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Authors: Bonnie Bryant
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glimpses of piebald and skewbald flanks, and the tiny movements of foals running close against their mothers.
“We scared them,” Stevie repeated. “I think the car scared them.”
“Ohh.” Carole let out her breath with a rush of pent-up excitement. “At least we saw them. Now we know they’re real.”
Stevie gave her a strange look. “You knew they were real,” she said.
“I knew,” Carole said simply, leaning back against her seat, “but I didn’t
know
until I saw them for myself.”
“S TEVIE ? Y OU ’ RE COMING with us, aren’t you?”
Stevie let the dressage book slide out of her hands and land on the floor with a thump.
Lisa stood in the doorway of their bedroom, hands on her hips. “I thought you just came up to get your tennis shoes,” she said.
Stevie shrugged and gestured toward the book. “I saw this lying here, and I just thought I’d look at it for a minute,” she said. “Sorry if I kept you waiting.”
“That’s okay.” Lisa looked around the room. Bright sunlight streamed in the open windows, and the ocean breeze pulled at the curtains. Outside, sailboats sweptacross the bay. It wasn’t like Stevie to read a book on a day like today, especially now, when Denise was taking them back to Assateague. Lisa could tell that Stevie was still upset about Belle.
“You should try to just enjoy yourself this week,” she told her friend as they hurried to meet Denise and Carole. They’d worked hard all morning, sweeping the dirt out of the parlor and priming the walls to be painted. “We’re supposed to be having fun.”
Stevie groaned. “Last night I dreamed that all the wild ponies on Assateague were doing flying changes,” she said. “I’m trying to have fun, Lisa, but it hasn’t been easy. There has to be some way to teach Belle!”
They had reached the front porch, and Stevie saw Denise’s face light up with interest when she heard Stevie’s words. Stevie shut her lips tight and wished she hadn’t said anything about Belle. It was bad enough that her best friends in The Saddle Club didn’t really understand. Carole had even criticized her! Stevie didn’t feel like talking to Denise about it.
“You know,” Denise said, as they drove through town and down the main road toward Assateague, “if you’re interested in horse training, Stevie, I’d really like to tell you about natural horsemanship.”
There was silence. Stevie, hunched in the backseat, didn’t say a word. “We’re all interested in horse training,”Lisa said politely. “But I’ve never heard of natural horsemanship.”
“That’s because it’s still pretty new,” Denise explained. “It’s a system for training horses that doesn’t involve any force at all—I think I told you that. What you want to be able to do is get the horse to move in any direction you want, as fast or slow as you want, without force and with hardly any cues. Like, Carole, how do you get your horse to back up when he’s on cross-ties?”
Carole thought. “I usually push on his chest and say ‘Starlight, back up.’ ”
“Right,” said Denise. “That’s the way most people would do it. But with natural horsemanship, you could teach a horse to back up whenever you wiggled a finger back and forth under his nose. He’d back up without your even touching him.”
“But my pushing on Starlight’s chest isn’t hurting him,” Carole said. “I don’t push very hard.”
“Oh, no, that’s just one example,” Denise said. “Natural horsemanship is a whole system for ground training and teaching horses to go under saddle. It isn’t really a riding system—it’s more like a way to get a horse to listen to you and respect you, and obey you without ever being afraid of what you asked it to do. Both English and Western riders use it. For example, another thing I could do with a horse under this systemis get it to walk straight into a horse trailer on a voice command.”
Lisa leaned forward, interested.
“We scared them,” Stevie repeated. “I think the car scared them.”
“Ohh.” Carole let out her breath with a rush of pent-up excitement. “At least we saw them. Now we know they’re real.”
Stevie gave her a strange look. “You knew they were real,” she said.
“I knew,” Carole said simply, leaning back against her seat, “but I didn’t
know
until I saw them for myself.”
“S TEVIE ? Y OU ’ RE COMING with us, aren’t you?”
Stevie let the dressage book slide out of her hands and land on the floor with a thump.
Lisa stood in the doorway of their bedroom, hands on her hips. “I thought you just came up to get your tennis shoes,” she said.
Stevie shrugged and gestured toward the book. “I saw this lying here, and I just thought I’d look at it for a minute,” she said. “Sorry if I kept you waiting.”
“That’s okay.” Lisa looked around the room. Bright sunlight streamed in the open windows, and the ocean breeze pulled at the curtains. Outside, sailboats sweptacross the bay. It wasn’t like Stevie to read a book on a day like today, especially now, when Denise was taking them back to Assateague. Lisa could tell that Stevie was still upset about Belle.
“You should try to just enjoy yourself this week,” she told her friend as they hurried to meet Denise and Carole. They’d worked hard all morning, sweeping the dirt out of the parlor and priming the walls to be painted. “We’re supposed to be having fun.”
Stevie groaned. “Last night I dreamed that all the wild ponies on Assateague were doing flying changes,” she said. “I’m trying to have fun, Lisa, but it hasn’t been easy. There has to be some way to teach Belle!”
They had reached the front porch, and Stevie saw Denise’s face light up with interest when she heard Stevie’s words. Stevie shut her lips tight and wished she hadn’t said anything about Belle. It was bad enough that her best friends in The Saddle Club didn’t really understand. Carole had even criticized her! Stevie didn’t feel like talking to Denise about it.
“You know,” Denise said, as they drove through town and down the main road toward Assateague, “if you’re interested in horse training, Stevie, I’d really like to tell you about natural horsemanship.”
There was silence. Stevie, hunched in the backseat, didn’t say a word. “We’re all interested in horse training,”Lisa said politely. “But I’ve never heard of natural horsemanship.”
“That’s because it’s still pretty new,” Denise explained. “It’s a system for training horses that doesn’t involve any force at all—I think I told you that. What you want to be able to do is get the horse to move in any direction you want, as fast or slow as you want, without force and with hardly any cues. Like, Carole, how do you get your horse to back up when he’s on cross-ties?”
Carole thought. “I usually push on his chest and say ‘Starlight, back up.’ ”
“Right,” said Denise. “That’s the way most people would do it. But with natural horsemanship, you could teach a horse to back up whenever you wiggled a finger back and forth under his nose. He’d back up without your even touching him.”
“But my pushing on Starlight’s chest isn’t hurting him,” Carole said. “I don’t push very hard.”
“Oh, no, that’s just one example,” Denise said. “Natural horsemanship is a whole system for ground training and teaching horses to go under saddle. It isn’t really a riding system—it’s more like a way to get a horse to listen to you and respect you, and obey you without ever being afraid of what you asked it to do. Both English and Western riders use it. For example, another thing I could do with a horse under this systemis get it to walk straight into a horse trailer on a voice command.”
Lisa leaned forward, interested.
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