Summer Horse

by Bonnie Bryant

“Hi, Stevie,” she said. “Good to see you. Are your friends here, too?”

  “Come see for yourself,” Stevie said.

  When the instructor joined them, Carole asked her about Basil. Betty’s smile faded a little. “Oh, I’m sorry, Carole,” she said. “I remember how well you and Basil got along. But he’s not here anymore. He was sold over the winter.”

  “Sold?” Carole repeated, surprised and disappointed. “But why?”

  Betty looked down at the water bucket she was carrying. “Uh, I’m not really sure,” she said. “But don’t worry, I’m sure you and Ditto will get along just fine. He’s new and seems to have a mind of his own, but we figured you’re a good rider and could handle him.” Betty pointed the way to Ditto’s stall, then hurried away with a wave.

  “Come on, let’s go check him out,” Lisa said. “I want to say hi to Major, too.”

  “I’ll meet you there in a minute,” Stevie promised. “I just want to look in on Belle.” Carole and Lisa suspected that their friend actually wanted to take another look around for Phil, but they didn’t say so. While Stevie hurried off, they found Ditto’s stall. As it turned out, Major was just a few stalls down. While Lisa greeted her mount fondly, Carole decided to go ahead and get acquainted with hers.

  Ditto was a nice-looking Appaloosa gelding. When, Carole peeked over the half door of his stall, the horse was facing the back wall, munching peacefully on some hay.

  “Hey there, Ditto,” Carole said to attract his attention. To her surprise, the horse started. Then, with a snort, he whirled around to face her. “Whoa! Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” Carole tried to make her voice as quiet and unthreatening as possible. “Come here, boy.” She held out her hand for the horse to sniff.

  Ditto regarded her suspiciously for a long moment. Finally he stretched his neck forward, not moving his feet an inch, and quickly snuffled Carole’s hand. Just as quickly, he jerked his head back again.

  Carole withdrew her hand. “Wow, you seem a little jittery for a camp horse,” she said. “I guess it must be all the excitement of the first day. But don’t worry, I’m sure we’re going to be great friends before long. I never met a horse I didn’t like.”

  Stevie arrived just in time to hear Carole’s last comment. “I’d say that’s the understatement of the year,” she said. She frowned. “I still can’t find Phil. He’s not in the stable.”

  “Then there’s just one solution,” Carole said.

  Stevie looked hopeful. “What’s that?”

  Carole smiled. “Leave the stable. Come on, it’s almost lunchtime anyway. And you know Phil never misses a meal—it’s a foolproof plan.” She linked her arm through Stevie’s and walked down the aisle to Major’s stall. “Ready, Lisa?”

  “Sure,” Lisa said from inside the stall. “As long as the next place we go is to lunch. I’m starving.” She gave Major a farewell pat and joined her friends in the aisle.

  Just then The Saddle Club heard hoofbeats. They turned to see Piper Sullivan, the girl from Lisa’s cabin, leading a long-legged, coal-black mare out of one of the stalls.

  Piper smiled when she saw them. “Hello again,” she said.

  “Is that your horse?” Carole asked breathlessly. She couldn’t take her eyes off of the mare, which was every bit as beautiful as her owner.

  Piper nodded. “Her name’s Tapestry,” she said, her eyes shining as she looked at her horse.

  Carole knew that look. It was the same one she had every time she looked at Starlight, and she felt a pang as she thought about him. But she forced herself to smile at Piper. “She’s gorgeous,” she said sincerely. “Is she a Thoroughbred?”

  Piper nodded again. “We’re just going for a quick ride.”

  “But it’s almost lunchtime,” Stevie said. She grinned. “And believe me, the way Moose Hill campers usually eat, you don’t want to be late, or all you’ll get is scraps.”

  “Thanks for the tip,” Piper said with a chuckle. “But Tap really needs to stretch her legs. She had a long ride here this morning.”

  The girls nodded understandingly. There wasn’t one among them who wouldn’t be late for a meal—or even skip one entirely—when a horse’s comfort was at stake. They watched as Piper led Tapestry past them toward the stable entrance, then followed more slowly.

  The girls had to walk past Ditto’s stall on their way out. Carole noticed that the Appaloosa had come to the front of the stall when Piper and her horse walked by. He was still there, looking out over the door. “Oh, so you decided to be sociable after all, hmmm?” she said. She reached up slowly, letting the horse see what she was doing. He looked wary but stood still, allowing her to stroke his nose and cheek. “There, that’s not so bad, is it?” she said.

  “Looks like you two are hitting it off,” Lisa commented.

  Carole shrugged. “You know me.”

  “We know, we know,” Stevie said. “You never met a horse you didn’t like.”

  Carole grinned and reached up to give Ditto a friendly good-bye slap on the neck. To her amazement, the horse threw up his head, snorted, and retreated once again to the back of the stall.

  Stevie raised one eyebrow. “Hmmm. Maybe we’ve just found a horse who doesn’t like you,” she teased.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Carole said, forcing herself to laugh. It seemed that Ditto was even more skittish than she had thought—quite a change from calm, steady, reliable Starlight. “Just give him a chance. He’ll learn to love me.”

  “HE’S NOTHING LIKE Starlight, that’s for sure,” Carole said. She was still thinking about her first encounter with Ditto.

  Stevie shoved a forkful of coleslaw into her mouth before responding. The three girls were in the crowded mess hall, eating lunch. “You never know,” Stevie said at last. “He’ll loosen up in a day or two. The first day of camp is a stressful time for the horses.”

  Carole nodded. “I hope you’re right. What do you think, Lisa?”

  Carole had to ask the question twice more before Lisa heard her. “Oh! Sorry,” she said when she finally started paying attention. “I guess I was thinking about something else.”

  “Must have been something important,” Stevie commented. She pointed at Lisa’s plate with her fork. “You’ve hardly touched your potato chips. Does that mean you don’t want them?”

  “Help yourself,” Lisa said. As Stevie started munching on the potato chips, Lisa leaned her elbows on the table. “I was just trying to figure out how much reading I’ll have to do every day to finish all the books I brought.” She shook her head and smiled. “But to answer your question, Carole, I don’t think you have to worry about Ditto. I’m sure you’ll get along fine once you get to know each other.”

  Stevie licked salt off her fingers and looked around the room. “I can’t believe Phil isn’t here yet,” she said. “If it weren’t for Teddy, I’d think he wasn’t even at camp.”

  Just then two boys entered the mess hall, skateboards tucked under their arms. “There he is,” Carole said, pointing to one of the boys.

  Stevie’s eyes lit up. “It’s about time,” she said. She frowned. “What’s he doing with that skateboard? I didn’t know he even had one.” She didn’t wait for an answer but hopped out of her seat. “I’d better go say hi. I’m sure he’s been looking for me, too. We probably just missed each other.”

  But before she could go, Barry walked to the front of the room and called for attention. “Welcome, Moose Hill campers,” he said. “I hope you’re enjoying your lunch. I have a few announcements to make.”

  Stevie sat down again, casting a wistful glance at Phil, who was sitting with the other boy at a table near the door. Then she turned her attention to Barry.

  “For those of you visiting us for the first time, my name is Barry and I’m the camp director,” he said. “My office is in the rec hall, and the door is always open. You can come to me with questions, comments, complaints, and especially compliments.” There was a ripple of laughter from the campers. “Bu
t seriously,” Barry went on, “if you have any problems here, just let me know and I’ll do my best to help.”

  Carole and Lisa exchanged glances. This sounded like the old Barry. So why hadn’t he tried harder to help them?

  Barry continued. “For you veterans out there, I’m sure you’ll notice that we’ve made some changes here since last year. There are more cabins, for one thing—almost twice as many. But there aren’t just more campers here now, there are more things to do as well. We’ve put in tennis courts and set up volleyball nets at the west end of the meadow. There’s also a new arts and crafts studio in the rec hall for you artistic types. I hope everyone will check it out.” He paused to take a sip of water. “As the old-timers know, we always have a horse show at the end of camp to show off our newly honed riding skills.”

  There was an excited murmur from the crowd at that one. Lisa glanced around the room. Twice as many campers meant twice as much competition for ribbons.

  “In addition,” Barry said, “we’re going to have a different kind of show at the end of the first two weeks. But not a horse show. This one will be a talent show. I’d like to ask each cabin to put together some kind of skit or performance for it.”

  Stevie grinned. A talent show? It sounded fun—that sort of thing was right up her alley. With her creative mind helping them, her cabin was sure to have the best skit in the entire camp. She glanced at Carole, who grinned back at her. Stevie could tell she was thinking the same thing.

  Then both girls looked over at Lisa, and their grins faded as they remembered that she was in a different cabin and wouldn’t be a part of their performance. That made the whole thing suddenly seem like less fun.

  Barry glanced at his watch. “Anyway, I guess that’s about it from me,” he said. “I hope you’re all ready for a month of hard riding and good times. Enjoy your lunch.” He gave a wave and then left the room.

  “Great,” Stevie said. She grabbed the last of her sandwich and shoved it into her mouth. “With all these changes, I’m glad the good food hasn’t changed a bit,” she mumbled as she chewed. Then she got up and hurried toward Phil.

  Carole was thinking about Barry’s announcements, too. “You know, I’m glad Starlight will be here for the last two weeks instead of the first two,” she told Lisa. “That way I’ll get to ride him in the big show. I’m sure I’ll do a lot better on him than I would on Ditto.”

  “You’d do great on any horse,” Lisa said, taking a sip of juice.

  Carole sighed. “I’m not so sure about that,” she said. “I have a bad feeling about Ditto.”

  Lisa looked surprised. “But you just met him. Don’t tell me you’ve already made up your mind.”

  “I guess not,” Carole said. “I’m just a little worried, that’s all.”

  Lisa patted her friend’s hand. “I’m not worried. I know you’ll be fine. Have you forgotten what Max says? A good rider can ride any horse well. And you’re not just a good rider—you’re better than good.”

  Carole smiled a little. Lisa’s encouraging words were making her feel better. “You’re right,” she said. “I guess I’m just feeling weird because I miss Starlight. But I know I’ll like Ditto almost as much.”

  “That’s the spirit.” Lisa drained her juice glass, then stood up. “Come on, are you finished? We should get over to the stable and tack up for our first class.” Staff members had passed out schedules as the campers had walked into the mess hall. Carole, Stevie, and Lisa were all in the same jump class after lunch.

  “I’m ready,” Carole said. She and Lisa hurried over to Phil’s table. Stevie was chattering at her boyfriend a mile a minute, and it took some doing to drag her away. But finally she got up and joined her friends.

  “I was right. That wasn’t Phil’s skateboard,” she said as the three girls walked to the stable. “It belongs to his cabin mate Todd—that’s the guy he came in with. He’s a skateboard nut. He brought not one, not two, but three skateboards to camp with him. Can you believe that?”

  “No,” said Lisa, remembering the unpaved road leading to the camp. “Especially since the only place to skateboard around here must be the new tennis courts.”

  “That’s where they were before lunch,” Stevie said. “That’s why I couldn’t find Phil. But Todd also wants to try boarding on the delivery ramp behind the kitchen.” She rolled her eyes. “Boy, I’ll bet Phil is glad I’m here. Otherwise he’d be forced to spend all his time hanging around with the skateboard fiend. What a bore.”

  By now the girls had reached the stable. They headed first for the tack room, which was crowded with other campers. Carole found Ditto’s tack quickly. As she picked it up, she noticed that there were no stable hands among the campers in the room. That was surprising. Usually at least half the riders sat back and let the staff tack up for them.

  Carole left the tack room and hurried to Ditto’s stall. After Lisa’s pep talk, she was eager to really get acquainted with her temporary mount. If she saddled up quickly, she should have a few minutes alone in the ring with him. Fortunately he seemed a little calmer than he had been earlier, and he didn’t object to the quick grooming she gave him.

  He took the bridle easily, though he chomped on the bit for a few seconds before letting go. Carole hoisted the saddle and did her best to place it on his back gently, remembering his jumpiness that morning. But he didn’t react until she started tightening the girth. Then he suddenly danced sideways to the end of his lead, causing Carole accidentally to yank on the girth and pull the saddle off-kilter.

  She took a deep breath. “All right, boy,” she said calmly. “Settle down. I guess you don’t like a tight girth, huh? I’ll have to keep that in mind.” After tightening the girth as much as the horse would allow, she unclipped his lead line and led him outside. She could tighten the girth the rest of the way once she was in the saddle. Starlight didn’t mind having the girth tightened, but Carole had ridden plenty of horses that did.

  When Carole and Ditto reached the ring, it was empty. “Good,” she said. “That will give us a chance to get used to each other before class starts.” She led Ditto to the mounting block and swung herself onto his back. He shifted uneasily under her weight, but he didn’t move.

  “That’s more like it,” she said. Leaning over, she quickly tightened the girth and adjusted her stirrups. Then she picked up the reins and signaled for a walk.

  Ditto didn’t move. Carole signaled again, more firmly this time. At last Ditto seemed to realize what she wanted. He moved off jerkily, his head weaving from side to side. Remembering Betty’s comment about Ditto having a mind of his own, Carole decided she’d better keep a firm hand. She tightened up on the reins and signaled lightly with her heel for a trot. Ditto shook his head and came to a stop.

  Carole bit her lip. What was wrong with this horse? She had given such clear signals that Starlight or any other horse at Pine Hollow would have known instantly what he was supposed to do.

  “Come on, boy,” she said, leaning over to pat him on the neck. “What’s the matter?”

  Ditto jumped to one side and snorted. Obviously he was still skittish. Carole hoped it wasn’t a permanent state, thinking longingly of friendly, steady Starlight. Just then Ditto shook his head violently and took a step backward, snorting suspiciously at a bird that had just landed nearby. Carole tightened up again on the reins, reminding the horse that she was in charge. Why was he so jumpy? To her surprise, she found herself getting annoyed with him. That wasn’t like her. She knew horses could be as individual as people, with their own fears, foibles, and personality flaws.

  She signaled for a trot again, vowing to be more patient. After a couple of tries Ditto got the message and started trotting. Like many horses, he had a choppy, uneven trot that was hard to ride without posting. Carole clenched her teeth and started to post, thinking longingly of Starlight’s smooth, easy trot—one of the first things she had loved about him. Ditto was going to take some getting used to.

  SOON THE R
EST of the class joined Carole and Ditto in the ring. Before starting the lesson, Betty said she had a couple of announcements to make.

  “Actually, Barry was supposed to make them at lunch,” the instructor said. “I guess they slipped his mind. The first one has to do with the staff here. I’m sure you’ve already noticed that we don’t have many stable hands this year. Those of you who’ve been with us before may remember that the hands did a lot of your work for you. I hate to be the one to break it to you, but this year you’re going to have to do most of your own work. That means grooming, taking care of your tack, and cooling down your horse after you ride. In addition, we’d appreciate it if you all would pitch in occasionally and help with some of the other stable chores, like mucking out stalls and so forth.”

  There were a few scattered groans, but most of the campers were nodding agreeably. The Saddle Club girls exchanged amused glances. They were all thinking the same thing: Did Max Regnery have anything to do with this? Betty’s announcement made Carole wonder about the higher prices, though. Why would it cost more to go to a camp with fewer employees?

  Betty wasn’t finished. “Okay. Even if you didn’t like that news, I think you’re all going to like what I have to say next. It’s about the end-of-camp horse show. The show will be a little bit different this year.”

  The Saddle Club exchanged glances again. More changes?

  “We came up with something special to try this year,” Betty went on. “In addition to the usual events—dressage, equitation, hunter jumping—we’re adding an optional event: show jumping.”

  Carole couldn’t believe her ears. Show jumping was an exciting event in which horses and riders competed over a course of jumps in a set period of time. After each competitor completed the course once, there was a jump-off to break any ties. In the jump-off, which was usually the most exciting part of the event for spectators, the jumpers had to go through a shortened version of the course, and if there was a tie, the horse with the fastest time won. As opposed to hunter jumping, in which an even pace, good manners, and sometimes conformation counted for a lot, the only thing that counted in show jumping was to jump the course fast and clean. Carole and her friends had seen show-jumping competitions at horse shows and on television, but none of them had ever taken part in one. Carole was happier than ever that she would be riding Starlight in the show instead of Ditto. She and Starlight were a winning team, and she knew they would do well.