Free Bridle Path by Bonnie Bryant Page B

beat.
    Just as the ring was being cleared, Dorothy joined them in their seats. Max told her that Nigel was riding seventeenth, but she already knew that.
    “And he’s the first member of his team, too. They all drew high numbers.”
    Although Nigel and his teammates were at the show as a team, this was an individual event, not a team event, and each rider was entered on his or herown behalf. However, teammates were always happy when a friend did well.
    The event began.
    It took a few of the riders going through the course for the Saddle Club girls to get used to the way it was done. They’d seen plenty of jumping before, but never this daring and never this fast.
    “And never this good,” Stevie added to Carole’s thoughts.
    The riders were pressed for time, trying to make as many high-valued jumps as possible in the first fifty seconds. Max had spent a lot of time teaching his riders how important form was in jumping, but in this event, form went out the window. The only thing that counted was getting over the jump, high and fast.
    In the jumping that Max taught them, it was important to keep the horse at a steady gait. Steadiness was much more important than speed. That was not the case here. Also, in the jumping they usually did, if the horse knocked the top of the fence, there would be penalty deductions. In this event, the only consequence of a “tick” was that the audience would
oooooh
and
aaaaaah
until they knew whether the bar would fall down or not. The audience seemed to like the suspense and clapped every time the bar was hit.
    The horses had a lot of trouble with the forty-pointjump, and it wasn’t surprising, since it was the most valuable jump next to The Joker, and everybody wanted to try it. There was no penalty for a knockdown; it was just that no points accumulated and precious time was lost.
    Most of the riders concentrated on the twenty-five- and thirty-point jumps. Anything less than that wasn’t worth trying, except that there was a ten-pointer on the way to the thirty-point jump, and almost everybody went over it.
    Each time the buzzer announced the end of the first fifty seconds, there was a breathless silence in the arena. Would the rider try The Joker? It loomed far higher than any of the other jumps. It was over six feet tall. Because the riders didn’t stand a chance if they didn’t try it, most did. There were a few exceptions. One rider who was having trouble controlling his horse decided to pass on it. Since he’d accumulated only forty-five points in the first fifty seconds, there was no way he was in contention to win anyway.
    Another rider decided to play it very safe. Her horse had done extremely well on the regular jumps, and she’d accumulated enough points there that perhaps she thought she had a shot at a prize without gambling, so she passed on it.
    Among those who did try it, not many made it. By Carole’s count, it was just a little over half. But it was clear from just watching that those who did were the best of the best. Any rider who competed in this show was good. The ones who did well were excellent. It was a real treat for the girls, and they enjoyed every second of it.
    They particularly enjoyed the seventy-five seconds in which Nigel was riding the course.
    Dorothy sat forward in her seat, and Lisa could have sworn she didn’t breathe the entire time Nigel was riding. He chose a daring course for himself, attempting the hardest jumps and ignoring the easy ten-point fences.
    Nigel’s horse was as wonderful in motion as he had been standing still. But Stevie admired his grooming even more when the horse was cantering and jumping. The horse seemed to fly over the jumps, rising effortlessly in the air, almost hovering at the apex of the jump and then landing smoothly.
    “Oh,” Lisa said. It was so beautiful, it took her breath away.
    Then the buzzer sounded, and Nigel had to make up his mind about The Joker. He didn’t really have to make up his mind, Carole