Horse Wise by Bonnie Bryant Page A

not a lot more. “No, I didn’t. And I felt terrible keeping it from you.” Lisa took a deep breath. “I want a horse. It’s my dream. The problem was that something told me it wasn’t right. And the problem with that was I didn’t know what the ‘something’ was. So I developed this wild notion that you two would be jealous.”
    “Well, we would be, of course,” Stevie said. “But we’d understand.”
    “That’s the part I forgot. Of course you’d understand. Now I know that, but I also know that it’s still a bad idea. See, I was concentrating so hard on the idea that you were jealous of Veronica that I forgot what the real reason was for Veronica not to have a horse.”
    “And that is?” Carole asked.
    Lisa had the feeling Carole knew the answer and was testing her. “Because she doesn’t know enough about horses to care for her own properly,” Lisa answered.
    “Go to the head of the class,” Carole said.
    “Thanks. It took me a long time, but the lesson Veronica gave about responsibility by bad example was as clear as a bell.”
    “But Lisa, you’re more responsible than Veronica,” Stevie said.
    “Thanks, but a lamppost is more responsible than Veronica. I think I do all right on that part. The part that I’m not so good on is just plain horse knowledge. I’m learning. I know I’m learning, but that’s not enough yet. One day, I will have learned enough. Until then, I’m going to thank my parents for the wonderful idea and I’ll happily continue riding Pepper.”
    Carole smiled. “I think you’re absolutely right, except about one thing. It’s not going to be as far in the future as you may think. You’re learning at an amazing rate.”
    “Becoming horse wise, you mean,” Stevie contributed. “Speaking of which, Horse Wise should be helpful. I was looking through
The Manual of Horsemanship
—you know, the Pony Club book Max gave us. Being Pony Clubbers is certainly going to speed up that day for all of us.”
    Carole sighed audibly.
    “What’s the matter?” Lisa asked. She was relieved that she’d gotten her troubles off her chest. She hated to think that something was bothering Carole so much that she had to sigh like that!
    “Horse Wise,” Carole said and then sighed again. “If the stars are granting wishes tonight, I know what my wish is.”
    “What?” Stevie asked.
    “You may not believe this, but my wish is to have Dad not be a Horse Wise sponsor anymore.”
    Stevie propped herself up on her elbow. “I don’t get it, Carole. You’ve got one of the neatest fathers this side of the Mississippi. Why don’t you want him to be a sponsor?”
    “Sure, he’s a neat guy. He’s good at being a father and a Marine, but he’s not good at horses. Sponsors are supposed to be able to teach. He can’t teach anybody anything about horses because he doesn’t know anything.”
    “Now, wait a minute. He’s teaching everybody! He’s
terrific
,” Lisa said.
    “Lisa, you’re supposed to be the logical one in this group. That’s just not logical,” Carole responded.
    “No, look at it from our standpoint, Carole,” Lisa persisted. “We know your father doesn’t know anything about horses, but he
does
know about teaching—and learning. See, what your dad does is make us think. Every time he asks why, two things happen. First, we have to think about what we’re doing, and that gives us information. Second, we have to tell him and that gives
him
information. Don’t worry, Carole, he’s not just neat, he’s smart. Before too long, he’ll stop asking because he doesn’t know and begin asking just to make sure we
do.
That is, if he’s not doing that already. In the meantime, what difference does it make?”
    Carole couldn’t think of a reply so she just stared upat the sky, which was now becoming a deep, rich blue. A few more stars had appeared. There was an autumn chill in the late-afternoon air.
    Carole’s mind was a jumble. She tried to sort it all out. She