Show Judge (10 page)

Jasmine interrupted her thoughts. “That was really useful, wasn’t it, Lisa? I’m going to make sure Outlaw’s tack is sparkling on the day of the show. He’s going to be the best-turned-out pony in the arena!”

Lisa smiled on the outside, but on the inside she was
grimacing. Unless Jasmine could learn to master the art of braiding, poor Outlaw was going to be one of the frumpiest contestants in the ring that day. Lisa hadn’t had a chance to talk to Stevie about swapping Pony Partner favors yet. She had intended to talk to her at the sleepover, but now she wasn’t sure she even wanted to have one. Carole had already told Stevie that she wasn’t going to be able to make it, which, of course, had come as no surprise to Lisa.

“Okay,” Max said. “Time to get your horses and ponies ready for the mounted portion of today’s lesson, and don’t be late.”

Lisa hurried to Prancer’s stall, where she tacked up as quickly as she could. She wanted a few extra minutes to look over Jasmine’s work on Outlaw before class started.

When she saw her Pony Partner, she was delighted. “Good job, Jasmine. Outlaw looks very nice. Let’s take the horses outside.”

As they came out of the stable, Lisa blinked at the bright sunshine. Although it was a lovely spring day, she couldn’t really enjoy it because she was so depressed by Carole’s accusation. At least the horses seemed to like it. They snorted and sucked in large gulps of fresh air. Outlaw took a playful nip at a piece of straw that went dancing by.

Suddenly Carole’s voice broke the calm. “Jasmine!” she said sternly. “You never, ever let your horse eat while he’s wearing his bit. Especially when he’s getting ready to enter the ring.”

Jasmine looked surprised at the harsh tone of Carole’s voice. “I wasn’t—He—” she stammered.

“It’s not your fault, Jasmine,” Carole said in a gentler tone. “Someone should have taught you better, that’s all.” She moved on without even glancing Lisa’s way.

Lisa was both furious and humiliated. How could Carole have done something like that? Jasmine hadn’t been letting her pony eat, he had just been playing around with a wisp of hay!

O
UTSIDE THE RING
Stevie and Corey sat in companionable silence, waiting for Max to announce the start of class. Their mounts had snuffled each other’s noses by way of greeting and now stood quietly side by side. From the corner of her eye, Stevie caught sight of Carole approaching, clipboard in hand. Her heart began to sink. “Hi, Carole,” Stevie said in what she hoped was a cheerful voice. “Not riding today?”

Carole strolled up to Samurai and placed a hand on his haunch. “Not today, Stevie. Some of us have to put business before pleasure,” she said pointedly. “Got to
go.” She gave Samurai a pat on his flank and a puff of dust rose into the air. A frown crossed her face. “Looks like you were in a hurry grooming Samurai today, Corey.”

“Not at first,” Corey said, defending herself. “I just had a hard time finding his dandy brush, and by the time I did, I had to hurry.” She looked at the ground, obviously embarrassed by this admission.

Carole started scribbling on her notepad. “I saw what your grooming kit looked like this morning, Corey, and I have to say I’m surprised that you and Samurai made it out of the stable at all.” She looked directly at Stevie. “Maybe you two need to get a bit more organized.”

Stevie found herself glaring at Carole’s back as she moved off toward May and Macaroni. What Carole had done was plain mean. So Samurai wasn’t at his absolute best today, so what? It wasn’t like this was a show day! So her Pony Partner wasn’t the most organized one in the group. But Corey had lots of other strengths. Strengths that Carole seemed to be going out of her way to ignore or belittle. Carole had changed so much lately that Stevie could only think that she had let this whole judging thing go to her head. She sighed sadly. Too bad Carole wasn’t going to come to the sleepover with her and Lisa. Maybe
between the two of them they could have brought her back to her senses.

It didn’t help matters any when, a few minutes later, they overheard Carole praising May and her pony in the most glowing of terms.

After class, Stevie found Lisa cleaning Prancer’s stall.

“Stevie, would you mind very much if we postponed the sleepover?” Lisa asked.

“Is something wrong?”

“Um, well, you know Carole can’t make it,” Lisa said hesitantly. “It really couldn’t be a Saddle Club meeting without her.”

“You’re right. We should do it when we can all be there.”
Besides
, Stevie thought,
I could use the time to work on the anniversary party
.

“We’ll do it another time, then,” Lisa said, looking relieved.

“Right,” agreed Stevie. “We can do it any old time.”

C
AROLE WAS SITTING
in the tack room, giving her rider rating cards one final look. She had chosen the tack room because it was the only place in all of Pine Hollow that wasn’t teeming with riders and activity. It was Saturday, the day of the show skills rally, and she had finished the first leg of her judging duties. She had spent the morning going from stall to stall, checking both ponies and riders on their appearance. How clean was the stall? How well groomed was the pony? Was the animal tacked up properly, and was the equipment being maintained properly? The results of her efforts were a small mountain of note cards, all of which she now needed to organize.

“H
OLD STILL
, J
ASMINE
, or I’ll end up sticking you in the throat,” Lisa cautioned as she struggled to get the girl’s stock pin absolutely straight.

Jasmine tapped her foot on the ground like a restless pony. “My dad is always saying he hates wearing ties, now I know why.” She tried to run a finger around the inside of the high collar.

Lisa moved her hand away gently but firmly. “Stop that.”

“But Carole already came by and inspected us, so what does it matter if my pin is a little crooked?”

It was true, that part of the judging was over. Lisa was very proud of the work Jasmine had put in, and while her braiding still left a lot to be desired, not even Carole could fault the girl on effort. Her pony’s coat practically glowed, his tack was immaculate, and Jasmine’s records were clear, precise, and up to the second. “You know Max is going to start the ring work soon. You don’t want Outlaw to be ashamed of his rider, do you?” Lisa said, making a minuscule adjustment to the fine white linen. “There, that’s perfect. You look like a pro.” Lisa checked her watch. “Time to go.”

Jasmine went pale. “I think I’m going to throw up,” she said faintly.
Lisa grabbed her by the shoulders. “No, no, no. You’re going to be fine. Take a deep breath.”

She did as Lisa said.

“Now let it out slowly. Again.” A little color came back into the girl’s face. “Better?” Lisa asked.

Jasmine nodded and swallowed. “That was close.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Lisa said, wrapping a protective arm around the girl’s tiny shoulders. “I feel the same way practically every time I compete.”

Jasmine was clearly surprised to hear that. “You do?”

Lisa steered her toward her pony’s stall. “To tell you the truth, I think most riders feel that way before they go into the ring. Even the really experienced ones. Now, let’s get out there and show everyone how good you and Outlaw really are.”

F
ROM HER PLACE
on the top rail of the ring, Stevie could take in every detail of Corey and Samurai’s appearance, and she smiled with delight. Her concentration was broken, however, as, to her surprise, Lisa scrambled up to join her on her perch. Ever since they had canceled the sleepover in the hayloft there had been very little communication between the members of The Saddle Club.

Lisa settled herself comfortably on the rail. “Ribbons, huh?”

Stevie thought Lisa was making fun of her Pony Partner team and rose to their defense. “Corey has a real talent for braiding. It was her idea to weave green and black ribbons into Samurai’s mane to match her riding jacket, and I think they look terrific.”

“I have to admit, they are a nice touch. But ribbons don’t win a horse race,” Lisa declared firmly.

“And hoof black does?” Stevie asked, pointing to Jasmine’s pony.

“What? There’s nothing wrong with a little polish. I thought it might draw some attention to how well Outlaw picks up his feet over cavalletti,” Lisa said defensively. “It does show off his white socks nicely, don’t you think?”

They watched as Max put the young riders through their paces. He had started the class at the walk and then had them extend it. Everyone did fine. Next came a sitting trot. Stevie noticed that one rider, seven-year-old Liam, was having trouble keeping his balance. Corey, on the other hand, sat easily on her pony, the two of them completely in sync. Stevie felt like a proud parent.

“Posting trot, please, and riders change directions,” Max instructed from the center of the ring.

“Oh! Did you see that?” Lisa said, nudging Stevie in
the ribs. “Jessica Adler circled Penny in an outside instead of an inside circle on the change of direction.”

“Major mistake!” Stevie said. “I bet Andrea is about to tear her braids out.”

“It was a silly mistake,” Lisa agreed.

“Andrea should have prepared Jessica better.”

Lisa nodded. “Absolutely.”

The two of them grinned happily at each other.

The rest of the event consisted of collected and extended canters with changes of lead and direction. Jessica didn’t make the same mistake again, but the damage was done. Stevie noticed that some of the riders were definitely more advanced than others, and she was gratified to see that Corey was one of them. Jasmine and May had also fared well.

Stevie hopped down from the rail. “Cavalletti are next, and I want to talk to Corey before her turn.”

“I’ll go with you,” Lisa said. “There’s something I want to say to Jasmine, too.”

Stevie was eager to congratulate Corey on her fine performance and to make sure she stayed focused; the hardest part of the competition was still in front of them: first the cavalletti and then the final event, the jumping.

Corey, Jasmine, and May were standing next to each other, chatting excitedly. Stevie rushed up to her Pony
Partner and hugged her. “You are doing so well!” she told her warmly.

Corey returned her hug. “Thanks, Stevie. I tried to remember everything you told me.”

Lisa slipped her arm around Jasmine. “And you are outstanding!”

“Wait until the cavalletti,” Jasmine said seriously. “Outlaw is going to be perfect.”

“I know you’ve worked hard on that, and no matter what happens today, I want you to know how proud I am of you,” Lisa said.

Stevie noticed that all around them the other Pony Partner pairs were gathered in little groups, the younger riders getting congratulations and last-minute advice. The one exception was poor May, who, as usual, had no one in her corner. “Hey, May,” she called, “you did a real nice job out there.”

May smiled almost shyly. “Thanks, Stevie, but it’s easy when you have a pony as good as Mac.”

Stevie couldn’t help wondering where Veronica was. Surely even she wouldn’t be so selfish as to miss today’s rally.

A
S THE CAVALLETTI
and jumps were being set up, Carole tried to shuffle her paperwork back into some kind of order. She was finding that sitting in judgment of
her fellow riders was making her extremely uncomfortable. Every time one of the kids made a mistake, her instinct had been to offer advice, to help. Instead, she was forced to take away points. It made her feel bad.

Max strode up to her. “Ready, Madame Judge?” he said respectfully.

“Ready, Mr. Regnery,” Carole replied. Addressing each other in a formal manner had been Max’s idea. If she was going to have all the duties and pressures of being a judge, he said, she should have all the respect of one as well.

Together they made their way over to where a set of five cavalletti were set up. “Call the first rider, please, Mr. Regnery,” Carole said.

In the cavalletti event, the riders began by showing their ponies at a walk, then at a posting trot, and finally at a canter with a very small jump at the end. Contestant after contestant paraded by and over the obstacles with varying degrees of success. Since change of gait necessitated an adjustment in the spacing of the poles, it was a time-consuming process, and Carole found herself struggling to remain focused on her job. She knew each individual deserved her full and undivided attention, but the truth was she was finding the whole process rather tedious.