I Ain't Gonna Give Up

Rodeo time

   Standing next to my trailer I looked around at the hustling crowd around me and watched as everyone pulled their horse this way and that shampooing their fine coats and cleaning their hooves. I chuckle quietly because I did all that last night so my horse could rest as long as possible. All I can do is breath in the smell of horses and smile glad that I was born into this world of horses and rodeos.

  About an hour from my event I start walking my horse around to warm her up. I shiver even though it wasn't cold. Silently cursing the illness that I had gotten from the last rodeo. I already told everyone I was fine so I would just hafta suck it up.

Then comes the thorough brushing, all the while singing a simple song to her my grandpa taught me when I was young.

  "Smoothly and fast ye shall run,

   for the long race has just begun,

   for once as boy and horse we agree,

   who we want the winning team to be,

   for we cross the line as one"

  This song is short but to me it is tradition to sing it over and over while brushing my beauty. I may be off key but it still soothes my horse. I give her just enough water to wet her mouth and a handful of oats before I start saddling her up. As I lift the saddle up onto her back, I notice one of the stirrups is torn. I silently cuss under my breath a forbidden word my mom would kill me if she heard.

  I round the truck to see my little sister Leyla sitting on the truck box tying a bow around my dogs neck.

  "Ya know she don't like that Leyla." I warned her atleast.

  "Trigger likes it just fine, don't ya bud?" As if responding Trigger growled a warning and Leyla's hands shot up as if to say I didn't do it, and with that my dog jumped off the truck sending the unfinished bow away.

  "You got any idea if we got an extra stirrup?" I asked as I rumaged through stuff in the back of the truck.

  "Yeah I KNOW we dont ."

  "And what makes ya so sure?"

  "Cuz I used the last one on my saddle last week when my horse rubbed up against that tree ruining his." Mouth dropped open as anger flooded through my sickly veins.

  "Why didn't you tell anyone?" I all but yell this, I mean this is then state rodeo and I couldn't have any mishaps.

  "I forgot, please don't be mad at me Will." At this I softened, it wouldn't do me any good to be mad at me so I'd just hafta  ride with a broken stirrup.

  I finished putting on all the tack Windshine and swung up and immediately felt dizzy. I counted to ten and opened my eyes to find everything fuzzy.

  "Are you OK Will? I can got find Uncle Charlie."

  "I'm fine Leyla no need to go get anyone." and with that I turned Windshine  around and started her in a walk and the fuzziness disappeared so I headed for the holding area to wait for my turn.

  I'd barely shown up when a man came by and looked at the number on my back and asked me what my name was to make sure I had the right number.

  "Will Quipper sir." was my quick respond and he was off to check the others numbers. It seemed too quick the man was down and was telling us all the rules of our event, steer roping, and then putting us in the order we would rope in. I was first.

  As soon as the steer got put of the gate I pushed Windshine  to go and she easy chased the steer down . I was swinging my lasso big and wide and watched it fall over the steers nose only to be pulled to its neck. With a jerk it pulled me out of the saddle the reins tangled in the rope, the rope caught on my arm, and the rope wrapped around the steers neck. I hit the ground pulled along by the steer, yet still stuck in the reins. In an attempt to help Windshine tries to jump over me to save me since she couldn't stop.

  The reins went up with her and the last thing I remember is a hoof coming towards my face. Then total blackness curtained me from the outside world.