Posted on April 10, 2009 - by Hubba

Big Dan; A Trio

The mornings were getting awfuly cool.  Me and Crackerjack didn’t stand under the trees until afternoon anymore.

When I was given the chance to.  Joe had been riding me a lot lately, and riding me a little hard at that.  Everytime we went anywhere, Joe took the “big circle.”  I was getting to know the country around here, and I had seen it all at a fast trot or a lope.  The last week, I had been the “night horse” every night.  My days started early and ended late, and I had become very familiar with the horse trailer.

I had been let out the night before and spent the day out in the horse pasture, enjoying the break when here came Joe on the four wheeler.  While Gall and Cessna “quit the country,” and Pepper circled the dam, I headed for the corral at a lazy jog.

After a while, the other horses exploded into the corral and Joe tailed them up, red faced and swearing on the back of the four wheeler.  He shut the gate behind them and disappeared behind the corral, reappearing at the barn.

Joe entered the corral carrying a different bridle than the one he used on me, and managed to catch Cessna after several tries.  He led Cessna to the barn and shut the door behind them.  A while later he came back with a halter.  This time he was after Pepper.

I had never seen him catch Pepper before, and it was clear that they had developed an unfriendly routine.  Pepper walked to the far corner of the corral and stuck his nose in it.  As Joe approached Pepper’s ears went farther back until they were laying flat on his neck when Joe approached, and his tail was swishing back and forth.

Joe, who swore all the away across the corral, began whipping Pepper with the halter rope until he turned around.  Swearing seemed to be an important part of catching the horses around here.  Crackerjack said it was “true love.”

I was eating hay out of the bale feeder when Joe appeared again with my bridle.  I backed out of the feeder and turned around without protest.  Joe caught me without so much as saying “damn.”  He looked a little disappointed.

Pepper was in one corner of the barn eating grain out of a bucket.  He was wearing a kid’s saddle.  And Cessna was tied up in the other corner, trying to reach the bucket.  He was carrying Joe’s saddle, complete with a tie-down.

Joe took the grain bucket away from Pepper and put it outside.  Then he looped my reins over the saddlerack and threw another kid’s saddle on my back.  I had never had a kid’s saddle on before.  It was light, and the stirrups felt funny way up high like that.  It only had a front cinch.

Joe got me saddled and tried to lead Pepper and Cessna out of the barn at the same time.  When Pepper kicked at Cessna and Cessna tried to jump out of the barn door, Joe backed them up, left Pepper and led Cessna out.

Eventually he got all three of us out the door and led us to the yard.  There were Will and Joey sitting on the back of the pickup, and Beth standing by the gate.  Will looked up at me.  He was obviously excited.

Joe handed Beth the reins to Cessna and Pepper, and turned around with me.

“Come here Will,” he said and Will jumped off the back of the pickup.