Riding a Cutting Horse

Spence decided it would be a good idea for Hayes and I to ride a cutting horse.  He didn’t ask us if we wanted to.  He was just so sure that because he loves it, so would we. Either that or he was hoping for a good laugh if I fell off!  So we reluctantly went down to the barn with him to try it out.  Hayes went first.  He’s a better rider than I am…or at least has more experience, sadly. I could tell he was nervous because he kept saying he just wanted to ride his horse Sage, not Smoothie.   Smoothie is a young horse (not as easy to ride), but Hayes handled it expertly.  Spence had him cutting on the “flag”  which is basically a stuffed cow that runs along a wire.  You can control the direction and the speed it goes, so you can mimic the action of a real cow in a cutting situation. He had a big grin on his face the whole time and had relaxed by the end.

I was sitting on a chair holding Ree and trying to keep Chase in one place.  I thought I might escape this torture of being forced to ride because we needed to leave for homeschool, but no, Spence wouldn’t have any of it.  (we missed all of homeschool by the way) He decided to have me ride Baby Bell.  Good choice, I like her and I’m comfortable on her.  Trey showed up right about then…oh goody, an audience to watch me make a fool of myself.  He held Chase and Ree so that I could ride.  Up on Bell and away we go.  My last words were something about falling off. 

Guess what?  I didn’t.  I may have been a little herky jerky and my feet may have been flopping in the stirrups, but I didn’t fall off.  It was actually easier than I expected…and believe it or not, a little exciting and fun.  Not that I’m dying to do it again.  At  the end of my ride, I stepped off proud that I had not fallen nor made a fool of  myself and put a little notch on my belt.

We did snap some pictures before the big event.

Hayes on Smoothie

Ree Bee and Me.  Hayes took the picture from up on Smoothie.

Ree’s ready to ride the bucking bronco.  How did she know to do that??

Even though no one else is looking at the camera, I had to add this one since Chase is.