Rocking Horse Read Online Free PDF

Stevie said. “A coop that encourages the horse not to jump.” She climbed on top of the sturdy fence. “It’s a chicken coop!” she said. “It turns the horses into chickens!”
    “Stevie, get down from there,” Max said sternly. “Quit fooling around.”
    “Just seeing if the jump looks any better from up here,” Stevie said. “It doesn’t.”
    “It’s not a very high jump,” Veronica said, measuring it against her leg. “I can’t imagine any horse having trouble clearing it.”
    “Right,” Max said. “It’s only two feet, six inches. Our coop at home is higher.”
    Max gave Veronica another approving smile. Carole guessed that he was glad to see Veronica act like a person who actually knew about, and cared about, the course she would be riding. Carole could think of two reasons for Veronica’s sudden good-rider attitude. One, Veronica’s first horse, a beautiful Thoroughbred name Cobalt, had died after a cross-country accident caused by Veronica’s jumping himcarelessly. Cobalt’s death had been the one thing that had really seemed to sink into Veronica’s salon-groomed head; afterward, she always tried her best to ride well cross-country.
    But two, Carole thought, Veronica was sucking up. Danny was so good that Veronica could ride the course blindfolded and they would do well. She didn’t have to worry about setting Danny up for the jumps. He was almost guaranteed to do well. Veronica just wanted to look good compared to The Saddle Club.
    And she did. Carole was so preoccupied with the landing side of the coop that she walked right into Max. “Sorry,” she said.
    “That’s all right,” Max said. “The trail forks here, as you see. Which side do we take?”
    Carole looked at the trails in confusion.
Shouldn’t there be a sign?
“I don’t know,” she said.
    “Well”—Max pulled Veronica’s map out of his pocket with a flourish—“this is where a little preparation comes in handy.”
    Carole blushed. She was preparing right now—she was walking the course. And she would have figured out which trail to take long before she had started out with Starlight.
    “It’s the left-hand fork,” Meg piped up. “Veronica showed me.”
    “What else has she showed you today?” Stevie asked. “Any handy ways of causing opposing teams to be penalized?”
    Meg frowned. “What are you talking about?”
    Lisa understood—mud. The approach to the coop had absorbed her attention, but as soon as she thought the word
mud
, she was back to worrying about the footing. She didn’t notice the quelling look Max gave Stevie.
    They continued on the course. Stevie felt so worried she was almost petrified. Even jumps that weren’t actually coops were starting to look like coops to her. The fourth jump was a bank—basically, a small hill that the horses jumped onto instead of over.
What is a bank
, Stevie thought wildly,
but half a coop covered with grass?
“Veronica, you won’t have any trouble here,” she called out gaily to mask her rising anxiety. “You know all about
banks
.” Stevie thought that was pretty funny, given that Veronica’s dad was a banker, but no one else laughed. Even Carole looked at her strangely.
    Veronica started to climb to the top of the bank. “Hey, Max!” Stevie cried. “Now
Veronica’s
climbing on the jumps!”
    Veronica shot her a cold look. “I’m just checking to see how the footing is up here,” she explained to Max. “After all, the horses land on top of this. Betsy,don’t you think you’d better check? Coconut’s so funny about soft footing.”
    “Good thinking, Veronica,” Max praised her. “And it’s smart of you to consider your teammates’ horses as well as your own.”
    Carole shook her head ruefully. Veronica had made a good point. Why hadn’t
she
thought of it? Carole remembered reading about a competition that had installed a new bank and hadn’t given the top of it time to settle. The first horse on course had sunk up to its