Horse Fever by Bonnie Bryant Read Free Book Online Page B

lovely,” Pat assured her. “It’s just that
I’m
the one looking.”
    “You?” Missy said, taking in Pat’s five feet, nine inches. “But you’re way too— Oh, no!” she cried as her face registered understanding. “Don’t tell me they did it again!”
    “Did what?” Carole inquired.
    “It’s the ad people at
Horseman’s Weekly
!” Missy wailed. “They did this two weeks ago, too. They left out the
pony
!”
    “Huh?” Carole and Pat said in unison.
    “ ‘Seasoned
pony
hunter!’ That’s what the ad is supposed to say. Gosh darn it!”
    Carole and Pat murmured sympathetically as Missy explained. “You see, the first time they messed up the height. They put fifteen point one instead of fourteen point one. I couldn’t understand why no one was calling. Then I saw the ad. Nobody wants to buy a pony hunter that’s the size of a horse!”
    “You’re right about that,” Carole said. Officially, a pony was any horse that stood at or under fourteen hands, two inches. The measuring at horse shows was very strict. Obviously, you couldn’t enter a fifteen-point-one-hand horse in pony classes: It would be considered illegal.
    “So then what happened?” Pat asked.
    “So then I took the height out entirely. But then
they
took out the
pony
—left it out, I mean. So I had four adults come look at him! Last week I finally got some kids. But now this!”
    Pat nodded. “I’m sure we would have noticed if it had said ‘pony hunter.’ ”
    Missy looked glum. “I was hoping to sell him before school starts. Or not hoping. I don’t want to sell him at all. But I’m getting a new horse in two weeks and he’s got to be gone. We lease out the second stall to a boarder,” she explained.
    Carole and Pat chatted easily with Missy for a few minutes. Like most horsey people, they didn’t need much to get them going. The topic of horses was endless. Whenthey left, Missy was putting a bridle on Buster. “He’s almost tacked up, so of course I’ll ride now!” she said.
    Carole smiled. That was exactly what she would have done.
    A S P AT HAD feared, the quiet beginner horse could barely get out of a walk. Their one-thirty appointment, on the other hand, had a bucking problem—as well as a rearing problem and a bolting problem. “Exaggerating is one thing!” Pat cried in exasperation. “But calling that horse ‘trained’ is—is—” She took a perturbed bite of her hamburger. “Words fail me, Carole, but it’s wrong. It’s just plain wrong!”
    Carole nodded, her mouth full of fries. She and Pat were wolfing fast food on their way to the last appointment of the day. “If it’s any consolation, it happens in reverse, too,” she said. Briefly she recounted The Saddle Club’s efforts to help find a suitable owner for Garnet, Veronica diAngelo’s former horse. “She was a pretty little Arabian. And we had a three-hundred-pound woman show up who wanted to use her as a parade mount!”
    Pat laughed appreciatively. “That’s true—I’ve never been on that side of the fence. I’ve never had to sell a horse. When my horse got old we just put him out to pasture. How about you?” she asked Carole. “Have you ever gone through that?”
    “No,” Carole replied quietly. “Starlight is the only horse I’ve ever owned.”
    “And why you’d ever need another is beyond me,” Pat remarked.
    “I guess someday I’ll have to move on,” Carole said hesitantly. The thought was new to her. She’d never really considered her riding life after Starlight.
    “He looks like he’d be so much fun to ride,” said Pat.
    Carole noticed the wistful tone in Pat’s voice. “Why don’t you try him sometime?” she offered generously.
    “Are you sure?” Pat said. “I’d love to!”
    “Tomorrow then. I insist,” Carole added.
    “I’ll be there,” Pat said. “It will be great after riding these horses. I just pray this last horse is good. He sure
sounds
promising.”
    “Which one is that?” Carole