Driving Team Read Online Free PDF

whistled right behind her. She turned around. Max stood there.
    “Looks like somebody got a beauty treatment today,” he said, taking note of Belle’s gleaming hooves. “Even amanicure, I see. You’re not starting a nail salon for horses, are you?”
    “Hardly,” said Stevie. “I was just putting myself to good use until four o’clock.”
    “Well, you’ve done a great job. Belle looks like she could enter the National Horse Show right now.” Max looked at Stevie, his blue eyes kind. “Are you ready to learn about driving?”
    Stevie nodded.
    “Then meet me in the back storage room in five minutes.”
    “Okay.” Stevie watched as Max returned to his office; then she dug in her pocket for a carrot for Belle. She held it out, and Belle nibbled the tidbit gently from the palm of her hand. “Thanks, girl,” Stevie whispered. “You cleaned up like a dream. Now Max thinks I can do at least one thing right!”
    She gave Belle a hug, then hurried out of the stall and down to the back storage room. Max had already turned the lights on, and Stevie could see lots of the props and jumps they’d used for Pony Club rallies and gymkhanas of the past. An old candy-striped jump brought a smile to her lips. That had been the first jump she and Belle had gone over together.
    “Okay.” Max suddenly appeared in the door. “Has your partner shown up yet?”
    Stevie shook her head. “Not yet.”
    “Well, I’ll show you everything and let you get started.” He crossed the room and pulled a huge box from behind a cardboard figure of Uncle Sam that they’d used for Fourth of July games. Stevie could see that the box was bulging with different kinds of reins and bridles, and in fact it was so heavy that Max could only drag it across the floor.
    “Well, here it is,” he said, stopping when the box rested in front of Stevie. “The Pine Hollow Driving Tack Collection.”
    Stevie looked down at the box in dismay. Reins and bridles were tangled up much like the Lakes’ big box of Christmas lights in their attic. Dirt and mud encrusted the leathers, and a thin layer of dust covered everything on the top of the pile.
    Stevie looked at Max dubiously. “Guess it’s been a while since the wagon’s been driven, huh?”
    “A while,” he admitted. He reached into the box and pulled out a cracked bellyband. “I think the D-level Pony Clubbers must have been doing some kind of project with this tack. They’re the only ones who would have left everything in such a mess.” He frowned. “I’ll have to have a chat with them.”
    Stevie gave an inward shudder. She’d been the recipient of several of Max’s chats, and she knew what the D-level kids were in for. Suddenly, though, she smiled. Maybe those little kids had done her a big favorwithout even knowing it. Maybe the tack was in such bad shape that Max would assign her some other project that didn’t include working with Veronica diAngelo. Softly she cleared her throat as she peered down into the box.
    “So I guess this stuff is in too bad a shape to use, huh?”
    “Oh, no,” said Max cheerily. “With a little saddle soap and elbow grease, it’ll be good as new.” He turned to her and grinned. “Just follow me.”
    With a sigh Stevie followed him as he dragged the box to a relatively empty hallway and turned on the lights overhead.
    “This is what driving tack is supposed to look like.” Max pulled a pen from his shirt pocket and drew a diagram on the side of the box. “These are the reins, those are the cruppers, here’s the checkrein and back pad. All that should be in this box. Why don’t you follow this drawing and see if you can lay it out on the floor here? After that, you and Veronica can clean it all up.”
    Stevie compared the straight lines of the diagram to the tangled mess in the box and frowned. “You want me to make that out of this?”
    “That’s right.” Max rose to his feet. “It shouldn’t even take you that long. I’ll check back with you