Hide & Seek - Alyssa Brugman [37]
'So, when would you put shoes on a horse?'
'Personally? I wouldn't.' Miss Anita paused, thinking of a way to explain. 'If you keep your horse in a confined space for twenty-three hours a day and then ask it to perform on a hard surface for one hour, you can't expect it to stay sound.'
They stopped at a crossway where Miss Anita was heading in one direction, and Shelby the other.
'You're saying it would be OK to put on shoes if you stabled your horse?' asked Shelby.
'Not at all. If a horse I'm working on has tender feet, or I'm travelling over a surface they're not used to, I would prefer to use boots. What I'm saying is, under those same conditions you can put shoes on a horse and it will look sound.' She smiled wryly.
'Lots of kids at Pony Club have shoes on their ponies,' Shelby said.
Miss Anita shook her head. 'Well, obviously lots of people don't keep up with the latest research – and this is supposed to be the information age.' She tutted. 'See you next week, Shelby.'
While Shelby washed Penelope she decided to spend at least an hour on the internet that night reading up about horse health. Miss Anita was a real tiger when it came to her students knowing how to look after their own horses. Shelby didn't want to get caught flat-footed. Also, she would earn brownie points if she could talk knowledgeably about pasture types, or iden-tifying mineral deficiencies, or some other detail.
As she put Penelope away Shelby could see Lindsey and Erin coming back from the morning's trail ride. At the same time Hayley approached from the stable block. She was grinning.
'I was supposed to have a lesson on Ditto this morning, but Mum said he could have a week off after the Royal.'
'That's good,' Shelby mumbled. She couldn't understand why Hayley didn't enjoy learning from Miss Anita. Hayley rode so beautifully that she hardly ever got into trouble. Besides, she did interesting, tricky things such as flying changes and pirouettes.
'Mum said I could go on a trail ride instead,' Hayley said, 'but only if I borrow a horse. You know how she is. I was wondering if I could ride Blue.'
The surprise must have registered on Shelby's face, because Hayley rushed on. 'It's OK. I'm sure Lindsey would let me take Cracker or Blockhead if you don't want to. Or Erin might let me ride Bandit.'
'You can take Blue, but I don't have a saddle at the moment.'
Her friend grinned again. 'Thanks, Shel! I've got an old synthetic lying around somewhere that would fit him.' Hayley rushed off to her tack room to fetch the saddle.
Shelby made her way over to where the other girls were finishing up the trail ride. The riders climbed off gingerly, groaning and stretching their stiff muscles. Many of them simply dismounted and walked away, leaving their horses wandering loose in the yard with their reins dangling.
'Beginners!' Erin rolled her eyes.
'Shh!' Lindsey scolded. Some of the customers were still within earshot.
'Beginners are the best!' Erin added. 'Give me a B! Give me an E!' She made out the shapes of the letters with her arms.
'What's up, Shel?' Lindsey asked, ignoring Erin's cheerleading in the background.
'Hayley wants to take Blue for a trail ride.'
Lindsey raised an eyebrow.
'Yeah, I know!' Shelby said. She brought in Blue from the paddock and tied him to the hitching rail, then she helped to unsaddle the other riding school ponies. As the sweaty horses were untacked, Shelby took the saddles and bridles into the tack room and placed them on their racks. Meanwhile, Lindsey led them one by one to the nearby tap for a quick hose down. As soon as they were let back into the paddock they rolled in the dirt, covering their wet bodies with a thick layer of dust.
'Why do they always do that?' Erin asked, watching a little grey pony, Hiccup, who was on his side, eyes closed, groaning with pleasure. When he stood up, one whole side of his body was encrusted