Chapter 7 – First Light
At 0530 hours the bugle was sounded across the fort, I awoke with a start and looked around drearily in that first second haze when you wake up, wondering where I was and what was going on. As the memories of the past few days came flooding back I stood up and opened a shutter slightly, it was dawn and still slightly dark, though the sun could be seen on the horizon. I rubbed my eyes and sighed, this was going to take some getting used to, at home I was up at 7am to do all the horses.
I washed and got dressed, then made my bed and tidied everything before making sure my clothing was immaculate as the second bugle call was sounded to get the soldiers out for the reveille or role call. I left my quarters and came out into the dim light, looking around all the soldiers were filing into lines in front of the First Lieutenant. The Colonel spotted me and motioned me to come over, I came to stand next to him and he explained the routine to me as the soldiers were inspected one by one. He then told me to stay where I was as he went and re-inspected all soldiers once the Lieutenant had finished.
"Very good soldiers." The Colonel nodded and allowed the trumpeter to sound the bugle for breakfast, we all walked in silence to the mess hall to the right of the gate to be served what was apparently food here.
After breakfast the bugle sounded once more for the 'Fatigue Call' which was where duties for the morning were handed out, that was followed by the 'Sick Call' to sort out any soldiers off duty due to illness. Once everyone was accounted for and all had stood to attention the soldiers started their daily duties, first was to muck out all horses then feed and water them, I started towards Jesse's stall and the Colonel stopped me.
"Soldiers are already on their way to do Sampson, seeing as he and Jesse share the same stall you won't need to do him anymore."
I fidgeted slightly, feeling at a loss as to what I could contribute.
The Colonel continued, sensing my unease. "Could you go and see if you can calm down your mustang? Supposedly he's been wreaking havoc all morning for the sentries."
I looked up and smiled before briskly walking off to him, throwing a 'thank you sir' over my shoulder as I went.
Bailey was in a large open stall with the rest of the horses from the roundup, in one half of the large L shaped stable block at the back of the fort on the left hand side, the other half was full of already trained horses, the soldiers were standing outside with pitchforks waiting for him to calm down so they could go in, as one advanced to pin Bailey to a corner I stopped him.
"Let me."
I went into the stall and as I shut the latch I leant over and grabbed a handful of oats from the morning feed bucket outside. I walked past the roundup horses and they parted in confusion. Bailey stood at the end of the stalls and snorted, his eyes wild and his head high in the air, he spun around a few times and stomped, his head swinging this way and that. He was slightly sweaty around his eyes and neck and his tail swished nervously. He grunted as I approached him and pawed at the ground in anxiety.
"Be careful miss he'll kick yah!" One of the soldiers shouted, which only made Bailey worse. He backed up and hit the wall of the stall and reared in fright, lashing out in terror. Someone grabbed the soldier and told him to shut up as Bailey came down on the floor with an almighty thump.
His legs were shaking as he watched me with his brown eye; I stopped and looked into his eyes, trying to convey that I wouldn't hurt him. He picked his head up and nickered slightly, wanting to trust me, I held out my hand to him and he sniffed it tentatively. He snuffled up the oats and licked his lips, his eyes brightening up before he nudged me gently, I brushed my hand against the soft part of his muzzle and he snorted and pulled away before placing his muzzle in my hand. I stroked his face gently and watched him as he calmed down, blowing through his nostrils as he un-tensed.
The soldiers stood and stared and I motioned them to come in, they hesitated before coming and shutting themselves in with us. I stood with Bailey as he fretted over the advancing soldiers, they mucked out one half of the stall out onto the grounds outside the stalls, then I moved the horses round into the fresh bedding so they could do the other half. I kept my hand on Bailey's shoulder and let the men work, Bailey slowly relaxed slightly and watched the soldiers with a worried interest.
The Colonel came along as they were finishing laying down the fresh bedding; he stood and raised an eyebrow as he saw my hand on Bailey and him resting on me.
As I left the stall all the soldiers stood and watched with amazement. Bailey followed me and nudged me in the back, I turned around and stroked him between the eyes before I shut the latch and he whickered gently as he watched me leave.
"Only people with something special could make a wild horse act like a puppy Miss Chase." The Colonel said with undisguised awe, he had his hands behind his back and was still watching Bailey whilst speaking to me.
"Thank you sir, I don't know what you could call it, I just do what comes naturally."
He smiled and turned to me. "It's time to see how natural you are, are you ready to start breaking?"
I was a little taken aback, but I steeled myself and nodded.
"Let's go and get your horse first and we will saddle him up in military tack, once you get used to it you can ride one of the army horses, then we'll give you something a little harder."
I followed to Colonel to Sampson and Jesse's stall and we brought him out and hitched him to the tie post, the soldiers came and brought out a couple of saddles to try on Jesse, the first was too loose but the second fitted perfectly.
I mounted and sat down on the hard cold seat of the military saddle, the cantle and pommel were stiff and the seat was nothing like the padded seat of a western saddle. It had tapaderos on that felt like they were made out of metal and the stirrups were heavy, I'd never ridden in anything like it, there was a hole in the tree of the saddle and I could see the saddle cloth through it, obviously to make the saddle lighter and freer moving.
I walked Jesse to the corral and was let in, I pushed my legs back, feeling them drift into a western position and sat up straight in the saddle. I asked Jesse on with a click and he went into a slow jog, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to stay seated and was quite like the Western style of riding on all accounts, just with an English posture. I made a kiss sound and Jesse went smoothly into a lope, though not as comfortable as usual due to him also adjusting to such a saddle. I pushed him on and did figures of 8's and lead changes before pushing him into a gallop, then a rein back and we slid to edge of the arena before wheeling round and doing the same the other way. I pulled him up and walked him back to the gate of the corral where I dismounted, the Colonel whistled and out trotted Sampson fully tacked up.
"Off you go then." He grinned slightly as he saw my face.
A crowd had appeared now as the early morning routines had finished, meaning it was around 9:30am. As soon as they saw me mount Sampson everyone went silent, I guessed this must be a big thing to be allowed to ride the Colonel's horse.
I took him into the arena and the power underneath me was incredible, he had long confident strides and his huge neck and box head rose up in front of me like a steam train, this was nothing like Jesse. I asked him on and he calmly went into a steady jog, then I asked for a trot and the difference was instant, big bouncy strides and elevated paces. I kissed and he went into a huge pronounced lope with large strides that covered the arena quickly, then onto a canter and I had to set my legs to stop from bouncing as he moved. I got him to halt and rein back and do lead changes, then pressed for a gallop. The extension and speed in such a confined space was intense and I couldn't help but smile. As I steadied him up and halted to go over to the gate the Colonel asked.
"Are you ready to try a bronco?"
Excited, I nodded and went to walk over to the gate. The Colonel raised his hand.
"No need, bring Sampson into the chute."
Confused I took Sampson over to the chute and was shut in, memories of many rodeos flooded my mind and I wondered what was going on.
The Colonel counted down then motioned for the chute to be opened, nothing happened, I looked over at the Colonel and he winked, I tightened my grip on Sampson and he whistled a low whistle.
The reins were snatched from my hand and I threw myself back in the saddle as he exploded from the chute into a full on bronc that a rodeo horse would be proud of, he span round fly bucking again and again, twisting this way and that. I pushed my feet out in the stirrups and lifted one arm into the air behind me to balance and allowed my body to go with his movements, he leapt this way and that, doing sudden stops and rearing in the air before leaping into a movement much like the Spanish would do on their war horses. I stuck fast and let Sampson throw me about, he stopped dead and threw his head into the air but I was so stuck to my saddle that I barely came forwards so he didn't hit me. After about 1 minute the Colonel uttered another whistle and Sampson leapt forwards before bucking with all his might, he came forward onto his front legs and did a handstand with his hind legs in the air, I leant right back so my head was touching his rump and pushed down in my stirrups until we were vertical and I was practically standing up in my stirrups. We seemed to hang in the air for a moment before I felt him drop, I grabbed a tuft of his hogged mane and let his neck pull me back into the correct position and the Colonel whistled again. I braced myself but Sampson stopped dead, panting, his flanks heaving and covered in sweat, he stood as if nothing had happened.
I sat up and brushed the hair from my face and patted Sampson's neck. "Good boy."
The soldiers clapped one by one and I looked up to see the Colonel staring intently at me, he clicked and Sampson pulled the reins from my hand and came trotting over to him. He patted the horse's broad neck roughly and looked back to me.
"Sampson is trained to throw riders on command, if we were ever ambushed and pulled from our horses, any Indian who gets on him will be immediately thrown from the saddle and Sampson will come back to me, not many riders can sit to such a horse." I nodded and he took his glove off, he raised his hand to me and I shook it firmly.
"Welcome aboard." He said with a smile and let me out of the gate.
