Free Hunter Derby: (Show Circuit Series -- Book 3) by Kim Ablon Whitney

and she wondered if she should tell Kirsten that she was feeling sick, or that she just couldn’t do this part. She was about to say something when John walked into the ring with Kirsten. It caught her so off guard to see him there and she forgot about her nerves for a moment.
    “Zoe, this is John Bradstreet. He’ll be the other walker. John, this is Zoe Tramell.”
    Zoe said, “We know each other already.”
    “Okay,” Kirsten said. “John will walk next to Molly. Zoe, your job will be to lead Daisy. Keep her walking straight.”
    “That’s it?”
    “Basically, yes,” Kirsten said.
    Zoe had more questions flying through her head. What if Molly fell off? What would Molly look like? What would be wrong with her?
    Her nerves had returned.
    She heard car tires crunching on the gravel driveway. Soon Molly, whoever she was, would be here. Daisy blew out a huge breath onto Zoe’s arm. Zoe was grateful for the distraction. She fidgeted with Daisy’s bridle, making sure the keepers were all tidy.
    Molly and a woman who was either her mother or her caregiver appeared in the doorway. Kirsten greeted them warmly.
    Molly wasn’t in a wheelchair. She was walking, albeit with a lot of help from the woman. She walked behind Molly, her chest pressed against Molly’s back, her arms hooked under Molly’s, basically holding her upright. Molly took jerky steps, her muscles clearly not doing what they were supposed to. Zoe noticed how skinny and atrophied her legs were.
    Zoe thought she would feel a bolt of disgust but instead she felt nothing but awe. Awe for Molly and how hard it must be for her not to be able to walk on her own.
    With the woman’s help, Molly made it up to the mounting block. John signaled to Zoe to lead Daisy over.
    “Hi, Molls,” he said and Molly replied, “You again?”
    Kirsten said, “Molly, we have a new helper today, Zoe. Zoe, this is Molly and her mother, Joanne.”
    “Hi,” Zoe said. So it
was
her mother. Zoe felt tears nearly pressing at her eyes. Here was a mother so dedicated that she held her daughter while she walked. There were certainly dedicated mothers she saw at the horse shows—not her own, of course. But the horse show mothers sometimes seemed more devoted to winning than to their children.
    Would those horse-show moms be like Joanne if they had a daughter like Molly?
    “Hi,” Molly said and smiled a little crookedly at Zoe, some of the muscles in her face frozen. Still, her smile was bright and infectious. Zoe felt instantly at ease. This was going to be all right after all.
    John and Kirsten helped Molly mount Daisy. Molly looked more relaxed the moment she was in the saddle, like she was a creature that needed to be on horseback.
    Joanne stepped away as Kirsten talked to Molly.
    “How’s your day going?”
    “Okay.”
    “Ready to work hard today? Work on your core? And have some fun?”
    Molly nodded.
    “Okay, let’s go out to the rail.”
    Molly and Kirsten talked much of the time that Molly rode. Zoe had assumed therapeutic riding was basically like a pony ride—a few times around in each direction and then get off. But she soon learned it was not that different than a typical riding lesson.
    Kirsten was as or more skilled than a typical instructor and worked on Molly’s position and body control. She had her put her arms out to the sides and lean forward to touch different parts of the saddle. Then she had Molly steer Daisy in and out of cones and play a game of red-light-green-light. John walked next to her the whole time, sometimes touching her leg or hands to help demonstrate what Kirsten was explaining.
    Zoe was surprised at how quickly the lesson went by. She’d figured every minute would feel like forever but a quick glance at the clock in the ring showed it was already half over.
    Kirsten had Molly wait in the middle of the ring while she attached what looked like laminated photographs onto different spots on the walls of the arena with velcro.
    “Who’s