Free Show Horse by Bonnie Bryant

thought Cam was, uh, a girl’s name.”
    “It is, sometimes,” he said. “But not in my case. I’m really Cameron.”
    “And I’m really Carole,” she countered.
    They both smiled at her joke. Carole was going to say something else when the public-address system clicked on.
    “The Intermediate Fitting and Showing class will commence in thirty minutes,” the voice announced. “All entrants must be in the East ring in twenty-five minutes.”
    That meant that Carole had approximately twenty-three minutes to finish Starlight’s grooming
and
her own. There was work to be done.
    “See you later!” she called.
    “You can count on it!” Cam said after her.
    Carole liked the sound of that.
    L ISA WAS SURE that everything was perfect. There was no doubt in her mind that Prancer was going to be the most beautiful and best groomed horse in the ring. She also knew that, thanks to her mother’s ministrations, her own grooming was just fine. Once her mother had decided that she should be in the horse show, she’d decided she was going to do it right. Her clothes had been specially fitted by a tailor, and she looked great. That was what this event was about. She even had new boots to replace the ones that had been pinching her toes.
    Lisa and Prancer were standing in the East ring with all the other riders in the class, waiting to be told to go into the show ring. This wasn’t a riding class. The horses didn’t have their saddles on, just their bridles. This class was meant to show the judges that the ridersknew how to prepare their horses for the classes to come and to demonstrate grooming and the fact that the horses were in good physical condition. One look at Prancer and anybody would know she was in great condition.
    Nearby, Carole was all business, rubbing Starlight’s coat one more time with a handkerchief that a boy with a chestnut horse had loaned to her. She finished the wipe and handed the handkerchief back to the boy with a nod of thanks. Stevie and Topside stood next to Carole. Both Stevie and her horse seemed very relaxed. Lisa remembered that Topside had spent many years at horse shows before he’d come to Pine Hollow. He simply exuded confidence. Confidence was important. Lisa knew that. But it wasn’t everything.
    Then there was Veronica. As usual, Veronica and her horse looked great. Lisa was sure, however, that the judges wouldn’t be fooled by the fact that Garnet was simply not as fine a horse as Prancer.
    Prancer shifted her weight and lifted her front feet nervously, first her right, then her left. She seemed uneasy and crowded by all the other horses. Lisa patted her neck to put her at ease. The horse nodded her head and then shook it, mussing her mane. Lisa smoothed it.
    “This way, riders!” a woman announced, calling everybody in the ring to the gate that led to the show ring.
    With those words everything in the world faded togray for Lisa—everything, that was, except for herself, her horse, and the judges. She held Prancer’s reins firmly and followed the horse in front of her into the ring, to her fate, to her certain blue ribbon.
    The horses and riders were asked to line up in front of the judges’ stand. Like an automaton, Lisa followed the directions. She and Prancer stood between the boy who had given his handkerchief to Carole and a girl she’d never seen before.
    Lisa stood at attention, facing straight forward. She clutched Prancer’s reins, only vaguely aware that the mare kept tugging at them.
    There was activity all around Lisa and Prancer, and Lisa saw almost none of it. Judges circled the horses, checking both grooming and conformation, making notes, asking questions.
    “Uh-oh, here comes the judge!” the boy next to Lisa joked. She didn’t think it was funny. She stood at attention, eyes straight forward.
    “Relax,” the boy said to her. “They’re looking at your horse’s conformation, not your posture.”
    She really didn’t think that was funny at all. But