"Then start doing things right." he told me, still moving within the herd of cattle.
Today, Jake was teaching me how to cut calves. I was so far doing a decent job, but Jake always expected better from me. I leaned forward and urged Ace into a trot to keep up with Jake's tall Quarter Horse. My bay gelding, Ace being a mustang often found it hard to keep up with the mare. As Jake sifted through the young cattle, I watched each calf, trying to figure out which one would be the easiest to cut from the rather large herd of them.
"Jake what about this cute little black one?" I asked my friend, who has just now stopped to give me a look of annoyance.
"it doesn't matter which one just pick one." Jake told me.
I rolled my eyes and directed ace towards the little black cow. Ace being such a smart and reliable cow horse, knew what I wanted from him and soon had the calf away from the rest of the herd. As the calf skipped back and forth trying to get past Ace, I kept my balance in the saddle as Ace sprinted back and forth; keeping the calf away from the rest of the herd.
When Jake yelled 'OK', I stopped Ace and let the calf run; bawling back to its buddies. I walked up to Jake and stopped Ace in front of Witch, Jake's night black mare with the attitude of a drowned cat.
"did I do ok?" I asked.
He just nodded and sent Witch in the direction of my father, who was currently checking thorn bushes for calves.
I rode along behind Jake, just thinking about the weekend to come. Saturday was my best friend Jen's birthday and I had bought her a necklace with a little locket holding a picture of her horse, Silly.
"Jake said you did ok out there today sweetheart." my dad told me as I rode up beside him.
Once we got back to the house, I dismounted Ace and led him to the hitching post, where I unsaddled him and brushed him down before releasing him into the pasture with the rest of the River Bend horses.
I then followed Jake into the house, where I was met with the sweet familiar scent of apple pie. I went to the sink and washed off before sitting down at the kitchen table beside Jake.
Then, my step-mother Bryanna walked in, carrying my 2 year old brother; Cody. she smiled and kissed my forehead before helping gram with the pie, still holding Cody on her waist.
"Bryanna do you want me to take Cody?" I asked, getting up from the table.
She nodded and passed the toddler to me. He hugged his little arms around my neck as I carried him back to the table.
"honey would you answer the phone?" my Gram asked as the phone rang.
I got up and picked the phone up from its receiver, putting it to my ear and saying 'hello.'
"Sam!" it was my best friend Jen.
"hey Jen." I smiled.
"you'll never guess what happened!" she yelled into my ear.
"what?" I asked.
"Silly is in foal!" she screeched.
"really?!" I yelled, jumping up and down. everyone in the kitchen stared.
"yeah! dad bred her with Sundown about 2 weeks ago and she's now officially in foal! I cant wait Sam I'm so excited!" Jen bounced.
"I'm so happy for you Jen! how long can you still ride her for?" I asked, my voice getting calmer.
"about 8 months, then dad is going to let me ride Golden Rose."she stated.
"wow. are you excited? Is this Silly's first foal?" I asked. I switched Cody to my other hip as I put the phone to my other ear.
"actually Silly has had 2 foals. once about 3 years ago right before you came back from San Francisco and once about 6 years ago."
"oh. so this shouldn't be a huge worry like it was for Sunny then." I stated.
"nope. and Silly actually does really well with births." Jen said.
"that's good. Well Jen, I have to go because I'm being tempted with apple pie. I'll see you at school tomorrow." I said, and we both said bye before hanging up.
I sat back down at the table just as dad came into the kitchen from showering upstairs. he reached over and took Cody from my arms, spinning him around and kissing his head before placing him in his high chair.
Dad sat at the table next to Bryanna and smiled at me as gram placed slices of pie in front of each of us, including Cody.
"So Sam, you gonna go with Jake out to that rodeo on Sunday while I'm off to market with cattle?" my father asked as I took a bite of my pie.
"can I bring Jen?" I asked.
"that's up to Jake." he said, pointing his fork at Jake.
I looked up at Jake expectantly. he just nodded slowly and continued to eat.
After dessert, Jake and dad stood up, going outside.
I helped with dishes and went outside also, bringing Cody with me. i walked alongside Jake and dad as they talked about the market and cattle. Most of it occurred to me but I didn't really listen anyways. I just talked with Cody, who was pretty damn smart for a 2 year old.
"sissy, can I ride Ace?" my baby brother asked.
"sure baby." I smiled, walking towards the barn.
Inside the barn, I set Cody on a bale of hay while I went out to the pasture to catch Ace. I walked out to the field and clipped the lead rope to the little mustang's orange halter, taking him into the barn and cross-tying him.
After I saddled my horse, I untied him and put Cody on his back, making sure he held on to the saddle horn before I led him around the yard.
Cody laughed and smiled as I trotted Ace across the bridge and down to the river, where I let Ace stand in the shallows before going back into the yard and stopping him. I told Cody to scoot forward and he did so before I vaulted up and sat behind my brother in the saddle, urging Ace to go forward towards Aspen creek behind our ranch.
As we trotted up the grassy hills, Cody smiled and laughed as i turned Ace around and sent him into a lope for home, making Cody even more excited.
As we slid to a stop in the ranch yard, Bryanna stood there, giving me a stern look.
"I was careful." I stated, getting off and swooping Cody up into my arms and handing him to Bryanna so I could put Ace away.
After bedding down Ace for the night, I went outside to bid Jake goodbye.
"If there's not too many of us in the car, we'll come pick you up in the morning for school." Jake stated, mounting his big black mare.
"ok. see ya." I said, waving as he trotted away towards Three Ponies Ranch.
I went back inside to get ready for bed.