Horse Crazy

Grandpa Bill

Chapter 4
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RING RING RING

My alarm clock buzzed at five thirty. I got out of bed and took a shower, put my clothes on, and ran out to the barn.

My grandpa was standing outside the barn in his scuffed jeans and work shirt and cowboy hat on.

"Ready?" he asked me.

"Ready." I replied.

As we both walked into the barn, Lucky trotted up to the edge of his stall and whinnied.

"Who will I ride?" I asked my grandpa.

"Lucky if you want." Grandpa replied.

I grabbed Luckys halter as I walked by his stall and took him into the aisle while my grandpa got the tack.

After Lucky was saddled, I hopped into the saddle. "What now?" I asked.

"Ride to the arena. Then take Lucky at a trot around in a full circle. After you can canter well in this saddle, we will begin jumping."

"Sounds good to me!" I said. I walked Lucky over to the large arena which had bleachers on the sides for the barrel racing competitions that my dad holds every 3 weeks.

"Trot" my grandpa said.

I urged Lucky into a trot and slipped in the saddle a bit. The further I went, the more I slipped.

"Keep your feet planted in the stirrups!" Grandpa yelled. "Feel his gait, and push your toes into the stirrups."

Feet in stirrups, feet in stirrups, feel his gait. I wanted to look good for grandpa. I had watched on TV the pro trotters, they keep their toes down. Be a pro, be a pro, be a pro.

As came closer to my grandpa, I figured it out, my heels were down, not toes. I quickly corrected myself and Lucky picked up his pace.

I stopped Lucky in front of grandpa and said, "I want to do that again. To improve."

"Ok," grandpa said, "go for it."

This time I will get it right I thought. I did all of the things grandpa told me, and I felt like a pro.

After a while, I wanted to canter. "Can I canter?" I asked grandpa after my 5th round.

"Give it a try. But don't fall off." Grandpa told me.

I urged Lucky into a trot then slowly worked my way up to a canter. As I was cantering, Lucky miss stepped and I lunged forward. I tried to grab onto the saddle horn but I remembered, no horn. I fell onto Luckys neck and he stopped.

"Are you ok?" Grandpa asked me.

"Fine" I said back. I pulled Lucky back onto the course we took and cantered him again. It was already noon and my grandpa said, "Ok. You have proven worthy. Tomorrow, we jump."