by Paula Boer
He ruffled the dog’s ears then crossed to the feed shed. He filled a few small sacks with oats and took them out to the horses.
“Not for you guys.” He loaded two bags onto Snip and another two behind Ned’s saddle.
Louise arrived as Ben finished fastening the bags to the D-rings on the saddle with pieces of baling twine. “What are you up to?”
“Remember I promised to give Harry some oats for his mule? The brumbies have eaten a lot of the hay he’d cut for winter. I don’t suppose he can buy hard feed, so it seems a fair swap.”
“He told me he’s only got a hand scythe for cutting the meadow hay on the river flats. That must take forever.”
Ned sniffed at the bags hanging from his sides as Louise stroked his neck.
A long thick climber’s rope hung diagonally over Ben’s chest. “Can you carry a couple of rope halters while you ride? There’s no room to tie them to the saddle with all the oats.”
“Sure.” Louise threaded her head and one arm through the halters and tied the long lead ropes around her waist. “Do we need anything else?”
“Nah. We should be able to lasso the brumbies with this rope. It might take us a while to gentle them enough to lead, but once we’ve got them it should be easy.” Ben tightened Snip’s girth and mounted up. “Let’s get out of here before Dad sees us taking all this stuff. It’s a good job he stays in bed late on Sundays.”
By now the two friends knew the way to the hidden valley without having to look for landmarks. They made good time as Snip and Ned cantered along the dusty tracks. The day had barely started to get warm by the time they reached the corral at the far end of the ravine.
Ben jumped off Snip and removed his saddle and bridle. “We may as well hobble these guys and let them roam. They can graze while we work with the brumbies.”
He watched Louise as she untacked Ned and adjusted the straps around his legs. She had been careful and reticent the first time she’d hobbled Ned; now she’d become very capable of handling the horses. Her confidence pleased Ben because he knew she’d need to be determined with the young buckskin mare.
Ben patted Snip on the rump as he let him go. Ned followed the young gelding over to the wild horses in the yard. “I think these guys are more interested in checking out the other horses than grazing.”
The brumbies stood at the back of the yard near the drinking pool. They lifted their heads when Ben and Louise first approached, returning to eating the hay scattered on the ground when they didn’t detect a threat.
“Harry must’ve been here earlier. That was really cool the way he cut out the horses yesterday.” Louise leant on the rails and looked at the brumbies. “We would never have caught these without Old Harry. I’m glad I gave him that orange.”
Ben felt embarrassed when he remembered how he had behaved at the homestead when he had first met the old man. Thank goodness Louise had been nice to him.
“Yeh, well, he’ll be happy with all this feed I’ve brought for him. Maybe we should take it to his hut on the way home?”
“That’s a good idea. I’d like to see his place. I’d like to see his tame wombat too. That’d be cool.”
Ben wasn’t sure if he could find his way there again, but it seemed ungrateful to make the old guy heft sacks of oats over the hills. “I hope he didn’t struggle too much bringing all that hay.”
“I expect he used Jenny. She must make his life a lot easier.” Louise re-tied her ponytail and rested her hands on her hips. “Let’s get started with these brumbies. You’ll need to show me what to do.”
After half an hour of trying to rope the brumbies, Ben dripped in sweat. Both horses had lather on their necks and between their hind legs. They stood at the back of the yard near the pool, heads down. As soon as Ben approached, they shot off at a canter around the corral. The few trees that grew inside the enclosure made it impossible to throw the rope from a distance.
Ben felt increasingly frustrated. “This is impossible. I’m never going to get these horses.”
Louise stood outside the rail. “Do you think we could try approaching them gently rather than chasing them? Maybe if I tried they’d accept me as I haven’t been trying to rope them?”
“Feel free. I need a drink.”
Ben climbed out of the yard and grabbed a water bottle from his pack. After taking a long guzzle, he wiped his mouth on his sleeve.
“Take a halter in with you. Try and get the rope around your mare’s neck first. Don’t try with the liver chestnut, he might hurt you.”
Ben wanted the horses caught, but deep in his heart he wanted it to be him, not Louise, who succeeded. Especially with the colt.
“Okay.”
Louise entered the yard and slowly walked towards the horses. She approached the mare’s shoulder, taking one step at a time. The mare quivered but stayed still. With only another step to go, Louise paused. Ben’s colt threw up his head and trotted off. The mare followed, her nose on the stallion’s tail.
Louise’s small success impressed Ben. “Try again. You were so close.”
For the next fifteen minutes, Louise carefully approached the mare. Every time she reached within a couple of steps, the horses moved off. “This is crazy. I can’t get that final step.”
“Try with the big rope. Maybe you can throw it over her head when you’re that near.” Ben passed the lasso through the rails to Louise. “You’d better wear these gloves else the rope will burn your hands if she pulls away.”
Ben gave Louise his pigskin riggers gloves. Although they were too big for her hands, he didn’t want her to lose any skin.
Louise tentatively walked towards the buckskin mare who stood behind a slender wattle. As Louise went one side of the tree, the mare went the other. If Louise changed direction, so did the mare.
“Throw it! Stop dithering around.”
Ben itched to be the one in the yard, but the horses hadn’t let him anywhere near as close as Louise could creep. He wished she’d get on with it and catch one of the brumbies.
The mare stopped playing hide-and-seek and stood side-on to Louise. With a quick thrust of her arms, Louise sent the noose sailing towards the mare’s head. Taken by surprise, the mare bolted past Louise, kicking up her heels.
It all happened so fast Ben didn’t know what had occurred. One minute Louise was throwing the rope, the next she was on the ground.
“Are you alright?” Ben clambered through the rails and ran across to where Louise lay.
“My leg. She kicked me on the thigh.” Louise could barely speak. “I’ll be okay. Sorry I missed her.”
“Never mind that, silly. Do you think it’s broken?”
Ben crouched beside Louise but didn’t dare touch her leg. Cross with himself for letting her try to rope the brumby, he felt at a loss as to what to do.
Louise sat up, looking very pale. “No. I’m okay. A bit shaken, that’s all.”
Ben gave her a hand and helped her to her feet. “Come on, let’s take a break.”
“I think I’ll have a huge bruise.” Louise hobbled over to their lunch tree using Ben’s arm for support. “I’d better not wear shorts for a while else my mum’ll see. Then she’ll never let me come riding with you again.”
Ben thought Louise looked near to tears. Maybe it was the shock? He wished he’d never had the idea to catch brumbies in the school holidays. He could be down at the lake fishing and swimming with Snifter. Or racing on his mate’s trail bike. Girls!
Then he looked into the yard and saw the liver chestnut colt standing proud, his neck arched, staring at them with large intelligent eyes. No, he really wanted to catch this horse. It wasn’t Louise’s fault.
Munching on a muesli bar, Ben had a thought. “Maybe if I ride one of our horses, I could get close enough to rope the brumbies? They might not be so frightened of me if I’m on another horse.�
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“That’s a great idea.” The colour had returned to Louise’s face as she sat with her leg propped up on a log.
“You take it easy while I tack up Ned. I’d better ride him ’cause he’s more experienced. I don’t think Snip is ready for rope work yet.” Ben strode over to where the domesticated horses grazed.
He caught Ned and led him back to where Louise rested in the shade. “I’ll use my stock saddle on him, even though it’s a bit big. The one you use doesn’t have high enough knee rolls for roping.”
Louise stood and gingerly touched her foot to the ground. “I’ll hold him for you while you get the gear.”
Ben tacked up Ned. “This girth is a bit long, but the one on your saddle only has a single buckle so it won’t fit.”
He sprung onto Ned’s back and pushed his feet into the stirrups. “He feels so wide compared to Snip. Can you hold open the rail for me so he doesn’t have to push into the yard?”
“Sure.” Louise limped across to the one-way gate, standing aside to let Ben and Ned through. “Good luck.”
Ben rode towards the wild horses. He trotted alongside them as they moved off. The brumbies settled into a steady loop around the yard, not trying to get away from Ned but not standing still either. After a couple of laps, Ben freed the rope from his shoulder and circled it above his head. Clods of earth flew up from the horses’ hooves.
As the three horses came out into an area with no trees, Ben threw the rope in a practised swing. The loop opened and sailed above the colt’s head, dropping into place.
Success!
Ben almost whooped for joy. Before he could say a thing, the liver chestnut bolted. The rope tightened around his neck and went taut in Ben’s hand. Ben held on tight and urged Ned to follow. The two horses cantered around the corral linked together by the rope. Ben tried to reel in the long length but couldn’t get a tight enough hold. Dropping his reins on Ned’s neck, he grabbed the rope with both hands and pulled. Ben’s saddle slipped to Ned’s side.
Crash! With a hard jolt, Ben hit the ground. He let go of the rope to prevent being dragged by the wild horse. Ned still cantered behind the brumbies, excited by the chase. The right hand stirrup dragged on the ground. Each time it bumped on a rock or tree, Ned burst ahead.
Furious with himself, Ben stood and dusted himself off. He hadn’t been able to keep hold of the rope. He flicked his hand at the flies that buzzed around his head and watched as the young stallion bucked like a rodeo horse. As the colt ducked his head between his knees, the rope slid over his ears.
Ben punched at the railing and kicked at the dirt with his boot before retrieving the lasso that snaked in the dirt.
He called to Ned. “Steady, boy. Hold there.”
He walked in front of the charging horses and held up both hands.
The liver chestnut shot past, foam flying from his mouth. His dark coat dripped, slick with sweat. His hooves thundered a tattoo as he pounded around the yard. The mare followed at a distance. Ned saw Ben and propped, stopping in front of him.
Louise waited until Ben had caught Ned. “Are you okay?”
“Yeh. I should’ve used your girth. Now we’ll never get these horses.” He resaddled Ned and led him out of the yard.
Ben slumped under the tree. “We’ll have to come back tomorrow and try something else.”
The expression on Louise’s face said more than her words. “I can’t. It’s school on Tuesday. I won’t be allowed to come tomorrow because I promised Mum I’d do the housework in return for being allowed to ride.”
Tears started to run down her face. “We won’t have to let them go, will we?”
Chapter 15
Two long mouse-grey ears waggled into sight between the trees across from where Louise and Ben sat having lunch. Louise watched the emergence of a mule laden with a mountain of hay loosely bound onto her back. Old Harry walked alongside her, his whiskers wobbling like the hay. Brushing the tears from her face, Louise jumped up. She didn’t want the old man to see her so miserable. She dreaded telling him that, despite all his help, they would have to let the brumbies go.
“Having a break, are ya?” Old Harry tied Jenny to a low-hanging branch.
Ben waved from where he sat under the lunch tree. “Come and join us. We’re trying to work out what to do. We can’t catch the brumbies.”
Old Harry waddled on crooked legs to where Ben sat. Crouching down, he accepted a pear from Louise.
“I can see they’re all sweaty. Been chasin’ them, have ya?”
Louise resumed her spot leaning against the trunk of the gum. “We’ve tried everything. Ben’s tried the lasso from the ground and from Ned, and I tried sneaking up quietly. Even when Ben caught the colt he couldn’t hold him. It’s hopeless.”
The tears won and she cried into her hands. “We’ll have to let them go.”
“Nonsense. You need a smaller yard.”
He took a large bite of pear. Juice ran down his whiskers.
“Finish your lunch, then we’ll have a go together.”
Another chance! Louise perked up immediately. Of course the yard was too big. Why hadn’t they realised that?
“So if we make a smaller yard, will we be able to rope them?”
Harry looked from Louise to Ben and back, then across to the wild horses standing peacefully in the yard. “Nope. We’ll separate ’em, then get ’em to walk right up to yer.”
Ben’s face lit up. “You mean join up? I’ve heard of that but never seen it done. Can you teach us that?”
Louise had read about the technique too. “That will be so cool.”
She remembered the morning’s efforts and accidents. “Do you think we can actually do that?”
No longer hungry, Ben and Louise packed up what remained of their lunch. They worked under Old Harry’s supervision to build a smaller yard in the corner of the large one. Louise made use of the trees that had been such a nuisance earlier by looping the lasso around the trunks to make a barrier. Harry and Ben lashed dead timber in the narrower gaps. When they had finished, they had a small circular area about the size of Ben’s round yard.
“You both get behind them and drive them over here. I’ll let one in and keep the other out.” Old Harry stood at the entrance to the smaller circle holding a long log propped in the fork of a tree. “Once he’s in, I’ll jam this wood in that other tree. Off you go.”
Louise circled in the opposite direction to Ben. As they walked slowly behind the horses, the brumbies trotted across the yard to the far corner. True to his word, Old Harry manoeuvred so that the colt went inside the small yard, leaving the mare outside.
“Awesome! You made that look so easy.” Ben collected a halter and lead rope and went across to the small enclosure. “Now what do I do? He’s going to be my horse so I’ll go first.”
Old Harry nodded. “And a fine horse he is. Go in and stand in the centre. Look him in the eye and keep him moving round you. Don’t let him stop. Wave your arms if you have to, but keep him goin’.”
Ben did as suggested. It didn’t take much movement to get the colt skittering around the outside of the yard. The buckskin mare raced off to the far side of the big yard and watched. The two hobbled horses stopped grazing to watch the liver chestnut colt circling Ben.
“Now what do I do?”
“You keep him going. Don’t let him stop till I tell ya. We want ’im to ask to stop. When he lowers his ’ead to the ground and starts chewing, we’ll know we’re getting close.”
It took another twenty minutes before the colt started to lower his head. Every time he looked like dropping back to a walk, Ben approached and geed him up. Louise couldn’t see how this was helping at all. They were supposed to be catching the horse weren’t they?
“Are you trying to make him tired?”
“Nope. We’re showing ’im w
ho’s boss. Like the boss mare of a herd does. They don’t let the youngsters into the group until they show respect. This boy is too cocky. He needs to know we’re higher up the herd order than ’im.”
Old Harry seemed to know what he was talking about. The horse responded exactly as he said it would.
The liver chestnut trotted with his nose to the ground, blowing heavily. His mouth worked as he chewed on nothing. Louise could see that the look in his eye had changed from defiant to soft and willing. “What happens now?”
After listening to Old Harry’s instructions, Ben ceased chasing the colt. He turned slightly away from him, keeping his shoulder to the horse as it continued to go round the enclosure. He stopped looking at the horse’s eye, and lowered his head. Ben kept as still as possible except for revolving on his feet to keep facing away from the colt.
No longer being driven, the young horse came down to a walk, then a halt. He stood on the outside of the circle. Ben didn’t move. One step at a time, the young stallion approached Ben from behind. Louise held her breath as she watched. She didn’t dare speak. This was amazing!
The colt stood directly behind Ben. Moving very carefully, Ben pivoted to face the horse’s shoulder. He lightly touched the steaming coat at the base of the neck with the end of his rope. The colt tensed without moving away. His ears flicked forward and back. Taking great care, Ben ran the rope up the horse’s neck and over the withers.
“That’s right. Gently does it. Now try your ’and, then work toward his ’ead.”
Ben continued to play with the horse using the end of the rope. He let the rope go and ran his fingers up the colt’s neck. The young colt pushed his head into Ben’s hand for a scratch.
Louise gasped as Ben stroked the horse on the forehead. “Wow! I would never have believed it.”
Old Harry mumbled through his whiskers. “We’ve a way to go yet.”
He raised his voice. “Ben, push ’im away from you now. Chase ’im round again, then let ’im come back.”