This first story is one that a lot of humans can relate to. It's about Dad's brother, Dave.
Dave is one of my favorite humans. He's not able to make it out to the Rafter G very often because he lives so far away. He's fun, and he's a pretty good rider. Especially when you consider he only gets to ride once a year or so. But when Dave was a kid, his mind would wander...
The story has been passed down from generation to generation about when Dave was just a little feller.
Grandpap taught all the grandkids how to act around horses... what to do, and what not to do.
One of the things not to do was walk directly behind the horses while they were eating. Now all the grandkids liked to go with Grandpap to do the chores, and Dave was no exception. He was about 10 years old and he knew the rules. Grandpap was putting the grain out for the horses, and Dave... well his mind began to wander. He was just kinda wandering around, wearing his bright red coveralls. And he wandered behind a big black quarterhorse. He got a little too close, and WHAMMO! A hind foot in the chest sent him flying! He was lucky that he didn't get hurt bad... pay attention, son!
But that didn't keep Dave from liking horses. And it wasn't his only wreck...
Here's Dave a couple of years later, riding a little black pony named Tiger-Lilly. There were a handful of kids riding around the lake, and... well... Dave's mind was wandering again. He was trotting along not paying attention, and Tiger-Lilly sidesteps a little patch of weeds. Poor Dave. One minute he's riding a horse, the next minute he's face down in a cow patty!
He got better as time went by.
Picture Dave in Junior High. He's got a handful of friends out to ride horses. And he's riding
Tiger-Lilly again. Maybe he's showing off a little.
He and the boys are having a blast, riding around the lake. They are cantering along when one of Dave's reins breaks. Tiger-Lilly felt this and bolted for the barn! Dave was paying attention this time, and stayed on her.
Unfortunately, he had no control with just one rein. As they neared the barn, they were about to go under a wire above a gate. Dave thought it would look pretty cool to his buddies if he dove off the horse. He dove off Tiger-Lilly, rolled, and came up to his feet... look at me, I'm a stunt man! But it's hard to look cool when you roll through a couple of fresh cow patties! (It makes for a good picture, though)
It's not only kids who take spills. Let me tell you about Mark. Mark grew up riding horses. He makes his living working cattle, so he rides nearly every day. And he's a pretty good rider. But if you're not paying attention, you can bite the dust.
One day, Mark was weighing a pen of cattle. To weigh cattle, you drive them out of their pen, down the alley, though the corrals, around the barn, and onto the scales. Mark was riding steady old Tinsel.
Tinsel is a calm old horse, and chances are slim that you'll ever get into a wreck on him. Well, Mark drove the calves out of the pen, down the alley, through the corrals, and around the barn. I should probably mention here that it had rained a few days before, and there was a big puddle of water and mud at the gate as you go around the barn.
Mark is cantering along watching the calves. He knows you need to hurry up and shut the gate when they get to the corral on the scales.
Well, he forgot that Tinsel didn't particularly like mud... Tinsel put on the brakes when they got to the big puddle, and Mark went face first into the mud puddle! He was covered from head to toe in mud. Everyone but Mark got a big kick out of that! He can laugh about it now, though.
Not all the spills end up in laughter.
Let me tell you about Gene. Gene's a pretty good cowboy who has ridden horses since he could walk.
Gene can ride, son!
Anyhow, one day Gene and the boys went to gather a pasture. There were a few calves who were pretty silly, and Gene took after one to rope it and bring it back. Gene was riding a young horse and, Mister, this horse could fly.
They were right on the calf, and Gene made a pretty catch with his lariat. Just as the loop settled around the calf's neck, the calf went down. Nobody knows for sure if the calf stepped in a hole, or what. The only thing anybody saw was the horse running right over the top of this calf, tripping, and turning a somersault right over the top of Gene. It was a nasty wreck, let me tell you.
The rest of the cowboys raced over to find Gene unconscious, with a broken leg. The horse was okay, he'd gotten up and run off a ways. So here they are, a mile away from the pickup, and fifteen miles from town.
The cowboys got the pickup, and loaded Gene into the bed very carefully. Then got him to the hospital. Gene's okay today, although he still walks with a limp. There wasn't anything he could have done to prevent the wreck. I'm just letting you know that the life of a working cowboy can be dangerous.
I could tell you a lot of other stories about wrecks and spills. Maybe one day I will. But right now it's time for my grain. I enjoy writing stories, but I enjoy my grain more!
STORIES
