Page 38 of Rough Stock
“Has she been doing this all morning?” Jensen asked, amazed.
“Oh, no. She rode five bulls before you got here. We just got started with the bareback broncs. Today and Monday for that, then next Tuesday and Wednesday for saddle broncs. Maybe Thursday. Then you’ll have to hit the road Thursday night, right?”
“Yep. Texarkana. It’s a Friday night through Sunday event.” Jensen dreaded that drive, but it was part of the lifestyle.
“What is it, thirteen hours?” Roger asked.
“By the time we stop to eat, walk them, and go to the bathroom, yeah?about that. We’ll probably drive four hours to start, stop for the night, then get up early the next morning and finish the drive.” It made him tired just talking about it.
Roger looked down at his shoes and shook his head. “I don’t envy you, buddy.”
“Thanks. Oh, here we go,” Jensen said and pointed to the chutes.
Both men watched as she nodded and they opened the chute’s gate. She was on a different kind of horse that time, longer legs and slimmer, but much, much taller. The ride was completely different, and Jensen remembered that kind of ride?like riding a pogo stick. Shyanna almost made it to eight seconds before she took a dive and landed on her side. Jensen jumped to his feet but she was already on hers, cradling her arm. She made her way slowly back to them, rubbing her lower left arm. “You okay?”
“I think so. Fell on it,” she called up to them. “How’d I do?”
“I think you need to take a break,” Roger yelled down to her. “Come on up here and sit down.”
Instead of answering him, she made her way up into the stands and sat down in front of the two men. “Let me see your arm,” Jensen ordered, and she pulled up her sleeve to show him. “You’ll be bruised, but I don’t think anything’s broken,” he said as he pulled her sleeve back down.
She nodded. “Thank god that’s not the arm I hold on with.”
“Yeah. No shit. Think you’re getting the hang of it?”
“I think so,” Shyanna answered. “Feels like it. But that’s only my second horse.”
“Different from a bull, huh?” Roger asked, and she nodded. “Yeah. Saddle broncs will be the hardest for you. Completely different from both bareback disciplines. You probably won’t like it as much.”
“Guess we’ll see.” She stood and looked from Jensen to Roger. “Can I go mount up again?”
Roger pointed to one of the assistants down by the chutes, then motioned for him to bring up another bronc. “Sure. If you’re ready, go on.”
Four more went by, and when she’d finished that one, Jensen announced, “That’s it. You’re done for the day. You need some rest. That last ride was a little sloppy, and it was because you’re exhausted.”
“But I?”
“But nothing. Come on. Let’s go. Roger,” Jensen said and reached for his friend’s hand.
Roger took it and shook it heartily. “You guys have a good weekend and you,” he said, turning to Shyanna, “get some rest.”
“Yes, sir.” She walked away without even looking back and Jensen turned and grinned at Roger before following her out.
They stopped at the paddock to see the horses, and she seemed to brighten a bit just being there with Rhubarb. Jensen couldn’t help but think how he hoped one day she’d love him as much as she loved that horse. There was a sadness about her as they walked to the trucks, and when they reached his, he grabbed her arm, spun her to face him, and pressed her back against the side of the truck. “You miss that horse when you aren’t with her, don’t you?”
“I do. Very much.”
“And you miss being on the road.”
She nodded. “I do. Well, it’s not that I miss it?it’s that I’m used to it. That’s all.”
“Come on. Let’s go see what Mama’s got ready for dinner,” he said and kissed her forehead. She never said a word, just slipped into the cab of the truck, and he followed her back to the ranch.
Dora had just started dinner when they arrived, so Shyanna disappeared upstairs to shower. The sound of the water in the pipes could be heard through the walls downstairs, and as soon as they could hear it, his mother said, “Son?”
Jensen turned to face her. “Mama, if you’re going to start, then I think?”
“Hear me out.” When he set his jaw, she added, “Please?”
