Horse Sense Read Online Free Page A

already?”
    “Not yet. This was a mare at Cloverleaf. I went over there with Judy because the trainer called while Judy was visiting Delilah. By the time we got to Cloverleaf, the foal was born, but we got to watch her nursing for the first time. You can’t imagine how cute she was! She’s a little bay filly—you know, brown with a black mane and tail—but she’s got these gigantic ears and long spindly legs with big knobby knees.”
    Stevie could picture the newborn foal. She knew it was a female because Carole had called it a filly. Males were called colts. Stevie had seen pictures of foals less than an hour old struggling to their feet for their first meals, short tails swishing tentatively. “Oh, she must be so cute!” Stevie said. “Hey, can we visit her tomorrow?”
    “Well, I don’t know about that,” Carole told her. “Newborn foals are very delicate. Judy said the trainer is going to have to keep almost constant watch for the next couple of days. You can’t believe the number of diseases foals can get right after they’re born—”
    “Well, I’m not going to give her any germs, if that’s what you’re scared of,” Stevie said. She was hurt that Carole would think she was any less able to be careful around a newborn than Carole herself would be.
    “Well, it’s not just that,” Carole protested. “I mean, it was sort of a special thing that I got to be there and I wouldn’t want Judy to think that just anybody could crowd into the stable, you know what I mean?” Carole asked.
    There was a part of Stevie that did know what Carole meant—or at least understood why she wanted to be special. But most of her was just hurt by the implication that she would upset the foal while Carole wouldn’t. That was like Carole—trying to share, but winding up bragging instead. “How come you’re less of a ‘just anybody’ than I am?” Stevie asked suspiciously.
    “Oh, I didn’t mean it that way, Stevie,” Carole said quickly. “It’s just that, well, I don’t know, I sort of felt, like I was the luckiest person in the world to be there. The whole time, I was thinking how great it would be if you and Lisa could be there, too. But this wasn’t our horse or our stable. I was just kind of an uninvited guest. So, I was afraid if I asked to invite somebody else, they’d tell me to go away. Does that make sense?”
    “Just a little,” Stevie conceded. She was sure, though, that if she had been there, she would have telephoned her best friends and told them to come right away. Carole could be a little timid. Nobody ever accused Stevie of that. “You’ll be sure to let us know if Delilah gets ready to deliver, won’t you?” Stevie asked.“I mean, Lisa and I won’t be uninvited guests
then
, will we?”
    “Of course I’ll call you. And you can bet I’ll be there,” Carole told her. “As soon as Judy says Delilah’s getting ready to deliver, I’m moving into the stable. Dad already got me a cot from the base, and a sleeping bag and a bunch of camping stuff so I won’t have to leave Delilah’s side. I wouldn’t miss this for the world! And since I’ll be there, you’ll be there. Lisa, too. It’s a promise.”
    Stevie knew she meant that. When it came to horses, Carole could be just as stubborn and determined as Stevie was—maybe even more so.
    “Okay, then in the meantime, I’m going to be very busy with this gymkhana. I’ve never been in one. Have you?” Stevie asked.
    “Oh, sure. We had one at the last base Dad was stationed at. It was fun. We had a rope race where you had to hold a rope with your partner and go around the poles. Then in another race, you had to hold an egg on a spoon.”
    “Oh, those are the ordinary kinds of races Mrs. Reg told me about,” Stevie said. “I’m trying to do something a little different—I want this to be the
best
! That’s why I want to borrow the Laser Tag. And, you know what I found that I think will be perfect, but I’m just not