Endurance Ride Read Online Free PDF Page A

What difference did it make, when Max had already decided to defer to Chloe the Expert on all particulars? Carole dropped Starlight behind Barq and Whitey and made a face at Lisa.
    Lisa returned a sympathetic look. Leaning over, she whispered to Carole, “This is going to be a real endurance ride, all right. We’re going to have to endure fifty miles of Chloe.”

S TEVIE , P HIL, AND Mr. Baker trotted steadily side by side. They’d been riding for nearly an hour. The path was still wide, but now it wound in and out of woods, up small hills, and down valleys. The footing remained good, and Belle seemed to feel as if she could trot forever. She was sweating lightly but looked in terrific shape. “I’ll bet we’ve already gone ten miles,” Stevie said. “We’re flying.”
    Phil grinned. “See? I told you this wouldn’t be too difficult.” He reached down to pat Teddy’s neck. Teddy looked every bit as fit and happy as Belle. Phil was probably right, Stevie thought. This wasn’t going to be as hard as she’d thought. Max always liked to get them superprepared foreverything, so he’d probably gone overboard with their training schedule. But Stevie didn’t mind. She’d certainly rather be overprepared than underprepared.
    “It’s a gorgeous day,” she said. “I just hope it doesn’t get too much hotter.” The sun shone bright in a cloudless sky, and there was barely a hint of breeze. She was already sweating a little bit, like Belle, and she’d drunk one of the two boxes of juice in her fanny pack. “Are you sure we’re only halfway to the check?”
    “I’m afraid so,” Mr. Baker said. He smiled at her. Stevie smiled back. She had always liked him, even though he wasn’t as easy to get to know as Max.
    The trail was marked by occasional pieces of orange surveyor’s tape, but the riders were still so closely bunched that most had just followed the group in front of them. Now, as they turned out of the woods, they could see several groups of riders all making their way down the side of a very large field. Far ahead, the riders disappeared into another line of trees.
    “Fantastic,” Phil said. “We’ve got all this open space. Let’s canter!”
    Stevie shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said. “All the books say that the most efficient gait for a horse is the trot. They can canter faster, but their canter takes so much more energy that on a long ridethey’re better off trotting almost all the way. After all,” she added, looking at Phil, “we’ve got forty miles to go. And everyone says the trail gets a lot harder from here.”
    Phil looked back at her so sincerely that Stevie felt a flash of pride. He seemed impressed with all she’d learned about distance riding.
Even if all that conditioning wasn’t really necessary for the horses
, Stevie thought, I’m
still glad Max made us learn so much. It’ll be better for Belle if I ride her correctly today
.
    “Stevie,” Phil said in a soft voice, “you’re starting to sound just like Chloe. So when will you be buying Belle that lovely pink plastic bridle?” He smirked, and Stevie involuntarily tightened her hands on her reins. Phil wasn’t really impressed with her at all—in fact, he thought she was being silly.
    “Or maybe, with Belle’s coloring, you should consider royal blue,” Phil continued. “I think I saw one of those at the starting line. It’d be all the rage at Pony Club meets—not to mention the next time you show at Briarwood.” Phil signaled to Teddy and cantered away before Stevie could respond. When he cantered back, he was smiling. “I’m sorry, Stevie,” he said. “I shouldn’t laugh. I know you’ve been studying this stuff. But you should hear how funny you sound—I mean, like you said, we’re not riding this to win, or to get points for the Junior Fabulous Rider of theWorld, like that Chloe—we’re just having fun. And this is fun. It’s one big fifty-mile trail