Victory and the All-Stars Academy by Stacy Gregg Page B

choose—a long two-stride between the fences at the double, then tightening up the striding again for the fences straight after that. Victory never fought her once and they went clear without a mishap.
    â€œNeat round,” Araminta said to her. “He’s going very well for you.”
    The riders did some grid work after that, popping the horses through some combinations while Araminta gave them advice on their positions. The morning lesson seemed to pass extremely quickly and, before they knew it, Araminta was telling them to unsaddle for lunch.
    Issie, Kate and Charlotte wolfed down their sandwiches almost before the others had sat down andthen excused themselves so that they could smuggle their hidden scraps back to the stables to feed to Wombat. The puppy was overjoyed to see them and leapt up at the door of the stall as they opened it. They had to squeeze in carefully so he wouldn’t escape.
    â€œI can’t believe no one has found him yet,” Kate admitted. “I could actually hear him yelping when we were in the showjumping ring today, and I was sure that Araminta was going to hear it too.”
    â€œShe probably couldn’t hear him because she had her headset on,” Charlotte said.
    â€œI don’t think we can keep him here for much longer,” said Kate. “He’s got his strength back now. Did you see the way he jumped up at the door just now? He’s like a jack-in-the-box! We can’t keep him here forever.”
    Issie stroked the blue heeler’s silky ears and looked at the sweet expression on his puppy face. His mouth was permanently open in a cheeky grin and he had cunning eyes that darted from girl to girl as they spoke, as if he knew exactly what they were all talking about. He looked at Issie now with a plaintive expression, cocking his head to one side, his eyes fixed on her.
    â€œWe’ll figure something out, Wombat,” Issie said softly. But really, she was thinking the same thing as the other girls. At the end of next week it was the competition, and after that they would be leaving Havenfields and going home. Who would take care of Wombat then?
    Thursday’s showjumping clinic did nothing to dispel the girls’ fears that the Australian team was too good to beat. Araminta’s lesson focused on speed, since racing to beat the clock would be such a big part of the Young Rider Challenge, and once again, the Australians seemed to have the advantage, tearing around the arena at breakneck pace and still managing to get clear rounds each time.
    Most of the riders were excited at the prospect of starting their cross-country training the next day, but Issie was feeling more than a little daunted by the reappearance of Tara. “The return of She Who Must Not Be Named,” Issie grumbled as she sat at the breakfast table on Friday morning with Stella and Kate.
    â€œTara’s not that bad,” Kate said, sticking up for her. However, even Kate got grumpy when Tara assembled the riders on the verandah and broke the news that their first cross-country lesson would be on foot.
    â€œYou can all get changed out of your back protectors and put on your gumboots. You won’t be riding this morning. You’ll be walking.”
    An audible groan rose up from the riders, but Tara was quick to set them straight for doubting her methods.
    â€œIf you want to be a good cross-country rider then it is essential that you learn everything you can about walking a cross-country course,” she told them. “There are a million decisions to make when you’re riding cross-country—and most of them can be made before you even mount up. You need to learn to walk the course and plan everything exactly, so that when the time comes to ride, there are no surprises.”
    As the riders set out through the long grass of the paddocks where the jumps were dotted about, Issie found out that the big difference between walking a cross-country