Keeker and the Horse Show Show-Off (2 page)

After that, Keeker and Plum jumped at every single lesson. Jane Louise used all kinds of things to build jumps: tires, fence rails, barrels, hay bales—she even used flowerpots.

Sometimes in the evening, Plum jumped in and out of her stall just for fun. Sometimes in the morning, Keeker jumped up and down the stairs, even though it drove her mom nuts.

One day right after Keeker’s riding lesson, something very interesting came in the mail.

It was a green-and-white flyer announcing the 4-H horse show.

Keeker was so excited she had to hop around for a minute. If she went to a horse show, she would get to wear fancy riding clothes. She might even win a blue ribbon to hang on her wall.

Plum thought it was a dumb idea. “Horse shows are for show-offs,” she sniffed.

The horse show was in three weeks, so there was a lot to do. First, Keeker and her mother went over to Keeker’s cousin’s house to borrow riding pants and a riding coat.

Then Jane Louise showed Keeker how to polish her boots and clean her saddle so the leather looked shiny.

“I’m going to look so fancy!” thought Keeker. She was thrilled.

“What a lot of fuss,” grumped Plum. “I’d rather stay home and eat apples.”

In between polishings, Keeker practiced her acceptance speech, for when she would be awarded the blue ribbon.

“I’d like to thank my parents and, especially, my riding teacher, Jane Louise….”

Plum prepared for the horse show by taking a few extra dirt baths. But secretly, when no one was looking, she practiced flaring her nostrils so that she looked wild, the way a real show jumper would.

And sometimes she peeked at her reflection to see if she looked like a champion.

The night before the horse show, Keeker could barely sleep. She tossed and turned and had crazy dreams.

In one dream, she was riding Plum while wearing a long pink dress, and every time they went over a jump, the dress fanned out behind them like a peacock’s tail. (Plum was very light and floaty, almost as though she was flying.)

In another dream, Plum was walking around on her hind legs, talking just like Jane Louise. She even had Jane Louise’s sunglasses on!

Over in the barn, Plum wasn’t getting much sleep either. But it wasn’t because she was nervous; it was because there was a barn owl up in the rafters, hooting away.

“Hoo-hoo-HOO!” called the barn owl, peering down into Plum’s stall. “HOO!”

“Shush!” Plum snorted. She tucked her head under her hay pile, but it didn’t do much good.

The next morning Keeker felt GREAT even though she’d gotten barely any sleep. She took a shower and got dressed and ate breakfast as fast as she could. She was ready!

Plum woke up groggy and grumpy, with hay in her hair. One of her legs was asleep, and she had a knot in her tail.

When Plum realized she had to get on the horse trailer, she was doubly grumpy.

“I’m not getting back on that old rattly clank,” Plum huffed.

It took Keeker, her mother, her father, two of the dogs and a LOT of carrots to make Plum get on the trailer. But finally she was on.

“Carrots make everything better,” thought Plum as she crunched.

And they were on their way.

When they got to the fairgrounds, Keeker’s mom took Keeker and Plum to the barns where Plum would be stabled during the show.

Keeker and Plum had stall number 37. Right next door to them, in stall number 36, was a shiny dapple gray pony.

Sitting outside the stall on a hay bale was a girl dressed in fancy clothes.

“Hi,” said the girl. “My name’s Tifni with an
i.
What’s your name?”

“Ummm, Keeker,” said Keeker. “Keeker with two
e’
s.”

“This is my pony,” said Tifni. “She’s SO new; I just got her last month. Her name is Lulu’s Li’l Windsong.”

Windsong popped her head over the top of the stall door and sniffed delicately. She was very pretty, Keeker had to admit.

“I’ve already won SO many ribbons this year, with my other pony,” said Tifni. “Wanna see?”

She opened the top of her tack trunk and pulled out three ribbons and one shiny silver trophy.

Keeker began to feel a little anxious. She had never won a single ribbon. In fact, all she had in her tack trunk was a sandwich her dad had made her (PB&J on white bread, no crust) and an apple for Plum.

“Well, it’s time to start getting ready, so I guess I’ll see you in the warm-up ring,” said Tifni. “Byyyyyyeee!”

Just then Jane Louise and Keeker’s mom showed up to help Keeker with Plum. They were in a very good mood; they laughed and chatted and seemed very excited.

Keeker was suddenly not in a good mood. She kept sneaking peeks over to Tifni’s stall, and everything Tifni was putting on her pony seemed much fancier and shinier than what they were putting on Plum.

Plum was not in a good mood either. Her leg was still asleep, and her saddle felt pinchy. Plus, she was hungry.

In all the excitement of the morning, no one had remembered to feed her.

“Harrumph,” groused Plum. Her stomach grumbled and rumbled, and no one—not Keeker, not Keeker’s mom, not even Jane Louise—seemed to notice.