Horses of Saddlers Ranch

"Come on, you beast!" The man mumbled under his breath, quite unaware that he was being observed by several rather stunned onlookers. "Get over here!" Despite his terse command, as if sensing the man's edginess, the gelding merely laid his ears back and started shaking his head, soon lashing out with his long, delicate legs. High-pitched squeals of outrage soon followed, and at the disturbance, another person's face suddenly peered out of the passenger window of the cab. "You see, Daddy? That kind of behavior is exactly why we can't keep it! I need a reliable horse that I can depend upon at all times." The blonde-haired girl stared at the scene, almost in disdain, and then immediately continued whining again. "Hurry up, Daddy! I want to ride Secret Service again as soon as we get home. That horse is so much better behaved!"

"I can't believe you're boarding Tammy's palomino for a whole month!" Lexie Howard exclaimed to her friend, rather breathlessly. "Neither can I," Coral Johnson laughed in response to her eager enthusiasm. "But my cousin is going away for a while, and unfortunately, she couldn't take Golden Haze with her on holiday." "Unfortunate for who?" Lexie grinned. "I thought you'd be delighted to have such a pretty horse staying at your ranch…" "I am!" Coral playfully shoved her friend on the arm, amused by her good-natured teasing. "But I'm still surprised that my dad said yes when Tammy called to ask."

"How much longer do you think we'll have to wait?" Tilly Carpenter asked rather questioningly, with her fingers crossed and some degree of impatience. She had never been any good at waiting around for something to happen! But this was one thing that no one was able to speed up; it would simply happen when Brownie was ready, and not before… no matter what Tilly did in the poor attempt to hurry things along. "I'm not sure," Coral Johnson shrugged in answer. "But Dad thinks it will be soon. Maybe one or two more days?" "At least we're on spring break, so it doesn't really matter." Tilly sighed in exasperation. "We're going to be here at Saddlers Ranch as much as we can until then. Right, Lexie?" "Absolutely!" Lexie Howard nodded in avid agreement. "And afterwards too, don't forget." "Of course," Tilly seemed almost affronted by the suggestion that she might not have remembered. "How could I forget! Brownie's standing right in front of us, and she's grown so much that it looks like she really did swallow another horse!" "Mares always have protruding bellies when they're in foal." Coral explained, chuckling slightly. "Yes, I know. But not that much, surely?" Tilly stuttered. "She's huge!"