Driving Team by Bonnie Bryant Page B

with Red than we did with poor Veronica.”
    By the time Stevie got back to the indoor ring, Red had the rest of the harness laid out. “Hi, Stevie,” he called. “Are you sure you want to get into this now? It’s pretty late in the afternoon.”
    “I have to, Red. Time’s running out, and Veronica just can’t be bothered with this right now.”
    “No kidding.” Red’s voice was tinged with sarcasm. “And when can Veronica be bothered with anything?”
    “I don’t know,” replied Stevie. “But not now. She’s got some problems at home.”
    “Yeah, right.” Red gave a disbelieving snort. “How far did you two get the other day?”
    “Not too far,” Stevie admitted, remembering all the kicking and biting between Belle and Danny. “As equestriennes, it wasn’t our finest hour.”
    “Then let’s start from scratch and get these horsesaccustomed to the harness. We’ll fit Belle first, since you’re used to working with her; then we’ll fit Danny. I’ll show you how all these little pieces of leather work together.”
    Stevie grinned. “Thanks, Red.”
    Explaining as he went along, Red began to show Stevie how driving tack was different from riding tack. There was a breech strap that stopped the wagon when the horse stopped, a crupper that kept the back pad from shifting forward on the horse’s withers, and a checkrein that kept the horse’s head in the right position. Though the bridles were similar, driving bridles came with blinders to keep the horse from seeing anything from behind.
    “Why wouldn’t they want the horse to see behind him?” Stevie asked as she carefully fit the blinders close to Belle’s eyes. “It doesn’t seem fair.”
    “Because if a horse doesn’t know what he’s pulling, he’s okay with it,” explained Red. “But if he looked back and saw a weird-looking thing like a wagon or a buggy right up against his tail, he might get scared and bolt or buck. Then you’d have a real mess on your hands.”
    “I never thought of that before,” said Stevie, giving Belle a pat on the neck. “But I guess it’s for their own good.”
    “Yours, too,” Red said.
    They worked a few more minutes on Belle, gettingthe tack adjusted comfortably under her tail and around her shoulders. Then it was Danny’s turn. Red brought him out slowly. Stevie wondered what he would do when he saw Belle in such a funny-looking harness, but he stood quietly when Red led him to the center of the ring and Stevie began to put the same contraption on him.
    “Okay,” Red said when Danny stood outfitted just like Belle. “Let’s walk them around for a little bit and let them just get used to the way this stuff feels. You take Belle, and I’ll take Danny.”
    “Okay,” said Stevie. They walked the horses around the ring several times. Mostly the horses behaved as if they wore driving tack every day of their lives, although Belle twitched her tail against the crupper.
    “I don’t think they mind this too much at all,” Stevie said, amazed.
    “They’re both doing well,” said Red. “Let’s attach the reins and you can drive them around the ring.”
    He clipped a set of reins to each bridle, then pulled the horses up side by side. “Okay,” he said to Stevie. “Here are your reins. The two in your right hand are Danny’s, the two in your left are Belle’s. See if you can drive them around the ring.” He frowned at her hands. “You brought gloves, didn’t you?”
    Stevie shook her head. “I didn’t know I needed them.”
    “Try to remember them next time, or you’ll get blisters.”
    “Okay.” She took the reins and stepped back from the horses. With butterflies fluttering in her stomach, she looked over at Red. “What do I do now?”
    He laughed. “Just say giddyap and see what happens.”
    “Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath. “Here we go. Giddyap!” She popped the reins gently over both horses’ backs, and all at once they began to move forward. Danny tried to push