Being a beautiful show horse was a lot of fun.  

She got to ride in a trailer going to horse 

shows in different places.

Before she went to a horse show she was 

pampered.   She would have a bath, her mane 

and tail combed out and of course she would 

be clipped on her face and body to remove any 

unwanted whiskers and hair.   Her

hooves had the best shoes and she was 

groomed to perfection.

All those things made Melody feel like a star.  

She was the important one in the barn.

But one year she didn't get to go to the shows.  

Oh, her family still loved her and took care of 

her, but she was treated just like a regular 

horse.   No more baths, no more rides in the 

trailer to the show, no more clapping audience 

as she pranced into the ring.

Melody didn't understand, why was she just 

one of the horses now?

Melody wanted some attention.   She started to 

get in trouble.   She kicked a board off the 

fence and got into the yard loose.   They caught 

her and fixed the fence! 

When they didn't latch her stall door right 

away, she figured out a way to slide the door 

open and slip into the alleyway of the barn to 

eat grain.   But she was caught and the latch 

was closed!

She even tried going into the riding arena 

where she use to practice.   The gate was 

unlatched and she pushed it open, walked in 

and closed the gate.   She thought that might 

give her family a big hint.  

They came in and had her practice, but she 

didn't get to go to a show or get pampered!

Melody started to wonder, if I'm not a show 

horse anymore, am I still a star?   Will anyone 

think I'm special?

She was feeling sad wondering what would 

happen.   Bella noticed that Melody was acting 

different.   She just didn't seem happy.

Bella asked her what was wrong.   Melody said 

she was worried.   She had always been an 

important show horse.   Now that she wasn't a 

show horse anymore, was she still important?

Bella told her she understood how she felt.  

Not that long ago she had been having 

friendship problems with Cisco and had been 

really worried too.   She said "Melody, of course 

you are important.   We are all very proud of 

you and love that you are a show horse.   But 

you are good at lots of things, and being a 

show horse isn't the only reason we are proud 

of you".

Remember when you learned to be a barrel 

racer two summers ago.