Shared By the Cowboys by Cassie Cole

8

Rebecca

I’d helped my dad tame horses when I was a little girl. Usually it was a slow, time-consuming process. You had to let the animal get to know you over the course of several days. Then you could put a halter on its head, and then a bridle, and then finally a saddle. Only then, when the horse had familiarized itself with each of these objects, could you ride it. Sometimes it took weeks.

But sometimes…

I approached the pen, opened the gate, and slipped inside. The gate shut behind me with a metal click. Wildfire stopped pacing and watched me enter. He wasn’t flaring his nostrils anymore. He was curious about this new person in his space.

That was good.

Cody had left the horse tack and a bag of carrots hanging from the fence. I pulled out a long carrot and held it at my side. Then I began walking around the perimeter of the pen, just like Cody had done. After two rotations the horse started walking too, examining the perimeter fence like he had done before. I made sure to stay in front of him so that I was always in his vision. Horses got spooked if they couldn’t see you.

After a few minutes, I stopped and let Wildfire catch up to me. He slowed down and paused a few feet away. His nostrils twitched as he smelled the air. Slowly, I extended the carrot. The horse froze for three long seconds, then took a tentative bite from the tip.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Sometimes male horses reacted better to women than to men. I’d learned that from my dad, too. There had been plenty of horses on our ranch that he was struggling to break, but which immediately took a liking to me.

I let Wildfire take another bite of carrot, then I stepped toward him. Bite after bite he allowed me to get closer until I could reach out and touch him with my free hand. He flinched when I touched his neck, but then let me continue petting him along the mane.

“You’re a good boy,” I whispered. “Such a good boy. You just needed a woman’s touch.”

Usually this would have been a huge step in one day, and the trainer would end it right there. But I was eager to make progress while the boys were at the store. This might be my only time alone with Wildfire until they went into town again next week.

I grabbed another carrot from the bag. Wildfire followed me over to it. I stroked his head while feeding him. He was completely calm now, like the other horses in the barn.

While he munched on the carrot from my hand, I reached behind me and grabbed the halter. It was a leather harness with two loops connected by horizontal straps. It kind of looked like a fancy dog harness. Wildfire tensed as I brought the new object forward. I didn’t try to put it on him; I merely held it out so he could sniff it and get used to it.

Five minutes went by, feeding the horse and softly talking to him, before I tried to put the halter on.

Wildfire was immediately resistant. He turned his head away, then trotted over to the other side of the pen. I calmly followed him, showed him the halter again, then tried to slide it over his snout. Once again he tossed his head, snorting angrily and side stepping away from me.

I kept at it, following him and calmly offering him another carrot. Three more times he resisted and walked away from me.

But then, on the fourth time, he was too focused on the carrot to care. I slipped the front loop of the halter over his snout, and buckled the other loop around the back of his head, just behind his ears.

He pulled away before I could fully tighten the harness, but it was on him now.

“Good boy!” I said enthusiastically. Horses reacted well to positive reinforcement. “You’re such a good boy with your harness, aren’t you? Yes you are!”

I opened the carrot bag and found another bag of special horse treats, which were shaped like little cookies. I put it on my palm and extended it to Wildfire. He sniffed it and then gobbled it down.

The next step was to get the bridle in his mouth. The best way to do that was to coat it in something sweet, like molasses or honey. After that you could get the horse used to a saddle.

But I was feeling daring. Getting the bridle on Wildfire was a tremendous victory already, but I wanted even better proof of my success when the boys returned. I wanted them to pull up in the driveway and see me riding the horse. I would tip my cap at them like it was no big deal.

Oh, the look on Mason’s face if that happened…

Ideally I would have the bridle in the horse’s mouth and use the reins to control his movements, but I could make do with just the halter strap. I gently guided Wildfire over to the pen fence, then used that as a stepping-stool to climb onto his back.

As soon as I threw a leg over Wildfire, he tossed his head and snorted angrily. He sidestepped a few times, then spun around in a circle like he didn’t know how to get me off his back. I hadn’t ridden bareback in a long time, but it came back to me easily. I squeezed my thighs around his body and dug my heels into his flank.

“Woah, boy,” I said. “Woah now. It’s okay. This is okay.”

He continued spinning in a circle, turning his head around to try to bite me, but I used the halter strap to keep him away. Finally he gave up and began trotting around the perimeter of the pen.

“Oh yeah!” I said. “See? I don’t weigh that much. No big deal. Good boy!”

I let out an excited laugh as we trotted in a circle. Then he slowed to a walk again. He was getting used to me. He wasn’t afraid anymore.

I was over the moon with excitement. I wished Blake would return at that moment and see me, or the other two in the truck. What a sight that would be!

While it lasted, I decided I needed to make sure I had evidence of the accomplishment. Something to show the guys when they returned. So I pulled out my cell phone to take a selfie.

That was my big mistake.

Wildfire was spooked by the motion. An unknown object was suddenly in his peripheral vision, a black rectangle in my hand. He whinnied angrily, then reared up on his back legs.

My cell phone went flying.

I squeezed my thighs to try to hold on, but it was difficult without a saddle. I pulled on the halter strap and tried to lean forward to wrap my arms around Wildfire’s neck.

He did not like that.

The horse stopped rearing up, then bucked sideways into the fence. I heard the sound of wood cracking.

“Woah, Wildfire! Woah!”

He kicked out with his legs, trying to throw me from his back. His hooves smashed through the fence, sending wood fragments in all directions. Then he bucked to the right, and the motion caught me off guard. I flew from his back, hanging in the air for what felt like an eternity. The training my dad gave me kicked in and I tucked my legs, landing in a roll on the ground to protect my body. I rolled twice, coming to a stop against the fence.

Wildfire looked at me with confusion, like he was just as surprised by what happened as I was. Then he turned and saw that the fence post had been smashed, leaving a V-shaped gap in the pen.

“Wildfire,” I said, getting to my feet. “Wait…”

He hopped through the gap and trotted off.

“No!” I shouted. “Come back!”

I sprinted after him, but he quickly realized that there was nothing between him and the open ranch property. He sped up to a gallop, growing further from me with every second.

Suddenly I saw another horse coming in the opposite direction. Blake was the rider, and he stopped his horse to watch Wildfire go shooting by. But he made no effort to chase after him.

“Help!” I shouted. “He got loose!”

He removed his black hat and laughed like it was the funniest thing he’d ever seen.

“Thanks for the help, asshole!” I shouted in passing.

It was pointless to try to run down a horse on foot, but I couldn’t seem to tell my legs to stop. Until I tripped over a rock and fell flat on my face.

“Shit,” I said.

The thump-thump-thump of the horse’s steps faded in the distance, leaving only the sound of Blake’s cruel laughter.