Five years ago, I was a trail ride leader (越野领队) at a holiday farm in Victoria. My favorite horse was a warmblood called Holly. Aged seven, she was sweet-natured and well-trained; the only ________ with Holly was her lively imagination. I was often surprised by Holly’s reaction to be ________ by rabbits, the wind or even shadows (影子)—sometimes her own shadow!

One day, as we headed back from a ride on the beach, Holly and I were ________ the way over the hilly area. When we were following a trail through the trees, Holly suddenly ________ down and began to move her ears quickly. With care, she started to sniff (嗅) around and gave all the signals that she believed the “horse-eating monsters” were ________. This made me a little worried.

At the bottom of the hill as we rounded a corner, Holly stopped and stood ________. I followed her stare to the path (小路) ahead. There, sunning itself in the middle, was a brown snake! This time it was my ________ to get scared—I was on a ________ horse, leading a group of eight inexperienced pre-teen riders!

Unexpectedly, Holly just ________ herself firmly (稳稳地), ears forward. With the snake in her ________, she looked so calm!

I’ve heard that horses have a better sense of ________ than dogs, but I hadn’t seen it shown before that moment. ________, while we waited in reality for just a second or two—but for what felt like a century—the snake awoke and glided off into the bush (灌木丛). Holly then ________, guiding the horses with more care.

It was at that moment that I realized this: Holly had been so watchful just because she was ________ for the safety of us all. Following in the serious footsteps of the lead horse, not one of the other horses showed any fear, not a single horse went wrong and ________ of us got hurt.