Endurance Ride Read Online Free PDF Page B

asked, annoyed that it still didn’t make sense to her. “Remember, we’re not really distance riders.” She was pretty sure Chloe was incapable of forgetting that.
    “I thought everyone had heard of him,” Chloe said, a look of astonishment on her face.
    “Not us,” Carole said briefly. She ducked to avoid a low-hanging branch.
    “He’s one of the greatest endurance horses of all time. He’s won world championships, everything. He’s amazing.” Chloe slowed Whitey so that she could ride between Carole and Lisa.
    “That’s nice,” Carole said. “So he’s your horse’s what? Second cousin twice removed? I never can keep those things straight. Anyway, I’ve always thought that what a horse does is much more important than what his lineage is.” Carole looked toward Max for encouragement, and he turned slightly and winked at her. She felt better. Maybe he hadn’t been as impressed about the Rio thing as he’dsounded. It was Max who had taught her not to care so much about breeding.
    “Sure,” Chloe said. “But a horse’s background can be important, too. I like to think of it as telling you what the odds are that your horse might succeed at something. I mean, if you bred two great jumpers to each other, you’d think their foal would have a better chance of being a great jumper than a foal whose parents were the two lousiest jumpers on earth.”
    “True,” Carole said.
    “So when I think of everything I want to accomplish with Whitey, I’m glad that he has a lot of other endurance horses in his family. What kind of background does your horse have?”
    Carole patted Starlight’s neck fondly. “He’s part Thoroughbred and part quarter horse, and part we-don’t-know-what, but he’s all heart and good sense, and he jumps beautifully. I wouldn’t change him for anything.”
    Chloe nodded. “He looks tough, but he’s not too heavy. He could have a little Arab in him.”
    Carole sighed and nodded. Since she had gotten Starlight, different people had told her that he looked totally Thoroughbred, totally quarter horse, part Morgan, part Saddlebred, and part Tennessee walking horse. It alwaysseemed that people thought he was whatever breed they happened to like best. Of course Chloe would think he was Arabian. Carole didn’t think he looked anything of the sort. Still, she supposed it was meant as a compliment.
    Chloe turned to Lisa. “What about your mare?” she asked. “She doesn’t look like an Arab.”
    “She’s a full Thoroughbred,” Lisa said, a touch defensively. “She was raced. She was going to be good, too, but she hurt her foot.”
    “That’s too bad.”
    “Yeah, it was really awful for a while. See, we knew her before she got hurt, so we were really upset. No one could ride her for a long time, but she healed beautifully, and she’s fine now.” Lisa looked down at Prancer’s shining neck and delicate head and remembered the awful day at the racetrack when The Saddle Club had seen Prancer stumble, and nearly fall, in the middle of a race.
    “No …,” Chloe said. “I mean, what happened to her is too bad, too. It must have been terrible. But I mean it’s too bad you decided to take a Thoroughbred on this ride. Didn’t you say she was a lesson horse? You could have ridden something like Barq.”
    “I didn’t want to ride something like Barq,” Lisa said. “I love Prancer, and she’s a great horse. I ride her whenever I can. Why would it matter that she’s a Thoroughbred?”
    Chloe shrugged. “Some of them don’t handle the distance well,” she said. “But I’m sure you’re right—she’ll be fine.”
    “Prancer’s handled the training very well indeed,” Max said, and Lisa shot him a grateful look. She knew Max wouldn’t have let her take Prancer if he’d thought it was a bad idea—and even if he hadn’t ridden an endurance ride before, he knew a lot about horses and riding, and he’d made sure they were all prepared. He knew what Prancer could do,