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seemed to have picked up on his restlessness. “Why don’t you go see how they’re doing while we dry our feet,” she suggested.
    Zach jumped up eagerly. “Okay.”
    “Do you know how to tell if Barq is cooled down?” Lisa asked before he could run off.
    Zach shrugged. “If he’s not sweating?”
    “Actually, you put your hand on his chest. If it’s not hot then he’s ready to be ridden again.”
    “You guys sure do know a lot about horses,” he said as he moved off.
    Carole shook her head and reached for her socks. “I’ve never seen anyone so keen to be in the saddle.”
    “He’s definitely eager to learn,” Stevie agreed.
    That wasn’t what Carole had meant at all. While Zach obviously loved riding, he didn’t seem to enjoy the process of learning what went with it. Still, he was new to the sport and probably overwhelmed by all theinformation he was getting, so she decided to keep her thoughts to herself.
    “Barq is nice and cool, guys,” he called, “and so are your horses.”
    Lisa laughed. “I think that’s a hint.”
    “Come on, girls,” Stevie said, standing up. “This kind of devotion to horses should be nurtured.”
    “But my feet aren’t even dry,” Lisa protested.
    “Dry them with your socks,” Stevie suggested. “I did.”
    Lisa wrinkled her nose. “Then I’ll have wet socks. It’ll feel like my feet are all sweaty.”
    Stevie shrugged. “What’s your point?”
    “It’s gross, that’s my point!”
    “Come on, Lisa,” Carole coaxed. “If we don’t get Zach back on his horse soon, I think he’ll go into withdrawal.”
    Lisa looked over to where the boy was pacing back and forth and throwing the girls anxious looks. “Okay, okay,” she relented.
    The girls quickly finished getting ready, and the four of them mounted up to continue their ride. Stevie was in the lead, Lisa right behind her, Zach next, and Carole brought up the rear.
    Carole thought the new rider might be a little anxiousabout the upcoming show, so she decided to give him some reassurance. “You know, Zach, even though you only have a few weeks of riding experience, I think you’re going to do fine at the show. It really isn’t all that important, anyway.”
    Zach turned and smiled at her. “Oh, I know that, C, but it’s still going to be cool to hang a handful of ribbons on my wall.”
    Stevie laughed. “Gee, too bad you suffer from such low self-confidence.”
    Carole didn’t find it particularly funny. In fact she was somewhat put off by the boy’s cocky attitude. “You do realize not everybody wins their first time out, don’t you?”
    Zach shrugged. “I know that, but Max said I have great potential as a rider, so I’ll just do what comes naturally. I can’t lose.”
    Carole shook her head. She didn’t want to discourage him, but—
    “Hey, Zach,” Stevie called, turning in her saddle, “remind me to—”
    She never got any further. At that moment a fox streaked across the path practically under Belle’s feet. While the mare was normally the steadiest and most reliable of mounts, millions of years of instinct took over. She shied hard to the left, catchingStevie off guard and off balance. With a shout of surprise she was thrown from her saddle, hitting the ground hard.
    Belle, still alarmed by the fox, took off at a panicked gallop.
    “Stevie!” Lisa cried, dismounting quickly and rushing over to her fallen friend. “Are you hurt?”
    Carole and Zach also hurried over.
    Stevie was sitting in the dirt looking dazed. “I’m okay.… I think. Good thing I was wearing this.”
    She gingerly removed her riding helmet, which had gotten knocked askew in the fall.
    Lisa frowned, her face full of concern. “Looks like you got a nice bump even so.”
    Zach knelt beside her. “Man, that looked rough. Are you okay, Stevie?”
    Stevie saw that her fall had shaken Zach almost as much as her. “Don’t worry about it, Zach. If you’re going to ride horses, sooner or later you’re