the pony’s. Carole had to ride the circle evenly, and at the same time shorten Starlight’s strides to match Outlaw’s.

“Keep him moving on as much as you can,” she whispered to Jasmine. Jasmine nodded and urged Outlaw forward. Carole was pleased to see how well Jasmine was doing. This drill was complicated, and it wasn’t easy for some of the younger girls, who hadn’t been riding very long.

Across the ring, Stevie Lake was riding her circles with Jackie. Jackie’s main problem in the drill was that she sometimes got so enthusiastic that she forgot what she was doing. Stevie sympathized, because she often had the same trouble herself. At the same time,
this drill was serious stuff. Not only was she going to have a chance to show off her new horse, Belle, but all their work was going toward a good cause. They were going to perform next week at the Willow Creek Founders’ Day fair, in support of the County Animal Rescue League.

Stevie wiped her bangs off her sweaty face, grinned at Jackie, and moved Belle into the next element of the drill. She never minded how hard she worked when she was doing it for a reason she cared about. Stevie was famous for her wild schemes, but she could succeed at serious things too. She and Jackie made a terrific pair.

“All riders cross through the center!” Max commanded. Lisa Atwood moved her horse, Delilah, into position behind May Grover and her new pony, Macaroni. The riders had formed two lines down the long sides of the arena and were crossing through the middle alternately, making a giant X. The trick with crossing through the center was to keep a perfectly even pace. The horses had to be moving at exactly the same speed; otherwise, they would run into each other in the center of the ring. Once they had the drill down pat, they would set it to music, but now they were just trying to get through it without messing up.

Luckily for Lisa, Delilah, a sweet palomino mare, listened to Lisa’s every instruction. Lisa usually rode Prancer, a high-strung Thoroughbred, but Prancer was not ready for the precision and patience that a drill like this required. Nor, thought Lisa, was she likely to be ready for the Founders’ Day parade that they would ride in before their demonstration. Prancer might think she was parading at the racetrack again. Lisa laughed to herself at the thought of Prancer racing through the streets of Willow Creek.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing, you stupid brat? Can’t you make that pony move!” Lisa heard the screech from the center of the ring and knew who it was without turning her head. Only one rider at Pine Hollow would talk to one of the little kids like that. Veronica diAngelo.

Sure enough, Veronica had stopped her purebred Arabian, Garnet, in the middle of the ring and was scowling at Jessica Adler. Apparently Jessica had crossed the ring too slowly and had let two riders cross in front of her instead of one, as she was supposed too. It was an easy mistake to make, particularly for such a little girl riding a small pony. Lisa hardly knew Jessica, but she felt sorry for her. Jessica looked as though she were ready to cry.

“
Veronica
,” Max said in a quiet but angry tone that
told Lisa he was feeling the same way. “You didn’t help matters by halting your horse. Let’s re-form the lines and try it again.”

Veronica sniffed and tossed her sleek black hair over her shoulder. “I haven’t got all day,” she muttered. “This stupid drill is taking up way too much of my time.” Lisa saw Max decide not to hear her. Instead, he went up to Jessica and smiled.

“Chin up,” he said. “Old Penny’s taking advantage of you. You have to show her who’s boss.” His hand moved affectionately down the pony’s neck as he spoke. Penny had been a lesson pony at Pine Hollow for years. Some days she was inclined to be stubborn, and Lisa, seeing the look on the pony’s face, knew that this was one of those days. She felt doubly sorry for Jessica.

“Can’t we get started?” Veronica demanded. Lisa looked up, annoyed, just in time to see Veronica cut right in front of Michael Grant, a new boy at Pine Hollow. “I believe I’m supposed to ride just in front of you, aren’t I?” Veronica asked him, her voice turned honey sweet.

“Sure,” Michael said. He slowed down to give Veronica room, but other than that he hardly seemed to notice her, even when Veronica turned and batted
her eyelashes at him. Lisa was amazed. Usually boys liked Veronica—at least until they got to know her.

If Michael Grant hadn’t noticed Veronica, Stevie thought from across the ring, then he was certainly the only rider who hadn’t. Her tantrum had created waves of displeasure throughout the group, and now most of Horse Wise was giving Jessica sympathetic looks.

“She’s mean,” Jackie hissed to Stevie. “I wouldn’t want her to be my big sister.”

“I wouldn’t want her to be my garbage collector,” Stevie replied. She caught the glances of Carole and Lisa, her two best friends, and the three of them shook their heads. Long ago they had formed a club called The Saddle Club. Members had to be horse crazy and willing to help each other out. The Saddle Club had solved a lot of problems, but there wasn’t much they could do to help this situation now. Jessica started to cross the ring again, and Stevie crossed her fingers that she would do it right.

Right away Stevie could see what the problem was. Penny was dragging her feet stubbornly, and Jessica was kicking her forward. When Penny sped up, her stride shortened and became choppier, and she didn’t really travel any faster. What Jessica needed to do was lengthen Penny’s stride, but that was hard to do and
Jessica probably hadn’t been riding long enough to be able to do it.