The Rancher Meets His Match

July 2009

             
It was hotter than usual.  The sun was bearing down on the back of Hilary’s neck.  She was glad that she wasn’t in the blueberry field today.  The season had been over a couple of weeks now.  She was now fixing fence on her boss’s farm and she was in the shade.  But even with the shade, she could still feel the sun bearing down on her.  She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of a gloved hand and went back to patching the fence where a couple of heifers had torn it down.  She looked at the fence and decided she would let her boss know that she needed a new fence.  The barbwire was old and rusty and that made it easy for cattle to get out.  “Finally” she peeled off her work gloves and looked at her work.  She finished patching the fence and packed up all of the supplies into the small trailer that she always pulled behind the four-wheeler.  She would make it back in time, to work with her favorite horse.  She was ready to put a saddle on the young quarter horse that she had raised from a baby.  She had worked with him from the start.  She loved spending time with her horses.  It took away all the stress of the day. 

She would get home in time to work with him for an hour before dark.  She drove back to the shed with the fencing supplies and signed out.  She told her boss bye and left for home.  She wouldn’t have time to get a shower in but there was really no point when she was only going to get dirty again.   She pulled up to her parents’ barn, jumped out of her dually, and ran flat out to the barn to get her saddle ready.  She took it out and threw it across the wood fence of the corral and went back to get her young horse.  She hooked him onto a lunge line and lunged him in a circle then stopped him and switched directions.  Then she walked him over to the fence where she’d hung the saddle.  She took the saddle blanket and rubbed it over his body from head to tail.  She did this several times before settling it on his back.  She then took the saddle and threw it over his back.  There was nothing, not even a little buck out of him.  She cinched it up but didn’t pull it tight.  She wanted him to get the feel of it on his back first.  Again, she lunged him in a circle.  He was aware of it but didn’t offer
to buck.  He was a little tense
at first but calmed down.  She wouldn’t rush him
. T
omorrow she would start over again.  She would again put the saddle on and if he showed no buck and no fear, she would pull on the cinch. 

She unsaddled him and again rubbed the saddle pad over him.  “Good boy.”  She said.  “You’re doing just fine.”  She walked him around a little just to cool him off, and then she led him into the barn and snapped his halter onto the two chains attached to each wall.  She got her grooming supplies out and brushed him down.  She brushed him everywhere.  She didn’t want a skittish horse.  She then ran her left hand down the horses neck all the way to his front hoof and picked up his foot and cleaned out the mud and dirt that was there then she ran her hand down his back and down his back leg and did the same.  Then while keeping her hand on him she ran her hand across his rump and down the other back foot, and then up his back and down his other front foot.  She did this every time she worked with him.  She was determined to make a good horse out of him.  He was out of her favorite mare.  This one she would not sell.  She would keep him and show him.  She wasn’t usually one to make it to the rodeos.  However, she did compete in most of the local horse shows.  She often won feed and money at these events.  She hadn’t ever wanted to travel the rodeo circuit.  She wasn’t one for traveling.  She preferred to stay close to home, where she could tend her horses.  She was taught at an early age to tend her own animals and never to rely on others to do her work for her.   She knew she could depend on her parents to tend them if she wasn’t there but she didn’t like to put her work off on them.

“Hilary Joe” her mama called.  “Come here, you have a visitor.”  Hilary was so wrapped up in her work with her young horse that she hadn’t even noticed the truck that sat in front of her parents’ house.  Nor, did she notice the man watching her as she worked with her horse.  He had been studying her watching everything she done.  He had to admit he was impressed.  He watched her as she unsnapped the colt and put him in his stall then she turned and walked to him with her hand out.  He reached out and shook her hand.  “J.W. Chisholm.”  He could see she must have been working hard all day.  She had several cuts on her arms that looked as if she'd been cut by barbwire and she had dirt and rust on her torn blue jeans.  She also had a smudge of dirt on her face and across her forehead.

“What can I do for you?” She took in his clothes and his build from head to toe.  She guessed he was looking to buy a horse by the look of him.  He was mighty fine too.  She thought his jeans sat nicely on his hips and the button up western cut shirt was just the right color and style for him.  It accentuated his large shoulders and muscular arms.  And, he had it tucked in showing her he had a flat stomach too.  “Are you here to look at the horses?  I have a couple of real nice fillies for sale.  I guarantee they have been worked with a lot and they aren’t a one of ‘em skittish. That’s kind of my specialty.  I can’t stand a skittish horse.  Anything can happen and a skittish horse makes it worse.” She said this with pride in her voice.  She was very proud of her horses. “Actually,” he said, “I’m here to talk to you about training for me.  My daughter barrel races and I hear that you’re the best.” 
Hilary’s eyes lit up she loved to work with barrel horses, there was something about the adrenaline rush that she got with it all. 
She loved it. 
“Yeah, we can talk.  Could you walk with me though?  I have to feed the horses and Bubba.”  She walked toward the barn and J.W. fell into step with her.  “How long have you been training horses?  I can see you’re very good with them.  I was watching you with that colt in the corral.  He seems to be coming along.  I never saw a buck or a kick out of him.”

J.W. usually didn’t like to make small talk but he had to admit he was a little impressed because she was a woman.  He didn’t have much for women.  He had had a belly full of them when his wife up and left him.  She was going to make it big in Hollywood she said. “Thanks, but you didn’t come all the way out here to talk about my colt.  You need a trainer
,
so let’s talk business.” She said this in business like tone that surprised him.  He wasn’t expecting her to be the one to get right to it.  He was usually the one who skipped all the small talk.  She was pouring feed in several buckets as she spoke.  “How many horses are you wanting trained and how far along are they?”  He liked how she wanted the facts up front. “There are two, right now.  One of them has been barrel raced for years but has recently started to act up and my daughter doesn’t seem to think she can handle him anymore.  The other one has only been started on them and needs a lot of work.”  She shook her head and looked as if she was taking it all in. “When you say it’s acting up. What do you mean?  What’s it doing that she can’t handle it anymore?  What I mean is how is the horse showing out, is it bucking or what?”  He explained to her how the horse was doing everything right until the last barrel and that it would then start rearing up. 

She soaked in all the information and picked up two of the buckets she had poured feed in and walked out of the feed room.  He looked at her then picked up the other two buckets and followed her.  “Which of these goes where?” he said.  She told him which stalls to poor the feed in and then grabbed the buckets and threw them back in the feed room. Then she grabbed some hay and took a block to each horse.  After she hayed them, she checked their water then grabbed a manure fork and went into the first stall and began to scoop out the manure in the stall.  “Keep talking.” She said.  “I’m listening.”  He shook his head and began telling her about the two horses while he looked around the barn then he grabbed another manure fork and stepped into the next stall and began scooping the manure out too.  He said, “I can help you with this and we can talk while we work.”  Hilary was impressed.  She had never had anybody offer to help.  She considered the barn her office, in a way it was.  She always took her clients into the barn when she needed to discuss anything with them. 
And if she had chores to do, she did them while talking to them.  
However, this was the first one who had ever helped her. 

“So my going rate is 600.00 a horse.  It may sound a little high but I won’t take any less.
Its
hard work and I guarantee my work.”  “Actually it’s seems a little low to me.  I’m used to people who claim they are trainers and charge a fortune for a half-assed job.  The thing is I would do it myself but I don’t have the time.  I have a ranch to run.  I have a few thousand acres
and that keeps me pretty busy.  I really need someone who knows what they are doing and I will accept no less from anyone.”  “Alright, you can drop the horses here whenever it’s good for you and I’ll get started.”  She said and then he stopped what he was doing and turned to her.  “I won’t be bringing the horses here.  I want it done on the ranch.  Like I said I want to be sure the work is not half assed this time.”  “I can’t do that, I have a job and horses to tend to here.  I can’t j
ust leave my job
.  I’m needed here.  I’m sorry but I guess I won’t be training your horses.”  She walked out of the stall and headed for the one on the other side of the barn but he stepped in front of her path.  “Look I’ll pay you double if you come to my ranch.  My daughter is really looking forward to this.”  She stared at him
wide-eyed
“Double?” Her mouth dropped to say something but she closed it instead.  “You can’t be serious what man would pay double?”  She thought he was crazy.  She had never, been offered double before.   “I’m dead serious,” he said.  “Let me think about it will you? 
Come on in the house and have some coffee while I clean up. 
We’ll discuss it more inside.”  He’d won and he knew it.  “We’ll leave the rest of this for my brothers.” She said and she set the manure fork to the side and walked to the house.  J.W. followed her and quickly fell in step beside her.