Just Chillin' It

We continued to ride together…all of us.  During the week I found myself dreaming of the weekends and impatient to get to the barn.  I was finally a part of life at RHO.  At this point, Sue was contemplating the idea of purchasing Peaches.  I thought about it, but Peaches was a bit out of our price range. I still hoped that I would be able to use her Penning and take lessons.

Every weekend, I begged to ride Peaches.  This particular  weekend, when I asked Tom if I could use her, he told me Sue would be riding her today...

He called out to his son “Justin, saddle up the Chill mare, would ya”

“You’ll be ridin’ that paint mare right there”

Chill.  I watched others ride her.  She was sturdy and fast.  She loved cows and knew her job, but she was way out of my league.

No one says NO to Tom Riley. No one.  Ever.

Again, I looked at Sharon. She giggled but oddly enough, she wasn’t hysterical.  That’s a nice mare, Michele.  You’ll be fine.

Fine?

I trudged up the hill to Justin where he was already throwing a saddle on her back.  “Justin, what’s the deal with this mare?  Am I gonna die? What is she like? What do I do?  I can’t just get on a strange horse and run the cows!!!”

He was a tall, good looking kid with the same blatant Riley honesty…”You’ll be fine.  She’s a good mare”

Fine?

I don’t want to hear FINE.  I’ll be fine on the ground, watching.

We never knew and will never know what’s in Tom Riley’s head at any given moment. What we did know is that when he tells us what to do, we do it.  No questions, no second guessing.  We just do.

In the arena, in the barn, in the fields... no matter where any of us are, the only voice we hear is Toms. There could be background chatter, we could be in the middle of conversation, hell, we could be out of eyesight but we hear his voice and respond automatically.

That’s how I knew I would be fine.

That Chill mare was Tom’s.  She had unbelievable blood lines and a temperament to go with it. He loved that mare and sometimes fairly choosy on who would ride her, so I guess I felt a bit honored that he would let me.

The day begins.  Wait… before I get on this mare, please tell me about her. What do I do? Does she spook? Buck? Rear?

Tom just looked at me.  By now, I’ve gotten quite used to those looks.

“You ride Peaches, don’t ya? This here mare is better than Peaches.  All my horses are trained the same. Just get on and ride.”

But I…I.

”Just get on the damn horse. You’ll be fine, believe me when I tell ya”

So, I got on the damn horse.  Oh, and by now I owned a tiny pair of spurs and proper riding boots.  I still needed the mounting block to get on and a few people around to make sure the wildebeest didn’t take off. All this riding, even on a Tom Riley horse, didn’t take my fears away.  Deep down it was all still there.

She didn’t.  She stood there and waited for me to climb aboard.  In my head I kept repeating… she’s just like Peaches, she’s just like Peaches.

We warmed up.  Her jog was choppy but slow and steady.  She stopped on a dime and turned like a dream.

 I leaned forward... no leg, nothing.  Just leaned forward and off she went into a perfect, smooth lope.  Stop… turn…. Lope…stop... turn…. Lope. Roll backs… she did them with ease.  She was a happy little mare who did whatever I asked. Nothing bothered her…not even my stupidity.

I can do this.  She’s fun. The best part of Penning was being teamed up with Allison, Donna and Sue. Somehow, I always did better with them. Maybe it was the comfort level or just knowing that they were there, but I loved riding as a team.  Sharon still watched from the back of her horse, but was having just as much, if not more fun!  She would also be the one to tell me how I looked, what I did and how much of an idiot I’ve become!!

So, another weekend of Team Penning under my crystal belt (that dug into my gut)... and another....and another…And every time, I rode the Chill mare.

 I had grown really attached to her and I think she liked me too.  She needed the beauty treatment days of grooming and fussing.  Tom Riley didn’t believe in all that, but we did, and those cow horses that came out of Texas did too!

I still was searching for a horse.  I drove Tom crazy and weekly would call and see if he found anything…

Tom would never sell Chill.  I knew that.  I didn’t bother to ask.

Tom called. I got somethin’ for ya here, so when ya come up you’ll see.

Anticipation killed me.  I couldn’t imagine what kind of horse I would have... but I knew that it would be perfect.

Seca’s Little Acre… WOW… gorgeous mare.  Huge, big-boned, handful of muscle and power. When she was paraded around the barn, everyone had the same reaction... OH MY… she is beautiful.

And Sharon???  Sharon just laughed… and laughed…. Yep, she’s pretty alright… let me know how she works for ya!!!

And Sue…. What’s her name?

Seca’s Little Acre

What?  Stinka? Stinka’s what?

NO SECA… SEEE CAAA

OH…. Seca  ... Seca… I thought you said STINKA….

 I knew I was in trouble

Tom, really?

Really.

Is she like Peaches?  Like Chill? 

“Well, she will be. I’ll work with her for a bit and you’ll see.”

She was breath-taking.  I knew it would be awhile before I would ride her, but she was a dream come true.  So, Ritchie, again just to make me happy, bought this massive machine of an animal and we were set.

Weeks and months went by.  I continued to ride Chill.  I loved her.  No one else rode her. Tom actually didn’t let anyone else ride her… even if he needed a horse for someone… it wasn’t the Chill mare.  He knew we were good together and that my new horse "Stinka" would take some time.

A lot of time.