Stable Hearts Read Free Page B

“Which breed do you like best?” Lisa asked him.
    He chuckled. “As I said, I like to look at Thoroughbreds. Every now and again I go to a racetrack and look at them all day long. But for me, riding, I want a nice horse with a nice comfortable trot and a good attitude. I don’t care about breeds when I’m riding.”
    “That’s great,” Carole said enthusiastically. “That’s the way I think everyone should feel. I’ve seen too many people get hung up on who a horse is or who his parents were. What’s important is what a horse does.”
    They had ridden into the thick of the woods and now crossed a wide stream. Prancer picked her way delicately through the water, and Belle snorted at a dead leaf waving at the end of a branch. Starlight gave a playful jog. Delilah pricked her ears.
    “When did you start riding?” Stevie asked Mr. Stowe.
    “I never took it up seriously, the way I can see you kids do,” he replied. “What happened was, I had an uncle who had horses. They were decent animals, kind, not fancy, and I used to go out andride them all the time when I was a kid. I never had lessons, I just ran the horses around the fields. But I did enjoy it.
    “After I grew up I didn’t ride for years and years. Then I met Elizabeth—your Mrs. Reg—a few weeks ago, and my interest was rekindled.”
    “That’s nice,” Carole said. “Where did you meet Mrs. Reg? Was she advertising for new riding students? I know Pine Hollow had a few openings.”
    “No, she didn’t say anything about the barn at first. I ran into her in that bookstore in Willow Creek, and we just sort of fell into a conversation. I go there pretty often. Turns out Mrs. Reg—Elizabeth—does, too. Pretty soon she was telling me about the horses, and so here I am.”
    Carole felt pleased for Mr. Stowe. She could never imagine herself not riding. How wonderful it must feel to him to be back on a horse after so long! And now, here at Pine Hollow, he could have all the opportunities for instruction that he’d been denied as a child. He could learn everything!
    “You might try pushing your heels down a little,” she suggested to him. “It would give you a better base of support.”
    “Yes, I see the way you three do it,” he replied. “It looks mighty uncomfortable.”
    “It’s much more comfortable when you get used to it,” Lisa assured him. Like Carole, she was beginning to feel an interest in Mr. Stowe’s education. “You know, I haven’t been riding for very long. The instruction here at Pine Hollow is really good.”
    “Well, fine,” Mr. Stowe said amiably. He stuck his heels down, and even if they did come up again a few strides later, Carole gave him points for trying.
    “There’s one of the jumps,” Stevie said, pointing to a pile of logs leading into an open field. “You asked before what we jumped. That’s a jump.”
    Mr. Stowe asked Delilah to halt and looked at it closely. “So that’s a jump, eh? And the horses jump it, not the riders?”
    Once again Stevie wasn’t sure whether Mr. Stowe was kidding. “We both jump it,” she said uncertainly, “together.”
    “Or not together, depending,” Lisa said with a snort, remembering the times she’d come off Prancer in midair.
    “I’ll tell you what,” Mr. Stowe said. “I’d surelove to watch you ladies take that jump. I’d know more what you were talking about then. Maybe you could all jump it a couple of times, just for me? As a favor?”
    “Sure!” Stevie couldn’t see why Mr. Stowe would want to stand still while they jumped—and from his grin she almost believed that he really was teasing them—but she had been dying to jump Belle. She led the way, and Carole and Lisa followed.
    When they had jumped the fence several times in both directions, Mr. Stowe thanked them gravely. They rode back to Pine Hollow. On the way home they passed several more jumps, and at Mr. Stowe’s request The Saddle Club jumped them all.
    When they got back Mrs. Reg was