Every summer, Serena spent two weeks at Green Farm's horseback riding camp. Last year, Serena and her favorite horse Piper finished second in the obstacle course (障碍赛赛道) race.
"I can't wait to ride Piper," Serena told Rose, her coach. Rose smiled and said, "Sorry, but we need to save Piper for our newer 1 this year. She's one of the best-behaved horses. How about you try riding Harley?"
Serena felt 2 and was a little scared (害怕的) at the sight of Harley, the tallest horse, but she stayed hopeful. As she was trying to ride Harley, he went up on his back legs, throwing Serena off. She landed on the hard ground, her eyes filled with tears.
"I'm scared of Harley, and he's too hard to 3 ," Serena told Rose.
"Harley is in a new place with a new person on his back," Rose explained. "I'm sure he's pretty scared, too. But if you trust him, he will trust you."
Serena decided that it was time for a fresh 4 . "I know you're afraid of me. We're still strangers, and it's up to me to make sure that we become friends," she talked to Harley 5 . After a while, Harley calmed (平静) down, and Serena realized that she was also feeling calmer. She then led Harley for a walk around the ring so that he could get used to being with her and following her directions.
Soon, Serena and Harley made progress together as their confidence in each other 6 . By the end of the first week, they had completed the obstacle course together.
On the final day of the camp was the bag race. Serena confidently climbed onto Harley. Harley, 7 the excitement of the day, ran through the course like a madman and easily won. The other horses were just no match for Harley.
Rose handed Serena the winner's trophy with a wink (眨眼). Serena suddenly realized that Rose had wanted her to 8 herself to be a better rider, even though she would have had a nice time with Piper.
Serena gave Rose a hug and then took the trophy, and a carrot, over to Harley.
