Beware the Mare Read online

  When all the horses are in the ring, the announcer says, “Line up, please.” People bring their horses to stand side by side, in a line that goes from one end of the ring to the other.

  The judge walks down the line, looking at each horse. Then one by one people lead their horses down the line in front of everybody. They turn around and trot back to place. Some horses won’t trot, and some won’t walk. But they all look sleek and trim.

  Mom and Gran watch from the fence right in front of Lily. But there is nothing to see right now except a lot of horses standing still. Gran folds her hands on top of the snow fence. They look fidgety, with nothing to make or fix or clean.

  Mandy and Shane go down in front of the line. Shane trots both ways, but he looks beautiful.

  Don Rice is next. His buckskin horse is very clean, and it walks and trots perfectly.

  And now the judge is looking at Beware.

  Lily stands straight at Beware’s head. Her heart thumps hard. She watches as the judge runs a hand down Beware’s neck and looks for dirt on her fingers. The judge puts her hand under Beware’s mane, and there is dirt there. She makes a check mark on her clipboard, and Lily’s face gets hot.

  The judge walks behind Beware, past her unbraided tail—another check. Beware turns her head to look back at the judge. “Okay,” the judge says. “Walk her out, and trot her back.”

  Beware walks and trots right beside Lily. Lily never has to pull on the lead rope. But by the time she gets back to the line the judge has already moved on.

  When the judge has looked at all the horses, she writes on her clipboard and hands it to the ringmaster. The ringmaster goes to the yellow tent. He comes back with six ribbons, and the announcer says, “Okay, here are the results for Halter Class. In sixth place—”

  Lily’s heart pounds. What if she wins sixth? Or fifth? But she doesn’t. She keeps waiting, and listening. What if Mandy’s name is called?

  When Don Rice goes to get the blue ribbon, Lily can see Mandy standing beside Shane. This is not like last year. Then they were little kids, and they got a ribbon in every class. In Halter Class they get no ribbon at all.

  At least neither of them got a ribbon, Lily thinks. They are still even. She makes a “too bad” face at Mandy, and Mandy makes one back. Then it’s time to go saddle up.

  CHAPTER THREE

  NOW EVERYONE is hurrying. “Where’s my girth?” somebody yells. “I can’t believe I didn’t bring my girth!” Mothers and fathers are running around, too. Everybody has lost something or messed something up.

  Gramp is waiting at the truck, with Lily’s saddle over his arm. “Good little mare,” he says to Beware. “She did just what she’s s’posed to.”

  “But we didn’t win a ribbon,” Lily says.

  “Pfft!” Gramp settles the saddle on Beware’s back. “Who wants a ribbon for housekeepin’? That’s what Halter Class is—just washin’ and dustin’!”

  “And housekeeping doesn’t matter at all, Linwood?”

  Gramp whirls around. Gran is standing there. “Oh, boy, now I’m in trouble!” Gramp takes off his green hat and holds it over his heart. “Gracie, I didn’t mean it! Just trying to cheer Lily up!”

  Lily tightens the girth and listens to the sounds around her. “Ow, get off my foot!” somebody yells. A horse walks by with no bridle on. He wanders just ahead of his owner, snatching bites of grass. Gramp picks up an extra lead rope and goes to help.

  Lily bridles Beware. Then she mounts and rides over to the ring. Beware is calm, but she is eager to move. It feels good to be on her back, crossing the ball field with other riders all around.

  The next classes are Equitation classes. The rider, not the horse, is being judged. The little kids always ride first, and they are in the ring now.

  Lily tries to tell who will win, but it’s hard. One little girl sits straight and still. But when her pony turns in circles, she doesn’t do anything. She just sits there, looking scared.

  One pony bucks, and the boy falls off. The pony trots to the gate, and Gramp catches it and helps the boy back on. Lily sees him say something, and the boy laughs.

  All the little kids get ribbons anyway. Then it’s the Juniors’ turn.

  Lily follows Mandy into the ring. There are lots of Juniors. They all look good. Even Mandy sits molded in position, like Lily’s plastic cowboy who fits perfectly on his plastic horse. Nothing can shake the cowboy loose. It doesn’t look as if anything can shake Mandy, either.

  Lily rides Beware around the ring, just walking. She tries to remember everything Gramp and Mom have taught her. Sit up straight. Heels down. Elbows at your sides. She passes Mom, standing by the snow fence, and Mom says quietly, “Smile.”

  That’s right. You’re supposed to smile, too. It shows the judge that riding is easy for you and that you are having a good time. Lily stretches her lips and looks at the judge. The judge is looking at the clipboard.

  “And trot, please!” says the announcer. “Rising trot.”

  Rising trot means posting—rising out of the saddle at every other step. Lily could never post right on the pony, but on Beware it’s easy. For a minute everything feels fine.

  Then there are hoofbeats, getting loud behind her. Beware puts her ears back, as if she might kick. Two horses pass, one on each side, very close. Their hooves drum, and a cloud of dust rises. One horse cuts in front, and Beware has to dodge. Lily loses the rhythm of the posting. She is bumping along, just like on the pony.

  “And walk, please. Walk.”

  Lily sits deeper, and Beware starts walking. A chestnut horse flashes past. It’s Shane. He goes halfway around the ring before Mandy can make him walk.

  Lily tries to settle into the saddle and ride right. Next they all will have to canter. That will be even harder.

  “And canter, please!”

  Horses grunt as their riders urge them on. Some start cantering fast, and some won’t canter at all. Two horses trot fast ahead of Lily. Their riders kick them in the sides.

  Beware just lifts into a canter, in the gentle rhythm that Lily knows well. If they were alone in a field, Lily would want to canter like this forever.

  But other horses keep passing and cutting in front. It is noisy and dusty. Beware has to slow down, and speed up, and dodge. She doesn’t feel smooth now, and Lily doesn’t have time to think about riding well.

  “Walk,” says the announcer. Now they have to turn around and do it all again, going the other way. It is just the same, except that Shane runs away with Mandy.

  At first Lily thinks Mandy is showing off, galloping fast past all the other horses. But she goes all the way around the ring, and when she passes again, Lily hears her saying, “Whoa, Shane!” Mandy’s voice sounds shaky and scared. Lily is scared, too. Shane is going so fast he could crash into somebody. Lily is glad when Mandy gets him stopped.

  Finally the announcer says, “Line up,” and in a minute the ringmaster brings back the ribbons. Lily doesn’t see how she could get a ribbon. Unless maybe the judge didn’t see her bumping at the trot. Unless maybe she was riding beautifully all along, even when it didn’t feel that way.

  “In sixth place,” the announcer says, and Lily’s heart thumps anyway, “number eighty, Mandy Firestone riding Shane.”

  Mandy? But Shane ran away! Didn’t the judge see that?

  Mandy rides forward with a proud, surprised smile, and the judge puts the green ribbon on Shane’s bridle. Lily listens. Fifth place, fourth place … Mandy got a ribbon. Maybe she will get one, too, in spite of everything.

  But Ginger Taylor wins the blue, and Lily follows her out of the ring, with everybody else who didn’t win.

  Buy A Blue for Beware Now!

  All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, c
haracters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 1993 by Jessie Haas

  Cover design by Jessie Hayes

  ISBN: 978-1-4976-6263-6

  This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

  345 Hudson Street

  New York, NY 10014

  www.openroadmedia.com

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