thought, gee, I thought I’d taught them better than that! And when I saw friendships bruised because of some kind of presumed favoritism, I thought, oh no. There are so many things so much more important. When will they learn?”
He paused and looked around the room, his eye catching the eye of every single rider in there so that each and every one of them knew he meant them—not someone else.
“But you haven’t learned, you haven’t changed, you haven’t grown. The bickering I just walked in on is proof of that. I am truly saddened to say that everything I see now tells me this whole exercise was a failure!”
There was a slight murmur of protest from a few people in the room, but as Carole looked around, she could tell that most of the group seemed to feel that a guilty silence was a more honest response. Stevie dared to peek around her, only to find almost everybody had developed a sudden fascination with their own footgear.
“How many times have I told you that the only personyou’re competing against is yourself? The only reason to compete at all is to inspire and challenge yourself to grow. You should be taking delight in each other’s achievements, cheering each other along, not complaining and cutting your fellow riders down. In fact, the only sincere case of good sportsmanship I’ve seen in some time was when two of you made the effort to find a helmet to replace May’s missing one.” Stevie felt good for a tiny second, until Max continued. “A nice thing to do, but sadly that may have been the only action of its kind this week.”
Again Max paused, looking at everyone. It was small consolation to Lisa and Stevie, but they knew he wasn’t just angry at them. He was angry at everyone.
“We are suspending this competition for today. I don’t know what I want to do about tomorrow or about the full Pony Club rally. At the moment, I’m too upset to make a rational decision.”
“But, Max, we put in so much work!” Veronica protested.
Stevie’s mouth fell open. She turned to make sure it was actually Veronica who had uttered those words. It was.
“I can’t believe she said that,” Stevie gasped to Lisa.
“And here I thought nothing she ever did or saidagain could surprise me,” Lisa said, shaking her head in wonder.
“I am well aware of the amount and the caliber of work each and every one of you has put in,” Max said to Veronica.
Veronica squirmed under his gaze.
“Nonetheless, until I see a marked change in the behavior and attitude around here, we will not be going forward with this rally. I want you all to go home and give some serious thought to what it is you expect to get out of riding. If you’re only in it for the trophies and blue ribbons, you have no business being at this stable.” Max scooped a piece of paper off his desk. “Carole, I want to thank you for all your hard work these last couple of weeks. I believe this belongs to you.” He held out the paper.
Carole took it from him and examined it. “Max, this is a copy of the judging criteria. You already gave it to me.” She offered it back.
“Actually that
is
the one I gave you. I needed to make some copies for myself so I borrowed it from your cubby a while back. I should have mentioned it to you sooner, but it slipped my mind. I apologize.
“Anyway,” Max continued, “you don’t seem to have missed it, so no harm done. Whether you’ll still beneeding it remains to be seen. That said”—he turned back to the class—“we will all meet again tomorrow morning to see if any one of you can come up with a good reason for us to continue with the meet.” He walked out of the room. Slowly everyone began to file out.
Carole remained standing by Max’s desk. She was staring at the paper in her hands, her face a war of emotions.
Stevie was about to suggest to Lisa that they go and see what was going on when Lisa bolted out of the room. “Lisa?” she called after the fleeing figure. She stood there,
He paused and looked around the room, his eye catching the eye of every single rider in there so that each and every one of them knew he meant them—not someone else.
“But you haven’t learned, you haven’t changed, you haven’t grown. The bickering I just walked in on is proof of that. I am truly saddened to say that everything I see now tells me this whole exercise was a failure!”
There was a slight murmur of protest from a few people in the room, but as Carole looked around, she could tell that most of the group seemed to feel that a guilty silence was a more honest response. Stevie dared to peek around her, only to find almost everybody had developed a sudden fascination with their own footgear.
“How many times have I told you that the only personyou’re competing against is yourself? The only reason to compete at all is to inspire and challenge yourself to grow. You should be taking delight in each other’s achievements, cheering each other along, not complaining and cutting your fellow riders down. In fact, the only sincere case of good sportsmanship I’ve seen in some time was when two of you made the effort to find a helmet to replace May’s missing one.” Stevie felt good for a tiny second, until Max continued. “A nice thing to do, but sadly that may have been the only action of its kind this week.”
Again Max paused, looking at everyone. It was small consolation to Lisa and Stevie, but they knew he wasn’t just angry at them. He was angry at everyone.
“We are suspending this competition for today. I don’t know what I want to do about tomorrow or about the full Pony Club rally. At the moment, I’m too upset to make a rational decision.”
“But, Max, we put in so much work!” Veronica protested.
Stevie’s mouth fell open. She turned to make sure it was actually Veronica who had uttered those words. It was.
“I can’t believe she said that,” Stevie gasped to Lisa.
“And here I thought nothing she ever did or saidagain could surprise me,” Lisa said, shaking her head in wonder.
“I am well aware of the amount and the caliber of work each and every one of you has put in,” Max said to Veronica.
Veronica squirmed under his gaze.
“Nonetheless, until I see a marked change in the behavior and attitude around here, we will not be going forward with this rally. I want you all to go home and give some serious thought to what it is you expect to get out of riding. If you’re only in it for the trophies and blue ribbons, you have no business being at this stable.” Max scooped a piece of paper off his desk. “Carole, I want to thank you for all your hard work these last couple of weeks. I believe this belongs to you.” He held out the paper.
Carole took it from him and examined it. “Max, this is a copy of the judging criteria. You already gave it to me.” She offered it back.
“Actually that
is
the one I gave you. I needed to make some copies for myself so I borrowed it from your cubby a while back. I should have mentioned it to you sooner, but it slipped my mind. I apologize.
“Anyway,” Max continued, “you don’t seem to have missed it, so no harm done. Whether you’ll still beneeding it remains to be seen. That said”—he turned back to the class—“we will all meet again tomorrow morning to see if any one of you can come up with a good reason for us to continue with the meet.” He walked out of the room. Slowly everyone began to file out.
Carole remained standing by Max’s desk. She was staring at the paper in her hands, her face a war of emotions.
Stevie was about to suggest to Lisa that they go and see what was going on when Lisa bolted out of the room. “Lisa?” she called after the fleeing figure. She stood there,
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