Nothing But Horses by Shannon Kennedy Page B

I’m sure the horses are ready to
eat and I know the people are too.”
    Robin helped me feed the hay in the top barn.
When we reached the indoor arena, we discovered that Vicky had just
finished down below. Tom had stuck around to help her. He lingered
to feed Shiloh an extra carrot, then passed one to her grown
daughter.
    “Your horse has a lot of spirit,” Tom told
me. “I don’t think I could ever handle one like him.”
    “I wouldn’t call it spunk,” I said.
“Sometimes, I think he’s in major brat mode. He doesn’t mind small
groups, but he really isn’t good in large classes.”
    “That’s one way to say it.” Robin heaved a
sigh. “Whenever I see you or Vicky ride, I’m totally jealous. You
can handle such obnoxious mounts and I don’t want to be on them. I
hope Twaziem acts like Lady when you finish training him, Sierra.
If he freaks like my brother’s horse, Nitro, or your Nevada, I
don’t know what I’ll do.”
    “He has a completely different personality.”
I slid my arm through hers and bumped hips with her. “Twaziem loves
you, Robin. He’ll do anything to please you and he’s smart enough
to know you don’t like the wild and crazy crap. This is only a
phase. Nevada will straighten up soon. He’s just bummed with
babysitting.”
    “Babysitting?” Tom asked. “What does that
mean?”
    “He’s tired of carrying unbalanced riders,” I
said. “He doesn’t want people yarding on his mouth. He’s smart.
He’s figured out if he acts up, only advanced students will ride
him.”
    Tom shook his head. “And some people think
animals are dumb. That sounds pretty intelligent to me.”
     

 
    Chapter
Six
     
    Shamrock Stable, Washington
    Sunday, December
22 nd , 4:00 pm
     
    Santa Needs A Reindeer was the last
competition at the party. It was a crazy galloping game of cone
stealing, horsy tag where one person was ‘ It’ . Instead of
chasing the other riders, the person in the middle tried to take
their cone and position on the outside of the circle. The beginners
played at a walk and trot. Intermediates tended to stick to a jog
and lope, but when the advanced got going, we tore from a halt to a
dead run. Nevada and Lady loved this opportunity to act crazy and
Summertime was quick to catch onto the rules.
    He pranced up to Nevada and Vicky smiled at
me. “Santa needs a replacement for Rudolph this year. Do you have a
reindeer he can borrow?”
    “Sorry, I need all mine. Go ask Dave. He has
lots.”
    Behind her, I spotted Dani and Emily
exchanging hand signals. Vicky turned away and headed toward Dave
sitting on a Luchenbach statue. I made eye contact with Emily and
she nodded. We had a three-way switch going. Meantime the rest of
the group looked fascinated by the conversation between Vicky and
Dave. He wanted to know why she was the one looking for reindeer
when Santa was the guy who actually needed them.
    Perfect timing. I eased up on Nevada’s reins
and the big chestnut galloped toward Lady’s place, but she wasn’t
there. She and Dani had already left. Out of the corner of my eye,
I saw Vicky spin Summertime and bolt for Emily’s cone. The race was
on between her and Dani’s Quarter Horse. Just before they reached
the spot, Lady pinned her ears flat back and gave Summertime an
evil glare. He slid to a halt and Dani had the cone.
    “Score,” I yelled. “Dani’s safe.”
    “I don’t think so,” Mom intervened. “Dani,
you don’t get to win by siccing your mommy horse on a gelding.
You’re It next time.”
    “We could go again,” Vicky said. “It’s barely
four and with everybody here, we’ll zoom through chores.”
    “I know we will, but it’s started to snow. We
need to start our barn work early so nobody gets stuck in bad
weather, or on icy roads.” Mom started across our circle, pausing
to talk to Dave. “And don’t think I didn’t see you stalling the
person who was It so everyone had plenty of time to change
places.”
    “He didn’t,” I said,