Growing Up in Stothonic: Part VII
May 10, 2021
by Danita Yocom
The May Day Celebration Continued
Jerry the Horse
Grandpa had a lazy horse named Jerry. Jerry didn't like to do anything which he considered work. His team mate, King, did all the wagon pulling; if Jerry hadn't been attached to the wagon he would not have done anything. When it was his turn to plow he would walk a few feet and stop. But Grandpa was as stubborn as Jerry and made him plow his share even if it took all day!
One of Jerry's favorite things to do was to escape from the fields and go run with the wild mustangs and pretend he was one of them. This was a hard thing for him to do since he was a big horse with a regular horse nose and face, and on the chubby side, as well. Nevertheless, someone would report to Grandpa that they had seen Jerry running along the river with the wild horses.
The rodeo started around noon. There were the usual rodeo events such as calf roping,
steer wrestling, bull riding, and bronco riding. The sponsors of the rodeo rounded up wild horses to use in the rodeo for bronco riding event. Since the round up sometimes included domestic farm horses the rodeo paid five silver dollars for the use of a farmer's horse.
There had already been two or three events when we entered the rodeo arena. We climbed onto the bleachers with our tortillas in our hands and sat down to watch.
In a small corral the mustangs were making noise and milling around in circles. And with them was Jerry jumping up and down and banging on the fence with his hooves all the while making snorting horse sounds. We spotted him at once and yelled, "There's Jerry!" Grandpa had already seen Jerry and Identified him by his brand on Jerry's flank. Now Grandpa was waiting by the chutes waiting for Jerry to be ridden by one of the cowboys.
The rodeo announcer called the first horse and rider. The horse was a mustang so he just had a number. They put Jerry in the next chute and he was kicking and banging the chute, the whites of his eyes showing.
Now it was Jerry's turn. The announcer said the cowboy's name and said the horse making all the noise was Grandpa's horse. Everyone clapped and yelled. The cowboy got on Jerry and they opened the chute, Jerry made a giant leap into the air and when he came down he just lay down in the middle of the arena. There was a stunned silence and then everyone started to laugh and laugh. The cowboy was trying to pull his leg out from under Jerry but Jerry didn't move. Grandpa walked out there with his bridle in his hand He put the bridle on Jerry and slapped him on the rump and Jerry got up. The arena officials gave Grandpa one silver dollar for giving everyone a good laugh. Only Grandpa wasn't laughing. We stopped laughing, too.
Jerry the Horse
Grandpa had a lazy horse named Jerry. Jerry didn't like to do anything which he considered work. His team mate, King, did all the wagon pulling; if Jerry hadn't been attached to the wagon he would not have done anything. When it was his turn to plow he would walk a few feet and stop. But Grandpa was as stubborn as Jerry and made him plow his share even if it took all day!
One of Jerry's favorite things to do was to escape from the fields and go run with the wild mustangs and pretend he was one of them. This was a hard thing for him to do since he was a big horse with a regular horse nose and face, and on the chubby side, as well. Nevertheless, someone would report to Grandpa that they had seen Jerry running along the river with the wild horses.
The rodeo started around noon. There were the usual rodeo events such as calf roping,
steer wrestling, bull riding, and bronco riding. The sponsors of the rodeo rounded up wild horses to use in the rodeo for bronco riding event. Since the round up sometimes included domestic farm horses the rodeo paid five silver dollars for the use of a farmer's horse.
There had already been two or three events when we entered the rodeo arena. We climbed onto the bleachers with our tortillas in our hands and sat down to watch.
In a small corral the mustangs were making noise and milling around in circles. And with them was Jerry jumping up and down and banging on the fence with his hooves all the while making snorting horse sounds. We spotted him at once and yelled, "There's Jerry!" Grandpa had already seen Jerry and Identified him by his brand on Jerry's flank. Now Grandpa was waiting by the chutes waiting for Jerry to be ridden by one of the cowboys.
The rodeo announcer called the first horse and rider. The horse was a mustang so he just had a number. They put Jerry in the next chute and he was kicking and banging the chute, the whites of his eyes showing.
Now it was Jerry's turn. The announcer said the cowboy's name and said the horse making all the noise was Grandpa's horse. Everyone clapped and yelled. The cowboy got on Jerry and they opened the chute, Jerry made a giant leap into the air and when he came down he just lay down in the middle of the arena. There was a stunned silence and then everyone started to laugh and laugh. The cowboy was trying to pull his leg out from under Jerry but Jerry didn't move. Grandpa walked out there with his bridle in his hand He put the bridle on Jerry and slapped him on the rump and Jerry got up. The arena officials gave Grandpa one silver dollar for giving everyone a good laugh. Only Grandpa wasn't laughing. We stopped laughing, too.