Chapter Fifteen: Old Thomas's Riding Lesson

  The next day, when he woke up at six o'clock, he hurriedly washed and dressed, put on his boots, wore a cowboy hat, changed into a plaid shirt, and replaced the buckle on his waist with a shiny one given by the horse equipment store. He looked in the mirror for a while, then made several gun-drawing movements, feeling that he really had some cowboy flair.

  He boasted a few words in front of the handsome guy in the mirror and then rushed downstairs.

  Arriving at the stable, Nancy and Wyatt were already grooming the horses. Ju An felt embarrassed and greeted them awkwardly, then Nancy taught Ju An how to groom the horse.

  Nanshe held a chestnut mare, picked up a brush: "First use the hard-bristled brush to brush in circles, pay attention to brush off the dirt and dirty things on the horse's hair, need to use some force, but not too much force, watch me demonstrate."

  Living a life of ease and comfort is not an easy thing.

  "Relax, BOSS, you're too stiff. Yeah, that's it, just do a few more and you'll be fine. Brushing two horses like this will make sure you can't lift your arms tomorrow." Nancy said with a smile, looking at the rigid body of Ju An.

  "After brushing with a hard-bristled brush, use a soft-bristled brush next. When brushing the horse's face, you must not use a hard-bristled brush, but a soft-bristled one." Nancy continued to demonstrate.

  Standing aside like a little student, nodding from time to time, with a serious face.

  Under Nancy's guidance, I finished brushing a horse, and then Nancy gave me another young green horse to brush.

  A stiff-bristled brush, a soft-bristled brush. Nancy's previous tips kept murmuring in her mind as she stood there, one hand on the horse's neck and the other holding the brush, brushing away.

  I feel a slight itch on my back, I turn around and see the big green horse staring at me with its big eyes, then it gently rubs its head against my back, its eyes shining with affection. In an instant, all the soreness in my body disappears. I turn around and lightly hug the big green horse's neck, patting it gently with my palm, and can even feel the warm air from its nostrils on my back.

  "Boss, it likes you." Before he knew it, Nancy was already by his side.

  Ju An looked at Nancy with an apologetic expression and scratched his head: "Sorry".

  "It's nothing, actually working on a ranch is hard labor and the pay isn't high, but I'm willing to work on a horse farm just so I can be with these big guys." Nancy gently stroked the nose of the large bay horse: "I'm willing to ride it, look into its eyes, all the exhaustion is worth it. You treat it well, it feels it and will repay you, just like how it lightly rubbed against your back just now, that's its way of repaying you."

  Ju An looked at Nancy and said thank you, then continued brushing.

  When Da Qing Ma finished brushing, Nancy and Wayne had already brushed all the remaining horses.

  At this time Old Thomas had already inspected a circle of cattle and sheep and walked into the horse stable.

  "Alright, let's go to the training grounds and see your riding skills. We'll use it today." Thomas led a chestnut mare with a white star on her forehead: "I picked this one out early this morning. I just gave it a name - Jefferson, how is that?"

  "Not bad name" Jefferson nodded and followed Thomas to the stable door.

  "Come and saddle it," Thomas patted the horse's back and said to Ju An.

  An took the sweat pad from the rack and put it on the horse's back.

  "Alright, the saddle pad should be a bit more forward, otherwise it will be difficult to adjust later. The saddle should also be moved forward a bit, as it's harder to pull it forward afterwards." Thomas pulled the saddle pad forward and instructed.

  When Gu An threw the saddle onto the horse's back, Old Thomas praised him: "The action of throwing the saddle is fine."

  Quater is much taller than Mongolian horse, fortunately, it's about 1.7 or 1.8 meters high, otherwise, it wouldn't be easy to put the saddle on a 1.6-meter-high horse back.

  Then, according to procedure, he tightened the front belly band, and throughout the process Old Thomas pointed out some small tricks.

  Leading Jefferson to the training ground, Ju An was about to get on when he was stopped by Old Thomas: "An, Jefferson hasn't kept his balance yet. This way, his front legs need to take a small half-step forward. That's right, just like that." Thomas lightly poked Jefferson's belly with his hand, and Jefferson's left front leg took a small step forward.

  "Alright, now it's ready, remember balance is always important no matter what." Thomas said seriously.

  Just as Gu An was about to put his foot on the stirrup, Thomas demonstrated and said, "When mounting a horse, don't put your whole foot in, just put the front of your foot in, so that if the horse is suddenly startled, you can pull it out. If you put your whole foot in, it's easy to get dragged along by the horse, which is dangerous. When dismounting, do it the same way. These are small details, but sometimes they can save your life."

  As soon as I got on the horse, with a gentle tap on its belly, I immediately felt what it's like to ride a well-trained ranch horse.

  With a slight movement, Jefferson already felt it and slowly started walking on the sandy ground.

  "Keep your body straight, calm and relaxed. The horse can feel your tension, if you're tense the horse will be tense too. Pay attention to give commands firmly to let your horse feel." Thomas said as he followed a few steps behind.

  Sit up straight and still, as Old Thomas had required. She sat up straight, but her movements were a bit stiff.

  "Alright, let's run," Thomas said.

  He lightly shook the reins, clamped his legs on the horse's belly, and Jefferson started to trot. Meanwhile, Ju An sat straight up in the saddle, yes, Ju An couldn't be considered riding a horse at this point, but rather squatting on it, looking like a giant stride.

  "Relax, relax, steady, follow the rhythm of the horse's hooves, move with its rhythm, it saves energy, pay attention to the strength of your waist and legs." Thomas shouted out loud, noticing Ju An's tension.

  Slowly feeling Jefferson's rhythm, relaxing the body, following its beat, and gently swaying on horseback. Although still a bit stiff, the key has already been grasped.

  Thomas praised him for two sentences, and Ju An's mood also became more relaxed.

  Riding on Jefferson's back, I couldn't help but admire the horse trainer's skills. The horse didn't show any signs of resisting the reins at all.

  He ran around the training ground for a few laps and then, at Thomas' request, did a few backflips.

  After dismounting, Thomas walked over to Ju'an and said: "Generally speaking, it's not bad, but if you want to work on the ranch, this is still far from enough. You can practice for a few more days."

  "When riding a horse, you must make sure the horse feels your presence and doesn't bully you. Each horse has its own temperament and personality. Your attitude while riding should be firm, and the commands you give to the horse should be clear. At the same time, pay attention to your surroundings, as even a piece of torn cloth can startle the horse. Additionally, when running alongside other horses, don't get too close, as horses have a herd mentality. Some horses don't like others to run ahead of them and may not have the ability to catch up, which can lead to kicking or biting, making it easy for people to get hurt." Thomas continued.

  Taking the reins from Ju An, Thomas mounted his horse and began to trot slowly. Ju An observed that Thomas's body remained upright throughout, and his light steps were very natural. Then Thomas made several lateral and backward movements for Ju An to observe.

  It feels like having a private coach at home, but Old Thomas's standard is much higher than that of the coaches in China. The coaches in China just roughly teach you how to get on the horseback and then give you a horse to teach you how to ride, probably also related to being shy about being taught by Li Jin.

  Taking over the reins handed over by Thomas, Ju An rode the horse repeatedly. Meanwhile, Thomas went to take care of the cattle.

  For a whole week, Juan has been taking care of the chestnut Friesian horse he bought from Anping, as well as Snowflake, the green horse, cleaning their stalls and brushing them. The rest of the horses are taken care of by Nancy and Wayne. The water for the horses is the pond water with additives added by Juan. Of course, due to favoritism, Doucao and Snowflake drink directly from the pond water.

  He spent the whole day on horseback, during which Thomas also taught him to control the horse without reins, and then set up a small wooden frame in the shape of a calf on the ground for him to practice roping. First, he practiced on the ground until he got it right, and then he practiced on horseback. The accompanying horse was changed from Jefferson to Snowflake, while Jefferson became Old Thomas's exclusive mount.

  Wayne chose a sorrel Quarter Horse with a flaxen mane and tail, which he named Halene. Nancy chose the only palomino Quarter Horse, naming him Black Caviar.

  Throughout the contact, Xuehua also gradually adapted to Ju'an's movements and could basically control Xuehua to walk, run, retreat, etc. without a bridle. With just a command, Xuehua could understand and firmly execute it.

  Later, as he practiced, Jian'an felt more and more at ease, and Xuehua also became more cooperative. At times, it even seemed to Jian'an that he was about to reach the pinnacle of martial arts, where his sword and self were one.

  It wasn't until one day when Nancy was practicing barrel racing that Ju An realized how far behind she was. Nancy and her black horse were flying around the three iron barrels with a butterfly-like movement, leaving Ju An in awe. Especially the high-speed turns on the spot, which made Ju An extremely envious.

  He secretly despised his own self-aggrandizement for a moment, introspected deeply in his heart for one-third of a second, and then buried his head in practice again.

  In the meantime, Huen and Nancy took a two-day rest, during which Old Thomas and Kuan were in charge of driving the cattle. The first time Kuan drove the cattle, he was flurried, until Old Thomas repeated several times to lead, before slowly driving out a small shape.

  Actually, the big cow is quite honest and doesn't have any bad habits. It's just that the little calves will run around restlessly, making it difficult to keep them calm. The task of herding is to outsmart these little guys and block their path so they'll obediently return to the herd.

  After arriving at the pasture, Thomas demonstrated another calf roping and tying. When the lasso flew out to rope the calf's neck, Thomas flipped off his horse, while Jefferson immediately stood in place, holding onto the calf. In almost the blink of an eye, Old Thomas had tied up three legs of the calf. The coordination between man and horse was simply perfect.

  After practicing several times, Ju An finally got the little cow tied up, and it took a lot of effort from Old Fei. Fortunately, Snowflake was a well-trained Quarter Horse, and even though its rider fell off, it didn't run away.

  Then Thomas taught how to tame a horse, that is, how to make the horse adapt to the saddle, just in time for Ju An to prepare to train Dou Cao personally.