Star of Wonder Read Free

contacted Mr. McMurray about using a stall in the
     little white and green stable in return for developing a good record-keeping system for his cows and monthly bookkeeping.
     And Jody had arrived a month later with her little pinto Lady. The girls had been inseparable ever since, and Mrs. Morrow
     never regretted her decision.
    “Well, I’ve got to get to work.” Mrs. Morrow said, stepping gingerly across the dirt floor of the stable aisle, balancing
     on her toes. “I’ll see you at home later, Mary, and don’t forget . . .”
    “I know, I know, take my barn clothes off on the porch before coming in the house,” Mary recited with a smile.
    After all visitors had departed from Lucky Foot Stable, Mary and Jody decided to give Star a lesson in being led around the
     paddock. “Star was so good when we put the halter on him—he shouldn’t mind the lead rope at all,” Mary said confidently. Lady’s
     halter was obviously too big, so Willie had given the girls an old calf halter for the foal and it fit him perfectly. Now
     it was time to fasten the lead rope to it and teach Star to lead.

    He kicked and bucked around the paddock once with his tail held high and his back toward the girls.
    “Mare, are you sure we’re not pushing him? He’s only a week old, you know,” Jody worried.
    “Well, we’ve been petting him and rubbing him and we even brushed him, and he loved that,” Mary said. “And he already follows
     us around like a dog, so what’s the difference if we have a rope on him?”
    The difference was clear the instant Jody snapped the rope onto Star’s halter and gave a little tug. Star was fine following
     Jody and Mary of his own free will, but when he felt the pressure on his head to go forward, he automatically pulled back
     and threw up his head, yanking the lead rope from Jody’s hand and taking off at a canter across the paddock.
    “Star!” Mary shrieked. “Jody, the rope is hanging down between his legs! It could wrap around them and trip him! He’ll break
     his leg!”
    Mary and Jody both knew that chasing the foal would be the worst thing they could do—he would just run faster. As it was,
     he kicked and bucked around the paddock once, then he trotted, with his tail high and his back toward the girls, sidestepping
     away from them at the last minute. Just as he went by, Mary reached out to grab the rope, but she missed. Jody was almost
     crying as she watched the rope flip in and out between Star’s fragile front legs. Lady, meanwhile, looked up from her hay
     just as the foal trotted past. Until then, Lady had paid little attention to Star galloping around the paddock. But as he
     trotted near her, she seemed to almost know that the dangling rope was dangerous and reached out and grabbed it in her teeth,
     stopping Star in his tracks.
    Mary and Jody stared in amazement as Lady stood calmly holding the end of the rope in her teeth while Star rubbed his muzzle
     on her neck, then moved down her flank and nuzzled for milk. The girls turned and looked at each other and burst out laughing
     at the same instant.
    “I can’t believe she did that!” Jody gasped. “We have to tell Willie!”
    “Willie will never believe it,” Mary replied. “I wish we had a camera, just so we could prove it!”
    “Well, I guess we pushed him a little too fast,” Jody giggled. “Let’s unhook him and try again in about six months.”

3
    Time to Grow Up

    BY THE TIME six months had passed, not only had Star learned to lead around the paddock, but Mary and Jody had led him around
     the whole farm, introducing him to the cows, taking him to see Willie out in the field, even walking him up to Mr. McMurray’s
     big stone house. Of course, they led Lady along with him, because Star was still dependent on her milk and her company. They
     had even placed a saddle on his back and tightened the girth one hole at a time until he got used to the feel of it, and they
     laughed to see his expression when he