Page 52 of The Chances We Take

Ellison and Colter were already working on Bullet andTrigger, so I went to the opposite side of the trailer to tie up my horse. Isa was leaning against it, playing with her hair.

“Surprised you’re not on the other side talking to Ellison and Colter,” I said.

She shrugged and turned to me. “They told me to help you.” She put air quotes aroundhelp.

“No better time than now to learn how to tack up a horse,” I suggested.

“I guess so,” she agreed. “So, what do you want me to do?”

“There’s a blue spray bottle in the back door of the trailer, go grab that and a brush.” I pointed at the open door.

She disappeared for a few moments then came back with the fly spray and brush in hand. “What exactly is this?” She held up the bottle.

“Fly spray. Make sure you get him real good then you can brush him,” I explained.

“Just like this?” She started spraying Phantom, and I gave her an encouraging nod.

After she sprayed and brushed him, I grabbed a saddle pad and showed Isa where to position it then grabbed the saddle.

“When you adjust the saddle, you want to make sure that the cinch is tight enough that it won’t slip but not too tight.” I demonstrated how to tighten the straps and secure them, ensuring that she was able to see what I was doing throughout the process and talking her through the whole thing.

A few times, she got distracted petting Phantom or pressing her forehead to his nose, but I didn’t scold her for not watching me. Most of the time I just continued what Iwas doing, but other times, I paused, my attention drawn to her like a moth to a flame.

It took a bit longer to tack up than it normally would, but, in my opinion, any time spent with Isa was well spent.

“I mean, it doesn’t seem that hard.” She shrugged once the horse had all the equipment on.

“Oh, so if I took all this off, you’d be able to do it yourself?” I teased.

“Probably,” she muttered.

“Next time.” I winked. “Colter and Ellie are probably waiting. You sure you don’t want to ride today?”

“Maybe later.”

“Let me know if you change your mind.” I untied Phantom’s halter and lead rope, replaced it with his bridle, and started walking him toward the arena.

Colter and Ellison followed with their horses, and Isa walked over to the arena fence where Jake and Hayden were hanging out. Mikey was supposed to be over by the chute, but in his classic fashion, he wasn’t.

“Someone gonna come open the gate for us?” Colter yelled, loud enough that Mikey could probably hear from wherever he was.

Crickets.

“All right, well, Jake, you wanna teach Short Stack what to do?” I called her out, and the expression on her face was priceless. She looked like she wanted to murder me.

“You got it, boss.” Jake smirked and gave me a salute before practically dragging Isa over.

“Listen, the branding shit was enough for me,” she started to protest.

“This is ten times better. Very unlikely you’ll get shit on over there!” Hayden chuckled as he reassured her.

“Who’s up first?” I asked Colter and Ellison.

“Go ahead.” She gestured to the boxes.

Colter and I mounted our horses and walked them over to the roping boxes. I’d exit the right side of the chute and Colter would exit on the left, so we entered the boxes like we always did, with me going first.

I can’t remember when our routine started, but we practiced how we’d compete—call it a superstition if you will—and it always seemed to work out for us. Muscle memory.

---