Schooling Horse Read Online Free

forever—just like Stevie and Carole! She tried to recall everything she could about Milky—how he’d moved when he stepped off the trailer, how he’d looked around, inspecting his new home. He would like Pine Hollow, Lisa knew. He’d love her the way Starlight loved Carole, the way Belle loved Stevie. She’d ride him every day.
    Lisa tried to do her homework but found it impossible to concentrate on any subject but Milky. Even when she finally went to sleep, she saw herself riding a gray horse in her dreams.

A FTER SCHOOL THE next day, Lisa set out for Pine Hollow with a light heart. Even the gloomy November weather couldn’t dampen her spirits. She had a horse. No, she corrected herself, she was going to have a horse. Soon she would have a horse. She had spent half the school day trying to think of a new name for Au Lait—Milky—and half drawing pictures of him in the margins of her notebooks.
    “Hey, Carole,” she’d said, catching up to her friend when the last bell for the day had finally rung, “what do you think of Snowdrop?”
    Carole had known immediately what Lisa meant. She’d wrinkled her nose. “Good for a pony,” she’d said. “But your boy is a little too grown up for a name like that.”
    “True.” Lisa smiled to think of Milky as a grown-up horse.
My boy
, she thought. She liked the sound of that. “You’re coming to Pine Hollow today, aren’t you?” she asked.
    Carole made a face. “As soon as I can,” she said. “I’ve got to go make copies of those French tapes now. My teacher did think it was a good idea.”
    “Great,” Lisa said. “Later, if you want, I can help you tape yourself. Or listen to them with you, or whatever else I can do.”
    “Thanks.” Carole looked at Lisa’s happy face and smiled. “I bet you can’t wait to see that horse.”
    “I can’t,” Lisa admitted. “I’ve been thinking about him all day, but you know, I didn’t pay him much attention yesterday. I can’t really remember if he had any markings or anything.”
    “You’ll make up for that today,” Carole had said.
    “That’s for sure,” Lisa had said. “I’ll see you at the barn—I know I’ll still be there when you arrive.”
    Now Lisa shoved her backpack higher onto her shoulder and walked a little faster. It was a quick walk between school and Pine Hollow—especially quick if you were eager to see a particular horse. Lisa wondered what Max would be doing with Milky. She hoped he would let her ride him right away.
    Lisa walked up the drive. She could see Max teaching a class of younger riders, whose school let out earlier than the junior high. Lisa thought she saw a tall gray horse among those being used for the lesson. She hurried forward,hoping it was Milky—and saw little Jessica Adler lying in a heap on the ground. Max was kneeling in the dirt beside her, patting her shoulder while she sobbed. A gray horse—it was Milky, Lisa realized with dismay—galloped past the other kids with his saddle empty, reins and stirrups flying.
    Lisa ran the last few steps to the arena fence. Red, Pine Hollow’s head stable hand, was standing by the gate. “What happened?” Lisa asked. “Is Jessica okay?”
    Red nodded. “She’s mad and she’s scared,” he said. “She isn’t hurt.”
    Lisa drew a deep breath. “Good. Did she do something to Milky, or did Milky do something to her?” All riders occasionally fell off. Sometimes it was the horse’s fault, sometimes it was the rider’s fault, and sometimes it just happened.
    “Milky?” Red said. “You mean that Au Lait?” He pronounced it
Ow Late.
Lisa smiled and nodded. Carole wasn’t the only person at the stable who couldn’t speak French.
    “Hard to tell,” Red said. “The horse was acting up a bit. He seemed okay earlier, though, when I rode him.”
    “You rode him? What was he like?” Lisa watched Max help Jessica to her feet. He bent his head low and spoke soothingly to the little girl.
    “Fine,” Red said.