“Sarah, I asked you to come because we need your help and advice. I want to start a riding class for 12- to 15-year-old girls.”
“Fine with me. You mentioned that a while ago. Why the turnaround?”
“Jane Pinski. I told you I found her crying. It´s really gotten to me. I want to teach riding, that´s what I like to do – what I´m good at. But if I do this, I want the class to help these girls deal with the bullying and all the hassle they face in school from the boys. I´ve been thinking about it, we´ve been talking about it here and haven´t gotten far. We thought you could help.”
The day had been hot. Now, a warm evening breeze entered the windows, freshening the air. They sat at the dining table after one of Mary´s suppers, wearing shorts and tee-shirts or anything cool. Sarah wore a halter top and shorts.
“You don´t fool around with the easy stuff, Mary. You never have since I´ve known you.” Sarah closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“Actually, there are two problems. One is the aggression of the boys. The other is the petty tyranny the girls practice on each other. These are only possible because none of them has the self-confidence to deal with themselves or others from strength.”
“Okay. We have to build confidence, strength. How?”
“I understand why you´ve had trouble with this. It´s not just that it´s a difficult problem, it´s that you haven´t had to face it yourselves.
“You could fool me,” Anne said. “I thought I had.”
Everyone agreed.
“Yes, but you are all exceptional, especially you women. Your parents took the time to give you self-confidence, independence of thought and the courage to act on your reasoned belief. That´s one reason you´re able to sustain your unconventional life-style.”
“What do you mean, Sarah?” Mary asked.
“Look, it doesn´t take much brains, once you´ve been in this house and with you all, to know that you live together, sleep together, probably don´t wear clothes much. Don´t forget, this isn´t my first visit. Yes, you are a serious study group, as you say, but that really serves as window dressing for the rest of it. The business you´ve started is gravy... Now, I´m glad to see this. It´s what I was looking for long ago and never found. You don´t think your idea is new, do you?”
Saul said, “I did at first, but I know better now. How come you understand so much of this?”
“Saul, when I got out of college in the 60´s, I joined a commune, one of those idealistic group-living arrangements where everyone slept together, wore funky clothes and smoked pot. I met my husband there; we were members for five years before we left and got married. When he had a heart attack at 45, I took our savings and insurance and bought the stables.
Anne got up, began clearing dishes from the table. Saul helped. “Sarah, it´s coffee time. Want to try something new?”
“What do you suggest, Anne?”
“We have a specialty, cappuccino nudo. It´s served and drunk in the nude.”
“Can I have a double?”
When their clothes were dealt with, they took their coffee into the living room, snuggling on the couches and armchairs. Sarah sat on the sofa next to Mary and Will.
“How are we going to do something for these girls, Sarah?” Mary persisted.
“I think you may have found one solution already, Mary. You recall the time you took the Wednesday class for me?”
“Yes. I made the better riders help the others get as good as they were.”
“I call that mentoring. You got them to put aside any petty dislikes and help one another. I think that´s one technique you can use.”
“Mary, how about competition?” Alex suggested.
“They´re already competing with each other too much, Alex.”
“No. I mean, can you make competition in Western Pleasure Riding a goal that brings them together?”
“Oh... Yes, I guess I could, but shows are all events for individuals.”
Sarah said, “Mary, here´s a scenario. You get each girl to specialize in some aspect of competition, then mentor the rest. They can all compete as individuals, if they want, but you get the show promoters to let you stage them as a group demonstration where they have to be a working team to excel.”
“Sort of like the Denver Belles?”
“What´s that?”
“About fifty girls in uniform on horseback carrying flags. They do fancy riding routines at rodeos. Frankly, I find them boring as hell.”
“I´ll bet they are, even though that kind of riding is not easy... No, I was thinking more of something based on the Western Pleasure Riding events themselves. Perhaps a team of five or six riders executing one of the more difficult events in synchrony. Wow them with skill, precision, teamwork and total control of the animals.”
“Hey, I like that. You know, Will. After all us competitors have done our best, I bring out six little girls who knock your socks off doing the same things as a team.”
Anne said, “How will you knocking the audience´s socks off help the girls, Mary?”
“Good question, Anne,” Heather responded. “To my mind, they´d have to learn enough discipline to master the skills, they´d have to learn to work as a group – to trust one another.”
“Fine. But how do you keep the boys away?” Sigrid asked. “You had a guy who grabbed you, so you got your boyfriends to protect you. Anne hid out in her study group, Mary had the ranch as a refuge, and I became a virgin. Some of that worked, some didn´t work as well as we would have liked – virginity only works up to a point.”
“Thank God that didn´t take,” Tom said. Sigrid grinned and rubbed herself on him.
“Well, you´re right, Sigrid,” Sarah said. “They need a refuge. They usually don´t have one at home. How about we set up a clubroom at the stable? Soft drinks, study tables – I think I´m reaching a bit there.”
“No, Sarah,” Will said. “If they don´t keep their marks up, they´re out. Make them into a study group as well. Use the mentoring system for schoolwork. It works for us.”
Tom said, “Well, we haven´t hit independence of thought and action yet. What about that?”
“Uh...” Mary pondered. “If they enter the competition itself as juniors... Doesn´t that make them act as individuals at least part of the time? You get support from the team – they´re rooting for you, but, I´ll tell you when you´re out there in the ring alone, you´re on your own. It´s up to you every second.”
“Nice catch,” Sarah smiled. “Anne, is there any more of this cappuccino?” She continued, “Mary, you´re not going to solve the whole thing tonight, but you´ve come a long way. I´ll support this all the way. But there´s still one major issue. Money. What do they pay? How much time do we put into it? Is there a profit somewhere, please?”
“There´s another issue, too, Sarah, but let´s deal with money first,” Sigrid said.
“If they are to have a refuge, they need to be able to come to the stables any time,” Mary mused. “They have to have lessons – at least that´s something we can measure and charge for. And they need to be able to practice. Go out after school and work in the ring with a horse. What´s involved in that, Sarah?”
Saul asked, “Wouldn´t they mentor each other at times like that?”
“You mean, they´d use the clubroom, take care of their horses, ride, practice and study without supervision?” Sarah asked. “Risky.”
“Look,” Sigrid said, “you´re right it´s risky, not just for safety´s sake, but there´s the risk that the whole thing will collapse if some girls start the tyrant routine. What I was going to say is that you´ve missed a major issue in terms of supervision. They need someone older there, not just to teach, but to...”
“To mother them, Sigrid,” Tom said.
“Yes. To mother them. Nurture them. Help them grow.”
“Actually, the mother doesn´t need to teach, does she? Much more important as a mother figure,” Anne said.
“Why just a mother?” Will asked. “Why not a father figure?”
Mary said, “You´re right about teaching, Anne, if you mean teaching riding. That only needs to happen once or twice a week. They can mentor each other the rest of the time, as long as there´s someone there, male or female, to keep their egos under control.”
Saul said, “Here´s what we´ve got so far. A club for girls 12 to 15 or so, where they can spend as much spare time as they want. They learn to become expert horsewomen, compete individually as juniors in shows, and do team demonstrations of riding techniques at the shows. We have to provide facilities – a clubroom at the stables – teaching once or twice a week, and supervision every week day. Not going to be cheap. Not to mention either owning or renting a horse.”
“Thanks, Saul,” Mary said. “Sarah, can you cost that out so you make a fair return on it? Then, let´s talk again about whether we can make it happen.”
Sarah nodded agreement. “Let´s talk about it next week.”
Alex spoke up. “You know, I´ll be really glad if we can do something for these girls. But the other side of the coin isn´t being touched. Who´s going to do something useful for the boys?”
“One step at a time, Alex,” Tom said.
Heather said, “Now the main event is pretty much settled, can I ask you a personal question, Sarah?”
“Sure.”
“Do you have a significant other? Or, do you live a life of lonely chastity?” She grinned mischievously.
Sarah laughed. “Not likely, Heather. Yes, I have a man I love a lot. We´ve never married – without kids, there´s not much point to it.”
“Do we know him? I´ve never seen anyone at the stables who looks the part,” Mary asked.
“You know him. He´s Steve Halleck, your Humanities professor last year. He´s not much for horses, any more than I´m deeply into literature. We agreed that it´s enough to get along well in bed and around the house, so we let it go at that. And since you are the group you are, I might as well tell you we each have our own minor attractions on the side, as well. We all know each other, we´re even friends.”
“Sarah,” Anne said. “Next time, bring him with you.”
“I´ll see what he says.”