“Speaking of celebrating,” Stevie said, “we still have to decide how we’re going to help Merrill celebrate next weekend.”
Merrill blushed. “Oh, you don’t have to do anything—”
Stevie cut her off with a wave of her hand. “Don’t be silly,” she declared. “Of course we have to do something special. Something fun. You heard about the big party on Saturday, didn’t you?”
Merrill looked nervous. “Big party? What do you mean?”
“Max is having a dance to celebrate at the end of the clinic,” Lisa explained. “I guess I forgot to tell you.”
“One of the other riders at Pine Hollow has his birthday on Saturday,” Carole said, “so we are going to make it sort of a birthday party for both of you.”
“I don’t want you to make a big fuss or anything,” Merrill said quietly. “I don’t really like being the center of attention.”
“Don’t worry about a thing,” Stevie said. She couldn’t understand how anybody couldn’t like being the center of attention at a party. Stevie herself loved it. And she was sure that Merrill would love it, too, if she gave it a chance. “We won’t embarrass you.” She gave the visitor a devilish wink and a grin. “Not too much, anyway.”
Merrill still looked a little worried, but she smiled back.
“IS EVERYBODY READY to do some serious jumping?” Stevie asked the next morning, sitting down beside her friends in the indoor ring, where Max had told them to gather.
“I know I am,” Carole declared. Carole hadn’t thought about much else for the past week. The night before she had reread the sections on jumping in several of her riding books. She couldn’t wait to get started.
“How many people are in this class?” Merrill asked, glancing around at the other riders.
“Max said there will be twelve, including us,” Lisa replied. She looked around, too. “It looks like almost everyone is here already.”
“Including everyone’s favorite person,” Stevie added, nodding toward the door as Veronica strolled in.
“Is that the girl you think put sugar in your cubby?” Merrill asked.
“No, that’s the girl I know put sugar in my cubby,” Stevie said. “And she’s going to pay for it, too—mark my words.”
Just then Veronica turned and noticed Merrill. She wandered over. “So who’s the new girl?” she asked, smiling.
Merrill smiled back. “I’m Merrill Minot,” she said. “I’m visiting Lisa, and Max is letting me be in the jumping clinic.”
Veronica carefully took in Merrill’s neat, stylish outfit and long, shining hair and seemed to like what she saw. “Well, welcome to Pine Hollow,” she said. “If you have any questions about anything, just ask me.”
“Thanks,” Merrill said, as The Saddle Club exchanged surprised glances. They couldn’t believe it: Merrill had passed Veronica’s inspection even though she was their friend.
“Hi there,” said Joe Novick, coming over to join them.
“Hi, Joe!” Veronica said with a big smile. “How are you?”
“Fine, thanks,” he replied. Then he turned to Merrill. “You’re Lisa’s friend Merrill, right? I hear we have the same birthday,” he said.
Merrill blushed. “I guess so. I mean, they told me someone else’s birthday was the same as mine. I mean, um, yes.”
Joe didn’t seem to notice Merrill’s nervousness. He smiled down at her. “By the way, my name’s Joe.”
“Oh, um, hi,” Merrill said, still blushing.
Veronica tossed her hair, obviously annoyed that Joe was ignoring her. “So, Joe,” she said sweetly. “Do you have anything special planned for your birthday?”
Joe shrugged. “Just the clinic and then Max’s party.”
“You mean Max’s dance,” Veronica corrected.
“Whatever,” Joe said. He glanced over toward the door as Max entered. “It looks like it’s time to get started.” He smiled again at Merrill. “I’m sure I’ll see you later.”
She nodded mutely. He loped away, with Veronica right behind him.
“I think he likes you, Merrill,” Lisa said.
Merrill shrugged. “I don’t think so,” she said. “I sounded like an idiot talking to him.”
“Don’t be silly,” Stevie said authoritatively. “Boys never notice that kind of thing.”
“Do you speak from experience?” Carole teased.
Stevie stuck out her tongue, but she didn’t have time to reply. It was time for class to begin.
“All right, everyone,” Max said, stepping in front of the group. “First of all, we’re going to start by talking a little bit about why we all want to learn to jump.”
“So we can fly, right?” Lisa whispered to Merrill. Merrill smiled and nodded.
Max went on to talk about the various horse show classes, such as hunter and open jumper, as well as foxhunting, steeplechasing, and other equestrian sports.
“So you see,” he finished, “there are lots of reasons to learn to jump, and if you’re going to learn, you should learn well. That applies to both the rider and the horse. I like to think that all of my horses have been exceptionally trained—or are in that process now.” He shot a glance toward Lisa. She knew he was referring to Prancer. The mare had originally been trained as a racehorse, so jumping was still fairly new to her.
“Since the focus of this clinic is on helping you become better riders more than helping the horses become better jumpers—although of course that never hurts—we’ll be using more experienced horses for these classes.”
Carole reached over and gave Lisa’s arm a sympathetic squeeze. Lisa’s friends knew that Max had already discussed this with Lisa. Because Prancer was still so green, he wanted Lisa to ride Barq, one of the older horses, during the clinic. Carole and Stevie knew that Lisa was a little disappointed—she loved riding the young Thoroughbred. But they also knew that Max was right. Lisa would have an easier time learning aboard the steadier, more experienced Barq. And whatever she learned could only help her when she went back to riding Prancer.
Max assigned a horse to each rider. Stevie and Carole were on their own horses, as were Veronica, who owned a gorgeous new Thoroughbred named Danny, and Polly Giacomin, who owned a frisky brown gelding named Romeo. “Lisa, you’ll be riding Barq,” Max said, glancing down at his list. “Merrill Minot will ride Patch. Meg Durham has Comanche, Betsy Cavanaugh will take Topside, Adam Levine is on Delilah. Simon Atherton, you will ride Bluegrass; Joe Novick will ride Rusty; and Lorraine Olsen, you’re on Diablo. Everybody got it?”
Everybody did. It was time to tack up.
“You’ll do fine on Barq, Lisa,” Carole told her friend as they walked toward their horses’ stalls. “He’s a good, steady jumper.”
“I know,” Lisa said. “I really don’t mind not riding Prancer for the clinic—it wouldn’t be fair to ask that much of her when it’s all still so new to her.”
Carole nodded and smiled. She should have known that Lisa’s sensible nature would make her see the best side of the situation. They parted in front of Starlight’s stall.
Fifteen minutes later the students were mounted in the outdoor ring. Max had set up some cavalletti—long, thin poles that could be set on the ground or at various low heights, which were often used in training horses to jump. After the students practiced proper jumping position on the flat for a while, Max set them to work over the cavalletti.
Lisa finished one of her turns. She glanced over at Merrill, who was about to start her round. Merrill’s face was glowing, and while she was obviously concentrating hard on what she was doing, she seemed to be enjoying herself, too. Lisa was glad of that. Even though Merrill was the least experienced rider in the class except for Simon, she was holding her own with the other students.
Finally Max called for a lunch break. The students trooped inside to the locker room for sandwiches and sodas. The Saddle Club and Merrill sat down together in a corner of the room and started talking about the morning’s work.
; “You were right about Max,” Merrill said, taking a big bite of her ham sandwich. “He’s a great teacher.”
“That’s true,” Carole said. “But you’re a pretty good student, too, especially since you’ve hardly jumped before.”
Merrill shrugged and looked down at her hands. “Well, I’m trying, but I know I’m doing a lot of things wrong. I always forget to keep my arms loose, and during that last round my legs were wobbling all over the place.”
“Everybody makes those mistakes when they’re first learning,” Stevie said. “You heard how Max kept yelling about my hand position. And I’ve been jumping for years.”
“There’s so much to remember,” Merrill said.
Lisa nodded. “It’s true. But when you’ve learned everything really well and had enough practice, and when you’re confident, it all comes together and you get that magical flying feeling we were talking about.”
Merrill smiled. “I can’t wait,” she said.
AFTER LUNCH THE group returned to the outdoor ring. Max and Red had set up a few low jumps.
Once the horses were warmed up again, Max had the riders line up while he told them a little bit about the course he had laid out. “Now we’re going to move on to something a little more challenging,” he said. “Of course you all know that the approach to the jump is more important than anything that comes after. In this case, you should take your horse into a steady trot for the approach to the first fence. After landing, you should need about ten cantering strides before the second fence, then six strides to the third. Any questions?”
Polly Giacomin raised her hand. “Won’t we have to make some adjustments according to the length of our horses’ strides?”
“You might,” Max said. “That’s when it’s important to remember that you can control the length of your mount’s stride. Extension and collection, remember?”
“I hope I’m ready for this,” Merrill whispered to Carole. “There’s so much to know.”
“You’ll do fine,” Carole whispered back. “It is hard when everything is so new, but just remember: Patch is a pro, even if you aren’t.”
Merrill smiled gratefully. “I’m glad of that,” she said, giving the pinto gelding a pat.
Soon Max finished talking, and it was time for the students to try the course. Carole went first.
“Nice work, Carole,” Max said when she had finished. “Your form was almost perfect. The only thing I noticed was that you looked off to one side between the second and third fences, and that made Starlight waver for a second.”
Carole apologized. “A crow landed on the fence, and then I saw it in the corner of my eye.”
Max nodded, glancing at the large black bird, still perched on the fence. “Well, at least you and Starlight recovered well. It didn’t affect your last jump at all.” He turned to the rest of the class. “That’s an important thing to remember, not just in jumping, but in all riding. If something unexpected happens, a good rider must adjust and work through it. That’s what Carole did. She made a mistake, but instead of letting that throw off her whole performance, she corrected herself. But let’s also remember that your head is fairly heavy. When you turn it, your horse feels that.”
“I didn’t even know Carole made a mistake,” Merrill said quietly to Lisa, her eyes wide. “I’m not sure I’m ready for this.”
“Don’t worry,” Lisa said. “Simon’s going next, and he’s not as good a rider as you are.”
The class watched as Simon Atherton bumbled his way over the obstacles. His horse, Bluegrass, was a very steady and obedient mount, but Simon’s flopping arms and legs and his awkward riding posture threw off the horse’s stride. Bluegrass refused the first fence, and stopped and stepped over the second one instead of jumping it. Simon managed to get him to jump the third fence, but as soon as he was over, Bluegrass stopped short and refused to move for several seconds. Finally, the flustered Simon managed to bring his horse back into line with the others.
Max shot a stern look at Meg and Betsy, who were giggling at Simon’s performance. They quieted down immediately. Then Max explained to Simon what had gone wrong. But he did it in a constructive way, so he sounded less critical of Simon’s major mistakes than he had been of Carole’s relatively minor error. Carole knew that that was what made Max a good instructor—he could be stern and strict, but he also knew when to encourage and comfort his students.
Veronica diAngelo went next, and she jumped the course very well. She was a better-than-average rider when she put her mind to it, and her horse was extremely talented and well trained. Max gave her a few pointers and then nodded to Joe Novick, who was next. But as Veronica returned to her place, she brought Danny a little too close to Meg’s horse, Comanche, who snorted in annoyance and kicked out. Comanche didn’t hit Danny, but the big Thoroughbred shied to one side, bumping into Patch, who threw up his head and danced sideways nervously.
“Don’t drop your reins,” Carole called to Merrill anxiously. “Don’t let Patch forget you’re in charge.”
Merrill had been taken by surprise, but she tried to do as Carole said. Luckily Patch was too even-tempered to act up any more, but Carole thought he still seemed a little skittish. She hoped he would calm down soon.
Joe and the next few riders did fairly well over the course. Most of them had been jumping for some time, and the course wasn’t very challenging. Max watched them all carefully and instructed them on ways to improve their jumping positions to make their rides cleaner.
When Max nodded to Merrill, she nodded back grimly. Carole, Stevie, and Lisa could see that neither she nor Patch had quite recovered from the scare Danny had given them. But Merrill quickly urged her horse into a trot and sent him toward the first obstacle. Patch shook his head, annoyed by the overly tight hold Merrill had on the reins. He pranced sideways a little on the approach, but made it over the first fence. Merrill gave him a little more freedom with the reins. Patch settled down and went over the next two fences without trouble, though his form wasn’t as controlled as it should have been.
White-faced, Merrill brought him to a stop in front of Max. Her hands were shaking as they held the reins. It was obvious to everyone that she hadn’t had an easy time.
“All right, Merrill. You finished,” Max began. “But there’s one important thing you should have done at the start. Your horse was nervous; he could have used a half turn around the ring to calm him down. Instead, you made him begin right away.”
Merrill nodded mutely.
“But don’t be discouraged,” Max said gently. “You did some good things, too, like correcting your hand position after the first jump. And your seat was quite good.” He turned back to the group. “All right, Betsy, you’re next.”
Merrill rode back to her place beside Carole. “I was terrible, wasn’t I?” she moaned. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“Don’t be,” Carole told her. “You heard what Max said. You did a lot of things right.”
“I did more things wrong,” Merrill said. “I’m the worst rider here. I shouldn’t even be in this class. It’s obvious I’m not ready to start jumping.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Carole said firmly. “Just remember, the important thing is to learn from your mistakes and try to correct them the next time around. That’s what this clinic is all about, for all of us. And like Max said earlier, you’ve got to be able to recover from a mistake, or from a bad round, or even from a bad day. Everybody has them.”
Merrill nodded but didn’t reply. Carole just hoped her words had made sense to the other girl.
After everyone’s turn, Max spoke about some of the more common errors people were making and how to correct them. “Now, with those things in mind, let’s all try it again,” he said. “Carole, go ahead.”
Most of the students learned from their first attempt. Carole completed an almost flawless ride, as did Veronica and Stevie. Even Simon seemed a little more confident.
Then it was Merrill’s turn again. She glanced a
t Carole and gulped, but she looked a little calmer than she had at the beginning. Carole hoped that meant Merrill was feeling more confident. She crossed her fingers just in case.
Merrill rode forward and took Patch in a circle at a brisk trot before aiming him for the first fence. She was sitting well, her hands steady and light on the reins. Patch seemed relaxed but alert. His ears pricked forward, and his trot was even as he got closer to the low fence.
Then it happened.
With a loud caw, the crow, which had been perched on the fence of the ring watching the people and horses, launched itself into the air and circled above the riders.
Patch, who had just reached the first fence, was startled by the sudden noise and motion. Instead of jumping up and forward, he wheeled around and shied sideways, crashing into the fence. Scared even more by the impact, he reared up and twisted around, ending up straddling the remains of the jump. Merrill had barely managed to keep her seat and was clinging to Patch’s mane, her stirrups swinging free of her feet. Max was already hurrying forward to catch the panicky horse, but Patch was too quick for him. He reared again, unseating Merrill completely, and then darted away as the girl tumbled off and landed hard on her backside.
Lisa slid out of the saddle and tossed Barq’s reins to Carole. She ran to Merrill’s side.
“Are you okay?” she asked anxiously.
Merrill shook her head, tears running down her face. “I think I’m okay,” she said in a shaky voice.
“Hey, are you all right, Merrill?” Joe Novick asked, joining them. There was a look of real concern on his face. “That was quite a tumble.”
Merrill quickly wiped her face with the back of her hand, which only succeeded in leaving a trail of dirt mixed with the tears on her face. “Um …,” she said.
“Here.” Joe reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a crumpled but clean tissue. Lisa took it from him and wiped off Merrill’s face. Then she and Joe helped Merrill stand.
“I don’t think anything’s broken,” Merrill said. She reached behind her gingerly. “Only bruised.”
Yankee Swap Page 3
