Yankee Swap (7 page)

“I’ll try,” Merrill said, watching as Adam Levine began the course.

Then it was Merrill’s turn. She began a slow warm-up lap around the ring. Stevie had ridden back to join her friends, and Carole and Lisa quickly filled her in on what Merrill had said.

“I really hope she does okay this time,” Lisa said. “Otherwise there’s no telling what she’ll do.”

“She’ll be fine,” Stevie said, trying to sound confident. “She can do it—she just hasn’t realized it yet.”

“Well, I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed until she’s safely through the course,” Carole said, crossing her fingers.

Stevie and Lisa crossed their fingers, too.

Finally Merrill sent Chip toward the first jump. The gelding moved along easily until he was almost there. Then he seemed to sense the hesitation in his rider, and his stride wobbled. He
continued on and took the fence, but his approach had been thrown off just enough to make him bring down the top bar. As it clattered to the ground, the gelding came to a halt.

Lisa bit her lip. “Go on, Merrill,” she whispered, though of course Merrill couldn’t hear her. “Move past it and keep going.”

Merrill seemed to be thinking the same thing. She brought the horse under control with her reins and legs, then urged him back into a trot, taking him in a few tight circles and then pointing him toward the next fence. They finished the course without further incident, although Carole suspected that had more to do with Chip’s solid training than with Merrill’s riding, since the girl was obviously still hesitant and uncertain about what she was doing. There was a distinct look of relief on her face when Chip had cleared the last fence and their turn was over.

“Maybe just having gotten through it will help her state of mind,” Lisa whispered as Merrill headed toward them.

“Let’s hope so,” Stevie said.

But Merrill didn’t seem much happier now than when she had started. She brushed aside the other girls’ congratulations. “I stunk,” she said flatly. “The only reason I made it over anything at all was because Chip did all the work. I just sat there like a sack of potatoes.”

“That’s okay, Merrill,” Carole said. “You’re still learning. No one expects you to be a champion.”

Merrill just grimaced in reply. It was clear that she didn’t feel like talking.

* * *

T
HE
REST
OF
the day went more or less the same for Merrill. She didn’t do anything terribly wrong, but The Saddle Club could tell she wasn’t having fun.

By the end of the afternoon’s session, even The Saddle Club was glad to dismount and head inside. They were too worried about Merrill to enjoy themselves completely, even though they were all learning a lot.

“How are you doing?” Lisa asked, falling into step beside Merrill as they led their horses down the wide stable aisle.

Merrill looked up. There were tears in her eyes. “I’m quitting,” she said, her voice quavering.

“But you can’t quit now!” Lisa exclaimed. “If you do, you may never learn to jump.”

“That’s fine with me,” Merrill replied. “There’s more to riding than jumping, you know.”

“I know,” Lisa said. “But jumping is so much fun—I’d hate to think you were missing out on that. I know you could do it if you just gave it more of a chance.”

“I’ve given it a chance,” Merrill said. “I’ve humiliated myself in front of all your friends for two days in a row now. That’s plenty.”

Lisa thought fast. “At least promise me you’ll talk about it with Stevie and Carole before you make up your mind for sure.”

“I’ve already made up my mind,” Merrill said. “I might learn to jump someday, but not this week. I’m not good enough for this clinic anyway.”

“Of course you are,” Lisa said. She had the funniest feeling she was beginning to understand what was bothering Merrill.
It wasn’t jumping that scared her—it was being a beginning jumper in front of more experienced riders. Lisa knew that Merrill didn’t like feeling conspicuous, and she was bound to feel that way if she thought everyone else in the class was doing better than she.

“I’ll still come and watch you guys,” Merrill offered. “I just won’t take part in the classes. Max probably won’t let me come to the party, but—”

“Listen,” Lisa interrupted. “I have an idea. I’ll meet you at Chip’s stall in a few minutes, okay?”

Merrill looked a little confused. “Um, okay,” she said.

Lisa hurried Barq along to his stall and quickly untacked him. “I’ll be back to give you a good grooming in a minute,” she promised, giving him a pat on the nose. Then she headed down the aisle to Starlight’s stall.

“Hi, Lisa.” Carole was inside the stall, checking Starlight’s water bucket. “Are you finished with Barq already?”

“Not exactly,” Lisa said. “But I need to talk to you about something. Where’s Stevie?” She peered over the half door of Belle’s stall, but the mare was alone.

“She went to the tack room,” Carole replied. “She’ll be back in a second.”

“She’s back now,” Stevie said, coming up behind them. “What’s up?”

“It’s Merrill,” Lisa replied.

“Uh-oh,” Stevie said. “Bad news?”

“You bet,” Lisa confirmed. “She wants to drop out of the clinic. But I have a plan.”

“Let’s hear it,” said Carole.

Lisa took a deep breath, trying to think of the best way to explain. “We all know that Merrill is a good rider—much better than she thinks she is. Right?”

“Right,” Carole said, and Stevie nodded.

“Well, then, it’s clear that her jumping problems aren’t caused by a lack of skill,” Lisa went on. “I think her nervousness has more to do with everyone watching her than with anything else.”

Carole shrugged. “That’s not good,” she said. “If she can’t ride in front of other people, that’s always going to affect what she can do.”

“Not necessarily,” Lisa said. “You see, I’m beginning to think that it’s only when something is brand new that she has a major problem doing it in front of others. Once she has the hang of something—like riding when she’s not jumping—she does fine.”

Stevie looked thoughtful. “I never would have thought of that,” she said. “But it does make sense.”

“What’s your plan, Lisa?” Carole asked.

“That’s where you come in,” Lisa told her. “You’re such a good teacher, Carole, I think if you gave Merrill some private jumping instruction tomorrow, she might gain enough confidence to go back to the clinic on Tuesday.”

“I’m willing to give it a try if Max says it’s okay,” Carole said. “Do you think Merrill will go for it?”

“I hope so,” Lisa said. “You two will have to help me convince her. It might not be easy.”

“We can do it,” Stevie said confidently. “Who could turn
down the chance for private lessons from Carole? Come on, let’s go find Merrill.”

At first Merrill was reluctant to along with the new plan, just as Lisa had feared. But after a few minutes of cajoling from The Saddle Club, she finally gave in.

“All right, all right,” she said, interrupting Stevie’s lengthy list of reasons why it was important to learn to jump. “I’ll try it. I’m not promising I’ll go back to the clinic on Tuesday, but I’ll give it a try with Carole tomorrow.” She smiled at Carole. “Thanks for offering to teach me.”

“You’re welcome,” Carole said, smiling. “I’ll go check with Max now and make sure it’s okay with him.”

T
HE
NEXT
DAY
Carole headed straight to Pine Hollow after school. Merrill was waiting for her. Carole was relieved—she had been worried that Merrill might back out of the lesson.

“Ready to get started?” Carole asked.

“Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess,” Merrill said.

“Good. Where’s Lisa?” Carole asked.

“She and Stevie are doing some chores,” Merrill said. “They said they wanted to stay out of our way.”

“Okay then,” Carole said. “Wait here—I’ve got to go find Max. He wanted me to check in about which horse you should ride.”

“Won’t I be riding Chip?” Merrill asked.

Carole shrugged. “Max said it would depend on which horses his adult class was using.”

“Oh, okay,” Merrill said. “I’ll meet you in the tack room.”

“Great.” Carole went to find Max. She found him going over some papers in his office.

“Hi, Carole,” he said when she came in. “Are you here for Merrill’s lesson?”

“Yes,” Carole replied. “Can she ride Chip today?”

Max shook his head. “I’m afraid not,” he said. “He’s out on the trail with the adult beginner class. Everyone in the class showed up today, for a change.”

“Oh, well,” Carole said. “What about Bluegrass, then? He’s easy to handle. Merrill would probably like him.”

“He’s out, too,” Max said. “I told you, the whole class showed up. They took Chip, Bluegrass, Nero, Patch, Harry, and Delilah.”

Carole bit her lip. “But Max,” she said, “if all the beginner horses are out, who’s Merrill supposed to ride?”

“Carole,” Max said calmly, “Merrill doesn’t need a beginner horse.”

“But she’s had so much trouble in class—”

Max raised one hand to cut her off. “She’s had trouble
jumping
in class,” he said. “She hasn’t had any trouble at all just
riding.
I’ve been watching her closely. She’s a much better rider than she thinks she is—she can easily handle a more spirited horse than Chip or Bluegrass.”

Carole thought about that for a minute, then realized that Max was right. She told him so. “It’s not that she has any trouble controlling the horse,” she added. “It’s
herself
that she has the trouble with, right?”

Max nodded. “And it’s your job to help her realize that. You have your work cut out for you.”

“I know,” Carole said. “But I have to try. So which horse do you think she should ride today?”

“Take your pick,” Max said. “Red is riding Topside with the beginners, but most of the others are in.”

“Hmm,” Carole said, running through the list of possibilities in her mind. Finally she reached a decision. “How about Barq? He’s lively but not too hard to control. Plus Merrill has seen him perform beautifully for Lisa in the last two classes. That might give her a little more confidence.”

Max smiled. “I think Barq is a perfect choice,” he said.

A short while later Carole led Barq, the spirited Arabian gelding, out into the ring. Merrill followed.

“Go ahead and mount,” Carole said. “Then take him around the ring a few times.”

Merrill swung up into Barq’s saddle. Carole watched carefully as the other girl picked up the reins and circled the ring, first keeping Barq to a walk and then to a trot. The horse responded to the command immediately. After a few strides he tried to break into a canter, but Merrill immediately brought him back to a trot. Barq shook his head impatiently, but soon he settled down and waited for his rider’s next order. Carole smiled. Max had been right, as usual. Merrill was more than a match for a horse like Barq.

Soon Merrill trotted back over to where Carole was waiting. “What a great horse,” she said breathlessly. “He can really move, and his trot is so easy to sit.”

“He is wonderful, isn’t he?” Carole agreed wholeheartedly. She gave Barq a pat. “He’s one of my favorites.”

Merrill laughed. “Aren’t they all your favorites?”

Carole laughed, too. She was glad that Merrill was in such a good mood. “Very funny. So are you ready to start jumping now?”

Merrill stopped laughing. Her whole body tightened, and Barq shifted nervously beneath her. “I guess so,” she said.

“Well, the first thing you can do is relax,” Carole instructed her. “I’m not going to send you over any fences just yet.” She went over to where the cavalletti were stacked near the stable building. She was going to take it slowly—or as slowly as she could, considering they only had one afternoon. This was the only chance she was going to get to show Merrill how much fun jumping could be.

“I
T
’
S
GETTING
DARK
,” Lisa commented to Stevie. “Do you think they’re still at it?”

“There’s only one way to find out,” Stevie said.

The two friends went outside. They reached the gate of the outdoor ring just in time to watch Merrill and Barq make a flawless round over a course of low fences. Barq was moving like a champion, and Merrill rode him confidently, with every move she made helping rather than hindering his progress. They were truly a team.

When Merrill finished, she was beaming. She rode over to the gate and dismounted. Carole, Stevie, and Lisa applauded enthusiastically.

“That was wonderful!” Lisa exclaimed. She gave Merrill a
big hug. Then she turned and hugged Carole. “Carole, you’re a miracle worker!”

“She sure is,” Merrill agreed. “But some of the credit should go to Barq, too. He’s amazing!” She threw her arms around Barq’s neck. Then she turned to Lisa. “I have a big favor to ask you,” she said.

“What is it?” Lisa asked.

“Can I ride Barq for the rest of the clinic?” Merrill asked.

“Does that mean you’re not going to drop out?” Lisa asked. “Then of course you can! I can ride Chip for the rest of the week.” She gave Merrill another hug.

“Thanks,” Merrill said. “Believe it or not, I’m actually looking forward to class tomorrow. Thanks again, Carole.”