Horse Games by Bonnie Bryant Read Free Book Online Page B

along the aisle of the stable.
    “This is Topside,” she began. “Our friend Stevie usually rides him, but he’s a championship show horse and really too valuable for polocrosse, although she used him in a few practices. She was riding a chestnut named Comanche today. Now, here’s Pepper. He’s the horse I usually ride. And this is Patch—”
    They paused at each stall while Lisa made the introductions. Most of the Horse Wise riders had finished their untacking and grooming. The horses were relaxing, munching contentedly on fresh hay and watching Lisa, Marie, and Nickel as they made their way through the stable.
    “… and this is Garnet. This is another boarderhorse, like Starlight. She belongs to Veronica diAngelo, as you can tell by the initials on her blanket.”
    “Beautiful!” Marie said.
    Garnet stuck her head out over the top of her door. Instinctively, Marie reached out to scratch her forehead and rub her cheek. Garnet nodded affectionately.
    “Boy, is she friendly!” Marie said, pleased by the mare’s response.
    Lisa tried to think how to describe the situation. Veronica diAngelo was a spoiled rich girl who had found more ways to get other people to do her work than Lisa would have thought possible. It was hard to imagine ignoring the needs of a beautiful, valuable horse like Garnet, but Veronica managed it. “She is friendly, but it’s more like the horse is starved for love,” Lisa explained. “Her owner thinks of her as a fashion accessory.”
    “Oh,” Marie said. “How awful.”
    They met up with Carole in the tack room. Carole and Lisa then pointed out the riders’ locker area, Mrs. Reg’s office, the feed room, and the indoor ring. “We only ride in there when it’s really cold or raining. Outdoors is nicer,” Lisa explained.
    “You can say that again,” Marie said. “I’ve hardly been allowed to be outdoors for the last few months. I was surprised at how much I missed it.”
    “Well,” Carole continued, “outdoors, we’ve got the schooling ring, the game field, where today’s polocrosse—uh,um—” she couldn’t think of the right word. “Game” seemed much too tame.
    “Debacle?” Lisa suggested.
    “Maybe,” Carole said. She turned to Marie. “Lisa is a straight-A student,” she explained. “Sometimes she likes to use twenty-five-cent words. Anyway, if
debacle
means ‘humiliating defeat,’ then it’s the right word.”
    “That’s what it means,” Lisa said. “And Marie can note, for the record, that sometimes you use Marine Corps terms—like ‘humiliating defeat.’ ”
    Carole pretended to be insulted by the dig. “Why, how could you? The Marine Corps never uses the term ‘humiliating defeat’—unless, of course, they are talking about something other than the Marine Corps. ‘Retreat,’ maybe. ‘Advancing to the rear,’ more likely.”
    They were still discussing terms like
rout
,
Waterloo
,
drubbing
,
licking
, and
thrashing
when the tour group arrived at the scene of the crime.
    It was nearly abandoned now. All the Cross County riders had loaded their horses onto their vans and gone home to celebrate. The Horse Wise Pony Clubbers had dispersed as quickly, but without anything to celebrate. Max and the parent volunteers were having a meeting. The only sight on the playing field was Stevie Lake and Comanche. They were practicing polocrosse.
    Using her racquet, Stevie tossed the ball into midfield. Then, she kicked Comanche into a fast canter and approachedthe ball, trying to pick it up as she whizzed past it. She swung hard at it—and missed. She rode well past the ball, then turned Comanche around and tried it again. She rode even faster. Comanche did just what Stevie told him to do, and Stevie did the best she knew how, but it wasn’t good enough. This time, although she was able to touch the ball with her racquet, she still didn’t manage to pick it up.
    She pulled her horse to a halt, as if she were punishing him. She was too far away for