Homegrown Cowgirl

Wishing upon a star

(Picture at the top is Sam)


My boots hit the ground after a long nine-hour drive. The world was still waking up—soft chirps from birds, cows being fed somewhere in the distance, and the sun slowly rising over the horizon.

That peaceful atmosphere was suddenly shattered by a loud whinny from Ryder.

I laughed. "I got it, bud. I know you wanna stretch your legs too."

The passenger door of my truck slammed shut. Ryder must've woken up my best friend, Jax.

"Hey! Don't go slammin' my truck doors!" I yelled over to him.

"Whoa, okay," Jax shot back, holding his hands up defensively. "Careful. People might think you care more about this truck than me."

I smirked. "You never know. Maybe I do."

He laughed sarcastically. "Yeah, I'm so sure you do."

Shaking my head, I opened the back door of my truck and grabbed Ryder's lead line.

I walked to the back of the trailer, swung the door open, and stepped inside. Ryder huffed impatiently as I approached him.

"I know, I know," I said, clipping on his lead. "Come on, bud."

I carefully backed him out of the trailer. Once we were outside, I tied him to the side and opened the tack room to grab what I needed to set up his stall for our stay.

After giving the stall one last check, I walked back out to Jax and Ryder.

I scoffed when I saw Jax lounging in a folding chair with a pile of snacks.

"Well, it didn't take you long to get into the snacks, huh?"

He gave me a look. "Really? You should know me better than that."

"I do," I said, untying Ryder. "But sometimes it still shocks me how many snacks you eat."

He just shrugged.

I led Ryder into his stall, slid off his halter, and let him start munching on his hay. After hanging the halter on the hook beside the stall door, I walked back over to Jax and dropped into the chair beside him with a sigh.

"Did you ever think you'd be coming with me to my shows when we were kids?"

Jax looked over at me. "Not really. But I did know I'd drop everything for you."

I smiled a little. "Alright, you know I'm not usually a sappy person... but I'm glad you're the one helping me chase this dream."

He nodded as I stood up to start getting ready for the rodeo.

Soon I was dressed: brown square-toe boots with my spurs, a pair of blue jeans, and a cream-colored flannel.

When I walked back toward Ryder's stall, I noticed Jax had already brought my tack over.

Gotta remember to thank him later.

I opened the stall door and threw Ryder's saddle pad over his back before lifting my saddle into place. Walking around to the other side, I unhooked the girth and tightened it carefully so the saddle wouldn't slip.

"Are we ready for this, boy?"

Before Ryder could even pretend to answer, Jax spoke up behind me.

"Not yet. You're missing something."

I turned around to see him holding my cowboy hat.

I walked over and took it from him, placing it on my head.