The Winning Summer by Marsha Hubler

din.
    “Oh, hi, Mom,” Katie replied without turning around. “Well, I’m glad you’re here.”
    “And I’m here too.” Mr. Thomas’ voice cracked.
    Katie stopped dead in her tracks.
    Skye could only imagine what was going through the blind girl’s mind.
    Turning toward her father’s voice, Katie glowed. “Dad!”
    Mr. Thomas wrapped his arms around his daughter as though he hadn’t seen her in years. “I’m so sorry, Katie. I’m so sorry.” Eyes moist, the man waved his wife toward him.
    “Oh, Dad,” Katie said, “I’m sorry too, for not trying harder in the race. I want you to be proud of me.”
    “Katie,” Mrs. Thomas cried, embracing the two, “we are proud of you, for what you’ve accomplished. And we have some good news for you. Your father and I are, well, we want to start over. With the Lord’s help, we’ll do it—together!”
    “Oh, Mom,” Katie said, her eyes watering. “I’m so glad!”
    Skye stroked Boomer’s chin, basking in the scene unfolding before her. “Wow! How cool, God,” Skye whispered. “Thanks for answering prayer.”
    Katie gave a tender hug to her mom and dad then slowly turned. “Where’s Skye?” she asked, wiping the tears from her face.
    “Right here,” Skye said.
    Hand in hand, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas moved to the side.
    Katie reached in Skye’s direction. “I just wanna say thanks, Skye. Thanks for being my favoritist friend. You’re the best!”
    Skye took Katie’s hand then slipped an arm around her shoulders. Her heart filled with the satisfaction and pride of a job well done, Skye now knew that God had used her for something very special.
    She thought about the summer, an exciting summer that had taught her one important truth. “Winning” came in ways as different as the colors of horses. And winning with God was even better than winning a blue ribbon. Of this she was very sure.
    “Nah, I’m not the best,” Skye said with a winning smile. “God is. I’m just here to help.”

Glossary of Gaits
    Gait– A gait is the manner of movement, the way a horse goes.
    There are four natural or major gaits most horses use: walk, trot, canter, and gallop.
    Walk– In the walk, the slowest gait, hooves strike the ground in a four-beat order: right hind hoof, right fore hoof, left hind hoof, left fore hoof.
    Trot– In the trot, hooves strike the ground in diagonals in a one-two beat: right hind and left forefeet together, left hind and right forefeet together.
    Canter– The canter is a three-beat gait containing an instant during which all four hooves are off the ground. The foreleg that lands last is called the “lead” leg and seems to point in the direction of the canter.
    Gallop– The gallop is the fastest gait. If fast enough, it’s a four-beat gait, with each hoof landing separately: right hind hoof, left hind hoof just before right fore hoof, left fore hoof.
    Other gaits come naturally to certain breeds or are developed through careful breeding.
    Running walk– This smooth gait comes naturally to the Tennessee walking horse. The horse glides between a walk and a trot.
    Pace– A two-beat gait, similar to a trot. But instead of legs pairing in diagonals as in the trot, fore and hind legs on one side move together, giving a swaying action.
    Slow gait– Four beats, but with swaying from side to side and a prancing effect. The slow gait is one of the gaits used by five-gaited saddle horses. Some call this pace the stepping pace or amble.
    Amble– A slow, easy gait, much like the pace.
    Rack– One of the five gaits of the five-gaited American saddle horse, it’s a fancy, fast walk. This four-beat gait is faster than the trot and is very hard on the horse.
    Jog– A jog is a slow trot, sometimes called a dogtrot .
    Lope– A slow, easygoing canter, usually referring to a western gait on a horse ridden with loose reins.
    Fox trot– An easy gait of short steps in which the horse basically walks in front and trots behind. It’s a smooth gait,