Tag: horse-reigning

He Rode Tall

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Excerpt

Sun-bleached and weather-worn grave markers of varying
dimensions dotted the plot. What the graves all shared, with the
exception of one, was that the prairie had overtaken them. The
old man’s grave, the only fresh grave, was already starting to be
blanketed by grass. The first thing Joel noticed was that there
wasn’t a marker for the old man’s plot so he made a mental note
that he would eventually get around to doing something about
that. But there was no rush. It was too late for any acts of kindness.
Much too late.
Even though Joel felt the way he did about the old man, essentially
being emotionally abandoned at such an early age, he still
found himself dropping to a knee at the side of the tiny grave on the
knoll in the middle of nowhere and saying a quiet prayer. It was at
this point, still full of bitterness and hatred for everything that the
old man had put his mother and himself through, that Joel recognized
that your dad is always your dad. No matter what.
Walking over to the horse, picking up the long thick leather
reins from the ground, and mounting the orange gelding, Joel
slowly turned the horse and headed back to the ranch yard. Drifting
along the ridges of the hills, the horse started to perk up as
they got closer to home and even broke into a bit of a trot which
Joel mastered by desperately hanging onto the saddle horn. Joel
thought that they probably would have broken into a canter if he
hadn’t reined the gelding back to a fast walk. Joel had always been
a good horseman as a boy, but that was a lot of years ago. He wasn’t
about to test his equestrian competency the first morning
back on the ranch. As they climbed the final hill and started to
drift down the coulee into the ranch yard, Joel was surprised to
smell the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and the scent of bacon
from the forlorn-looking little ranch house below.
Looking down from the top of the knoll into the coulee below,
Joel could clearly see everything that was the homestead. The
buildings stood pretty much the way they did when he left that…

https://draft2digital.com/book/3562862

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0980897955

He Rode Tall

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excerpt

Joel was not a spiritual person. Never had been. For almost
thirty years as a maritime engineer, Joel had spent most if not all
of his time in his head. His brain had earned him some degree of
respect in his profession and helped him to survive disaster after
disaster on the bumpy journey of life. But at this very moment,
sitting astride the orange horse on the crest of a hill, admiring the
grazing mares and foals, Joel felt for a moment the power of his
heart. It had been a long time since he had this kind of feeling,
but Joel knew that he was feeling rather than thinking. He could
feel his heart coming to life.
With the exception of the sounds of nature, the silence was
so powerful that the only way he could think to describe it was
that it was very huge. Or so it seemed to Joel who had spent
most of his mornings for the last thirty-two years nursing a
hangover in one urban ghetto or another as horns blasted and
fumes rose from the heart of the city outside his hotel room or
apartment. Compared to the city this was looking like a pretty
good way to start a day. Sure, it didn’t have a Starbucks. But
you know what. This was better. And with this realization Joel
made amental note to himself that yes, it surely was a wonderful
day to be alive.
It must have been an hour since he had let himself through the
swinging ranch gate that led to the pasture of abundance. Abundant
with the kind of grass that only a true son of the prairie
could appreciate. Sure, it had been a lot of years since his childhood
days on the ranch, but he still knew the value of good pasture
when he saw it. And this pasture was very good, having a
thick mat of hearty wild grasses standing a foot high in some
places. This was the kind of grass that cattlemen yearned for, and
if they got excited about the grass, you can only imagine the kind
of impact it had on the livestock.
Beyond the natural abundance of the grass, this pasture was
special for another reason. Unlike the farmland on the plains
below, these hills had never been cultivated to grow a single crop
of grain. He was riding on the real thing.

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https://www.amazon.com/dp/0980897955

He Rode Tall

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excerpt

Tanya also decided that the palomino could use a quick bath, and
together, they led their horses to the wash rack.
Even though they were stabled at the far end of the show
grounds, it was amazing how many people were finding their way
back there to say hi, offer their words of encouragement, and take
a look at the horses. Joel never was a social animal, but even he
found himself saying “howdy” to the folks who wandered by. He
recognized a few faces from the Great Falls Show and he suspected
that they were part of the Montana contingent who had
been cheering on both him and Tanya.
After bathing their horses, the consensus was to get a bite to
eat. They had a light salad and a bowl of soup at a restaurant,
then it was time to return to the horses and start thinking about
saddling up for the evenings performance. It was already seven as
they passed the arena on their way back to the stables and could
hear the national anthem and the roar of the crowd heralding the
start of this evenings’ performance. This ought to be something,
Joel thought to himself as he nervously strolled along between
Tanya and Cindy.
As they saddled up, Joel thought the horses could tell that this
was something special. This time, the warm-up pen was much
less crowded. With only twenty horses and riders making it in to
the finals, there was lots of room to move around, but Joel didn’t
want to allow his nerves to get the better of him and start to work
his horse too hard. What was different this time was that there
were probably more people around the warm-up ring, watching
the horses and riders prepare, than there were at many horse
shows.
This evening they would be riding in the reverse order that
they finished in the preliminaries the previous day. For Joel,
being in fifteenth position meant that he would be the fifth rider
in the ring, and for Tanya, in second, she would be the nineteenth
rider. With all of the horses separated by only a few points
going into the final go-round, it really was anyone’s show. After
all, they were competing in front of a crowd of thousands…

https://draft2digital.com/book/3562862

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0980897955

He Rode Tall

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excerpt

“That may be true, but we have to be at the top of our game.
We won’t have a chance to do much training in Oklahoma City,
you know.”
“Tell you what, Joel. If you think this horse of yours needs
training by the time you get to Oklahoma City, then you are riding
the wrong horse, cowboy. This horse has every move in it
right now that it will ever need in Oklahoma City. The only question
is about your ability to draw those moves out of the
horse—how to ask for the right maneuver in the right way at the
right time. And none of that has anything to do with constant
rundowns and long slides. It is all about being in tune with your
horse. You have never seen me mad, but if you don’t take that
horse out to the pasture for a nice gentle ride, you are going to see
one very upset horsewoman. Do you understand me, Joel
Hooper?”
It was Tanya saying his full name that really got his attention.
He knew she was speaking from the heart. But he was the mature
adult here, and up until a few months ago, she was a struggling
teenage horse trainer, but he knew she was right.
“Tanya, you just amaze me. So much wisdom and so much
power in one young woman. I can’t wait to see what happens to
you when you grow up. Whatever it is, I know that it is going to
be something very special. And I am going to be able to say that I
knew Tanya way back when she was a nineteen-year-old just out
of high school.”
“Get out of here, Joel Hooper. Go ride your horse.”
And he did. Not only did he take it easy for the rest of the week
but also for the rest of the month as they prepared for the show.
Sure, there were days when he would run the patterns on the big
buckskin gelding, but even then he was only going at three-quarter
speed and saving the extra for when it was really needed.
For Tanya, it was pretty much the same: she would work hard
some days, but most days Tanya would lope a few circles with her
horse, work on something specific, like a spin or a lead change,
and then head straight for the hills.

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https://www.amazon.com/dp/0980897955

He Rode Tall

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excerpt

…couldn’t even see where they had got through the fence. It must
have taken some interesting gymnastics for these four-legged wonders
to maneuver through a three-wire fence without ripping it
down, but, sure enough, here they were. Joel even found himself
wondering if they could have jumped the fence. He had seen the
deer do it. But as Joel compared the anatomy of a cow to that of a
deer, he chuckled at himself in a way that made his horse wonder
what was happening. To the horse, this expression of human
emotion was something new about Joel.
The sorrel gelding waited to see what the rider who sat on him
would decide to do.
Sizing up the situation, Joel realized that if he didn’t get these
three heifers back to where they belong, some of their friends
would want to join them for the party. And judging from how
lean the pickings were on the other side of the fence and the look
of the visiting heifers, Joel didn’t think it would be long before
they would devour the grass in his pasture, which is supposed to
feed his horses. And if the advance party of three were joined by
their friends, it wouldn’t take long before Joel had a serious problem—
two- or three-hundred head of cattle would make mincemeat
out of this pasture.
After contemplating the possibilities, Joel decided that his best
bet would be to open the gate that was about 300 yards down the
fence line and try to push the three heifers back to their own pasture.
He was hoping that the gate was far enough from the herd
so that the herd wouldn’t all rush through the opening into his
pasture. This was going to be very tricky.
Slowly, he moved the sorrel gelding down the fence line to the
gate. The gelding was carefully watching the cows and they certainly
weren’t spooking him. Reaching the gate, Joel undid the
rope, and stepping back, he set the fence wire and poles down to
the side. Sliding back into the saddle, Joel pointed the gelding
back to the three heifers that were grazing, unconcerned with the
approaching rider and horse, or anticipating their eviction.
Gently, cautiously, and slowly, Joel and the sorrel gelding pushed
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0980897955

He Rode Tall

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Excerpt

was down to his last seventy-five dollars. And if they were going to
be able to buy gas to get back home, he had to be very careful with
the little bit of cash that he did have.
Joel and Tanya had just finished tidying up their supplies
adjacent to the stalls and were giving the horses one last look
when an attractive, middle-aged woman dressed in fancy western
wear approached them. From her looks, Joel guessed that
she had never cleaned a stall in her life. He only wished that he
could say the same for himself—in the last few months he had
done enough stall cleaning to last a lifetime. Helping Harry
change the bedding in the stalls was more of a workout than
what city people would get at high-priced health clubs. “That’s
it,” Joel thought. With a chuckle he told himself that if the
horse business didn’t work out he could always convert the
Circle H into a health and fitness center. One thing was certain,
Joel was in the best physical condition that he had been in
for years.
“You the owner?” the lady asked.
“I am,” Joel replied.
“Mary Lou Schwartz. Is the palomino for sale?”
Joel looked at Tanya and, as he saw the word “No” forming on
her lips, stepped up and replied, “Well now, I guess everything is
really for sale at the right price isn’t it?”
The shock showed on Tanya’s face. As she started to protest,
Joel continued, “What did you have in mind?”
“I was looking for a young reining horse that could eventually
join our broodmare band. This little girl might fit the bill. She’s
nicely put together and seems real sweet and gentle. How does
5,000 dollars sound?”
“Too low” is what Joel thought, but he bit his tongue, knowing
that the offer was just a starting point. He asked, “Would you like
to see her papers?”
“Sure. You are probably going to tell me that she is some kind
of a great-great granddaughter of a Doc Bar or something like
that, aren’t you?”

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0980897955