Usually, Mandy Tompkins got out of bed, put on jeans, sneakers, a t-shirt, and lots of jewelry, ate a bowl of Cheerios, brushed her teeth, and was driven to school by her father. That was what happened on one particular morning in April. At school, Mandy sat through four hours of lectures on everything from U S presidents to giant squid, took a Spanish test, and wrote a paper for English.
Finally, school was over and Mandy could go to the barn and ride all afternoon. However, when she arrived, everything was deathly quiet and still, free of young women joking around, riding, and grooming horses. Where was everyone?
They were around the back of the barn, gathered around a stall. The vet was there, too. Sunlight shone on a bay foal with white flecks all over him. The white flecks were denser on the colt�s forehead, forming a star shape. Mandy fell in love with him immediately. Who was he, though? Mandy had never seen him before.
Mandy heard a woman talking to the vet. �His owner left his stall door unlatched, and he got out, and he started eating a bunch of grass,� the woman explained. �You know what rich grass can do to such a little foal. Then it started raining, and he was outside in it, so he�s got a fever, too.�
The vet answered thoughtfully, �He�s got a bad case of founder, and his temperature�s 104 degrees. I don�t know what's left to do.� Then he paused for a moment, not wanting to say what he had to say, �He might not make it through the night.�
Mandy was filled with rage. How could someone do this to the foal? They didn�t deserve
a horse! I am more responsible than whoever did that! I should be the one who owns the horse, not them! The foal wouldn�t have a 104-degree fever and a bad case of founder if I owned him. Who wouldn�t notice that their horse was outside in the rain all day? Why can�t I have a horse when such a flaky person can? That�s not fair�
The next day was Tuesday, and Mandy only rode on Monday and Thursday, so there was no chance for her to find out how the foal was. Her worry formed into a big knot inside her stomach, and she was so filled with anxiety that she couldn�t pay attention to anything the teachers said. After school she went to a movie with her best friend, in hopes that it would take her mind off the foal. But the relief was only temporary. It was like Christmas Eve, but with her stomach crawling with that anxiety that filled her up so much that she couldn�t relax for a moment.
Finally Thursday afternoon came. Mandy found out that the foal was a pureblood Quarter Horse named Stardust. His owner had neglected him, and for some reason given him to Mandy's barn to care for him. Stardust was a little better, but there were little ridges around his tiny pink hooves, and his hair looked as if it could begin to fall out any minute. If his hair fell out, his hoof walls would slip off next, and he would have to be put to sleep.
Mandy had to do something. She opened the stall door, went in, and closed it behind her. She sat down in the bed of shavings, which was wet and soiled because it couldn�t be cleaned with Stardust in it She started stroking Stardust�s beautiful but sweaty coat.
�Don�t worry. You�ll be okay now. I�ll take care of you. I bet all the people here have neglected you. But I won�t." Suddenly, something dawned on Mandy. She hardly knew anything about founder, and had no clue how to care for such a sick horse. She massaging him, hoping to improve the blood flow to his hooves. She massaged him gently in circular motions. She then rubbed him all over with a damp, cool cloth and dried every inch of him off afterwards. Was she imagining, or was Stardust already feeling better? Did his ears really prick up when a bird chirped?
Slowly but steadily, Stardust got better. Mandy fell in love with him even more. When he was healed, his owner decided to sell him. Maybe she learned that she doesn�t deserve a horse, Mandy thought.
After she heard of this, Mandy started a conversation with her Mother.
�No, you can't have a horse until you�re fifteen, and not an unbroken horse even then,�
�But Mom . �Mandy whined.
�Don�t whine. It�s not very mature.� And the conversation was over.
Mandy was heartbroken. She loved Stardust so much. She had cared for him and loved him more than anyone else. He should be her horse.
Then it hit her. If she was the one who cared for him and loved him, wasn�t he her horse in a sense? And she would be fifteen in only two years Stardust would be almost three then, and maybe, if she were lucky, Stardust would be bought by a professional horse trainer who would sell him in a few years.
Maybe she�d be lucky. Maybe she wouldn�t be. She�d just have to cross her fingers and wait.