Last night at the rodeo, I waited anxiously for one of my favorite events: The Chuckwagon Race. I picked out the Kroger Chuckwagon to win it all. My eyes followed that wagon closely as it made it around the bend, when suddenly...WHAMO! BANG! CRASH!
The wagon had a wreck. One of the horses had gotten tangled somehow and the horses started tumbling. Wheels on the wagon were bent, and several cowboys appeared on the scene rushing to help out.
The announcer kept repeating, "Folks, no need to be alarmed. We have lots of professional veterarians here that know just how to handle this."
One additional cowgirl almost got wiped out by one of the two remaining chuckwagons still tearing around the course as she ran across the dirt to be one of the horse heroes.
It was a scary time. I kept imagining what might have to be done. I remembered the episode of Little House on the Prairie that made me cry (alright, every episode made me cry!) when Laura's horse, Bunny, had to be shot.
I wondered if the announcer would say, "Folks, we're gonna have to dim the lights a bit, and you might wanna cover your ears, cause the Ol' Yeller horse ain't gonna make it. We'd like to thank you all for coming out tonight, and every person here will get a commemorative Rodeo cup for your troubles."
By a miracle, the horse stood up. The announcer thanked the audience for saying a little prayer for the horse. I felt a bit guilty for not saying a prayer, but felt better when I found out my friend didn't either. We don't believe in horse prayers.
Today, my co-worker who owns a ranch told me that if the horse had a broken leg, the vet would have to kill it right there. She said that a tent would have been brought out into the ring as a "cover-up." Most people wouldn't know what was going on, but those in the horse business would know. And now we all know.
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