Tuff Luck

"Them horses won't feed themselves get in there and do your job." Grandpa Charlie claimed. He was a bitter old man. He took me and my brother Steven in after our parents split. We aren't sure where dad is but my mother works at a business firm in Chicago. When she left we both decided we wanted to stay here with grandpa and the horses. My name is Shannon. I help grandpa run timber lake ranch. "Steven!!" I yelled. He come jogging to the stables where grandpa had me feeding the horses. "Start mucking these stalls. We've gotta get this work done if we wanna finish in time to go find them mustangs." I claimed. "Yes sir but I want to learn to ride. Can you give me some lessons this afternoon?" Steven asked. "Uh. Yea sure. I guess so just get this done so we can find the wild horses." I said. My brother was quite younger than me. Nine years younger to be exact. He was 10 now and an eager boy to get on a horse. We stayed in the stables for another two hours mucking stalls and feeding the horses. Finally we went to tell grandpa we were going to find the mustangs. "Sir? We are going to find the wild herd. We will be back before dark." I said. "Steven, Shannon wait. We have an empty stall, take some ropes with you. Your brother wants to learn to ride and he will need his own horse one day. Pick one out and bring it back but both of your chores will double if your gonna keep it. That's gonna be your pay." Grandpa said. "Oh man! Grandpa thank you! This is awesome!" Steven yelped. Grinning ear to ear he practically ran out of the house to the horses. "Woah, calm down champ you can't go anywhere without me you can't ride your own horse yet. Hop up on the back of Nash here." I said. Nash was grandpas horse. He loves that horse. Nash has been a part of the family for the past 15 years. We finally found the heard after looking for an hour. "There they are" I said. "Cool! Let's go get one!" Steven eagerly said. "Calm down champ it's not that easy. First were gonna have to decide on the right horse." We looked around the herd for a bit then my phone rang. "Hello?" I answered. It was grandpa. "Mr Whitten just stopped by to get his horse. So we have two stables open. Geronimo is old son. He doesn't have many riding days left in him. Get you a horse too but your gonna break both horses your self. Sound like a deal?" He asked. "Of course sir, but what will we do with Geronimo?" I asked. I love that horse. I learnt to ride on him and dad gave him to me before he left. "He's still healthy but to old to be pushed on a ride. We will just use him to ride the Fence and check for holes so our cattle doesn't get out." Grandpa said "oh, okay sir. We have the herd in front of us but only brought one rope so I'm only getting one today." I replied. "I'll call Tommy. He will be waiting to check Stevens horse when you get back." He said right before he hung up. Tommy is our vet. Grandpa and Tommy have been best friends since high school. "Shannon! Look at her! She's beautiful. Can we take her?" He asked "I don't see why not little man" I replied. "I think I'm gonna call he....." he said before I interrupted. "Slow down bud. Don't name her yet until Tommy takes a look and we know if she's healthy or not." We got the horse gathered and headed back to the ranch. We got there about the same time Tommy was pulling up. "Well Steven that was a good choice. She's beautiful." Grandpa said "thanks grandpa" he said under a smile that was bigger than our ranch itself. Tommy was inspecting the horse then stopped. He looked at grandpa with a half grin. "You boys are in luck. No more trips out there to gather horses. This little lady is gonna be a momma. She's as healthy as can be." Tommy said grinning. "I guess that leaves one question. Steven do you want this horse or her baby when it's born?" I asked "oh man! I'm smaller than you so I'll take the baby!" He said excited. I named her blizzard. She was a light tan horse with a white mane and tail. I didn't work with her much since she was pregnant but it wasn't long. A week later we heard a commotion in the stables late one night. Grandpa, Steven, and myself ran out there. "She's having a breach birth" I yelled to grandpa as he was walking up. "Alright reach in and turn the foal so you can pull it out. Steven the foal is yours get down there and help it'll take the two of you." Grandpa said. It took us a minute to get him turned. "Pull!" I yelled at Steven as soon as we had it turned. The foal hit the ground. He was a white horse with a black mane. "How does that happen grandpa?" I asked. "Yes he doesn't even look like the mother." Steven added. "He must have gotten all genetics from his father. So what's the names boys?" Grandpa asked. "I named her blizzard." I replied. "What about you Steven? What are you naming this little guy?" Grandpa asked. "Tuff, I'm gonna name him Tuff." Steven replied. "Where did that name come from?" I asked. "It was tough. It scared me. I thought he wasn't gonna make it. I named him tuff because it was tough on me." He answered with a serious look on his face. "I like it. It's a great name for this little guy." I answered. "You get to start breaking blizzard tomorrow, I bet your happy about that." Steven said. "No I'm letting her rest for a few days since she had Tuff. I'll start breaking her next week. Let's go get some sleep champ." I answered. A week later I started breaking blizzard. She caught on really quick. Grandpa gave me pointers and walked me through it. "Your gonna train tuff too but your not gonna have any help from me on him." Grandpa said "yes sir but I'm kind of worried about Steven. He has barely left the stall since tuff was born. You reckon he's okay?" I asked. "Yea son. He's fine. Just excited. You should have seen the look on your face when you father gave you Geronimo." He said as he walked away. "Steven!" I yelled from the pen where I was working with blizzard. He come walking out of the stables. "Saddle up Geronimo. Move him to the big pin out back. I'm teaching you to ride." I said. "Shannon, I think something is wrong with Tuff. He won't eat and he's limping around his still when he gets up." He replied. "Okay go get grandpa. I'll be in there in a second." I replied. We all went to the stall and grandpa called Tommy. "Well he's limping from the breach birth. He's hurt his leg on the way out but he will be fine. Just let him out in a pin with blizzard to exercise it. The thing with the not eating is normal. Here soon he should start nibbling in hay and grass but he gets all nutrition he needs from his mother's milk. That's normally when your in bed because Steven works with blizzard during the day. He will eat hay and grass on his own when he is about 10 weeks old. He's doing fine. He's healthy. There's nothing to worry about but Steven, don't work blizzard too hard. You can work her just take it easy until Tuff is eating in his own and not nursing off his mother. She will come along nicely it'll work the same way just shorter periods of time and not so fast paced and it'll all be fine." Tommy ranted. "Yes sir" I said. "Thank you Tommy." Steven said. "No problem boys. You've got yourself a set of great horses." Tommy replied. "There real show horses if you ask me. They are some good looking horses." Grandpa said. "Hey Shannon your woman is outside" Tommy said with a chuckle. Everyone jokes with me about this girl because we spend all the time we can together. She's my best friend. We met in third grade. Her name is Rebecca and she is amazing at what she does. She has won the state barrel racing championship three times in a row. Her horse is the fastest horse in the county. A solid black stallion named Nash. "Hey what's up?" Rebecca said. "Trying to break in this mustang I went and got. She's beautiful, wanna see her?" I replied. "Of course I do. You know how I am about horses." She said with a chuckle. We walked out to the stable where she was with the foal. "So this is Geronimo's replacement?" She asked "yea, grandpa Charlie said Geronimo is getting to old to do any hard riding. We are just gonna use him to ride fence." I replied. "Well that's to bad. What did you name this beauty?" She asked. "I call her blizzard because of her white mane and tail." I answered. "I like it but there is a reason I'm here." She said turning around and leaning her back against the gate. "What's up?" I asked. "Well the rodeo is having a special event. Men and women team up as a team of two and barrel race together. It'll be two separate runs and the times will combine. The team with the lowest time advances to the next round. I wanna coach you. So what do ya say?" She asked. "I'd love to but there is a lot of stuff around here to do. The old man is already riding my ass all day every day. Let me talk to him and get back to you." I said. "Okay great, I'd love to have you by my side but I have to go my moms waiting on me back at home. Think about it and come see me. See ya." She said. Later that night planned on talking to grandpa but for now I was gonna from blizzard and let them out to exercise Tuff. It's been a long day but finally sat down for dinner. "Hey grandpa I have to talk to you about something." I claimed. "What is it? Is everything okay?" He asked. "Yea it's just Rebecca. She wants to train me to run a team barrel racing event with her. I know we are swamped with work but i would love to run blizzard in it. She's gonna help me train." I replied. "Your right we are swamped. We have a lot of work to be done. We don't have time for you to bullshit around. What about your brother and Tuff? Who's gonna train him to ride?" He replied. "He can come with me. We will stock up the feed and water before we leave and you kick the stalls yourself most of the time anyway. We will take Tuff with us. The rodeo is three months away. Tuff will be big enough to ride. It won't be extra work for you I'll train him while I practice." I replied. "Fine, but if your gonna do this I have one request from you." He replied. "What's that?" I asked. "Rebecca is a great woman. She's gorgeous and I see the way you two are together. If you don't come back with the intention of making her part of our family one day." He said with a laugh. "Ugh, come on grandpa. I'll never have a chance with her but if it happens I won't stop it." I said. "That sounds like a deal but do not forget about your brother up there. He better come back improved and ready to ride." He said. "Yes sir." I replied. I went to my room to call Rebecca. "Hello?" She answer "yes hey. I'm good for the rodeo but I'm supposed to teach my brother to ride so he's gonna have to come with us if I go. How do you feel about that?" I replied "that's fine. I can help him out too. I'll sign you up tomorrow. Be at my place in the morning at seven. Ride blizzard." She said. "Okay will do. Bye Becca" I said right before I hung up. The next morning I finally had blizzard saddled up for her first ride. I kept her up late the night before to finish breaking her. She was a fast horse. She was also very obedient. I finally arrived at Rebecca's place and welcomed her with a hug. We had a great day of training with blizzard. I learnt a lot in that day. After practice we went to her pasture and sat talking on a bail of hay. "Today was pretty great huh?" I asked. "Yeah it was. Your becoming quite the cowboy after falling off your horse three times." She said laughing. I grabbed her and wrestled her to the ground tickling her "stop stop I hate being tickled. Your so mean." She laughed and pleaded. "So how about you? Did you have a good time today?" I asked still laying on the ground with her. "Yes actually I did. I never noticed how attractive of a cowboy you were until I seen you struggling to take those barrels for the first time. It was cute." She answered. I was speechless and a little nervous. "I... I got to go help grandpa." I said out of panic. She just laughed and hugged me goodbye. Back at the ranch I started talking to grandpa. "I totally had a chance to kiss her but I chickened out." I complained. "Son you've gotta forget about fear. Never let fear decide your fate. You and Becca have been closer as friends than I've ever seen any couple. Y'all have been stuck together nonstop since grade three. It's fate son. You've never fought. You've never disagreed. I've never seen you two together without smiles on your faces. She was there when both your parents left and she is the only one that brought a smile to your face. Your in love with her now if you don't tell her I will. Go be happy son. Make sure you tell her how you feel. She may feel the same way." He comforted. "Thanks grandpa but what if she doesn't feel the same way. What if it ruins our friendship?" I asked. "What if she's waiting on you to make a move and is starting to doubt that it'll ever happen? What if she meets someone else that will just separate you two? There two sides to every story son. You can't predict the future but you can take the best possible chances to have the best future you can have. Talk to her. A girl as beautiful as her wouldn't stay single since grade three for no reason." He said. "Your right but I'm not gonna talk to her until I know the time is right." I replied. "That's a good idea. Now get to bed you've gotta be up at dawn to patch the fence up before taking your little training lesson with your woman." He said. When I got up the next morning Steven wasn't in his room. I couldn't find him anywhere. I finally checked the stables. He was sitting out there with tuff. "Hey, tuff is old enough to start training. I'll come help you before I go to Becca's." I said. "Oh man that's great." He said. "Come help me with this fence and we will get up here." I answered. The fence only took us about thirty minutes because it was a smaller hole than we had though. We got up to the pen and grandpa was already out there with Tuff. If there was any man that could break a horse it was Charlie himself. "Go get your saddle Steven." Grandpa said as we walked up. "What why?" Steven asked "he's ready to go. I started on Himalayas night while you were asleep. Finished this morning. He's ready to ride. Saddle up and let Shannon walk you around." He replied. While he was gone to get his saddle I spent a little time with grandpa and Tuff. "This little guy is flawless. He is obedient but that breach birth messed him up a little. It's difficult for him to catch onto things. I got him steady enough to walk around. Don't let him gallop yet." He told me. Steven races back with his saddle and saddled up Tuff. I grabbed a lead rope and walked him around the pin to teach him his balance on the horse first. "Okay i'm leaving you on your own. Gently squeeze with your legs to get him to walk. Don't let him gallop he isn't ready for that." I said. He did great he walked around perfectly. "I gotta go to Becca's now Bubba. Time to get off until I get back." I said. With a grin he nodded his head and hopped down from the horse. "Put him in the pen. Let him be outside awhile. Be good for grandpa." I said. "Yes sir" he replied while I galloper away to Becca's. The training went great again. I shaved a few seconds off my previous record time and didn't hit the barrels as much. We trained longer than I had thought we would we only had two weeks left until the rodeo so we had to start getting ready for it. We trained non stop for those two weeks and gave the horses a day to rest. "I think we have this one in the bag" Becca said. "Yea I really enjoy this. I'm glad you invited me to come along." I replied. "Well cowboy I've never seen someone learn so fast but you did amazing. I'm proud of you." She said under a chuckle. That chuckle could move mountains. There was nothing more adorable than Rebecca's chuckle. It could make your heart melt. She hugged me up against the horse trailer and told me something I'd never forget. "Have I ever told you why my dads not around?" She asked. "No." I replied. "My dad was a bull rider. He got thrown and the bull landed on him. Crushed his ribs. He didn't make it. I've always looked up to your grandpa. I've always loved your family. I'm glad I've met you." She said. "I'm glad I met you too. You've been my best friend. How about we make this hanging out and rodeos a regular thing?" I asked "of course. Let's do it. I love spending time with you" She said "great but for now I've gotta go back. I'm giving Steven lessons and he's getting really good. I'll see you Becca" I said. When I got home me and Steven went for a trail ride. Ive been teaching him to run on him. He has good balance. He has good form. "We are leaving for the rodeo tomorrow. Ik you've already learnt how to ride a little earlier than we expected but I still want you to come." I said "why do you want me there?" Steven asked "I signed you up. It's nothing serious nothing dangerous but Tuff is a beautiful horse. I entered you in for a horse show. You just go in and ride him around a bit. You get ranked on looks and posture." I explained. "Okay that sounds great. How about we go get packed?" He asked. We raced back to the house and stabled the horses. We packed our bags for the weekend and headed to Becca's place to leave. The drive took us about three hours. Once we got there we grabbed our bags and stayed in a hotel for the night. The next morning was the first day of the rodeo. The announcer over the loud speaker was talking about the rodeo. "Time to start these barrel races off with our first contestant. Caleb riding on Ambush." The announcer said. Becca and I were the 6th and 7th contestants. When our time came we were ready. "Rider number six in line. Rebecca riding on Nash. She's giving it all she's got folks! This girl has won the Montana state championship three years in a row and she finishes with a time of 14.21 seconds. What a run folks she's the fastest run here by over a second. Next up her partner Shannon riding on blizzard! I've never heard of this kid he has no wins under his belt but he was trained by the one and only Rebecca we can't underestimate him. To take the number one spot he has to finish his run in under 14.98 seconds. Look at him go! Cruising past them barrels like they aren't even there and he finishes with a time of 14.96 seconds! Wow folks that was a close one!" The announcer kept on throughout the entire rodeo. At the end of the rodeo we were loading up the horses to go. "Hey y'all. I'm here to inform you that you guys have placed third in this round sending you back tomorrow. You can keep them in those stalls over there." He says as he pointed to the empty side of the stables. About that time Steven came running up "Shannon! Shannon!" He exclaimed. "Woah slow down champ what's the problem?" I said. He was silent. Becca and I were just looking at him. "There's no problem Bubba! Me and Tuff got first place in the show!" He said excitedly. "Woah buddy that's great! I'm proud of you. Me and Becca will win tomorrow and we will both take home first round ribbons. There isn't a show tomorrow on the final day but you can watch us if you'd like." I said. "Of course. Take it home Bubba. Rebecca you did a great job with him!" He said. "Well thank you very much!" Becca replied. The next day we were up. "Rider number three is Rebecca riding Nash! She had the fastest solo time yesterday let's see what she's got! Man she's killing it taking them turns like there nothing! That is one fast horse folks and she finishes with a time of 13.99 seconds. Smashing her record from yesterday! Let's He what her partner can do. It's Shannon riding on blizzard. He blasts out of there! Look at him go. This is already faster than yesterday he's pushing that horse a lot harder folks! Let's see if he can take home the first place win for Rebecca! He finishes with a time of 14.23 seconds! Wow that is fast for a beginner rider. They take first place. It's gonna take a lot to too these two let's see what these other riders have got!" The announcer rambled. We waited by our trailer after the rodeo for the announcer. "Hey guys" the announcer said as he approached us. "Hey how are you? We're all packed up and waiting to go. Just waiting to see what we placed." Becca replied. "Well then congratulations. You guys placed first overall in the rodeo. That's some fine riding to be a beginner young man." Oh that's great. Thank you so much!" I replied. When we got back to Rebecca's place I sent Steven home. "Congrats on your first win cowboy!" Becca said. "Thank you. I never would've made it without a trainer like you. Look Becca. What are we doing here? With us?" I asked. "What do you mean?" She replied. "I... I don't know. Nevermind. Just forget it it's stupid." I said in a panic. She started laughing at me. "Get over here cowboy!" She said as she jerked me to her. She held me tight and hugged me. "Look Bec....." I started until she put her finger on my lips. "Less talking and a little more of this." She said as she pulled me in for a kiss. When she pulled away she chuckled. "I love you cowboy. It's nice you finally took the hints I've been giving you since third grade." She claimed. "What hints?" I said in a chuckle. "Constantly looking into your eyes. Hugging you every chance I get. Not spending time with anyone but you. Staying single. It was all for you and now it looks like your mine. Tell grandpa I said hey okay? Congratulations on your win." She said as she kissed me again. It had finally happened and I didn't even have to make the first move. I galloped home as fast as I could. My heart was racing. That was some Tuff luck