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John nodded. “Every cowboy needs a hat.” Helooked at Aaron. “Are you ready to mount up?”
“Yes, sir.”
John picked him up and set him in the saddle. “Okay, hold on tight to that saddle horn.” Aaron nodded and John began leading Ebony toward the training pen. “We’ll go into the pen and see what this horse can do.”
They arrived at the pen, and John took the horse inside while Ember and Scott stayed outside and leaned on the fence railing. Scott called out. “Hang on, kid.”
John led Ebony with the lead line and circled the pen a few times, then brought the horse to the middle of it and stopped her. He looked at Aaron.
“Okay. You want to make her go?” Aaron nodded. “Okay, can you do this?” He made a clicking sound out of the side of his mouth, and Aaron tried to repeat it. “Good. Now. We’re going to do that, and at the same time, I want you to give her a little nudge with your heels. Not too hard. We don’t want to hurt her. We just need to let her know what we want. Are you ready?”
Aaron nodded, then clicked and tapped Ebony’s sides. John clicked at the same time, which is what Ebony responded to, and she started walking.
Aaron giggled. “I did it.”
“You sure did.” John kept the horse moving. “Now, you know what the magical word is to make a horse stop, right?” Aaron nodded. “Okay,whenever you’re ready, say the word.”
Aaron said, “Whoa,” and Ebony stopped walking.
“There you go. Good job.” John went beside Aaron and lowered his voice. “Want to show your dad and Aunt Ember something really cool?”
Aaron nodded. “Yeah.”
“Okay.” They were at one side of the pen. “We’re going to walk to the other side. But if you want her to turn to the right, nudge her with that foot. If you want her to turn the other way, nudge her with your left foot. We’ll just wander down to the other end of the pen.”
They started walking and Ebony veered to the right when Aaron signal for her to. Then he had her turn to the left. They made their way slowly across the pen, weaving back and forth until they got to the far fence.
John looked at Aaron. “I think you made poor Ebony dizzy. And it seems we’re at a dead end. How are we going to get out of this predicament?” Aaron shrugged. “We’re going to click again, but this time we’re going to say back it up, girl. Got it?” Aaron nodded again. “Okay, here we go.”
Aaron clicked and said, “Back it up, girl, while John gave the horse a little encouragement by tapping on her chest.
“Come on, girl. Back up.”
Ebony took several steps back, and Scott andEmber clapped.
John looked at them. “I think you’ve got yourself a cowboy here, Scott.”
When Everett rode up on Sugar, he dismounted and walked over to Ember and Scott. Ember smiled at him as he approached. “John and Aaron have been giving us quite a show.”
“He’s really good with the kids. And he knows more about horses than I’ll ever know. I thought I was pretty knowledgeable until I met John.”
John walked Ebony to the fence. “I think this dude needs to see what it feels like to get a little speed going.”
Everett smiled. “Do you need to borrow Sugar?”
“If you don’t mind.”
Everett held up the reins and John lifted Aaron down from Ebony. “Okay, Aaron. Do you want to go a little faster?” Aaron nodded, and John looked at Scott. “Can you help Aaron up once I get in the saddle?”
“Of course.”
John mounted Sugar, then Scott lifted him, and put him in front of John. “Okay, hold on.” John took Sugar into the pen, then started walking her around the edge. “Are you ready to make her go?” Aaron nodded, and they both clicked as John urged Sugar into a trot.
Aaron laughed as they bounced by Ember,Scott, and Everett.
Everett called out. “Smooth that ride out, John.”
John clicked again and Sugar moved into a lope. They circled the pen several times, and Ember couldn’t get enough of how cute the whole thing was. When they slowed down, then stopped in front of her, she clapped.
