Horse-Sitters Read Online Free PDF

Stevie could open her mouth. “It was very nice of you to think of us, Mr. French,” she said politely. “And we’d love to take care of your beautiful horse for you. But really, there’s no need to pay us to do what Max will gladly do for free. Well, for your usual boarding fees, that is.”
    “I know,” Mr. French said. “But Max seems a little distracted these days. And you may have noticed I’ve been schooling Memphis on her running walk.”
    “I saw you practicing the other day,” Carole said eagerly. The running walk was a distinctive gait found only in the Tennessee walking horse. It was a very fast, gliding walk accompanied by a rhythmic nodding of the head. “The running walk is an inherited gait,” Carole explained to Lisa and Stevie. “You can’t teach horses to do it, but you can sometimes work with them to improve it.” She turned back to Mr. French. “Memphis seems to be responding well.”
    “Then you can understand why I’d rather pay a little extra to have someone do a little extra. I know Max and Red will give her perfect care—feed her, keep her stall clean, and so on—but they probably won’t have time to ride or school her.” He smiled at Carole. “And since I gather from your comments that you know something about what I’ve been doing, I’m more certain than ever that you girls are the best ones for the job. So what do you say?”
    “We say we’d love to,” Stevie said quickly, before Carole orLisa could protest. “You don’t have to worry about a thing, Mr. French. Memphis will be in good hands.
Professional
hands.”
    “Terrific,” Mr. French said. “I’ll be leaving first thing in the morning, so she’s all yours until next Friday.”
    “Great,” Stevie said. “Thanks for thinking of us.” She waved as Mr. French hurried away. Then she turned to face her friends, who were staring at her silently. “I know, I know,” she said. “You don’t have to say it. Am I crazy? The answer is no.”
    “The answer is we don’t know the first thing about training a Tennessee walking horse,” Carole replied.
    Stevie shrugged and grinned weakly. “Come on,” she said. “We’re The Saddle Club. We can figure it out. You seemed to know exactly what Mr. French was talking about just now.”
    “Only because I’ve read about it, not because I have any actual experience,” Carole said. “I’ve never even ridden a Tennessee walking horse before.”
    “Neither had Mr. French before he got Memphis, and he’s doing just fine,” Stevie pointed out. “And he’s not nearly as experienced as we are.”
    “I just don’t know about this, Stevie,” Carole said. She realized Lisa hadn’t said anything since Mr. French had left. She was staring down at her hands, her brow furrowed as if she were thinking hard. “What do you think, Lisa?” Carole asked.
    Lisa looked up. “I think we can do it,” she announced.
    “What?” Carole was surprised. “A few minutes ago you were worried we couldn’t take care of two horses. Now you think we can handle three?”
    “Barely,” Lisa admitted. “But if we plan it right I think we’ll be okay. The way I figure it, I should do most of the work with Honeybee.”
    “You’re actually volunteering to be in charge of that beast?” Carole asked in disbelief. She liked to say she had never met a horse she didn’t like, but she had to admit Honeybee came close to changing that.
    “Yes. You see, despite all Honeybee’s bad behavior, the most important part of that job is going to be keeping Aunt Eugenia happy. And I think I’d probably be the best at that.”
    “No argument there,” Stevie replied.
    Carole nodded. “You’re definitely the most tactful with adults.”
    “Meanwhile, Stevie will be in charge of Romeo’s training,” Lisa went on.
    “Because she’s the best at dressage,” Carole guessed.
    “Right,” Lisa confirmed. “And that leaves you with Memphis. I know you don’t know much about how to train her,