Horse Tails Book One: Golden Horse Piper Kunde

Chapter 1

“Winnie!” Stephanie, my instructor yells. “Watch out!”

At that moment, me, and my favorite horse at the stable, Firefly, crash through the jump. Poles roll to Firefly’s feet.

“I… I'm sorry.”

“Let’s take a break,” Stephanie says. I lead Firefly to her stall. I'm brushing her off when I hear a shrill whinny. I rush outside and see a golden horse being unloaded from a trailer. A man with a cowboy hat and big belly looks at me and says, “You Violet?”

“No,” says a voice behind me.

“I’m Violet.” Violet looks at me and says, “go back to work, Winnie.”

I pretend to leave, but hide behind a bale of hay. “Ok.” says the man.

“Where's your dad?”

“I’m here” says a harsh voice behind Violet.

“I believe this is your horse. Pure Saddlebred named Bentley.”

“Daddy! He's perfect!” exclaims Violet. Rage burns through me. I imagine my face is as red as a tomato. Violet does not deserve Bentley. she kicks her horses for no reason; she

doesn’t care about horses or any animals—they are just her accessories.

I've dreamed of a horse like this, a golden Saddlebred, us riding bareback through the mountains.

“Winnie,” Violet says. “What are you still doing here? Go get a stall ready for Bentley.” I leave to go get a stall ready, all the time thinking on how to get Bentley. I work for Violet for a little bit of money plus free lessons.

My mom walks in. “Winnie, it’s time to go.”

“Where?”

My older brother Rickey bounds out of the car. He reminds me of a Clydesdale, a big, strong build.

“Winnie, it's my basketball game today!”

“Oh yeah, sorry.”

“Come on, get in the car or we will be late,” yells mom.

“Okay, okay. Let me finish up!”

“Okay, five more minutes!”

As I walk out, I pat Bentley. I need that horse. At the basketball game, all I can think about is Bentley. At home, I lay on my bed. Rickey comes in. “Good game,” I say.

“Thanks.” He leaves. I drift off to sleep, dreaming about Bentley.

The next day, Rickey comes in. “Wanna go for a ride?” he says. My mom and dad own an animal shelter. One day they brought home two horses. One a chestnut mare, the other a seal gelding. Both quarter horses. Mom chose the chestnut mare as her horse and named it Bell. Rickey has the gelding and named it Rocky. I was offered Bell, but I could tell mom loved her, so I let her have Bell. When the horses were surrendered at the shelter, they were wild and full of fear, but I gentled them. I don’t believe in breaking a horse.

I roll over. “Sure.” I get dressed quickly and throw my hair in a ponytail that would probably win an award for messiest ponytail in the universe. I go outside and Rickey is already on Rocky.

“Bareback?” I ask.

“Yep,” he says. I grab Bell, put a bridle on her, and swing up on her.

“Race you!” Rickey yells. I click my tongue and urge Bell into a canter, then a gallop. We race past Rickey so I slow Bell down and dismount. This is my favorite spot, the little pond with a waterfall. I settle down on the grass. It’s full of morning dew.

Rickey sits down next to me. We sit there for a while then I say, “Rickey?”

“Yeah?” he says.

“I have something to tell you.”

“What?” he says.

“Yeah.”

“I’ve seen her ’round, what about her?”

“She got a new horse, a Saddlebred. I’ve dreamed of a horse like that! That’s why I didn’t take Bell.”

“I thought you didn’t take Bell cuz you wanted to give her to mom.”

“Rickey! I need that horse!”

“Okay, okay, settle down.”

“But Rickey! Violet won’t sell him because he’s the color of gold! I saw him when he was being unloaded; he sure was scared around humans and was full of fear. I could see it in his eyes! He didn’t take good to the halter which means he wasn’t halter broke, then he’s probably not saddle or bridle broke!”

“Well,” Rickey said. “You did say he didn’t like humans so maybe he’ll rear, and buck and Violet won’t want him.”

“Rickey! That's it! If Bentley does that, Violet won’t want him. They will sell him, then I can buy him and gentle him!” “But how do you get the money? Mom and dad already said no to another horse, unless you buy it.”

“Rickey—the race! It’s one hundred dollars to enter and one thousand dollars if you win, plus your hundred dollars back! I have about one hundred dollars! We could win and then buy Bentley!”

“Winnie, you have to be eighteen. You're twelve and I’m seventeen.”

“But your birthday is in two weeks! Then you’ll be eighteen, and then you could race! Please?”

“Winnie…”

“You could ride Rocky and train!” Winnie exclaimed.

“Fine!” he shouted.

“Really?”

“Only if you do my chores for a week.”

“Thanks.” I hug him. I hop on Bell and race off.

“Were you going?” Rickey yells.

“To get the barn ready for another horse!” I shout. I leave him by the pond, shaking his head.

Chapter 2

I stare at the clock. My parents have a rule not to leave your room before seven.

Right when it hits seven, I run out of my room and place a note on the counter saying off to work see you tonight. I grab my bike and go straight to the stable. When I get there, I hear a frightened whinny. I rush in. I see Violet on the ground, a halter in her hand, Bentley rearing, his nostrils flared. I walk up slow and steady, talking a long stream of nonsense. He lets me approach him. I blow in his nostrils; it’s how horses greet each other. He blows back.

Violet gets up. “Get away from my horse!” Bentley gets scared; he rears again.

I step back. “Winnie! That horse is dangerous!” she shouts.

“Does that mean you’ll sell him?” I ask.

“No, Winnie. That horse is golden. I don't care if he’s tamed as long as he’s gold.”

It feels like my insides are sprawled out across the floor. I walk off to see Firefly. “Hi girl.” Firefly snorts “I’m sorry for yesterday. How’s your feet?” She snorts then nickers. “Okay then, want to go for a ride, if mean old Violet lets us? We could go t—” I hear someone clear their throat. I stop dead, I slowly turn around. Violet is standing right behind me

“H… how long have you been standing there?” I ask.

“The whole time,” she replies. I’m dead. I’m lightheaded. I want to faint. My head is full of what if Violet does this to me? What if what if…

She looks at me. “Winnie, my dad is going to have the time of his life hearing this story!”

She runs to her dad's office. My feet feel like jello. I grab the bridle on Firefly's stall door. I slip it on, my hands shaking rapidly, I’m going to lose my job. I will never get allowed near Bentley again. I hop on Firefly. “G-go,” I tell Firefly. I need this job. They pay me a little money. Plus I love the horses and I would miss the trainer and Firefly and they would never let me buy Bentley. I wasn't paying attention again!

Firefly’s one of those horses who would run off a cliff if I asked and we were headed toward a tree. I heard something! It’s Rocky's heavy snorts. Rickey runs up to me, grabs the rein, and pulls us off.

“Winnie! What are you doing?” I don’t reply. “Winnie! Tell me! Please!”

I sit down and everything spills out. Rickey just sits and listens. He says these words:

“Violet's dad won’t care. You're his best cleaner, and his only cleaner; you won’t get fired. Just go back and tell him. I will come with.” Rickey swings up into the saddle. “Come on.” When we get to the stables we walk in the office and tell Violet’s dad. He doesn't believe us.

“You think I’m going to believe you and not my own daughter?” he says, “You're not fired, but instead of ten dollars a week, you’ll get five dollars a week. Then, if you do an even better job and stop being rude to my daughter, I’ll move you back up to ten dollars a week. Got it?”

“Um, sure.” I say.

“You're off for today.” he says. Before we leave, I show Rickey Bentley. Rickey says, “I see why you want this horse so bad. Come on, it's time for dinner.”

“It's only five!” I say, but I know my mom likes to eat early. At dinner, dad asks how work is. I decided not to tell him. When it’s time for bed I’m actually glad. I have an early bedtime today. I'm tired. I fall asleep instantly when my head hits the pillow.

The next morning, I lay in bed, not wanting to do anything. Finally, when Rickey comes in for the third time, I get up and zombie walk outside. That's when it hits me, like a baseball to the head. The race! I haven’t even ridden Rocky to see how fast he is. I grab our best saddle and bridle and ride out. I know the course by heart, because mom makes us go every year. I start Rocky off at a walk around the course. When I get back, I set a pad. When the horse’s hoof hits the pad, the timer will start; when it hits it again, it will stop. I put the pad on the starting line and get Rocky set up. I let him go when he wants. As I give him his head he lunges forward right in a gallop. We act like we’re in the race, taking a good position not too close to the inside, but not too far away. Rocky is super happy, taking a long stride. Finally, we reach the starting line. his hoof hits the pad and I slow him down, he wasn't even sweating. “Good boy,” I say and go to the pad. The set time on the pad was unbelievable. I thought maybe I didn’t set it right, it said 29.4 seconds. With a time like that, we could win. Bentley would be mine. Imagine what we could do if we practiced. I did a cool down lap with Rocky and went back home to tell Rickey the good news.

“Rickey, Rickey! Rocky was so good; his time was 29.4 seconds!!”

“Wow!”

“Come on, I need you to get on Rocky so he gets used to you.”

“Winnie.”

“Please.”

“You ride Rocky; I will get Bell.” A few seconds later, we were headed down Brookview lane, Rocky in front, me behind. We get to the racetrack. I line up the big black pad and get Rocky to the starting line.

“Ok, you ready?”

“Yup!”

“On your mark, get set, go!”

They tear around the racetrack. I see Rickey but he’s not giving Rocky his head; Rocky's slowing down. His hoof hits the pad. “Time.” I go over to them. “42.3 seconds. Rickey! that’s not fast enough!”

“Sorry.”

“When I yell, go give Rocky his head; he will run faster. Right now he’s just slowing down. Let's try it again, this time give him his head at the start.”

“On your mark, get set, go!!” Rickey let the reins go a little, giving Rocky his head. That’s all Rocky needed. He lunges forward at a gallop. “Go Rickey and Rocky!” Before I knew it, the timer was done and Rickey was waving me over to check it: “30.4 seconds. Good job guys, 30 seconds! Let’s take a break.” We rode back home. We untacked and brushed down the horses then led them to their stalls.

We ran inside. “Hi mom.” We both said it at the same time. So much for keeping down suspicions.

“Where have you been?” mom asks.

“Oh, okay. Well, good thing you’re back; I made my famous tuna casserole!”

“Oh, great.” Me and Rickey don’t really like what mom calls her famous tuna casserole. But we eat it so mom doesn’t get sad. “Winnie, go get dad.”

“Where is he?”

“Outside fixing the fence.”

“Okay, I will go get him.”

I stroll down the fence, and I finally see him. “Dad, dad!”

“Oh hi sweetie.”

“It's time for lunch.”

“What are we having?”

“Mom’s famous tuna casserole.”

“Oh yes, just perfect to lighten my spirits.”

It was my chance so I took it. “So dad.”

“Yeah.”

“How do you feel about Rickey doing the big race at the fair?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“No. I don’t want to hear any more about it. My word is final.”

I dragged my feet all the way home. This is going to be harder than I thought. We were going to need to sneak into the racetrack, and that was going to be hard with mom and dad prowling the perimeter looking at the horses. We get to the house and sit down for lunch. It was a silent lunch. Mom and dad keep glancing at each other in a weird way. That night, I brush my teeth and get ready for bed. I lay there waiting but for what, I don’t even know.

Chapter 4

I wake up the next morning, but not from Rickey shaking me awake. I glance over at the clock. 9:00. Wow that’s late. I get up, grab my favorite green shirt and some jeans, put my hair in a ponytail and go out for breakfast. Mom, dad and Rickey are sitting at the table. Mom and dad have serious looks on their faces, but it almost looks like a lopsided grin.

“What’s going on, mom?”

Mom waves me over to have a seat. Rickey’s the first to speak. “Mom wouldn’t let me wake you up.”

Mom and dad look at each other. “We have a surprise for you,” they finally say.

We follow them outside to a small pen at the back of our house where two dogs were sitting. Mom went on to explain that the former owner was getting a heart transplant and couldn’t take care of their dogs. Mom said the person didn’t

have names for the dogs and the dogs were very young. “Dad and I thought it would be a good idea if we gave the dogs to you. What do you think?”

“They're great,” I say. One of the dogs was taller with a silver coat. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her. I opened the gate carefully so the dogs didn’t get out. “Rickey? Can I have the silver dog?”

“Sure. I’m kinda glad; I wanted the other dog. He reminds me of Reepicheep from Narnia. Reepicheep. Do you like that?” Reepicheep wags his tail. Mom hands us each a collar.

Rickey's red, mine blue, dad hands us leashes. We walk inside and let the dogs sniff around.

Rickey sits down at the living room rug playing with Reepicheep. I call Mira. “Mira, Mira!” Mira walks down the stairs; in her mouth is my stuffed horse I named Dusty. Me and Rickey chase Mira all around the house; finally she gets tired and lays on her bed.

When both dogs are asleep, Rickey and I tiptoe outside to see the horses. I grab Bell and Rocky from the pasture, and lead them into the cross ties. Rickey starts brushing down Rocky. I do the same with Bell.

“Rickey, why have you been so quiet?”

“Winnie, I’m scared.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m scared of the race. I’ve seen other people's horses; they’re much bigger than Rocky. One man said that he’s entering his Clydesdale.”

“Rickey, Rocky is a born racer. Trust me; just keep practicing and you’ll be the best in the country.”

“You really think so, Winnie?”

“I mean, if I didn’t think so I wouldn’t have asked you to race for me.” I put a saddle on Bell, tighten the girth and mount.

“Rickey,” I say. “Wanna go to Zoe’s?”

“Sure.”

He mounts. We set our horses into an even trot. Zoe is our friend. She owns a ranch with her husband Nelson, but we call him Nell. I do all the horse work and she pays me. Rickey works in the field with the cows and chickens he gets paid the same amount.

When we get there, Nell is sitting in a rocking chair on the porch. Zoe is hanging laundry to dry.

“Hi, Zoe. Hi, Nell.”

“Oh hi, Winnie. Hi, Rickey. How are you?”

“Good. How about you?”

“We're good ourselves.”

Nell walks over. “Are you guys going to the fair tomorrow?”

“Yep, you’ll see us there” Rickey says.

“I’m sorry kids, but I finished all the chores already.”

“Bye guys.”

“Bye!”

We walk home. “Hey Rickey, how you suppose we’re going to get in that race tomorrow?”

“Well, I don’t know. Maybe we can sneak by mom; it's worth a shot.”

“Race ya home!” We gallop home, Rickey beating me. When we get home the sun, is dropping behind the clouds. I go inside, get ready for bed, and go to sleep.

Chapter 5

The next day, I get out of bed and race to the shower. Rickey’s already up. Today, we planned to be up before mom and dad so we could get ready. Dad owns a pickup truck, but it's the only car we have so mom and dad will drive to the race together. We will ride Bell and Rocky so there will be no problem getting the horses there.

“Winnie.” I turn around to see Rickey. “The horses are ready.”

“Okay, good.”

I take a shower and braid my hair. I put on jeans and a red flannel shirt. I go to the kitchen and eat the best breakfast of pancakes, eggs and bacon, and it was already time to go.

“Bye mom, bye dad; see you at the race.”

We canter down to the racetrack. Normally we would walk but today, we needed to get there fast. I hand Rickey a big cowboy hat.

“What’s this for?” He asks.

“So when you’re racing, mom and dad won’t recognize you.”

“Ok.

“Rickey, the other day at the stable I saw Violet. She was hurting Bentley for no reason!”

“Winnie don’t worry; we will get Bentley.”

“I hope so.”

We get to the racetrack, get signed in, and get Rocky to his stall. “Rickey, I’m going to go tie Bell up.” Since Bell is not racing, we have to tie her up instead of her being in a stall like Rocky.

“Rickey come on; mom can’t see us in this barn and the truck just drove up.”

“Okay, coming.

“Hi, mom.”

“Hi, guys; how was your ride?”

“Good.”

“Can me and Rickey play some carnival games?”

“The race starts at twelve don't be late.”

“Ok.”

We go over to a hotdog stand and get some lunch. We talk about the race. Finally, it's 11:50.

“Rickey, let’s go to the barn to tack Rocky up.”

“Okay.”

When we get to the barn, I hear a shrill shriek from a horse. My head whips around and I run to the auction barn. “Bentley!” I yell. Two men with ropes were on the ground. I could count about ten men holding Bentley captive with their ropes. I go over to Bentley. He settles down and I hug him. Everybody was saying Bentley was a beast, so I acted like he was one too.

“How much for this beast?” A man steps up; he was slender with a big belt and a face that looked like it just survived a tornado.

“I reckon this horse would be about $700 because no one can go near him.” My heart basically leaped out my chest.

“Can I buy this beast before the auction?”

“Well. The man left him here and said I could do whatever I wanted to do with him as long as the money got back to him, so why not.”

“Hold the beast; I will get him after the race.”

“Deal,” the man says. We shook hands and I ran off. Rickey was already on Rocky.

“Rickey?”

“Winnie I can’t talk.” “Good luck.”

He rides to the starting line, his big hat covering his face. I go to the bleachers. “Winnie, where’s Rickey,” dad asks. I don't answer. I hear the announcer's voice.

“On your mark, get set, go!”

Rickey's hat flies off. Mom gasps and dad gives me a stern look. I turn my head back to the race just in time to see Rickey let the reins go slack. Rocky leaps forward. I imagine being the other racers, all they would see is Rocky's tail and a cloud of dust. Rickey turns Rocky over to the rail they turned so much that Rickey could have touched the ground. They cross the finish line. I run down the bleachers, leap over the fence, and go to Rocky. They won! A man walks up and hands Rickey his prize. Rickey hands it to me. When he was being congratulated, I went to the auction barn and handed the man with the big belt the money and he handed me the lead rope.

Piper Kunde, Grade 5 Meadowbrook Elementary, Golden Valley Teaching Artist: Stephen Peters