Gold Medal Rider

by Bonnie Bryant

  “Thanks,” Stevie said. She glowed with pride. Nigel thought she could be as good as Kate!

  When they arrived back at the stable after an hour’s ride, Beatrice was standing in the yard, still mounted on Southwood. She was talking to Drew, who had brought several hay bales out of the stable and was putting them into the horse trailer to take to the show.

  The moment Giacomo saw the hay bales he shied violently, leaping to the side and ducking his head. Kate sat up and pulled on the reins, laughing at his mischief, but she couldn’t let him get away with it. She went to work teaching him a lesson. The others watched as she tried several times to get Giacomo to walk past the bales. Giacomo refused to do it, twisting and bucking and tossing his head in the air. Kate remained calm, a small, intense smile on her face. Finally she quit trying to convince Giacomo to go around the bales. Instead she trotted him straight at the bales and jumped him over them. Giacomo leaped into the air with a fierce expression, but jumping the bales seemed to convince him where they weren’t dangerous. He snorted and Kate praised him. She turned him and jumped the bales again.

  After three or four jumps, Giacomo was quiet. Kate trotted him toward the bales one last time, and he jumped them as calmly as a Pine Hollow lesson pony. Kate dropped the reins on his neck and patted him.

  The rest of The Saddle Club had been watching in astonishment. They’d never seen a horse move so quickly from fear to acceptance. Kate was wonderful!

  “I hope you didn’t mind me doing that,” Kate said, looking up at Nigel.

  Nigel looked amused. “It was fine,” he said.

  Beatrice had been watching, too. “Did I meet you last night?” she demanded. “Did you come with them?” She used her crop to point at the rest of The Saddle Club.

  “Sure,” said Kate, straightening in the saddle. “I’m Kate Devine.”

  Beatrice frowned. “Have I heard of you?” she asked.

  Kate shrugged. “I really couldn’t say.”

  “I think I have heard of you,” Beatrice declared. “What level do you ride at? Have you done advanced?”

  “It’s been a long time,” Kate said patiently. “I wasn’t old enough for advanced level when I was still competing. I rode the open intermediate three-day at Radnor.”

  Beatrice nodded as if she understood exactly what this meant. Carole wondered if Beatrice had shown at Radnor, wherever that was. “And?” Beatrice asked sharply.

  Kate lifted her chin, and a strange expression, mingled triumph and sadness, flooded her face. “I won it,” she said.

  Beatrice grinned. Her sudden smile was so contrary to her personality that The Saddle Club was surprised by the change. “What about now?” she asked. “Are you old enough for advanced?”

  Kate bit her lip, then nodded. “I just had a birthday.”

  “Good.” In a single fluid motion Beatrice dismounted and flipped Southwood’s reins over his head. She held them out to Kate. “Would you like to try Southwood?” she asked.

  The Saddle Club saw Kate’s face turn pale. Any one of them would have leaped at the chance to ride such a glorious horse. Why was Kate hesitating? Perhaps, Lisa thought, Kate was worried about riding a horse that was so valuable.

  Kate felt a hundred different feelings. It would be great to ride a trained event horse again. Riding Giacomo had been enough to remind her of all the wonderful parts of horse training: teaching young horses to overcome their fears, helping them move with grace and energy, getting exactly the right responses from them. The morning’s ride had also reminded Kate of all the skills in the saddle that she still had but rarely used at the Bar None. Kate knew she could still compete. But she didn’t want to.

  On the other hand, riding Southwood once could hardly hurt. It would be fun. Kate looked down at Beatrice. “I-I’d love to,” she stammered. She slid off Giacomo, handed his reins to Drew, and mounted Southwood.

  The first thing Kate did was stand in the saddle, flexing her heels. She shortened the stirrup leathers, then stood again. “Much better,” she said. She gathered up the reins and looked at Beatrice inquiringly.

  “Out there,” Beatrice said, pointing to a field running down behind the stable. “Try anything you like.”

  Kate took Southwood down the small slope. A stream ran through the middle of the field. On both sides of it Nigel had built several cross-country jumps. First Kate stayed on the near side of the stream. She trotted Southwood for a few minutes, then asked him to canter. His strides were expressive and elastic—this was what an event horse should feel like! Kate asked Southwood to lengthen his stride and he did it instantly, reaching long and low with his front legs. She sat back, and he came back to her.

  She splashed him across the creek, then told him to gallop. The far end of the field came up quicker than she thought it would; she turned the horse and pointed him back to the creek. Nigel had built a small drop fence going into the water. Kate balanced Southwood and went for it. Southwood took the jump eagerly. Splash! Going into the water, Kate let the reins run through her fingers, then came forward, gathering them in. One stride, two, three—she sat hard and Southwood gathered himself—four strides, then a huge leap onto a bank fence coming out of the creek.

  She let him canter a few strides, then put him back into a trot. She turned him toward a giant log.

  “She can’t jump that from a trot,” Stevie said anxiously. “It looks four feet tall.”

  But Kate knew she could. Southwood trotted up and over the log as though it were a cross rail. Kate halted him and began to quietly walk him up the hill to the stable, her face beaming with joy.

  “It’s been so long!” she called to Beatrice. “And it felt so good! Thank you.”

  The Saddle Club had noticed how closely Beatrice watched Kate ride. Beatrice smiled again, a sharp smile. “Why don’t you ride Southwood this weekend?” she asked, her voice ringing out across the yard. “You seem a lot more excited about him than Nigel does. I bet you’d be a lot more likely to win.”

  Kate and the rest of The Saddle Club looked at Nigel. As before, he ignored Beatrice’s insult. “Go ahead, if you want to,” he said to Kate.

  Kate gasped. That bank jump she had just taken had been perfect, absolutely perfect, and Southwood was a wonderful horse. She would only ride in this one show. It didn’t have to be the way it was before.

  “Oh, Kate,” Carole said, her face aglow with happiness for her friend. “You should do it.”

  “We’ll help you,” Lisa promised.

  “All right,” Kate said. “I will.”

  AFTER KATE’S RIDE everyone dismounted. “Come on,” Beatrice said to Kate, “I’ve got the event program in my car. I’ll give it to you and tell you all about Southwood.”

  Kate nodded. “Just a minute. I’ll take care of Southwood first.”

  Beatrice scowled. “Give him to Drew! That’s what Drew gets paid to do.”

  Kate grimaced. She was used to doing everything for her horses. Taking a quick look around and not seeing Drew, Kate said, “He must be busy. I’ll just be a minute.”

  Beatrice tapped her foot. “I don’t have a minute,” she said. “Get one of your little friends to do it. They do know something about horses, don’t they?”

  Lisa blushed crimson with anger and Stevie seemed ready to explode, but Carole stepped forward quickly. “I’ll take Southwood,” she offered. To Kate she added softly, “It’s all right! And it’s not your fault—we all know how she is.” Carole was holding Warrior’s reins in her right hand. She took Southwood’s in her left.

  “Geez,” Stevie said as Kate walked off with Beatrice, “I used to think you were exaggerating about how horrid Beatrice is, Carole. Now I think you were being too nice!”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Carole said. “What matters is that we help Kate. This is a fantastic opportunity for her! I bet she feels like it’s a dream come true.”

  “I know it would be my dream come true,” Lisa said, a rapturous look on her face. “Imagine being such
a good rider that even people like Beatrice offer to let you ride their horses! You know Beatrice isn’t doing it out of the kindness of her heart.”

  “I’m not sure she has a heart,” muttered Stevie. “She doesn’t even want to take care of her horse!”

  “Exactly,” Lisa said. “But Kate cares about horses and she’s as good a rider as Beatrice.”

  “I wish Kate could ride Southwood in the Olympics, instead of Beatrice,” Carole said. “Kate deserves it more.”

  There was a small silence while the three of them looked at each other.

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Lisa asked.

  “Only if you’re thinking that Kate could ride in the Olympics,” Stevie said, a huge grin lighting up her face.

  “Not on Southwood, of course,” Carole said. “But in four and a half years, Kate could find another horse and train it. I really think she could do it!”

  “It’s a great idea,” Lisa said, “and we can all help her. Shall we make it a Saddle Club project?”

  “Of course!” They clapped each other’s hands high above their heads in what they called a high fifteen.

  “Our first job,” Stevie said thoughtfully, “is to get Kate excited about the Olympics. She used to say she’d never compete again, but she did just agree to ride Southwood. We need to get her thinking about how much fun the Olympics would be.”

  “I agree,” Carole said. “But that’s not our first job. Our first job is to take care of these horses, including Southwood. After all, we do know something about horses!”

  THE HORSES WERE settled in their stalls eating hay by the time Kate came back. “Beatrice left for Saint Croix,” she said to Nigel. “She told me a lot about Southwood, but I hope you’ll help me, too. I know how hard this is going to be.”

  “Of course,” Nigel said. “It’ll be fun. Believe me, I’d rather teach you than Beatrice!”

  “Stevie called her the Queen Bee,” Kate said. She looked thoughtful. “I don’t like it when she’s rude, but I’m pleased that she’s trusting me with her horse. She said that she doesn’t necessarily expect me to win, but she thinks Southwood should come pretty close.”

  Nigel frowned. “I wouldn’t worry too much about winning. Not that I doubt your riding skills, or Southwood’s ability, but you’re both making a big jump going up to advanced level. Besides, winning isn’t the most important thing here.”

  “I know that,” Kate said, with a little laugh. “The most important thing is beating the person in second place.”

  Nigel’s face darkened.

  “That was a joke, Nigel,” Kate added hastily.

  “Okay,” he said. “It just didn’t sound like one. Carole’s getting Southwood ready for the trip. Go see how she’s doing, will you?”

  Nigel still looked bothered by Kate’s remark. “But it was a joke,” Kate repeated to herself. Or was it? She shook her head once abruptly, as if trying to clear her thoughts. It was a joke. Winning wasn’t everything. “No,” she said to herself again, “beating the person in second place counts for something, too.”

  Here it goes, Kate thought. It’s starting already. Only this time she knew what could happen. This time she could make herself be different. It didn’t have to be the way it was before.

  She hurried to Southwood’s stall. Just outside his door, drawn in the dust, were five overlapping rings. Inside, Carole was carefully wrapping Southwood’s legs in shipping bandages. “Carole, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean for you to do all my work!” Kate was still worried about her conversation with Nigel, and her voice came out high and distressed.

  “Don’t be silly.” Carole rose to give Kate a hug. “We’re all so happy for you. This is such a great chance for you to get back into competitive riding! And we always like to help one another—you know that. You’ve helped us with things a hundred times. Plus, we understood how important it was for you to talk to Beatrice before she left.”

  “She told me a lot,” Kate agreed. She sat back on her heels. “But there’s still a lot I don’t know. Thanks for your help, Carole. Please remember, though—this isn’t a chance for me to start competing again. It’s just one event. Just one. And what are those rings in the dirt outside Southwood’s door? They look like Olympic rings.”

  Carole bit her lip. “Umm—I think Stevie put those there. For Southwood—you know, because he’ll be trying for the Olympics in a few years.” She knew that Stevie had really drawn the rings for Kate, but looking at Kate’s unhappy face, Carole didn’t think her friend wanted to hear that now. She would wait until Kate was enjoying the competition before she really started talking about her being an Olympian.

  When they were finished with Southwood, Kate and Carole returned to the tack room. The others were already there, packing tack trunks with gear according to Dorothy’s giant list. “Seven bridles,” Stevie said, checking them off on the list. “Nigel, we’re only bringing two horses—Southwood and Campfire. What are the extra five for?”

  Nigel chuckled. “Two horses, three phases,” he said. “The horses wear different bridles for dressage and cross-country. For show jumping they wear the same as cross-country, but we do need extras. What if something breaks?”

  “What if I end up swimming in the water jump?” Kate added, sitting down with a laugh. “I’ll need a dry bridle for show jumping.”

  “You won’t fall off,” Lisa assured her. Lisa knew that all riders fell off sometimes, but she didn’t think that someone with Kate’s skill would ever fall off in competition.

  “Oh, I might,” Kate answered. She didn’t look at all bothered. “Eventers crash a lot. Bigger fences, faster speeds. Speaking of which, Beatrice said I could borrow her saddles and tack, but her riding clothes are too big for me. Do you have any I can borrow, Dorothy?”

  Dorothy grimaced. “Not really. I so seldom get on a horse these days that I left all my old stuff on Long Island. Let me see if Karen has some extras.” She left the room.

  “Karen and David are the other people that share this stable,” Nigel explained. “I’m surprised they aren’t here to pack yet. That’s their half of the tack room over there, and I know they’re going to the horse trials. Karen’s riding two horses in your division, Kate.”

  Stevie continued to pack gear into the trunks. “There’s so much stuff,” she said. “We never need this much gear for the shows around Pine Hollow—at least not the ones I’ve ridden in.”

  “This is different,” Nigel agreed. “It’s not that this is more important, but it’s bigger.”

  “Major-league riding,” Lisa said.

  “That’s it.”

  “Olympic riding,” Carole added.

  “Says who?” came a deep, unfamiliar voice from the aisle. “We’re not saying the word ‘Olympic’ yet, are we? Nigel, shush them. You’ll jinx us all!” A laughing man with dark brown hair came into the room.

  “This is David,” Nigel announced. He introduced the girls. “And here’s his wife, Karen.”

  “And yes, you can borrow some clothes,” said Karen. She was a thin woman with long blond hair tied back in a ponytail. “One of you can, anyway. Who’s Kate?”

  Kate and Karen were about the same size. “This should be easy,” Karen said. “Come back to my trailer and we’ll get you suited up. Did you bring your own boots?” She put her arm around Kate’s shoulder as they walked away.

  “How many horses are you taking to the trials?” Lisa asked, noticing the enormous number of tack trunks David was opening.

  “Four,” he said, grunting as he tried to move a trunk from the wall. “Two each, plus Karen’s meeting a client there, so she’ll actually ride three.”

  Carole shook her head. “It’s so much work just to get my own horse ready when we go to a show,” she said. “I don’t know how I’d cope with more than one.” Carole thought that she would have to learn how if she wanted to be a professional rider.

  “It can be hard,” David said. “Well, ‘hard’ isn’t exactly the rig
ht word. It’s confusing at first, but once you get organized it’s just a lot of work. You just keep working, all day long.”

  “For instance,” Nigel added, “if you girls hadn’t been here today, we still would have needed to exercise all our horses before we left. I would have ponied a few—that means I’d ride one while leading another—and I would have had to get up even earlier than I did to make sure they all got done.”

  “Beatrice could have ridden one for you,” Lisa suggested.

  David and Nigel exchanged glances. Nigel grimaced and David laughed. “I don’t know how you put up with her,” David said. “I know she can pay a lot for good horses and good training, but I still don’t see how you stand her.”

  “She’s a strange case,” Nigel agreed. To The Saddle Club he explained, “Beatrice is completely dedicated to competitive riding. Her goal is to win a gold medal in the Olympics.” Nigel shut a tack trunk and sighed. He shook his head. “She has the talent—”

  “Talent schmalent,” David interrupted. “Lots of people have talent—”

  “She has the talent,” Nigel repeated, “but only half the attitude.”

  Stevie was puzzled. “What do you mean?”

  “She rides very well and works very hard at it,” Nigel explained. “She’s willing to do whatever she needs to do in order to win. She rides her horse correctly, she trains hard, and she never does anything that would hurt Southwood or make him less of an athlete. But she isn’t emotionally dedicated to the sport. Have you seen how when she’s finished riding she just hands Southwood to whoever’s available?”

  Stevie nodded.

  “Would you—would any of you—expect someone else to take care of your horse?”

  They all shook their heads. Caring for horses was an important part of riding.

  “Beatrice never takes care of Southwood,” Nigel said. “She never rides any other horses. A true champion ought to be immersed in horses—ought to think horses, breathe horses, live horses, dream horses—and Beatrice isn’t. She wants to be an Olympian. She doesn’t want to be a great rider.”