Racehorse by Bonnie Bryant

kind of neat. It’s like this one horse ties a whole lot of people together. Isn’t that odd? I mean, how many riders have sat in this saddle, on this horse, and enjoyed it as much as I’m enjoying it now?”
    “Hundreds, I guess,” Stevie said. “It makes it seem all the more as if Pepper had earned his retirement, doesn’t it?”
    “Yes. Too bad we can’t give him a black-tie dinner and a gold watch to take to Florida. I think he’d be happier with some warm mash anyway. What is the matter with you?” Lisa had just noticed an odd look cross Stevie’s face.
    “Me? Nothing’s wrong,” Stevie said. “Nothing at all. Let’s trot again, okay?”
    Both Pepper and Topside heard the word before the riders gave them the signals. They began trotting easily and smoothly. Lisa was so pleased by the refreshing ride that she forgot until much later to try to pump Stevie for an explanation about the funny face she’d made. When she recalled it again, Lisa dismissed the idea. After all, Stevie was as famous for making odd faces as she was for thinking up wild and wacky ideas. It was probably really nothing at all.

F OR C AROLE THE next few days seemed to fly by. She couldn’t learn not to hurt when she and Judy were working with a horse in discomfort or pain, but she did learn to accept that it was a vet’s job to heal horses, especially when they were really sick. She cried when she learned that the gelding with tetanus had died.
    “Did you know he was going to die?” Carole asked Judy as they drove from one call to another.
    “I never
know
,” Judy said. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned in all the years I’ve spent doing this, it’s that horses surprise me—even more than people. I find it helps to hope for good surprises and not to expect the bad ones, though they will, of course, come.”
    A long silence filled the cab of the truck. Carole truly understood what Judy was saying.
    “Today, if possible, I just want us to have good surprises,” Judy said.
    “If it’s all good, will that be a surprise?” Carole asked, teasing.
    “Indeed it will,” Judy told her. She turned the truck into a circular drive then and pulled to a halt in front of a small barn where there was a small pony with a small problem. The two of them examined the pony named Luna because of the perfect half-moon on his face. Carole and Judy were very aware of the fact that the pony’s young owner, a little girl named May, was watching everything they did with a hawk’s eye.
    “You’re not going to hurt my pony, are you?” May asked. She patted Luna’s neck vigorously and protectively as she talked to Judy.
    “I promise,” Judy said. “You called me because you noticed your pony wasn’t feeling well. That was the right thing to do. I checked him last week and found that he has some worms in him. I’m just going to give him some medicine to kill the worms. He may not like the medicine an awful lot, but he certainly is going to like feeling better. You were right to call in the first place.”
    Carole knew that worms were something that horses just got. They were around barnyards, paddocks, and fields. Almost every horse had problems with parasites at one time or another, and as long as the vet came promptly and treated the horse, the worms wouldn’t beany real problem, just a short-term nuisance. Untreated, worms and other parasites could cause devastating damage to a horse. May had been right to have her parents call Judy at the first sign of trouble.
    While Judy dosed the pony, Carole talked to May about the Pony Club at Pine Hollow. The little girl was so eager to learn how to take care of her pony that Carole was sure she’d want to participate in Horse Wise. By the time the pony had been treated, May was ready to sign up. Carole promised her she’d be welcome at the next meeting on Tuesday.
    “Nice job,” Judy said as she and Carole pulled out of the driveway. “You kept that little girl so busy talking about