Gold Medal Rider (5 page)

As they set out, Carole paused to pat Warrior on the
neck. He was a beautiful Thoroughbred, and any other time she would have been overjoyed to ride him. But, watching Kate on Giacomo, Carole felt just the slightest bit jealous. Carole was used to being the best rider, and although she didn’t put on airs about it, she had to admit that it was a position she enjoyed. Nigel and Dorothy had given Kate the difficult, sensitive horse and had mounted Carole on a comparative plug. All because Kate was—well—Kate Devine. Nigel and Dorothy had never even seen Kate ride, but they knew her reputation. Carole winced. She had always known Kate was a fantastic rider, and how could she be jealous of such a good friend?

“Coming, Carole?” Kate turned Giacomo and trotted him back to Warrior’s side. Giacomo danced and snorted, and Kate settled him with a light hand on the reins. “I envy you!” she added, laughing. “You’ll get to enjoy this ride. I won’t even notice the scenery unless this horse spooks at it.” She smiled with such complete friendliness that Carole smiled back, her jealousy forgotten.

They followed a smooth path through miles of piney woods. Lisa rode carefully, letting Panama warm up first and then asking him to trot out long and stretch his neck low.

“You girls are doing a fantastic job,” Nigel praised them. “You’re all using this as a training ride, not just a trail ride, and that’s exactly right.” He maneuvered Santori to the
back, where Stevie had been keeping Steve last in line. “How’s it going back here? Any trouble?”

Stevie shook her head. “I’m watching Kate,” she said, pointing in front of her. “I’m trying to see if I can pick up any pointers.”

“What have you learned so far?”

“Well,” Stevie replied, “what I like best is how Kate never gets fussed, and she never gets thrown off balance. Giacomo still isn’t really settling down, but Kate can cope with him without getting him or herself upset. I’m not sure how she does it.”

“She’s got an excellent seat on a horse,” Nigel said. “She also has what all truly great riders have: completely independent hands, seat, and legs. She can move her hands to correct Giacomo without letting her shoulders move at all. Or she can sit back on him without changing the tension in her reins. See what I mean?” Kate used her legs to move Giacomo forward past a potentially scary-looking tree stump. The rest of her position didn’t change.

Stevie nodded. “Yeah. It’s fantastic, but it makes me feel like I’m not a very good rider. I didn’t realize Kate was so much better than the rest of us. We usually see her riding Western and just playing around on her ranch. It’s not so obvious then how talented she is.”

“Kate’s had her own horses and all the training she’s wanted for years and years,” Nigel said gently. “She has
also worked very hard. She’s talented, yes, but so are you. Someday you’ll ride just as well.”

“Thanks,” Stevie said. She glowed with pride. Nigel thought she could be as good as Kate!

When they arrived back at the stable after an hour’s ride, Beatrice was standing in the yard, still mounted on Southwood. She was talking to Drew, who had brought several hay bales out of the stable and was putting them into the horse trailer to take to the show.

The moment Giacomo saw the hay bales he shied violently, leaping to the side and ducking his head. Kate sat up and pulled on the reins, laughing at his mischief, but she couldn’t let him get away with it. She went to work teaching him a lesson. The others watched as she tried several times to get Giacomo to walk past the bales. Giacomo refused to do it, twisting and bucking and tossing his head in the air. Kate remained calm, a small, intense smile on her face. Finally she quit trying to convince Giacomo to go around the bales. Instead she trotted him straight at the bales and jumped him over them. Giacomo leaped into the air with a fierce expression, but jumping the bales seemed to convince him where they weren’t dangerous. He snorted and Kate praised him. She turned him and jumped the bales again.

After three or four jumps, Giacomo was quiet. Kate trotted him toward the bales one last time, and he jumped
them as calmly as a Pine Hollow lesson pony. Kate dropped the reins on his neck and patted him.

The rest of The Saddle Club had been watching in astonishment. They’d never seen a horse move so quickly from fear to acceptance. Kate was wonderful!

“I hope you didn’t mind me doing that,” Kate said, looking up at Nigel.

Nigel looked amused. “It was fine,” he said.

Beatrice had been watching, too. “Did I meet you last night?” she demanded. “Did you come with them?” She used her crop to point at the rest of The Saddle Club.

“Sure,” said Kate, straightening in the saddle. “I’m Kate Devine.”

Beatrice frowned. “Have I heard of you?” she asked.

Kate shrugged. “I really couldn’t say.”

“I think I have heard of you,” Beatrice declared. “What level do you ride at? Have you done advanced?”

“It’s been a long time,” Kate said patiently. “I wasn’t old enough for advanced level when I was still competing. I rode the open intermediate three-day at Radnor.”

Beatrice nodded as if she understood exactly what this meant. Carole wondered if Beatrice had shown at Radnor, wherever that was. “And?” Beatrice asked sharply.

Kate lifted her chin, and a strange expression, mingled triumph and sadness, flooded her face. “I won it,” she said.

Beatrice grinned. Her sudden smile was so contrary to
her personality that The Saddle Club was surprised by the change. “What about now?” she asked. “Are you old enough for advanced?”

Kate bit her lip, then nodded. “I just had a birthday.”

“Good.” In a single fluid motion Beatrice dismounted and flipped Southwood’s reins over his head. She held them out to Kate. “Would you like to try Southwood?” she asked.

The Saddle Club saw Kate’s face turn pale. Any one of them would have leaped at the chance to ride such a glorious horse. Why was Kate hesitating? Perhaps, Lisa thought, Kate was worried about riding a horse that was so valuable.

Kate felt a hundred different feelings. It would be great to ride a trained event horse again. Riding Giacomo had been enough to remind her of all the wonderful parts of horse training: teaching young horses to overcome their fears, helping them move with grace and energy, getting exactly the right responses from them. The morning’s ride had also reminded Kate of all the skills in the saddle that she still had but rarely used at the Bar None. Kate knew she could still compete. But she didn’t want to.

On the other hand, riding Southwood once could hardly hurt. It would be fun. Kate looked down at Beatrice. “I-I’d love to,” she stammered. She slid off Giacomo, handed his reins to Drew, and mounted Southwood.

The first thing Kate did was stand in the saddle, flexing her heels. She shortened the stirrup leathers, then stood
again. “Much better,” she said. She gathered up the reins and looked at Beatrice inquiringly.

“Out there,” Beatrice said, pointing to a field running down behind the stable. “Try anything you like.”

Kate took Southwood down the small slope. A stream ran through the middle of the field. On both sides of it Nigel had built several cross-country jumps. First Kate stayed on the near side of the stream. She trotted Southwood for a few minutes, then asked him to canter. His strides were expressive and elastic—this was what an event horse should feel like! Kate asked Southwood to lengthen his stride and he did it instantly, reaching long and low with his front legs. She sat back, and he came back to her.

She splashed him across the creek, then told him to gallop. The far end of the field came up quicker than she thought it would; she turned the horse and pointed him back to the creek. Nigel had built a small drop fence going into the water. Kate balanced Southwood and went for it. Southwood took the jump eagerly.
Splash!
Going into the water, Kate let the reins run through her fingers, then came forward, gathering them in. One stride, two, three—she sat hard and Southwood gathered himself—four strides, then a huge leap onto a bank fence coming out of the creek.

She let him canter a few strides, then put him back into a trot. She turned him toward a giant log.

“She can’t jump that from a
trot
,” Stevie said anxiously. “It looks four feet tall.”

But Kate knew she could. Southwood trotted up and over the log as though it were a cross rail. Kate halted him and began to quietly walk him up the hill to the stable, her face beaming with joy.

“It’s been so long!” she called to Beatrice. “And it felt so good! Thank you.”

The Saddle Club had noticed how closely Beatrice watched Kate ride. Beatrice smiled again, a sharp smile. “Why don’t you ride Southwood this weekend?” she asked, her voice ringing out across the yard. “You seem a lot more excited about him than Nigel does. I bet you’d be a lot more likely to win.”

Kate and the rest of The Saddle Club looked at Nigel. As before, he ignored Beatrice’s insult. “Go ahead, if you want to,” he said to Kate.

Kate gasped. That bank jump she had just taken had been perfect, absolutely perfect, and Southwood was a wonderful horse. She would only ride in this one show. It didn’t have to be the way it was before.

“Oh, Kate,” Carole said, her face aglow with happiness for her friend. “You should do it.”

“We’ll help you,” Lisa promised.

“All right,” Kate said. “I will.”

A
FTER
K
ATE
’
S
RIDE
everyone dismounted. “Come on,” Beatrice said to Kate, “I’ve got the event program in my car. I’ll give it to you and tell you all about Southwood.”

Kate nodded. “Just a minute. I’ll take care of Southwood first.”

Beatrice scowled. “Give him to Drew! That’s what Drew gets paid to do.”

Kate grimaced. She was used to doing everything for her horses. Taking a quick look around and not seeing Drew, Kate said, “He must be busy. I’ll just be a minute.”

Beatrice tapped her foot. “I don’t have a minute,” she said. “Get one of your little friends to do it. They do know
something
about horses, don’t they?”

Lisa blushed crimson with anger and Stevie seemed ready to explode, but Carole stepped forward quickly. “I’ll take Southwood,” she offered. To Kate she added softly, “It’s all right! And it’s not your fault—we all know how she is.” Carole was holding Warrior’s reins in her right hand. She took Southwood’s in her left.

“Geez,” Stevie said as Kate walked off with Beatrice, “I used to think you were exaggerating about how horrid Beatrice is, Carole. Now I think you were being too nice!”

“It doesn’t matter,” Carole said. “What matters is that we help Kate. This is a fantastic opportunity for her! I bet she feels like it’s a dream come true.”

“I know it would be my dream come true,” Lisa said, a rapturous look on her face. “Imagine being such a good rider that even people like Beatrice offer to let you ride their horses! You know Beatrice isn’t doing it out of the kindness of her heart.”

“I’m not sure she has a heart,” muttered Stevie. “She doesn’t even want to take care of her horse!”

“Exactly,” Lisa said. “But Kate cares about horses and she’s as good a rider as Beatrice.”

“I wish Kate could ride Southwood in the Olympics, instead of Beatrice,” Carole said. “Kate deserves it more.”

There was a small silence while the three of them looked at each other.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Lisa asked.

“Only if you’re thinking that Kate could ride in the Olympics,” Stevie said, a huge grin lighting up her face.

“Not on Southwood, of course,” Carole said. “But in four and a half years, Kate could find another horse and train it. I really think she could do it!”

“It’s a great idea,” Lisa said, “and we can all help her. Shall we make it a Saddle Club project?”

“Of course!” They clapped each other’s hands high above their heads in what they called a high fifteen.

“Our first job,” Stevie said thoughtfully, “is to get Kate excited about the Olympics. She used to say she’d never compete again, but she did just agree to ride Southwood. We need to get her thinking about how much fun the Olympics would be.”

“I agree,” Carole said. “But that’s not our
first
job. Our first job is to take care of these horses, including Southwood. After all, we do know
something
about horses!”

T
HE
HORSES
WERE
settled in their stalls eating hay by the time Kate came back. “Beatrice left for Saint Croix,” she said to Nigel. “She told me a lot about Southwood, but I hope you’ll help me, too. I know how hard this is going to be.”

“Of course,” Nigel said. “It’ll be fun. Believe me, I’d rather teach you than Beatrice!”

“Stevie called her the Queen Bee,” Kate said. She
looked thoughtful. “I don’t like it when she’s rude, but I’m pleased that she’s trusting me with her horse. She said that she doesn’t necessarily expect me to win, but she thinks Southwood should come pretty close.”

Nigel frowned. “I wouldn’t worry too much about winning. Not that I doubt your riding skills, or Southwood’s ability, but you’re both making a big jump going up to advanced level. Besides, winning isn’t the most important thing here.”