Read Online Girl and Five Brave Horses, A by Sonora Carver - Free Book Online Page A

the groom had no sooner led the two horses up to the barn than Judas suddenly cut to one side. The groom made a wild grab at his halter, but it was too late. Judas was off and away, and there was nothing for the groom to do but put Klatawah in his stall and then go back to get Judas.
    By this time Judas must have decided to play a game. He stood perfectly still until the groom got close enough to reach his halter, then he threw back his head and took off. This happened four times, and each time the groom almost caught him. The fifth time, just as Judas jerked his head up, his hind feet skidded in a wet place on the lot and his hoofs dug a trench in a semicircle. In a half-up, half-down position he sat for a moment, then got up and with a completely crest-fallen appearance trotted back to the barn without the groom so much as laying a hand on him. George told me later that Judas went immediately to his stall and walked back to the farthest corner, where he stood with his face to the wall for the rest of the day.
    Judas was a fair-to-middling diver, but he acquired a habit which, as time went on, developed beyond harmless eccentricity. Instead of standing on the floor of the tower to look the crowd over, he would drop down into position for the kickoff and simply hang there. At this point the strain on the arms and legs of the rider is severe, and the first few times he pulled this stunt my muscles felt as if they would relax in spite of me and that I would go off over his head. Finally one day I stretched my feet back to the padding on the tower and hooked my toes over the edge and, thus bracing myself, found I could remain on the edge just as long as he could.
    While he hung there he seemed to be debating the merits of an extreme versus a medium plunge. Later, after many such indecisive poses, Judas invented a variation; he began to twist his body in mid-air after he took off and corkscrewed his way down, a trick that caused him to strike the water crosswise rather than toward the front of the tank. No one could guess what went on in his mind, but the maneuver seemed deliberate, since it took a great deal more physical effort to dive that complicated way. Deliberate or not, it held possibilities of real danger; he might hit the side of the tank or unseat the rider in mid-air. When we could not break him of his new habit, Dr. Carver reluctantly decided he must sell Judas.
    He always hated to sell any of the horses, because he loved them in spite of their faults, but in Judas’ case there seemed nothing else to do. The next step was to break him to the bridle and reins before seeking out prospective buyers. Each morning thereafter when Klatawah was taken to the parking lot to be exercised I went along on Judas to ride him back and forth.
    In the beginning Judas exhibited a conspicuous lack of interest in being ridden and I was unable to get a real response from him, but one morning he was suddenly galvanized into action. “Well,” I thought as he dashed off, “this is more like it.” The groom was leading Klatawah back to the barn, and Judas, seeing his old friend, apparently wanted to tag along, hence the burst of speed. He must have decided almost simultaneously that he wished to carry me no farther, for he suddenly lowered his head, raised his hind feet, and made a little pig jump to one side. I did a complete somersault over his head and wound up sitting upright on the ground.
    As I sat there, half dead, he galloped around me in a wide circle, taking care not to step in the dangling reins. The expression on his face, every movement of his body seemed to radiate silent amusement. It was as if he were saying, “Ha! Thought you were smart, didn’t you, riding me that way. Now look at you. You’re sitting in a puddle of mud.” And I was. By some cunning he had contrived to dump me in the only muddy spot on the entire lot.
    Switching my eyes from Judas to Dr. Carver, I found him doubled up laughing. “That horse is