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Southwood!”
    They had ridden in a loop along the far fence of the horse park and were nearly back to the start of the ride. The Saddle Club was silent, thinking. Finally Stevie spoke.
    “None of us knows more than Dorothy or Nigel,” she said. “But, Drew, what you say makes at least as much sense as what Nigel said to us last night. We’re willing to help you convince Nigel. We’d like to see Southwood do well.”
    The others nodded. “It’s a Saddle Club project,” Lisa said.
    Drew looked grateful. “Thanks.”

W EDNESDAY MORNING T HE Saddle Club woke up early enough to head to the horse park with Dorothy and Nigel. Nigel had to go to a competitors’ meeting, but he invited them all to go on the official course walk with him afterward. Walking the cross-country course was the only way the riders could plan their strategy: The horses weren’t allowed to see any of the fences until they were asked to jump them. The Saddle Club had walked a course with Nigel in North Carolina, and they enjoyed seeing all the enormous fences up close.
    Dorothy parked her station wagon near the stables, and Nigel hurried off to his meeting. The girls walked withDorothy to the stables and were admiring a handsome blood bay horse near the entrance when Drew rushed out to meet them. “Hey!” he said. “You still haven’t met Eddy! I know where he is—don’t move, I’ll go get him!”
    Stevie clapped her hand over her mouth and shrieked. “Ohmigosh!” she said. “I left my purse in the station wagon! We’ve got to run—someone could steal it!” She grabbed Lisa’s hand and the three of them fled.
    “Stevie,” Carole said, gasping, “you don’t have a purse.”
    Stevie grinned. “Quick thinking, wasn’t it?”
    “Definitely,” Lisa replied. They ran past the parking lot and leaned against a tree until they’d caught their breaths. “Now,” Lisa said, “what should we do until the course walk?”
    On the day before, they’d located the dressage and show-jumping rings, visited the Pony Club’s office, and watched a film about horses in the main horse-park building. Lisa pulled a battered park map out of her pocket. “Let’s visit the Breeds Barn,” she suggested.
    As its name indicated, the Breeds Barn was filled with horses of all sorts of breeds, both familiar and rare, from all over the world. The girls walked past stalls containing a Thoroughbred, an Arabian, a Morgan, a quarter horse, a Welsh pony, an Appaloosa, and a Saddlebred. All of those were types of horses they had at Pine Hollow. Theypaused to admire the different kinds of giant draft horses, the Austrian Lipizzaner, and the Peruvian Paso Fino. Finally they stopped in amazement in front of a stall containing the hairiest pony they’d ever seen. Its mane and forelock cascaded down its neck, and its thick black coat rippled in heavy waves.
    “What is it?” Stevie asked. She gave the pony a pat, and it snuffled her hand.
    Carole read the card. “ ‘Bashkir Curly.’
    “ ‘Bashkiria was a remote area in the former Soviet Union,’ ” Carole continued to read. “And I guess the curly part is self-explanatory,” she said with a giggle.
    “I’d say so,” Lisa agreed.
    Before they knew it, it was time for the course walk. Consulting Lisa’s map, they joined Dorothy and Nigel at the second fence to avoid going back near the stables. Fortunately, Lisa thought with relief, Drew was too busy to go on the walk, and Eddy didn’t seem to be interested because he hadn’t come along.
    The Saddle Club had seen difficult cross-country fences before, but these were the hardest yet. While Nigel walked carefully around each obstacle, planning exactly where and how he and Southwood should jump it, the girls climbed on top of each one and marveled that any horse
would
jump it. The fifth fence, called the Footbridge, was built over a ditch and was nearly six feet wide.Stevie stood in the ditch. The rails of the fence were higher than her head.