Hobbyhorse Read Online Free PDF Page B

“You can ride Patch.”
    “What about tomorrow? Can I ride Prancer tomorrow? Please, Max!”
    “You know,” Max said, “I don’t think you realize what a super horse Patch is. You’re really going to like him.”
    “Does he jump?” Amelia asked.
    Max nodded. “Yes, he does.”
    Stevie snickered, and Carole elbowed her. Lisa grinned. They knew they were all thinking the same thing. Patch would jump any fence willingly and safely, but not at all elegantly. “Jumps like an elephant would,” Stevie muttered.
    “Is he well bred?” Amelia asked.
    Lisa sighed. She wished Amelia would get over her obsession with pedigrees and social standing. A horse’s breeding was not nearly as important as its personality and talent.
    Max paused. “Er … yes. Yes, he’s very well bred.”
    Carole knew Max wasn’t really lying—so long as he interpreted “well bred” to mean mannerly and kind. Patch was descended from a plow horse and a part draft horse, neither of them pedigreed.
    “Okay,” Amelia said reluctantly. “If Patch is really good, I’ll ride him today. But I want to ride Prancer tomorrow.”
    “Come on, Amelia,” Lisa said.
    Max looked up at The Saddle Club. “Carole, why don’t you take Amelia and show her where the halters are? After all, you are my assistant instructor.”
    Carole smiled. “Sure!” She took Amelia by the hand and led her down the stable aisle. As she went, Lisa and Stevie could hear her saying, “Now, there are a lot of important things to know about halters …”
    “Phew!” Lisa said, when they were on their way out of thestable. “Just getting to spend one moment away from Amelia makes me feel better!”
    “What I’m glad about is that Carole’s going to enjoy being an assistant instructor,” Stevie said. “And it gives her something to think about besides Starlight’s foot. When I got here this morning she was in his stall, crying. She tried to pretend that she wasn’t when she saw me.”
    “She was crying?” Lisa asked. “I knew she was upset, but I guess I didn’t know she was that upset. Do you know anything about navicular disease?”
    “Not really,” Stevie said. “We’ll have to ask Carole about it.”
    “It must be pretty serious if she was crying. We’ll talk to her as soon as we can,” Lisa said, and they hurried on to the pasture.
    C AROLE TOOK A MELIA into the tack room and showed her the row of halters hanging on the wall. “This one belongs to Patch,” Carole said. She pulled it off the high hook, attached a lead rope to it, and handed it to Amelia. Amelia slung it expertly onto her shoulder. Carole smiled. Whatever her shortcomings might be, the girl really did seem to care about horses.
    “Why do the hats spell
brat
?” Amelia asked. Carole groaned. A bunch of extra riding helmets hung on a peg-board on the tack room wall, and it was one of Stevie’sfavorite pastimes to arrange them so they spelled a word. When had Stevie had time to make them say brat? Carole couldn’t remember Stevie being out of her sight once all morning.
    “Umm, I don’t think they’re meant to spell anything,” Carole said. “I think they just accidentally got put up like that.” She led Amelia out of the room. To get to the back pasture, they had to walk past the stalls with the Pony Tails’ ponies. Corey, Jasmine, and May were all tacking up. As Carole and Amelia walked by, the Pony Tails burst into fits of laughter. Amelia was chattering about halters and didn’t seem to notice, but Carole had to stifle a giggle. So that was who had rearranged the hats! The Pony Tails had found a way to get even without—quite—breaking their promise to Lisa.
    O UTSIDE , M AX RATTLED a bucket of grain near the gate until the whole herd of horses stopped grazing and began to walk slowly toward him. “Okay,” he said, consulting his list, “Stevie, you get Nickel and give him to Joey. Lisa, find Barq for Betsy. Hi, Carole!” Max looked up and grinned. “Since