Antonia, the Horse Whisperer: The Rosenburg Riding Stables, Volume 1
You know the feeling already I train and train and I’m still not half as good as you You were just born to ride horses Leona jumped out of bed and pointed out the window It’s going to be a super-duper day Not a wisp of a cloud to be seen Riding and swimming are on the menu today And the sun really was shining brightly already sending its warm rays into Antonia’s room Antonia stretched her arms and legs Yes It would be a great day It was summer vacation Finally Six weeks of rid ing swimming and dreaming Get up shouted Leona Antonia leaped out of bed She would be able to spend the whole day with her best friend and Snow White And tomorrow too And the next day Leona was staying here at Antonia’s house in her room for three weeks That’s what both friends had wanted for their summer vacations Antonia suddenly felt butterflies in her stomach The Snow White butterflies Today was Snow White’s big day today she finally got the bandage off At last Antonia and her mare would slowly be able to begin 6
training again But there was another feeling too a slight ache in her tummy and a nervous trembling Was it doubt Oh nonsense Everything will be fine Anto nia told herself We’re going to the lake after riding right Leona was such a tomboy There wasn’t a sport she didn’t try And that’s how she looked slim well-trained short-cropped blonde hair blue eyes and thousands of freckles on her snub nose Swimming and riding were her absolute favorite sports and she was really good at swimming and best at diving Antonia was sure one of Leona’s ancestors must have been a real mermaid 7
Antonia liked to swim too but really for her there were only horses She had been sitting on horses since she was barely able to walk Below in the farmyard Felix and John the two grooms were puttering around already On the Rosen burg stud farm things started early at six o’clock otherwise horse care stable care riding and jumping feeding and stall mucking would never get done The little tractor rumbled over the path Mr Rosenburg used it to distribute feed Antonia’s father was usually the first one out in the morning and as the feed spe cialist he gave each horse its breakfast helping as he lovingly called it shortly after six o’clock Mean while the grooms mucked out the stalls and groomed the horses Antonia and Leona slipped into their clothes Now there was no holding them back Downstairs in the kitchen they heard Karen clattering the silverware Karen Steinmann was the good fairy in the house and 8
ran the big household with Grandma while Antonia’s father her aunt Maria and her grandfather took care of the horses breeding stables and riding lessons Antonia’s mother was no longer alive She had died when Antonia was only three years old Sometimes it made Antonia sad that she could barely remember her When she felt that way she would run to Grandma or Caroline who would tell Antonia about her But this was no time for sadness First to the horses called Antonia And then we’ll pack our breakfast and ride to the lake During vacation she and Leona were always in the barn ac companied by Bellmondo the lively Bernese mountain dog He leaped around their legs ran ahead waited impatiently for the two of them and let them give his head a scratch Antonia took a deep breath of the still fresh summer air Yes here she was at home her room was in the big longhouse exactly over the huge kitchen whose big bay window gave a clear view of the old oak tree In the back part of the longhouse were twelve of the twen ty-five stalls in which cows and pigs had once lived 9
