Free Horse Guest by Bonnie Bryant Page A

hoof full-time?
    “I’ve got it!” she cried suddenly. “Veronica!”
    Lisa cocked her head to one side and gave her friend a curious look. “Veronica?” she said. “What does she know about cribbing? Danny doesn’t have a single bad habit that I know of.”
    “That’s exactly the point,” Carole said. She let herself out of the stall and motioned for Lisa to follow. “Veronica just bought Danny all those expensive horse toys for Christmas, remember? And I don’t think he’s so much as glanced at any of them.”
    Lisa’s eyes widened. “I get it!” she said. “Those kinds of toys are meant to keep horses occupied while they’re in their stalls. To keep them from developing bad habits, like wind sucking or weaving or—”
    “Cribbing,” Carole finished for her with a nod.
    “But doesn’t that mean we have to ask Veronica to loan them to us?” Lisa said, wrinkling her nose in distaste. “She might not let us use them. She kept bragging about the expensive catalog she ordered them from.”
    Carole shrugged. “All we can do is ask, right?”
    The girls left the stall and went in search of Veronica. “I hope she didn’t leave already,” Lisa said as she peeked into the student locker room. Veronica was famous for expecting Red and the other stable hands to do her work for her. It wouldn’t be unusual for her to have left the stable, even so soon after class.
    But the girls were lucky. As they headed toward the tack room, they heard voices coming from Mrs. Reg’s office. One of the voices was very loud, very whiny, and very familiar.
    Carole poked her head through the door. She saw Max perched on the edge of his mother’s desk, looking irritated. Veronica was standing in front of him, hands on her hips, complaining.
    “But Max,” she whined, not noticing Carole. “You promised we could play the shopping game I made up!”
    Max sighed. “I told you we could do it if you agreed to supply the props,” he reminded Veronica.
    “But I just told you,” Veronica said, pouting. “I don’t have time to make all that stuff this week. I’ve got a lot to do.”
    “Well, you’re welcome to do it next week,” Max saidwith a shrug, “but that won’t help us much, since the gymkhana is this Saturday.”
    Carole knocked softly on the doorjamb to announce her presence. “Sorry to interrupt,” she said, “but we have a question—for both of you, actually.” She came into the office, followed by Lisa.
    Max nodded. Carole thought he looked a little relieved to have this particular conversation interrupted. “Go ahead, Carole,” he said.
    Carole told him about Magoo’s new cribbing problem. Then she explained the solution she and Lisa were considering.
    Max looked thoughtful. “I’ve noticed that Magoo is quite demanding of human attention. I don’t know if toys will be an adequate substitute for him. But it’s certainly worth a try if Veronica is willing to lend them to you.”
    Veronica was already frowning. “What makes you think I want some strange horse slobbering all over my Danny’s things?” she demanded, turning to face Carole and Lisa. “That horse doesn’t even belong to Pine Hollow. Besides that, he’s disruptive. He’s always staring at me when I go by and making noise when I’m in Danny’s stall.”
    Lisa rolled her eyes, but she tried to be polite when she answered. After all, they needed Veronica’s help. “That’s why we need the toys,” she said as patiently as she could. “We’re hoping they’ll keep him occupied so that he won’t be so restless. We’ll take good care of them and returnthem as soon as Magoo goes home to Hedgerow. We promise.”
    Veronica still looked stubborn. She shook her head and started to reply.
    Carole interrupted. “I’ve got an idea,” she said suddenly. “Why don’t we make a deal?”
    Veronica closed her mouth and looked suspicious. “What kind of deal?” she asked. Max didn’t say anything, but he looked interested.
    “If