on theirs.”
“Huh?”
“First Session starts today. Would you like to help?”
During the summer, Max runs a day camp for riders. There are three two-week sessions, beginning with the youngest, most inexperienced riders and working up through the intermediates to the experts. They are all grouped by age rather than experience, though they tend to go together. First Session was for six- through eight-year-olds.
“You want me to be like a counselor?” I asked.
“Well, more like a counselor-in-training. I know it’snot the same thing as riding, but it’s as close as you can get. And think about what good you’ll be doing as a role model and helping our very newest, youngest riders to get the right start.”
I could feel a grin coming. I’m a sucker for that kind of sales pitch.
“I’ll try, Max. I’ll really try,” I said, and I meant it, too. “When a rider gets the right training from the very first, there’s no limit to how far they can go, is there?”
“None whatsoever,” Max assured me. “And as long as you stick to horses and stay out of trouble, you can be an enormous help.”
That was when I figured out that Max was worried about the kinds of things I might do if I got bored. Naturally, it was in his best interest (and mine) to keep me busy.
“Come on with me now, Stevie, and meet the kids you’ll be working with.”
I followed him into the locker area. There was a whole group of cute little kids. They were chattering away, but stopped talking the second Max and I walked in. They looked at me curiously. I looked back at them curiously.
“Riders, I want you to meet my newest assistant, Stevie Lake.” I got a kick out of that. “Stevie is one of my fine young advanced riders.” I got an even bigger kick out of that. Max doesn’t use a word like “fine” easily. “However, she’s had an accident that makes it impossible for her to ride, at least for a while. So, while she’s ground-bound,she’s going to help me and you. Listen to everything she says about horses, and you’ll learn a lot.”
At Pine Hollow, we’re all expected to share our knowledge with everybody. Experienced riders are assigned to help those less experienced learn everything from tacking up to flying changes, so there was nothing new about being told to teach this group. What was new was the way they looked at me. With an introduction like that from Max, they gazed at me as if I were the smartest person in the whole world and would make their riding lessons the most fun they’d ever had. That was the biggest kick of all and I’ll tell you what went through my mind when all of the kids looked at me. I thought:
I know more than they do.
I suppose that sounds goofy, but the fact is, I’m a very competitive person. My boyfriend, Phil Marsten, is always telling me this. I knew some of the kids there, like May Grover, Jackie, and Amie. They were all in Horse Wise, our Pony Club. Naturally, they weren’t the ones who needed the most help from me. I was working with the six-year-olds, the real new riders. They were totally cute.
There was one little girl named Leslie who I especially liked. Her mother had gotten her all new riding clothes—big enough to grow into. She was so cute you can’t believe it. And she needed a lot of help. There were others, too. Max asked me to help Leslie, plus Natalie, Reuben, Mark, and Jessica. It only took us about forty-five minutes to get all their ponies saddled up and another ten to get them into the saddles and I’ve got to say, I loved everyminute of it. The kids listened to everything I had to say and they learned. They really learned. Do you have any idea how wonderful it is to be able to share something as neat as riding with beginners? They weren’t tall enough to put the saddles on the ponies’ backs and they weren’t strong enough to tighten the girths, but they wanted to know how to do it and they listened very hard. I liked that. Being the only girl with three
“Huh?”
“First Session starts today. Would you like to help?”
During the summer, Max runs a day camp for riders. There are three two-week sessions, beginning with the youngest, most inexperienced riders and working up through the intermediates to the experts. They are all grouped by age rather than experience, though they tend to go together. First Session was for six- through eight-year-olds.
“You want me to be like a counselor?” I asked.
“Well, more like a counselor-in-training. I know it’snot the same thing as riding, but it’s as close as you can get. And think about what good you’ll be doing as a role model and helping our very newest, youngest riders to get the right start.”
I could feel a grin coming. I’m a sucker for that kind of sales pitch.
“I’ll try, Max. I’ll really try,” I said, and I meant it, too. “When a rider gets the right training from the very first, there’s no limit to how far they can go, is there?”
“None whatsoever,” Max assured me. “And as long as you stick to horses and stay out of trouble, you can be an enormous help.”
That was when I figured out that Max was worried about the kinds of things I might do if I got bored. Naturally, it was in his best interest (and mine) to keep me busy.
“Come on with me now, Stevie, and meet the kids you’ll be working with.”
I followed him into the locker area. There was a whole group of cute little kids. They were chattering away, but stopped talking the second Max and I walked in. They looked at me curiously. I looked back at them curiously.
“Riders, I want you to meet my newest assistant, Stevie Lake.” I got a kick out of that. “Stevie is one of my fine young advanced riders.” I got an even bigger kick out of that. Max doesn’t use a word like “fine” easily. “However, she’s had an accident that makes it impossible for her to ride, at least for a while. So, while she’s ground-bound,she’s going to help me and you. Listen to everything she says about horses, and you’ll learn a lot.”
At Pine Hollow, we’re all expected to share our knowledge with everybody. Experienced riders are assigned to help those less experienced learn everything from tacking up to flying changes, so there was nothing new about being told to teach this group. What was new was the way they looked at me. With an introduction like that from Max, they gazed at me as if I were the smartest person in the whole world and would make their riding lessons the most fun they’d ever had. That was the biggest kick of all and I’ll tell you what went through my mind when all of the kids looked at me. I thought:
I know more than they do.
I suppose that sounds goofy, but the fact is, I’m a very competitive person. My boyfriend, Phil Marsten, is always telling me this. I knew some of the kids there, like May Grover, Jackie, and Amie. They were all in Horse Wise, our Pony Club. Naturally, they weren’t the ones who needed the most help from me. I was working with the six-year-olds, the real new riders. They were totally cute.
There was one little girl named Leslie who I especially liked. Her mother had gotten her all new riding clothes—big enough to grow into. She was so cute you can’t believe it. And she needed a lot of help. There were others, too. Max asked me to help Leslie, plus Natalie, Reuben, Mark, and Jessica. It only took us about forty-five minutes to get all their ponies saddled up and another ten to get them into the saddles and I’ve got to say, I loved everyminute of it. The kids listened to everything I had to say and they learned. They really learned. Do you have any idea how wonderful it is to be able to share something as neat as riding with beginners? They weren’t tall enough to put the saddles on the ponies’ backs and they weren’t strong enough to tighten the girths, but they wanted to know how to do it and they listened very hard. I liked that. Being the only girl with three
Similar Books
