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happened to be the ones she and Wings were best at. She’d never come out on top in dressage in her life, and that hadn’t stopped her from winning in the past. In fact, she’d never failed to improve by several places by the end of the day, since at least some of the top dressage performers usually had faults in the jumping phases.
    â€œI just wish we’d been able to show what we can really do,” Haley said. “We’ve been working so hard in dressage, and all it took was one tiny mistake to throw us off, you know?”
    â€œThat’s eventing for you.” Andrew squinted toward the ring. “Hey, Kyle, better get back over there. Aren’t you next?”
    Kyle pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket and consulted it. “Nope. There’s two more after this one before it’s my turn.”
    â€œThat must be one of them.” Haley watched a girl around her own age riding toward the ring. Her horse was an attractive and kind-eyed bay mare with four white socks.
    â€œHey, I know her,” Andrew said. He waved as the girl passed them. “Good luck, Claire!”
    The girl, Claire, glanced down at him briefly. “Thanks,” she said without slowing down.
    Soon she was in the ring beginning her test. “How do you know her?” Haley asked Andrew.
    â€œShe rides with a trainer I took a few dressage lessons with before I started going to Jan,” Andrew said. “She’d just started when I was there last summer, actually. She’d been riding for a couple of years but was brand-new to eventing.”
    Haley watched the mare round the far turn and begin her first trot circle. “Her horse has a fancy trot,” she commented.
    Both boys nodded, and they all watched in silence for a moment. The bay mare’s gaits were lovely and steady, and the rider wasn’t making any major mistakes. However, Haley couldn’t help noticing that their circles weren’t exactly round, and a few of the transitions were early or late.
    At least that’s one more rider Wings and I will probablybeat, Haley thought, trying to make herself feel better about her own ride.
    When Claire rode out of the ring, she paused to talk to her trainer, a lean man wearing a sweatshirt with a stable logo on it. Then she rode over to Haley and the others.
    â€œIt’s Andrew, right?” she said, glancing at Turbo, who was grazing on a bit of winter-brown grass. “Is that the same horse you had before?”
    â€œUh-huh.” Andrew gave the thoroughbred a pat. “He’s come a long way, right?”
    â€œI guess.” The girl glanced at Haley and Kyle. She had bright blue eyes and a sharp chin. “Hi. I’m Claire.”
    Haley and Kyle introduced themselves. “Nice ride, Claire,” Kyle added.
    â€œThanks.” Claire smiled rather smugly. “My trainer says Bella always wins the dressage. She used to compete at intermediate before I bought her.”
    â€œReally?” Haley knew that intermediate was the second-highest level in eventing. No wonder the mare was so fancy!
    â€œYeah, her owner was maybe going to try her atadvanced, but my dad made him an offer he couldn’t refuse, because I just had to have her.” Claire patted her horse. “Come on, Bella. Let’s go celebrate with some nice carrots, hmm?”
    She rode off without saying good-bye. “She’s . . . interesting,” Kyle commented.
    â€œI don’t know her that well. But I heard that her family is pretty rich,” Andrew said.
    Just then Jan bustled over. “Heads up, Kyle,” she said briskly. “You’re on deck, so look alive.”
    â€œOkay.” Kyle shortened his reins, waking his horse from what appeared to be a quick nap. “Here goes nothing!”

    Forty minutes later the last of the beginner novice riders had finished their dressage tests, and the judge’s scribe was shuffling through