"Come on, slow pokes! I'm gonna beat you to the barn!" Rev called out, rushing to the door.
"Slow down, Rev. You're gonna scare the horses if you keep that up." Ace laughed, sliding on his boots.
It was the next day, and the Loonatics were getting ready to try riding. Ben and his friend Charlie showed them how to tack up the horses, and then they tried it themselves. Then they led their horses outside, and mounted.
"We are going to go in the ring for now so you and the horses can get used to each other." Ben explained, mounting on his black horse.
Ace and Thunder followed Ben into the large ring. Lexi and Annie, a dark brown horse she had picked out earlier, followed him. After them came Tech and Lucky, then Slam and the large Clydesdale, Red, then Duck and white horse with dalmatian-like spots whose name was Misty. Last was Rev, Rusty, Cassidy, and Phantom.
Phantom balked at the ring's entrance. Cassidy, who was not expecting this, was flung forward in the saddle. Charlie held Phantom's bridle.
"Sorry, miss. We were hoping Phantom wouldn't be scared with her friends in there. I guess she's just too smart." Charlie apologized.
"That's OK. But, what's bothering her?" Cassidy asked.
"Well, Phantom used to be a show horse, a jumper. But, on one of her competitions, she had a bad accident, and has been too scared to step hoof in a ring ever since."
'Just like me... too scared.' Cassidy thought, remembering the skating career she gave up after the meteor. She leaned forward, scratching Phantom's neck and whispering encouragingly into the horse's ear. "You can do it." Phantom hesitantly walked in. "Good girl." Cassidy patted her. "Don't worry, I know how you feel."
The eight horses walked in a circle around the ring. After a while, they trotted. All of the Loonatics watched Ben as he moved up and down with his mount. It took several tries, but they soon got the hang of it.
Although all the other horses were calm, almost bored, Phantom was tense and nervous. Cassidy did her best to keep herself calm, as she had heard that if you are nervous, your horse will be nervous.
The horses they choose seemed to match them. Thunder was obviously the leader, and Annie seemed to really like Thunder. It was all Rev could do to keep Rusty from running off, while Red contentedly plodded along. Misty gave Duck a hard time, pulling the reins out of the mallard's hands, refusing to go faster, suddenly swerving into the middle of the ring, and many other tricks. While Lucky was confident and easy-going, Phantom was jumpy and nervous.
After a while, they lined up in the center and dismounted. All of them got off easily, except Cassidy, as Phantom was still jumpy and nervous. When she was only half-way off, Phantom side-stepped, and Cassidy's foot slid through the stirrup.
Tech and Lucky were standing beside her. Just as Tech turned around, Cassidy fell backwards. Tech acted on instinct and caught her. He helped her free her foot. Cassidy smiled at him, blushing. "Thanks, Tech."
"You're welcome." He smiled back.
Lexi noticed the looks on both of their faces and nudged Ace. Ace just shrugged and rolled his eyes, not believing what Lexi saw between the two coyotes.