Horse Crazy

The ride

Chapter 1
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"Hey Lucky!" I yelled. "Ready to go for a ride?"

My horse Lucky whinnied in response. It sounded like he was saying, "I'm ready!"

I ran into the paint chipped barn on my farm and walked into the tack room.

"Curry comb, brush, hoof pick, and bucket." I thought to myself.

Lucky had already stepped into his stall when I turned around. "Come groom me!" Lucky appeared to say.

I walked up to his stall and attached his halter to a anchor rope so he doesn't run away when I'm brushing him.

I led Lucky into the aisle of the barn. 4 stalls on each side of the barn held all of my Dads horses.

I turned on some music while I brushed Lucky. I had always done this so every time a song came on, Lucky would bob his head to the music.

After I had all of the brushing done, I went to back to the tack room to get a saddle, reins, saddle pad, and a halter and lead rope for an emergency.

As I walked Lucky out of the barn, his Black and White coat said instantly that he was a Paint.

I had saddled, brushed and gotten Lucky out of the pasture in under 5 minutes, not bad for an intermediate horse rider.

I hopped onto Lucky and rode him at a trot behind my house to a forest of cottonwood trees. I had picked a path through the trees and rode there every Wednesday and Saturday to wear out a trail.

Now there is a clearly visible trail. I always smile when I enter the forest because I always ride alone so no one can bother me.

As Lucky walks further into the forest, we come up to a steep hill. 3 years ago, my mom and I were riding together down this hill when my moms horse, Pepper, lost his grip and did a forward somersault down the hill.

My mom felt Pepper rolling so she jumped off and twisted her ankle. Pepper on the other hand, had got his foot caught in a tree root and broke his leg.

We had to put Pepper down, Pepper was a Red Roan 4 year old gelding that my mom loved from the minute he was born. Pepper had a star on his head that my mom said made him a lucky horse.

After the day of the accident, my mom never rode again, in fear of hurting another horse.

Now I am really careful about going down this hill. I ground tie Lucky at the top of the hill while I walk down the hill checking for roots and branches.

Today there are no branches so I ran back up the hill and got onto Lucky. He slowly went down the hill and we we made it down safely.

We came to a clearing where there was sunlight coming through the trees to create a beautiful place.

I trotted Lucky over behind a cottonwood tree that has three trunks. No one knows about my secret hiding place.

My secret place is in another clearing behind old vines that cover the entrance. I was going to lean on what looked like a wall, but I fell through the vines only to discover my place.

As I walked Lucky through the vines, we could hear the rushing of water as I let Lucky graze on the rich green grass as I layed down and dozed into my horse heaven.