14. Dani
14
dani
I have no real reason to be nervous about this session, but I find myself leaning against the railing, body tense and my thumbnail pressed between my teeth, as I watch Cade warm up with Lady.
The show is a week and a half away, and while it isn’t a big one, it will be my first time back in a long time, and I don’t want it to have a negative outcome. This is important for both Lady and me.
I don’t expect to win my class, but I want to have a positive experience. One that will hopefully build confidence in the both of us…but mostly me.
Cade lopes her around the arena a couple of times, warming her up before he moves onto the flag.
His new barn help, Trent, clangs around in the barn, and I flinch at the noise he’s making. I’m not sure why Cade has kept him on. He’s not the best, but I wonder fleetingly if he just can’t get anyone else to help him out.
I fight the urge to volunteer my help. To work with him again. Working in a barn would be more conducive to moving in the direction I want career-wise, but that would mean more hours together. The more time we spent together, the more my wall would inevitably fall. I’m just not sure I can let that happen.
Cade has been nothing but respectful to me since I’ve reentered his life. He’s kept his distance, he hasn’t once tried anything, and since our trail ride the other day, we’ve kept our conversations on work alone.
I was terrified to move past that, to become any closer than we already were.
I think part of it was because I knew it wouldn’t take much for me to let it all go, to forgive the past and move on. He was my childhood sweetheart and the only man I ever loved. How easy would it be to just…get back to that?
I shrug off the thought and focus as Cade stops in the center, Lady facing the wall that holds the flag, and I hold my breath as he moves it back and forth.
Lady tracks it, her expression interested and eager.
That’s a good sign, but then again, she’s always interested at first.
Trotting closer, Lady’s ear twitches forward and back, listening to Cade’s commands and watching her target. While he’s about twenty feet away from the wall, much farther away than you would be from a cow, he trots back and forth, rolling back on her hind legs when he moves the flag back in the opposite direction and sending her after it again.
They do this steadily for a few minutes and then he gets her closer.
You’ve got this, Lady.
My silent chant must have had the opposite effect because suddenly, as Cade clucks to her and gets close to the flag and wall, she whinnies and pulls back, fighting him as she turns and spins away from the flag.
I’m still holding my breath while I watch, unable to look away and unwilling to move lest I become a part of the problem and spook her.
He gets her under control and walks her out, letting her catch her breath for a moment before he hops off.
I’m assuming that’s the end of the session, but he walks her to a fence at the other end of the arena and leans over to swing open a gate that leads outside. He disappears for a few minutes, the gate still wide open, and I blink in surprise when a cow comes through the gate a moment later .
What on earth?
He has cattle right back there.
I frown in confusion and watch as he trots Lady back into the arena. Her gaze is sharp and laser-focused on the cow. She looks ready.
He shuts the gate behind him, and they watch the cow together. Easing forward, he pushes the cow toward the shorter end of the arena and watches.
In cow horse, you box the cow at the short end of the arena first, meaning you push them back and forth, keeping them on one end, then you let them pass you and chase them down the long end of the arena and cut them off on each end before taking them to the center and circling them on each side of your horse.
Cade boxes the cow a few times. Lady is quick and agile. The horse I know and love is coming back to life right in front of my eyes. Her attention never wavers, and she does the pattern practically on her own while he lets her focus on her job.
They let the cow move down the long side of the arena, and the chase is on.
Lady barrels down the long stretch of the arena and gets ahead of the cow, cutting it at the end closest to me, turning her head toward the wall and pushing the cow back down the wall again .
They do this a few more times before Cade makes Lady ease up and let the cow head out to the center before he’s after the cow again. He takes Lady to one side, coming close to the cow and circling it one way, then guiding Lady around the cow’s hind end before circling it in the other direction.
Finally, he pulls Lady completely off the cow, letting both the cow, Lady, and himself rest.
I stand dumbfounded by what I just watched. From being surprised that there were cattle back there to watching Cade ride just the way he was born to do again and my horse performing the way she should, I’m in a state of shock.
He walks Lady around for a while, letting her catch her breath before he walks to the gate and shoos the cow back out, presumably to join its herd.
Making their way back toward me, I open the gate after Cade hops off, and I take the reins from him, patting Lady on the head.
“I can’t believe it,” I say to him, then turn to her. “You did so well!” I can’t control the excitement in my voice. Finally, we see some improvement from our sessions with Cade. Not that I ever doubted him, but I was beginning to think I’d never have my sweet, amazing, talented mare back .
“What’d you think?” I look over at Cade, and he takes off his ball cap, swiping at his forehead. The exertion he expelled clearly made him sweat, and my eyes take him all the way in before I blink.
“That was incredible!” I say giddily, barely resisting the urge to jump on him in my excitement. I gesture toward him, and his smile turns into an amused smirk. “You were amazing.”
“Thanks, but I was asking about Lady.”
I blush and look back to my horse. She doesn’t judge me with knowing looks. “She did so well! I’m so excited that she still seems like she loves it.”
Cade nods. “Oh yeah, this mare loves her job, that’s for sure.” He shakes his head. “There’s just something that bothers her about the flag.”
I nod and frown. “Well, that sucks. I don’t have space for a cow at home to practice.” I sigh and shrug. “I guess I’ll just have to keep trying and hope for the best when the show comes.”
“Or…” He pauses, his eyes studying me. I can see him weighing his words before he speaks. “You could keep her here.”
I raise a brow. “Keep her here? Like officially board her?”
He shrugs. “Well, you’re not done with Graham, so technically, we’re still trading.” Frowning, he says, “Unless you’d rather be paid?”
“Oh.” I wave a hand. The thought of being paid to be here makes me feel nauseous. I realize then that I don’t want to be thought of as an employee when I used to be thought of as family. It is a slippery slope I am on. “No. I really enjoy getting to know Graham again and helping him.”
“Right.” He seems to pout at that and then shakes his head, discarding whatever he is thinking. “Well, keep her here. Use my cattle to practice, and then after the show, I’ll keep working with her on the flag.”
Hope fills my chest at the prospect. Cade’s arena is ten times better than my little one at home, and Lady seems to be really happy here.
“Are you serious?” I ask skeptically, not wanting to push my luck.
“Of course.” Cade smiles at me again, and my breath catches in my chest. “You should know you’re always welcome here, Dani.”
I tell myself to not take his words to heart, but that’s kind of the funny thing about the heart. It rarely ever listens.