Carla Hinsey

Tonya clicked the stopwatch off as Dancer and I raced over the finish line. I pulled Dancer up and reined her in. Dancing and prancing, with her nostrils flaring, I guided her over to where my friend Tonya sat astride her horse Comet.

“Whoa! You’re not going to believe this, but you shaved almost four seconds off your last run,” Tonya stated.

“Really? That much?” I replied out of breath, “I hope it’s enough to beat stupid Amy Rogers and her duffus horse Spider.”

“I don’t know,” Tonya said, “Spider is fast and all, but Amy doesn’t practice that much. A horse and rider has to be as one to make a good team. Fast doesn’t always win.”

“I know, but just this once I would love to beat her at something,” I complained angrily.

“Well, don’t look now, but here comes miss rude and hateful herself,” Tonya said nodding her head towards Amy.

Amy galloped Spider towards us and pulled him up hard, making him slide to a halt. He shook his head and jumped about from Amy’s rough handling.

“You girls are going to need a lot more practice if you think you stand a chance at beating me at tomorrows rodeo,” Amy said with a smirk on her face.

“And oh yeah, Lindsey, the glue factory called today, they’ve reserved a place for your old nag. You can bring her over when ever you get ready,” Amy said laughing.

I was so mad. All I could do was glare at Amy. If looks could kill she would be dead on the spot. Being the queen of comebacks Tonya jumped right in.

“Hey, Amy, why don’t you do all of us a favor and go play on the freeway,” Tonya snapped back. Amy’s laughter died and her face turned stone cold. She spurred Spider in the ribs. He jumped and bolted off in a burst of speed.

“Thanks,” I told Tonya, “That girl makes me so mad I can’t ever think of anything to say back at her.”

“Don’t worry about it, Lindsey,” Tonya replied, “She only picks on you because she knows it gets to you. She doesn’t bother me and she knows it.”

“Let’s cool the horses down and get them bedded for the night. We’re going to have a busy day tomorrow with the parade and rodeo,” Tonya said.

We arrived early at the parade site the next morning. Our small town is really supportive of this event, as most of us are local farmers and ranchers. Afterwards everyone goes over to the rodeo grounds for opening ceremonies. It’s a big deal for the entire community. This is going to be my first time competing and I am so grateful to Tonya for all her help.

Tonya and I were paired up in the parade line. We took the last positions in line. As luck would have it, stupid Amy Rogers was paired up with a girl directly in front of us.

“Lindsey,” Tonya said, “Don’t let Amy bother you. She’s going to mess with your head if she can. Whatever she does, just ignore her.”

“I’ll try,” I told Tonya.

The parade route took us through the town square, after that we came to a cross street and turned on to it. Beyond that, there was about a quarter mile of dirt road in an open area before we reached the rodeo arena. East of the arena a busy freeway ran.

During the entire parade route, Amy keep looking back at me and making faces. I ignored her. After we had left town and making our way across the open area, the parade line spread out somewhat. Amy took this opportunity, away from the eyes of the on-looking crowd, to mess with me one last time.

Amy turned almost all the way round in her saddle, her right foot was out of the stirrup, and her body was facing me. She put her hand on her forehead with her thumb and finger in the shape of an “L” and mouthed “Looser” to me.

At that moment, Amy and the other girl where approaching a thick stand of scrub brush on the side of the dirt road. A huge Jackrabbit shot out of the brush right in front of Spider. He jumped sideways upsetting Amy’s balance. Amy grabbed for the saddle horn when Spider bolted, but she was too far off balance and only grabbed at air. Hanging off to one side of Spider her spurred boot jabbed into his ribs making matters worse. Spider took off like a shot, throwing Amy off. Her left foot was hung up in the stirrup and Spider was dragging her.

Tonya and I couldn’t believe what was happening. It all seemed like slow motion. We both reacted at the same time; we bolted after Spider and Amy.

After being dragged a ways, Amy’s boot came off and she was freed from the stirrup. Tonya and I skidded to a halt where Amy lay.

“Are you OK?” Tonya asked jumping down from Comet.

“I don’t know!” Amy cried hysterically.

Spider never even slowed down after Amy came loose of him. “I’ve got to try and catch Spider,” I shouted to Tonya, “He’s headed straight for the freeway!”

“Go!” Shouted Tonya, “I’ll get help for Amy.”

Dancer and I raced after Spider. We had to catch him or he could be killed and somebody else, too. Spider had a big lead on us, but his reigns were dragging the ground. One of the reigns got wrapped around his leg, making him stumble. This slowed him down, it gave Dancer and I time to close the distance on him.

Just before we caught up to him the reign slipped off his leg and he was off again. The freeway was less than a hundred yards away. We had to get Spider and quick. We were racing along side of him, I reached forward, trying to grab hold of his reigns, but they dangled just out of my reach. At this point we had turned somewhat and were racing along the exit ramp of the freeway. There was a guardrail separating us from the exit ramp. Spider started pushing against Dancer, smashing us against the guardrail. Just as I got a hold of his reigns, Spider pushed us hard into the rail. A lightening bolt of pain shot through my left foot as we slowed to a stop. I wrapped Spider’s reigns around the horn of my saddle so I wouldn’t loose control of him. He was jumping around and snorting with his nostrils flaring as I tried to calm him down. I hadn’t noticed it before, but some of the other riders had took off after us and where now approaching where we stood.

“Are you OK?” a male rider asked me, “That was really brave of you!”

“Good job, Lindsey,” one of my neighbors said. Another person took Spider’s reins to try and calm him.

“Are you hurt, Lindsey?” my neighbor asked.

“I don’t know, I smashed my foot on the guardrail and it’s hurting pretty bad,” I answered.

“Well, let’s get you back and have someone take a look at it. Can you ride OK?” She asked.

“Yeah, I think so,” I replied.

At the end of the day, I’d say all was well. Spider was saved and no one was seriously injured. Amy wound up with a sprained ankle and some bruises. As for me, my foot was broken in three places. That ended my rodeo season for the year before it even began. Amy and I didn’t wind up friends, but she quit being so hateful to me. Dancer was the real hero that day! Besides, there’s always next year.