Keep your horse away from bad luck! by Sara Agard, age eight

Once upon a time in the mountains there was a ranch. There were seven horses there and the people who owned the horses were Zoey, Clare, Sara, Mala, Haley, Matthew and Travis. Sara had a horse named Scarlet. Zoey had a horse named Pepper. Clare had a horse named Chili. Mala's horse was named Saga. Haley had a horse named Emily. Matthew had a horse named Rex. Travis had a horse named Thunder.

There was one problem: the cat! The cat was lazy. All it did was sleep. One day mice came out of Pepper's stall. The dog told the cat to go fetch the mice. She said, "Sorry, not interested. Gotta take my cat nap."

The next day a car appeared at the gate. There was a new girl coming. Her name was Chloe. She had a horse named Selana. All the horses became disturbed when Salana came trotting up. Chloe hated Sara because Sara's horse was prettier. Chloe pretended like she didn't care. The next day Chloe put her nail polish in the horse nail polish. Sara used that nail polish and Scarlet's nails turned pink, but Sara didn't care.

When Chloe used the nail polish, it turned green. Salana went up to Scarlet's stall and said, "You think you're a better horse than I; well you're not!" Scarlet said, "In fact, I am the best horse around here." Salana said, "I'm leaving. Excuse me. It's my hay time."

All the girls went for a horse ride. They saw mice running around. Everybody screamed! The dog barked and woke up the cat. The cat said, "Is that all dogs do is bark and wake up cats?" The dog answered, "Is that all cats do is nap?'

After the long trail ride the girls rode their horses into the pasture. Travis was there. He was their leader, showing them how to do their jumps for tomorrow. Scarlet jumped first. Travis said to Sara, "You did excellent. You and Scarlet worked together as a team." Then Chloe and Salana had their turn. Travis said "Stop!" He saw her jump and miss, breaking the spikey pole. Chloe stopped. Salana neighed in pain. Sara came over and noticed Salana was bleeding. They called the vet. Salana waited in her stall. The vet said she would be okay.

During that time the mice kept running everywhere. Scarlet broke out of her stall. She was terrified of the mice. Chloe was the only one in the barn, Sara came in and said, "Look what you did. You broke her stall door." Chloe said, "No I didn't." Sara asked, "Are you sure?" Sara decided to help Chloe with Salana, and they became best friends.