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Clipclop

The Story of No Horse Left Behind

AuthorHouse LLC

There was definitely no joy in Clipclop's heart this morning. Clipclop didn't feel the warmth of the sun or even notice the birds singing their pleasant melodies as he plodded along toward school.

On a normal day Clipclop might have hummed along with the birds as the welcoming rays of the sun enveloped him. But today wasn't a normal day. Today was Testing Day at school. Clipclop's tummy hurt.

Before school had become part of his life, Clipclop supposed that he had good horse sense. At least his parents behaved like they thought he was smart. But he wasn't feeling very smart now. In fact Clipclop was feeling extremely stupid and woefully worthless as he trudged along the road passing the vacant Glockenspiel Music Store and Miss Uma Foote's empty dance studio. Clipclop was on his way to school, but he sure didn't want to go.

It wasn't the school building that troubled Clipclop. The building had been rebuilt with all the latest features. Most of the teachers were new, too. And when they had time to be, they seemed friendly enough. They brought with them new ideas and new ways of teaching.

The school Clipclop attended used to be fun. The instructors taught many different specialties and there were many exciting things to learn every day. But, Clipclop discovered that not everybody thought so much variety was a good thing.

Education researchers had been testing horses from schools across the country. Many of the schools had horses that ran very, very fast. At the schools in Louisville, Baltimore, and Elmont the students were extremely fast. Omaha and Seattle had a slew of fast horses, too. When Clipclop's school saw the results from the Standardized RacingTest they found their horses were running far behind. The research affirmed, either the students were not working hard enough or their teachers were not teaching well enough. Something had to be done and it had to be done right away.

A new law was soon passed. From now on all schools would teach their horses to be fast, they would all be given a Standardized Racing Test, and there could be no horse left behind! The schools no longer would squander time teaching horses to jump, pull heavy loads, help police officers, work with cattle, or pack on mountain trails. Those classes were not tested so those classes were not needed. All teachers would concentrate on teaching their horses how to be fast.

Soon, everything was done at Clipclop's school to improve speed. No expense was too great to give the improved school the very best. The new teachers were racers. The principal and vice-principal were swift. Even the secretaries and the secretariats hustled about doing their work at top speed.

But, alas, Clipclop could not run fast. Clipclop was slow-footed. All too often he would be teased by his much faster classmates, "Clipclop, Clipclop, you can't tell if he's running or stopped!" They would sing in a very sarcastic way.

Of course, Clipclop wasn't the only one at school having problems with the racing tests. His best friends, the twins Clyde and Dale, were not very fast either, but they were so big and strong that the other horses didn't make fun of them.

The new teachers tried their best to help the slower horses increase their speed. They thought Clipclop needed to focus more on running and stop letting his mind wander during races. He seemed to get distracted so easily. They decided Clyde and Dale were entirely too heavy to run fast. Research showed that seaweed had fewer calories than hay. So, while the other horses ate alfalfa and oat meals, Clyde and Dale chewed on nori and sea biscuits.

Today, the school was giving the big test. Yes, this very day at school, they would administer the Standardized Racing Test! Today, more than any other day was the day Clipclop wished he could somehow just skip away to hide.

By the time Clipclop rounded the school building and made his way to the track it was almost time for his race to start. It took a little longer getting his group ready. Poor Clyde had problems squeezing into the starting gate. Clipclop presumed it was on account of Clyde eating too much nori and sea biscuits.

Some of the horses Clipclop was to race against were already chomping at the bit in a hurry to get started. Dart's muscles were flexed ready for a quick getaway. He could really zoom around the track. Next to Dart was Jet. He was so fast that it seemed he could nearly fly. Bucky was jumping up and down eager to get moving. Clipclop knew he would have to watch out for her. She was a ruffian and might try to bite him. Chico was small, but man could he run! You could never tell about Breezy. She was a talker. Some days she ran like the wind. Sometimes she would talk like she was faster than she really was. Clipclop would start farthest away from the inside rail.

Clipclop had no more than gotten into the starting gate when he heard the starting bell. The gates were opened, the horses were off, and the race was on! Well ... most of the horses were off. Not all of them. Clyde was still in the starting gate. He was wedged tight and he couldn't get out.

Zooooom, zoom, Dart dashed to the front. Swoosh, swoosh flew Jet. Bucky and Chico were right on his hooves. Breezy stumbled slightly as she left the gate but quickly blew past Clipclop and was gaining ground on the others. Clip clop, clip clop, clip clop, raced Clipclop as he puffed down the track far behind the others.

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Excerpted from Clipclop by Timothy G. Davis, Lowell Hildebrandt. Copyright © 2013 Timothy G. Davis. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse LLC.
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