Free Sea Horse by Bonnie Bryant Page A

Lisa had seen before was by the side of his house, scattering, grain for the chickens. Lisa waved to him. He waved back.
    “Prepare to canter!” Frederica called.
    Lisa was prepared. This time, she signaled Jasper to canter the instant the horse in front of her began to move faster. He changed gaits easily. She changed her seat and her hold on the reins, and he responded. She rocked with his motion. Riding was as easy as it had always been.
    It had rained hard the night before and the small marsh that had caused Lisa such trouble two days ago was now much more perilous. The water was six inches deeper than it had been. Jasper slowed noticeably as he slogged through the water, but Lisa was prepared. She slowed, too. And she stayed on.
    “Nice work,” the rider behind her said. Lisa just nodded at the compliment.
    Frederica led the riders through another palm grove,around a grassy hillock, and back to the beach. Lisa could hardly wait for what she knew would be the final canter of the ride. Jasper seemed to sense her excitement. She certainly sensed his. As soon as they reached the beach, Frederica started the canter. Lisa was completely at ease, completely comfortable, and completely confident. Jasper was completely wonderful. The wind off the sea picked up his mane so that it blew back, accentuating his speed. The same wind brushed Lisa’s hair, even under her helmet, and Lisa felt as if she were flying. She no longer felt any fear or apprehension. She only felt joy.
    “Good work!” the rider behind her said. “I don’t know what Jill was so worried about. You’re just fine.”
    “I guess I am, now,” Lisa said, smiling to herself at his words. It hadn’t been Frederica who had warned the man behind her; it had been Jill. Frederica really
did
have faith in her.
    That thought was confirmed a few minutes later when Frederica rode back along the line, pausing by Lisa.
    “I knew you could do it, Lisa. Nice work.”
    “Thanks,” Lisa said. “For your confidence in me, I mean.”
    “You’re welcome,” Frederica said. “But I’m not sure I ever really doubted you were an intermediate rider. Oh, I might have in the very beginning, when you told me you’d only ridden for six months. But you seemed to doubt yourself more than I did, and that was much more worrisome than if I’d doubted you.”
    Lisa knew that was true and she thought about whatshe might have missed if she’d kept on doubting herself. It made her lean forward and pat Jasper affectionately on the neck. After all, he deserved thanks, too.
    “Jasper helped, you know,” Lisa said.
    Frederica nodded. “He loves the ride, especially the beach. Did you notice?”
    “I did,” Lisa said. “He’s a real sea horse.” Frederica laughed, patting Jasper herself.
    The riders all walked their horses the last quarter mile to the stable. Lisa would have liked to canter again, now that she knew she could really do it, but she also knew that horses had to walk to cool down. As they approached the stable, Jill drew her horse up, and waited for Lisa to catch up. “Stayed on this time, huh?” Jill asked rather snidely.,
    Lisa thought she was being unnecessarily nasty, but she wanted to give Jill the benefit of the doubt. “I’d just forgotten some of my basics,” she said.
    “Right, like staying on,” Jill snickered.
    “Yes, like staying on,” Lisa agreed, trying to make fun of her own shortcoming. Then she realized it wasn’t worth the effort. Jill was enjoying putting her down. That, Lisa decided, was Jill’s problem, not hers.
    Jill kicked her horse, urging him forward. He picked up a trot and was soon back at his own place in the line of riders. Lisa wasn’t sorry to see Jill gone.
    Although they had walked the horses a full quarter mile, Jasper was still lathered and breathing hard by the time they got into the mounting and dismounting area. He wasn’t ready to stop walking until he was fully cooleddown. His condition concerned Lisa enough