Horse Mad Western by Kathy Helidoniotis

Author:Kathy Helidoniotis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

TWELVE

Saddle Up!

‘Who can tell me what this is?’ Gary Cho smiled at the Shady Creek riders.

Carly raised her hand. I nudged Becky gently in the ribs, grinning. It had been reasonably easy to persuade Dad to let me come back to Riding Club. Sure, he’d stuck to his guns and I’d missed that last meeting, but a fifty dollar donation (in other words, bribe) to the Cruel Parents United Fund, on top of the money owed by the Kings, from the now seriously depleted Horse Cents fund had softened him up. I was now allowed back at Riding Club. Thank goodness!

‘It looks like a saddle, Gary,’ Carly said. She turned to Flea and Ryan and rolled her eyes. They chuckled.

Gary patted the seat of the saddle that he’d gently placed on a portable saddle rack. We were seated in our outdoor classroom, a collection of upside down milk crates and logs under a tree. It was a sunny day, but I still preferred to snuggle inside my coat.

‘Very insightful, Carly,’ Gary said, beaming. ‘Now, can anyone tell me anything else about this object, anything new?’

I raised my hand. ‘It’s a Western saddle.’ It was a gorgeous tan colour, leather by the looks of it, and decorated with an amazing floral design in silver.

‘Well done,’ Gary said, flicking his dark eyes over Carly’s face. She stared back at him, bold as usual. ‘Can anyone name the parts of the Western saddle?’

‘Isn’t that handle thing at the front called the horn?’

‘That’s right, Jodie.’ Gary rested his hand on the tall horn at the front of the saddle, where the pommel on an all-purpose saddle would go. ‘What’s it used for?’

‘Holding on to!’ Julie giggled.

‘Not quite,’ Gary said. ‘Its traditional purpose is for holding the lariat. It was tied to the horn with rawhide. A cowboy—’

‘Or girl!’ I burst out.

Gary smiled. ‘Or girl, could secure a cow to the horn as well. What else do you notice about the Western saddle?’

‘The seat’s so deep,’ Becky mused.

‘That’s for comfort on all those long cowboy rides,’ Gary said. ‘It keeps the rider in a secure position as well.’

‘How comfortable is it?’ Becky looked her father clearly in the eye.

‘Not sure,’ Gary said. ‘I’ve never used one.’

Becky’s mouth dropped open. I gave her a look. First Gary had ‘forgotten’ his years as a Western rider, now he was lying about them. It didn’t make any sense at all. Not to me or to Becky.

‘The stirrups are weird,’ Ryan said, pointing.

‘Hey!’ Flea puffed out his chest. As Shady Creek Riding Club’s one and only experienced Western rider he wasn’t going to take anyone insulting his sport.

‘Not weird, Ryan,’ Gary said. ‘Just different. Wooden, actually. They’re called ox-bows and are designed for long periods in the saddle. As is the raised cantle at the back of the seat.’ Gary ran his hand down the saddle, from horn to cantle. ‘It’s much higher than your regular all-purpose.’ Gary rested his hand on the horn.

‘What are those strips of leather for?’ Jodie called, pointing to four long tan strips that were sewn into the seat of the saddle.

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