Free Horse Tale by Bonnie Bryant Page B

says, no questions asked.”
    “I know all that,” Stevie said impatiently, a little annoyed that Carole and Kate seemed to find it necessary to lecture her on dressage. “I just meant that Stewball has the natural ability to do it. He hasn’t been trained yet, so obviously he’s not going to get it perfect the first time out. But he did a lot better than either of the other horses, and I think that says something about his abilities.” She turned to Christine. “So do you want to see more?”
    “Uh, no,” Kate broke in. “Christine’s probably tired of dressage. Let’s show her something more exciting. How about some jumping? It won’t be easy in a Western saddle, but we can make the jumps low.”
    “Sounds good to me,” Stevie agreed breezily.
    A few minutes later the girls had finished constructing a jumping course in the field. They had stacked rocks and tree branches to make obstacles about eighteen inches high.
    “Who wants to go first?” Kate asked.
    “I’ll try it,” Lisa volunteered. She started Chocolate on the course at a trot, but it was clear from the beginning that the mare was confused about what she was being asked to do. She veered around almost every obstacle despite Lisa’s best attempts to keep her on track. The few times Lisa managed to keep Chocolate going, the mare slowed to a walk and stepped carefully over the logs.
    Finally Lisa gave up and brought Chocolate back in. “I guess she’s just not cut out to be a jumper,” she said, dismounting.
    “That’s okay,” Kate said, giving the mare a pat on the rump. “She has other skills. Anyway, who would expect a Western horse to do Eastern horse tricks?”
    “Why don’t you and Spot give it a try, Kate?” Carole suggested. “You’re such an experienced rider that you should be able to make it through the course on a Western horse if anybody can.”
    Kate and Spot did better than Lisa and Chocolate had, but not by much. Before every obstacle Spot started shakinghis head anxiously and trying to change course. Kate’s firm hand and expert riding eventually got the horse over all the jumps, but he didn’t look happy about it.
    “I guess Spot has that Western horse mentality,” Kate commented when she rejoined the others. “It’s not that he
can’t
jump those obstacles. He just doesn’t see the point.”
    “And by his age I bet he’s pretty stuck in his ways,” Lisa said with a nod.
    “He probably is, even though he’s not really that old,” Kate said. “I mean, he’s a year or two younger than Stewball, for instance.”
    Stevie couldn’t understand why her friends were being so downbeat about this whole demonstration. It wasn’t like them. “Lighten up, you guys, this is just for fun,” she told them. “Anyway, I’ll bet Stewball can do it. He’ll show these other horses how it’s done.”
    Carole shrugged. “Well, if you want to give it a try …”
    “Come on, boy, let’s go,” Stevie said to Stewball as she mounted. She signaled him to trot and aimed him at the first jump. His ears flicked forward, and as he approached the obstacle, he hesitated for just a moment. But at Stevie’s urging he picked up his pace again and took the jump perfectly. After that he seemed to understand what was going on. He cleared the course easily.
    When they had finished, Stevie slowed Stewball to a walk and leaned forward in the saddle to give him a big hug. “You were terrific, Stewball!” she exclaimed. Any doubts she had had about teaching Stewball English riding skills hadvanished. She had been right in the first place. He was the smartest horse in the world, and he could learn anything.
    S OON IT BEGAN to grow dark. The girls unsaddled and groomed the horses, then set them loose again in the makeshift corral. Together The Saddle Club began gathering dry sticks and twigs from the area around the campsite. It didn’t take them long to find enough, even with Dude running around and getting in their way.
    “I