New beginnings

Chapter 2

Two hours later we pulled into the rodeo grounds. I unloaded the horses while Jackie signed in. After she came back we put them in their stalls. We took off their shipping gear, and Jackie brushed them down while I fed and watered them. After we took care of the horses we went and took a nap for a little bit. Because it was now 7:30 in the morning and Jackie didn't have her first event until noon.

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I woke up and got dressed. I put on a pair of jeans a t-shirt, and a belt. I put on the hat that Jackie gave me. I went to the horses' stalls where I saw Jackie. "Hey, can you hand me my turquoise leg wraps?" She asked me. I grabbed her leg wraps and handed them to her. She finished tacking up her horse, Tequila. She also tacked up Whiskey. Tequila and Whiskey are twins, and they were both paint geldings. We walked to the warm-up pen, I got on Tequila. I warmed him up while she warmed up Whiskey. After we were done warming them up we went to the arena. They were fixing to start tie-down roping.

After a little bit, it was Jackie's turn, and she took Whiskey to go do tie-down. She backed into the box and made sure that she was ready. She called it, and as the calf came out Whiskey lurched towards it. She quickly roped it and got off. She flipped the calf, picked up three of the legs, and tied them. She made her way back to her horse, and the calf was untied. "That was Jackie Wells, with a time of 4.56." She rode out of the ring. "Hey, I can go get him untacked and cooled off while you wait for the next event," I said as she approached me. "Okay," she added. She unmounted and grabbed Tequila's reins. I took Whiskey to the stalls and untacked him. I cooled him off and then made my way back to the ring.

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It is now Sunday and we are heading back home. The rodeo was amazing, and Jackie got first in Breakaway roping, second in tie-down, and her and her partner got fourth in team roping. She's been teaching me how to rope, and I'm not that bad.

When we got home, I helped her unload the horses and all of the tack. We took our bags inside and started a load of laundry.

We went out to the barn. "Hey Mikayla, I actually have been training a mare to run barrels, but I'm not the best at riding barrels myself so I thought that you may want to work with her." I looked at her, clearly shocked. "Yeah, that would be great. I would love to." I said as I had a huge smile on my face. She smiled and showed me to the horses' stall. She showed me the horse's tack, and she told me everything that I needed to know. I took Cactus, the mare, out. I brushed her off and put a hackamore on her. I led her to our practice arena and got on her bareback. First I was seeing how she would react bareback before I tried it with a saddle. I know that sounds a little backward, but it is the best way to bond with a horse.

I rode her around the arena a few times, and then I got ready to run the barrel pattern. I went left first and spun around it flawlessly. I went to the second barrel and almost hit it. We went around the third one perfectly. I kicked it home. For doing it bareback she did amazing.

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It has been a little bit over five weeks since I got here. Today is my first day of school. And it is also a Friday, which makes no sense, but it will do.

I woke up and put on a t-shirt and some jeans. I put on my boots and did my hair. I grabbed my phone and made my way downstairs. I ran to the barn and fed the horses. I Watered them and then ran back inside. I grabbed the truck keys. "Jackie let's go." I grabbed my backpack and went out to the truck. I hopped in the driver's seat. Jackie came out and got in the passenger seat. I hooked up my phone to the aux and started my playlist. Fancy by Reba McEntire came on. Me and Jackie sang along to the music until we got to school. I parked in the parking lot, and we got out of the truck. I opened the tailgate, and we sat in the bed for a few minutes before the bell rang. We split and I made my way towards my first hour, Algebra II. I walked into the classroom and everyone stared at me. "Class this is Mikayla Andrews. She is new to Volborg." After she introduced me I sat down.

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I walked into the cafeteria and grabbed a tray. I sat down by Jackie. We talked for the whole lunchtime, and then we split up for our classes.

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After school, Jackie and I went home. We are leaving shortly to go to a rodeo. Me and Cactus are going for the barrels, and we have been doing really well.

We got home, and I ran inside. I grabbed my stuff and put it in the living quarters. I grab the horses since we already had all of the tack and feed loaded. We loaded up the horses and got in the truck. Now we are on the way to Billings, MT.

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We pulled into the rodeo grounds, and I parked. We got out, and Jackie went and signed in. I grabbed the three horses and took them to the stalls. Jackie came and found me, and we put the horses in their assigned stalls. We took off their shipping boots and fed them. 

After we took care of the horses we walked around the rodeo grounds. "Hey there is Jessie and Preston," Said Jackie, as she pointed to two of her friends. We walked over to them. Jessie lived on a ranch in Volborg, which was 40 miles from Miles City, his family raised cattle. And Preston lived outside of Miles City like us. "Hey, guys," Jackie said as we approached them. "Hey, we were just talking about bull riding." Said Jessie. Jessie and Preston rode bulls. We walked around the grounds until we got hungry. "Let me go ask my brother if he wants to go." Said Jessie. We all nodded, and he ran off to go talk to his brother. 

He came back with a guy that looked my age, who I'm assuming is his brother. He had black hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a t-shirt, jeans and he had a Cactus Ropes Texas hat on. He was also really cute. "Hey I'm Cole," He introduced. "I'm Mikayla," I introduced myself. He nodded. We all loaded up in my Ford. 

I hopped in the drivers seat, and we went to a diner. I parked the truck, and stopped the engine. I got out of the truck as everyone else did. We walked inside and sat down at a table. We started talking, and then ordered our food.