Half a Saddle Off

Description

Meghan Callahan never wanted to learn to ride English. She had loved riding Western and helping on cattle drives when she lived in Colorado. But Dad’s job has taken the family to Nevada, where her new instructor, Jeannie, insists she learn to ride one of those “wussy” (as the kids on the high school rodeo team call it) English saddles.

Riding English on her reining horse, Freckles, proves to be more physically challenging and emotionally rewarding than Meghan ever dreamed. To her surprise, her new skills deepen her bond with her horse, with Jeannie, and with her riding buddy Autumn Rose, a Navajo girl who helps Meghan regain her balance when chaotic emotions begin to overwhelm her.

During the summer before her freshman year, Meghan discovers the thrill of jumping, competes in horse shows, and learns the fundamentals of barrel racing. When Jeannie is hurt in an accident, Meghan’s newfound self-confidence enables her to help Jeannie fulfill her obligations to clients as Meghan and Autumn Rose become assistant trainers, working with the clients’ horses every day. Best summer job ever!

About the Author

My stories are largely based on my own and/or my riding students’ experiences.
Throughout my entire life I’ve been blessed to learn from top horsemen and horsewomen in various fields, including reining, jumping, colt-starting, three-day eventing, and timed events. There are some things that seem to be common across all the disciplines:

• • • • • • • • The more you learn, the more you will realize you need to learn.
              • The goal is to develop your horse into your partner. Listen to him/her and always communicate in a way that the horse can understand. A scared or upset horse (or student) cannot learn.
              • Individuals learn differently, and if the method you’re using is upsetting your horse or student, it’s on you to figure out a way to make things clear to them.
              • Along with fair, clear communication, there must also be time for the horse and student to think and understand.

Learning is, indeed, a lifelong commitment, and I continue to learn as I continue to teach and to write.

• When some bull riders started ragging my husband (actually, fiancé in those days) and me about our “sissy English saddles,” we stepped off our horses, walked over to their mechanical bucking bull, then rode it, each of us for the full eight seconds. The guys were a good deal more respectful after that.