by Connie Foss
“Baby, is that you in there?” I nicker, and, sure enough, it’s Baby. “Bubba! It’s about time. I knew you’d come and get me, but why did it take you so long?” Typical Baby. No whimpering and moaning, asking for sympathy. She’s one strong gal.
“Got any idea how to get you out of there, Baby? Do you see any latches or fasteners you can work with your teeth?” I wish I could teach her how to do that, but how can I from out here?
Chapter Forty-Four:
We Did It
slam and Bill grabs my mane.“What are you up to, Bubba, and how did
he pulls on my mane to turn me around.
“No way!” I whinny and shake my head. Meg would understand
my body language, but Bill is too upset, and he pulls harder. When he
hears Baby’s whinny from the shed, he stops and listens. Letting go of
my mane, he unlatches the shed door and goes in.
“Hey, stay out a there!” One of the elephant beaters is shouting
as he runs toward us. He’s probably the guy Mr. O calls Grubby. This guy is so big, he must weigh more than the elephant he
was manhandling. But his size isn’t helping him now. He is so winded
from running that he has to stop, and, bending over, he tries to catch his
breath. Oh, no! He’s pulling a pistol out of his pocket.
“What a perfect opportunity,” Hiss-hoos Mr. O, and before the
fat guy can straighten up, Mr. O gives him a sharp peck on his bottom.
In his surprise, the guy drops the pistol, and before he can pick it up, Mr.
O has it in his beak, clamping down on it like it’s one of the rats in the
stable.
Then it’s my turn, and I wheel around, and with my hind hooves
give that man a boot that sends him into the air. The timing is perfect,
for he lands just in time for Bill and Baby to walk right over him. Hearing a familiar bark, I look toward the road, and there comes
Boo, with Chatty giving directions.
“Boo, you’re just in time,“ says Bill.“Guard this fat man and don’t
let him move while we wait for the police to arrive.They’ll know just
what to do with a man that deals in stolen animals.”
“Help! Police! Help! Police!” You can always count on Chatty to
add her cackling cry. Not only does she talk, but whenever Grubby tries
to get up, Chatty, perched on his back, gives him a peck on his head that
stops him better than a bulldozer could.
“Baby! They’ve found you!” It’s Meg, ecstatic as she scrambles
out of the car, running toward us. She must have followed Boo and
Chatty.
“Meg, I’m glad you’re here because we have a lot on our hands.
We have found all these criminals, and Baby, and Gordy,” says Bill. “Gordy? Where’s Gordy?” Meg has yet to know all that just
happened. So Bill tells her.
“You mean Bubba found Gordy?” Meg was trying to understand,
but even Bill doesn’t understand that it wasn’t me. It was Mr. O who
found Gordy.
I whinny to Mr. O, who is regally overseeing the action from the
roof of the barn. “How can I let everyone know that you are the hero
here? This wouldn’t have happened without you, Mr. O. We owe you a
debt of gratitude.”
“As you know, owls are wise. It’s our job to know all and lead
the Owls, was born to do.” And with a “Hiss-hoo” and a few graceful
Chapter Forty-Five:
Is Different Bad?
With Baby back home, life has returned to normal. Days are busy but fun, with Meg letting me try more challenging jumps. “Bubba, you and I need to reach for higher things in the jumping department. I’ve entered us in a show in California that has jumps we’ve never tried, such as a water hazard jump. Bill is going to get something together to help us get used to that sort of thing. Plus, he’s going to make the log you used to jump into a real jump. Sound like fun?”
The next morning, Meg and I are taking our time heading to the outdoor jumps. It’s a beautiful early fall day, with horsetail clouds
on a gentle breeze that lifts my mane. All is well. Baby is home, Annie is feeling our baby move, and even Percy seems happy now that he has Patches for a constant companion.
“Bubba, because of you, Gordy is in jail and has pleaded guilty to a whole bunch of things. Bruce has been keeping track of the legal proceedings for us, and yesterday he told Bill that Gordy is going to
can concentrate on jumping. So let’s go do it!” Feeling a squeeze from Meg’s legs, I switch to a higher gear and canter to the jumps.
“Would you look at that, Bubba? Bill made that new jump I told you about.”
There, instead of the usual third jump, is a jump like I’ve never seen before. Bill has made a permanent jump using my log. There are
and two boards spaced above the log, making it the highest jump we have. It must have been a lot of work, and I can tell Meg likes it. So I guess I’m supposed to like it, too. But I don’t. I liked my log just the way it’s always been, back in the corner of the pasture with grass growing around it. Now I’ll never be able to go back there and jump the way I used to.
Meg hops out of the saddle, and we walk over to the new jump to inspect it. It smells like my old jump, and maybe if I try hard, I will learn to like it the way it is now. I know it took a lot of work, so I should at least appreciate the effort and the thought. But, darn, I’m disappointed, and Meg can tell.
“You don’t like it, do you, Bubba? Is it because it’s so big, or is there another reason? You’re not afraid you can’t jump it, are you? No, I don’t think that’s it, for you like challenges. And besides, the outer fence you jumped at the show grounds was higher than this jump.Well, whatever it is, maybe you’ll learn to like it. Let’s give it a try.”
So we do. I canter in a circle once and then start the jumps. When the new jump…I’m going to call it the Monster…is next, I gather myself.As I look at it I pretend that Julie and I are youngsters back in the pasture. Julie is chasing me in our game and suddenly this log is in front of me, and without thinking, I sail through the air and jump.
My pretending works, and though I nick the top board and it falls, I think I know how to learn to like the Monster…pretend it’s just like it used to be.
“Bubba, good job.A few more practice jumps and the new jump will be as easy as pie.” With a pat on my neck, Meg turns me back to report to Bill about the success of the new jump.
“Bill, where are you? Bubba and I jumped the new jump,” Meg hollers as she walks me to help me cool out. Coming around the corner just ahead of us is Annie with a rider. But the rider isn’t Mickey. It’s Robin!
“Look at me, Auntie Meg! I’m riding all by myself!” Robin’s grin is a mile wide as she sits squarely in the saddle. Robin is a bit of a show off, and now is the time, so with a jiggle of the reins, Robin tells Annie to trot.
“Oh, no, Robin! You mustn’t go so fast.Whoa!” Meg lets go of me and is trying to grab Annie’s rein as she passes us.
“Robin has a good grip on me, Bubba, I’ll take care of her. No need to worry,” says Annie, and she and Robin trot on down the aisle.
At the end of the day, after Lilly and Robin have gone home, I hear Meg lecturing Bill.“How could you let Robin ride all by herself, Bill? What if she had fallen?”
“Meg, Robin has been riding for several weeks. Lilly and I wanted to surprise you. You’ve got another budding horseman in your midst. You should be happy.”
“Well, I’m not. I don’t like secrets in my own stable.That makes me look like a dunce.”’
“You know what I think? I think you’re jealous because our Brett is scared to death of horses. I understand. I wish he liked horses, but he doesn’t. He’d do anything to get out of being around hors
es.You wait. He’ll have his own specialty. Maybe he’ll be a star football player, or a pianist, or a famous sculptor. But Brett’s dislike of horses shouldn’t keep
But Meg isn’t listening for she is stomping toward the house.
remember myself when I was young like Brett. Meg was disappointed with me, too. I wasn’t what she wanted me to be. First of all, I wasn’t a purebred Arabian. My father was a Clydesdale, so I couldn’t be in the Arabian classes like my sister, Julie. In the Half-Arabian classes, I was too big to look right in either Western Pleasure classes or English Pleasure classes.
Then when Bill was called back to the army, Meg had to sell me, and I became a carriage horse, pulling sightseers around town. My bigness was useful then. I have to admit, I wouldn’t be as good at jumping if I were small. So there are good things about being big.
Maybe everyone wishes they could be something other than what they are. I need to check on that. “Percy, are you awake?”
“Huh, well I am now, you big lummox.What do you want? It’s the middle of the night you know. Patches and I were sound asleep.”
“I’m sorry, but I just have to know if you have always wanted to be big.”
“What? You woke me up to ask me if I always wanted to be big? You’ve gotta be kidding! I couldn’t care less how big I am. What difference does that make? As long as I get to go to shows sometimes and have plenty to eat all the time, I don’t care.To answer your question: No, I have not always wanted to be big. Now, be a pal and let me go back to sleep. You worry about things you can’t do anything about. That’s pretty dumb, you know.”
When Percy says it, it makes sense. So why does my size keep bothering me? I really can’t do anything about it, especially in the middle of the night, so I’d better forget about it and get some rest.
I’m just dozing off, when I am awakened by meowing in the aisle. Looking down, I see Ten and Tom playing “cat and rat,” with Ten being the rat. Even though Ten only has three legs, she’s able to avoid being “caught” by Tom. Quite impressive.At least it makes an impression on me. Ten can’t do anything about that missing leg, just as I can’t do anything about being so big, yet she doesn’t let it bother her one bit. She
relax and enjoy the rest of the night.
Chapter Forty-Six:
Something New
“Meg, we’ve been missing the boat. Hear me out.”
Bill and Meg are in the tack room checking on the show tack before our next show.
“Okay. I’m all ears,” Meg says, as she checks the fastener on
a new one? It got some rough handling when she was kidnapped.” “Buy a new one. But listen, will you?” I can tell by the sound of
his voice, Bill is impatient to tell Meg what he thinks.“Remember when
we heard about Bubba being a carriage horse years ago when I was
called back to duty in the Army? Lilly and her mom said he was really
spectacular with his snappy front knee action.”
“Yeah, so what’s the point?” Meg is still huffy about Bill accusing
her of being jealous. But at least they’re speaking to each other. “Wouldn’t he be spectacular in a Fine Harness class? I ran into
Equitation? He told me they’re dropping out of any Fine Harness competition. They are focusing just on riding so their buggy and tack are for sale. If we can settle on a reasonable price, how about buying that and seeing what our Bubba can do with it?”
“Oh, I don’t know, Bill. You know driving a horse scares me, so I don’t want to.When I was growing up, I saw a horse go over backwards in harness and one of the shafts stabbed him! I don’t want to do that. Besides, think of how much extra stuff we’d need to haul to shows.”
“I remember your telling me about that, but accidents happen in anything we do. It doesn’t stop us though, so why should this? Besides,
As for extra stuff to haul to and from the shows, sure, but that’s no problem.The buggy will go on top of the trailer. I want to do this, Meg. I’m going to call Joe right now.”
Wow, that’s pretty strong tactics to use with Meg. But I hear nothing more, so I guess Bill won that one, and I’m glad. That’ll be something different. Remembering the carriage days, I didn’t mind pulling one, and the carriage was a whole lot bigger than a show buggy. Of course, there were two of us pulling. Looking back on that time of my life, the only thing that bothered me was that I wasn’t getting to do any jumping, except when I occasionally jumped the fence. If Bill brings that buggy soon, maybe I can pull it in the fall shows, and I’ll still get to jump.
That very afternoon I hear the pickup truck backing into the stable, and I see Bill carrying in an arm full of harness. I don’t just see him. I hear him, for he’s whistling. A happy guy. He really wants to do this, and so do I. It’ll be fun.
I was frantic, for there were straps everywhere.What I hated the most was what they called the crupper that went under my tail head. I put up a bit of a fuss about that. But, like everything else, in time I got used to it.
“Look at this, Bubba,” Bill says later, when he takes me to see the buggy. I’ve seen them at shows and know how fancy they can look. This one is black with shiny chrome wheels. Standing next to it, it seems pretty small. Of course, that’s probably because, in my mind, I’m comparing it to the carriage, which was huge.
“What do you think, big boy? Shall we take it for a spin?”
We do just that, and it’s fun.This harness is nothing compared to all of that heavy stuff for the carriage. It’s light-weight and soft. Even the crupper isn’t bad.
As Bill takes off my harness, he says, “Bubba, I think you and I are going to make a great team.You liked pulling that buggy, didn’t you? I could tell…the way those knees snapped up and your head and neck arched. Spectacular.You’re a sharp looking dude, Bubba. I’m going to be proud to drive you in the classes.”
As he puts me in my stall, he’s smiling, and soon that happy whistle joins the stable sounds.This Fine Harness venture has put some fun in Bill’s day and certainly in mine.
Chapter Forty-Seven:
Back to Pulling
I really enjoy shows, so I’m excited as we step out of the trailers and each of us settles down in our assigned stall. I notice we’re in Barn B, the same barn we were in when Baby jumped out of the arena and eventually was kidnapped.
“Bill, I just don’t want to risk Baby’s well-being again. Let’s not take her to this show.” It was a week or so ago that I heard Meg say this to Bill, as they were discussing the horses that were already entered in
I know Gordy and Grubby are both in jail, but…”
“I understand, Meg. She can wait until she’s three, when you have
her going well in English Pleasure.Then when she’s old enough, she can
begin with Hunter classes, moving on into Jumper classes. She has a
great future, and there’s no reason to rush it.”
I like the way Baby moves. Occasionally, I get to watch her trot
on the long line, as she sets back on her hindquarters to give her front
I am, but she’ll have enough leg to do a good job jumping. Julie can be proud.
So that’s why Baby isn’t with us now. Percy is back at the stable, too, for this is an Arabian show. He is so much happier now that Patches lives with him, so he didn’t even pout when we loaded and he didn’t.
All of my classes are in the evenings at this show, so I just lounge around during the day.There are lots of horses and people to watch as they go up and down the aisle. The kids really enjoy these shows. I think the parents are distracted, so the kids have more freedom than usual, and do they ever take advantage of that. Take the boy from the farm that’s in the stalls across from us. His name is Donnie, and he looks to be about eleven or twelve years old. Old enough to know a lot of things, and old enough to know better. At least, that’s what I heard his father say to him, when he found Donnie smoking in their tack stall.
“Donnie,
you know smoking is bad for you, and you also know smoking around a barn is doubly bad.You’re old enough to know better.” With that his father left Donnie and went on down the aisle. Well, if that’s all the punishment sweet little Donnie gets, I fear there’s more trouble yet to come.
Bill is usually pretty laid back, not up-tight like Meg, but I heard him tell Meg, Lilly and Nancy to watch things really well at this show, for he doesn’t trust Donnie. “What do you mean…Donnie might steal something?” Meg asked.
“Well, that for sure, but you can tell by looking at him that he can’t be trusted. It looks like the sky’s the limit with this kid. So keep your guard up, okay? It’s a good thing there are four of us at this show. Let’s try to keep one of us here all the time.”
Turning to Nancy, Meg said, “You wait to work Whisper until I
taking Geoffrey into the outdoor work ring, right? I know you have a ton of things to do, Bill, but since Bubba doesn’t have any classes today, would you mind doing some ground work with him out behind the barn?”
I expect that’s the way this whole show is going to be…carefully organized to provide some sense of security from the anticipated actions of Donnie. I don’t think Donnie looks all that threatening. He’s just a kid who’s easily bored, I expect. Maybe he doesn’t like shows…or horses.
The morning classes go well. Nothing too exciting for The Chocolate Farm, but a nice assortment of ribbons are beginning to
many of the show people are at the lunchroom or even off the grounds having a good time at one of the many nearby cafes. I’m just beginning to doze in the noonday heat, when whispering outside my stall awakens me. Opening my eyes, I see Donnie and two other boys with their heads together discussing something. There are giggles and subdued chatter. Something is brewing.
Looking around to see who of my crew is here, I see Bill sitting in a chair in the tack room, his head back against the wall and his mouth wide open, sound asleep. Uh-oh.
Chapter Forty-Eight:
Donnie
“Come on, guys, you hide in the tack stall, while I throw this under that sleeping guy’s chair. Ready?” That’s Donnie whispering, but what is it he’s going to throw?
