Endurance Ride Read Online Free PDF

ride.”
    Stevie’s indignation softened, but only a little. “You’ll wish you knew all I know when Belle and I finish ahead of you,” she said.
    “Hah. That won’t happen.” Phil patted Teddy, then cantered away again. He stopped partway down the field to wait for them. Stevie, resolute, held to a steady trot, and Mr. Baker stayed beside her.
    “I know I probably sound silly—” Stevie said to him.
    “Not at all,” he replied. “I think you’re being very smart and thoughtful about this whole ride. As I said before, I wish Phil had done a little more to prepare for this than take a few extra-long trail rides.”
    “But do you think it will hurt him … or Teddy?” Stevie knew that Phil would never, ever, do anything he thought would harm Teddy. He loved his horse, and he took very good care of him.
    “No, of course not,” Mr. Baker said. “If I truly thought that, I wouldn’t have let Phil come. Teddy’s always in pretty good shape. But this is my first endurance ride, too, so I don’t know everything, and I think that the more you know about any new situation, the better off you’re going to be. Plus, learning is a big part of Pony Club. This ride isn’t a Pony Club event in any way, but Max and I bothlike to see our riders apply Pony Club principles to other riding situations. Always learn everything you can, Stevie. With horses, you’ll find you can never know too much.”
    Stevie smiled. It sounded like something Max would say, and it made her feel reassured about both herself and Phil. When they reached Phil and Teddy, Phil was standing in his stirrups, looking down the trail.
    “I’ve figured out what that line of trees is,” he said. “A river! We’ve got a river crossing!”
    L ISA AND C AROLE exchanged more agonized looks—their three hundred thousandth agonized look, by Lisa’s calculation, of the morning. They were trotting side by side through a nice wooded trail, behind Max and Chloe, and for the last forty-five minutes—the entire ride—they’d had to endure Chloe’s endless, bragging chatter. So far she’d told them forty-seven different stories illustrating Whitey’s amazing equine brilliance. Lisa thought Whitey looked amazingly ordinary, and she didn’t believe half of what Chloe said.
Amazing endurance horse, my left foot
, she thought. And Whitey was a stupid name for a horse.
    “When Chloe wants to go to an endurance ride, I bet she doesn’t even need to load Whitey into the trailer,” Lisa muttered to Carole. “A horse that smart probably loadshimself. Just opens the back of the trailer, drops the ramp, and walks right in.”
    “Probably,” Carole agreed in a low voice. “Then he turns around, pulls the ramp up, locks the door, and ties his head by the front.”
    “I bet he’s better than that,” Lisa returned. “I bet he drives the truck.”
    “I don’t know,” Carole said. “Do you think Whitey could handle a stick shift?”
    “A horse like Whitey?” Lisa exclaimed. “Why, certainly.”
    “What was that?” Chloe asked, turning in the saddle.
    “Uh—we were just admiring the shape of Whitey’s hindquarters,” Lisa answered, making it up on the spot. “Carole was asking if I thought he could go up really steep hills, with hindquarters like that, and I said, ‘Why, certainly.’ ”
    Chloe beamed. “He’s sure got the build for endurance, doesn’t he?” she said. “But, you know, he should. His grandmother is the sister of the grandmother of Rio.”
    Lisa didn’t have a clue what that meant, but she wasn’t about to say so. She was pleased to see that Max and Carole looked equally blank.
    “Sorry, you’ve lost us,” Max said politely. “Who’s Rio?”
    “Oh, that’s right—you’re not really distance riders, so how would you know? Rio is the pet name for R. O. Grand Sultan.” Chloe beamed again.
    Max raised his eyebrows as if impressed. “Oh,” he said. “That is something.”
    “Who’s R. O. Grand Whatever?” Lisa