Horseflies (5 page)

Mr. Albergini frowned. “I honestly hadn’t thought of that.”

Judy continued. “Next, you need to start carrying the manure a lot farther away from the barn and spreading it over the ground so that the sunlight can kill the bacteria and organisms in it. Flies breed in piles of manure, and flies are a major irritant to both horses and riders.”

Mr. Albergini chuckled. “We have fifty acres. I’m sure we could find another place to put it.”

“Third, you need to scour this entire barn with insecticide and set up a program to spray for flies and ticks. You’ll need to spray your horses, too, and be extra protective of those that are really sensitive, like Spirit. I can tell you what special products to buy and how to use them.”

“That would be wonderful, Dr. Barker.”

Carole watched as Judy scribbled more notes on her pad. Though a few of Mr. Albergini’s horses had suffered because of his ignorance, she felt sorry for him. She could see how bad he felt.

Suddenly Mrs. Albergini appeared in the doorway. She carried a tray with three tall glasses of lemonade and a plate of cookies.

“I know you said you didn’t want any lemonade, but you’ve been out here so long I know you must be hungry and thirsty.” She blinked at Judy and Carole. “Please don’t tell me any of our horses are seriously ill!”

“No, Mrs. Albergini, not at all,” Judy reassured her quickly. “Most of your horses are in good shape. Your barn just has some basic sanitation problems that need to be taken care of.”

“Really?” Mrs. Albergini calmed down as she handed her husband the tray and gave Judy and Carole their lemonades. “So it’s something we can fix?”

“Oh, yes,” replied Judy. “But I recommend that you hire a
professional trainer for a while, at least until you learn more about basic horse care.”

“Why, what a good idea!” Mrs. Albergini beamed as she passed around the plate of cookies.

Carole took the glass and cookies Mrs. Albergini offered. The cold lemonade tasted good after working in the hot, fly-infested barn, and the chocolate chip cookie was still warm and gooey from the oven.

“Okay, Mr. and Mrs. Albergini,” Judy said as she handed them several sheets of notepaper. “Here are my written instructions. Carole and I will take our blood samples back to the lab and get you the results of our tests in about a week. Beyond that, I have just one other request.”

“What’s that?” Mr. Albergini’s eyebrows raised in alarm.

Judy grinned. “Would you enclose your chocolate chip cookie recipe when you pay my bill? These are the best cookies I’ve ever tasted!”

T
HE
A
LBERGINIS WAVED
as Judy and Carole pulled away from Shady Lane Farm. Carole waved back, then turned around in her seat and faced Judy. “They were nice, weren’t they?”

Judy smiled. “Yes, very nice. They just need to work on their barnkeeping a little better.”

“Do you think they’ll do all the things you recommended?” Carole was worried that the Alberginis might get confused by everything Judy had told them.

“I’m going to keep an eye on them. I gave them the names
of two good trainers and a barn helper. After a month or so with them, they should be on the right track.” Judy grinned at Carole as the truck bounced along the bumpy driveway. “So, how did you like your first morning as a vet’s assistant this summer?”

Carole thought of the sweet mare Lady Jane and cute little Joker and pretty Spirit. “It was terrific,” she replied softly. Though her head spun from all the procedures they had done during the day, she felt wonderful when she realized that, in a small way, she had helped some sick horses feel better.

“I haven’t worn you to a frazzle, have I?” Judy asked.

“Oh, no,” Carole assured her.
This is going to be a great summer
, she thought as she watched another white cloud that looked like Pegasus.
I’m learning all about horseflies and all about flying horses—and what could possibly be better than that?

“B
YE
!” C
AROLE CALLED
as Judy pulled away from Pine Hollow. “See you next Tuesday!”

Judy waved back, and Carole turned and walked toward the stable.
How wonderful
, she thought as the afternoon sun beamed down on her shoulders.
The whole day spent learning about horses!

She looked at Pine Hollow nestled among the trees. How different it was from the Alberginis’ stable. Max took such good care of everything. He filled the ditches and low places around the stable with gravel so that rainwater wouldn’t collect in them. Red O’Malley trucked the manure to a field far away from the horses. Then, after it had baked in the sun for a whole year, he bagged it and gave it to the neighboring gardeners for compost. Inside the building itself, brand-new
electric bug zappers killed any flies and mosquitoes that survived the monthly insecticide spraying program. Carol smiled to herself as she walked into the cool dimness of the stable. You probably couldn’t find a single fly within five miles of Pine Hollow!

“Well, hi, Carole.” Mrs. Reg looked up from her desk as Carole passed by. “I didn’t expect to see you here this early. I thought you were out on rounds with Judy.”

“I was,” replied Carole. “We did one whole barn full of horses, and then Judy had to take the blood samples back to the lab.”

Mrs. Reg smiled. “Did you learn a lot?”

“Tons,” said Carole. “Now I’ve got to go give Starlight a good workout. I promised him I’d ride him every day and help him get rid of his winter kinks.”

Mrs. Reg looked at her quizzically. “Winter kinks? This time of the year?”

“Oh, yes,” Carole assured her. “Starlight’s got spring fever. He hasn’t been ridden nearly enough.”

“Well, you sound as if you know what’s best.” Mrs. Reg returned her attention to the paperwork on her desk.

Carole thought about Starlight as she walked toward his stall. It did seem odd that he was still acting as if he had spring fever, particularly since she’d ridden him a lot during the school year. Even so, she hadn’t ridden him every day, and Starlight was an athletic, energetic horse.
He just needs a lot more exercise
, she told herself,
and this is his way of telling
me.

“Hey, boy,” she called softly when she reached his stall.

Starlight stood with his rear end to the door. He turned and flicked one ear at Carole when she greeted him, but he did not answer her with his usual friendly nicker.

“What’s the matter, Starlight?” Carole asked. “You look like you’re mad at me.”

Starlight blinked once, then turned to face Carole. He allowed her to rub his nose, but he did not seem particularly glad to see her.

“Are you jealous because I spent my morning with other horses?” Carole asked, brushing Starlight’s bangs away from his eyes.

The big gelding snorted. Carole rubbed his nose some more, then clipped a lead line to his halter and led him out of his stall. “I’ll groom you fast,” she said as she snapped him to some cross-ties. “Then we can get out of the stable fast and have a nice ride.”

In a few minutes she had Starlight tacked up and ready to go. He followed her willingly out of the stable, but then, as she was about to lead him into the outdoor ring, he stopped and balked, just as he had before the previous day’s trail ride.

“Starlight!” Carole cried in surprise. “Not this again. What is the matter with you?”

Starlight stood with his ears back, staring at the cavalletti exercise Max had set up. Cavalletti were long, skinny poles that were put across a horse’s path to help even out their strides. The goal was to ride through the cavalletti without the horse’s hooves touching any of them along the way.

“Those are just cavalletti in the ring. You’ve trotted over them a million times before!” Carole gave Starlight a pat on the neck. He shook his head but allowed her to lead him into the ring.

Carole closed the gate behind them. An intermediate riding class had just ended, so she and Starlight had the ring to themselves. “Maybe some cavalletti work would be a good idea,” she said, leading Starlight over to one side of the ring. “It might help you get more into the swing of things.”

She pulled down the stirrup irons, gathered the reins, and climbed into the saddle. When she put her weight fully on his back, Starlight gave a little jump and tried to move sideways.

“Whoa, boy,” she said quietly, turning him in a wide circle and letting him get used to her being on his back. He snorted again and jerked his head up and down.

Carole urged him into a walk, ignoring the cavalletti for the moment. Starlight fidgeted with his bit, then finally settled down. “Good boy,” Carole praised him as they rounded a turn. “That’s the Starlight I know and love.”

They did two circles of the ring at a walk, then a trot.

“Let’s try walking the cavalletti now,” Carole said, reining Starlight over to where the course began. Starlight looked at the half dozen poles stretched out on the ground before him and came to a dead stop.

“Come on, Starlight,” Carole insisted, pressing with her legs and sitting forward in the saddle. Again Starlight
chewed his bit, but he began to move forward over the cavalletti.

Thunk!
Starlight’s far rear hoof hit one cavalletti, then one of his front hooves hit another. Carole almost dropped her reins in shock. Starlight had done this exercise perfectly for years, and now he was acting like a green colt!

She rode to the top of the course again and urged Starlight into a trot. This time he didn’t chomp his bit, but he swished his tail as if he were mad. He began a stiff, up-and-down trot and thunked three out of the six cavalletti.

“Whoa.” Carole reined him up in the center of the ring. She unbuckled her helmet and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She frowned, wondering why Starlight was having so much difficulty with such an easy exercise. Then she remembered how much better he had behaved the day before after his run in the meadow.

“I know what we’ll do,” she said, dismounting and leading him toward the gate. “We’ll go for a good canter in the back paddock and see if that doesn’t work off some of your excess energy.” Starlight nickered, seeming to agree.

Carole walked him to the back paddock and remounted. Starlight seemed more like his old cooperative self this time. He moved easily from a walk to a trot when Carole asked him; then, when she nudged him behind his girth for a canter, he took off like a rocket.

“You like that, huh?” Carole asked as Starlight made a flying lead change. For the first time that afternoon, she relaxed. She felt as if she had her old horse back. She sat a
little more forward in the saddle and pressed Starlight into a gallop. Suddenly the fence posts began to fly by. Starlight’s hooves thundered on the ground just like the horses in Western movies. His mane tickled her nose as she crouched over his shoulders, and again she wondered what it must have been like when Pegasus flew. Did Bellerophon have to hang on tight? Or were Pegasus’ wings so strong and smooth that all Bellerophon had to do was relax and watch the earth passing far below him?

They were going so fast, Carole thought that if Starlight had magically sprouted wings like Pegasus, it would have taken one swooping stroke for them to be high in the air, soaring like hawks over Pine Hollow and the hills beyond.

They galloped around the huge paddock until Carole was out of breath and Starlight had white flecks of sweat on his withers. She slowed him to a canter, then to a relaxed trot.

“Did that feel good, boy?” Carole patted his damp neck. She knew she would have to ride him at a walk forever to cool him down, but it had been worth it. She had known all along that lots of galloping was the cure for what ailed Starlight. It worked every time.

When Starlight had finally cooled off, Carole led him out of the paddock and back to the riding ring. “Let’s try those cavalletti again, Starlight,” she said. “I know you can do better than the last time.”

Just as before, they circled the ring at a trot without going over the cavalletti; then Carole guided Starlight over the first pole. Again she heard the now familiar
thunk
of his rear hoof
hitting the pole.
Okay
, she thought,
maybe he’s just off stride a little
. Then
thunk, thunk, thunk
. Starlight hit every cavalletti with his rear hoof. She reined him in again. “Oh, Starlight!” she cried. “You’re getting worse instead of better!”

Starlight chewed the bit and tossed his head. Then he began to dance in a little circle. Finally Carole gave up. She rode him to the gate and briskly dismounted. “Starlight, I don’t know what’s going on with you today, but I think we both need to take a time-out!” she said as she led the horse back toward the stable. Starlight snorted in return but followed Carole obediently.

“How did it go?” Mrs. Reg asked, looking up from her desk as Carole and Starlight clomped by.

“Oh, okay,” said Carole, not bothering to hide the frustration in her voice. “Getting Starlight to behave is just going to take more riding than I thought.”

“Well, you know your horse better than anyone,” Mrs. Reg said.

C
AROLE BUCKLED
S
TARLIGHT TO
the cross-ties and removed his saddle and bridle. He fidgeted the whole time, shifting his weight from side to side.