Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Yee Haw! It's Official!


I'm a real cowgirl! Yesterday I rode my horse Bud, who is 7 and is greenbroke. Meaning he hasn't had enough miles or hours on him to make him a fully broke horse. Anyway, I'm not sure whether it was the fact I wouldn't let him venture out into the lush, green grass (he's been dry lotted) or the fact that we were swarmed by mosquitoes, but he decide to throw a tantrum in the form of bucking.

All I could think was this body is too old to hit the ground! So I clung to the saddle horn with one hand, pressed my feet hard into the stirrups, squeezed with my knees, and pulled up on the reins so he couldn't get his head down for a good buck and hollered "Whoa!" every time he kicked up his back feet and then reared up. At the time it felt like an eternity, but after about eight of those combinations, he finally stopped. Lucky for me, he isn't a true bucking horse with twists or I'd have been on the ground for sure!

When he stopped, I bailed off, jerked the lead rope and made him back up, all the time telling him I didn't find his tantrum fun. When I stopped, he stood there shaking and stomped his foot. I stomped back and told him I didn't appreciate his behavior. He looked at me and kind of shook like a dog and then seemed his old self. At this point I looked around and found the two cow dogs laying under a tree watching the whole thing like it was a good sideshow! And after I remounted and headed out, Tink showed up trotting alongside like nothing had happened! But I knew it had, because my arms pits, inner thighs, and sweat band on my hand were wet from sweat!

Anyway, we finished the ride without any further altercations and when I told my CP about it, her first words, "You have to use that in a book!" LOL Typical writer always looking for a scene or two!

If you're a writer have you ever used a true experience in a book? I did with Perfectly Good Nanny. There's a scene where a cow is down. I wrote that after we had a cow down. It's amazing how you can incorporate life into your books and it gives the books more of a ring of truth.

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