The Palomino had always been nothing but unpredictable. He always seemed to come up with tricks Monte had never seen before. But the day before he did seem to have a favorite path running east along the south fence, up the creek bank, then spin around and run west down the fence to the willows.
Monte knew he didn’t want to try and run him anymore and decided he would just put Hawk on the road and try to rope the Palomino from there when he ran across it. At least the road had flat good footing for Hawk to stand on when the Palomino hit the end of the rope which Monte knew would be hard.
The one thing Monte had going for him is the Palomino went to the east corner first. And spooked and panicked as he was all Monte had to do was turn Hawk in his direction and he took off running to the west.
The Palomino was just going up over the bank of the road when Monte threw his loop and it settled around his neck.
Monte and Hawk both braced for impact with Monte throwing all his weight into his stirrups and leaning way back in his saddle. While Hawk almost sat down with his front legs braced in front of him because he could see what was coming when the Palomino hit the end of the rope.
The plan was once he and Hawk survived the initial impact the Palomino would fight the rope and choke himself down. Hawk would hold tension on the rope and Monte could bail off Hawk with the other end of riata and use it to tie the Palomino’s feet. Then get Hawk to take a few steps forward to loosen the loop before the Palomino choked to death.
It seemed like an excellent plan to Monte but didn’t seem to work any better than his impossible plan the day before.
Because the impact never came. The Palomino never hit the end of the rope. instead when he felt the loop stating to come tight the Palomino acted just like a roped deer and instead of running away turned around and came running back down the rope.
Which is what deer usually do if you rope one. And also the reason you might hear lots of stories about cowboys roping antelope but few if any about roping deer.
Because they don’t want to admit them and their horse nearly died in the ensuing wreck when the deer tried to go under or over the horse with a rope on it.
Monte put his heels into Hawk to try and cut the Palomino off but he got past them. He felt the loop coming tight again and spun around coming back the other way.
By that time the Palomino had actually run around Hawk which put Monte’s riata around both of Hawk’s hind legs.
And that time the rope did come tight pulled Hawk’s hind legs out from under him and all three of them went down in a kicking heap.
Well, Monte was on the ground anyway so he grabbed the second half of his riata and ran to the Palomino. The Palomino was the next one up and then Hawk managed to get his feet under him and get up.
Even with a wreck like that good old Hawk stood his ground keeping the loop tight and with Monte running towards the Palomino he kept fighting and trying to back up. And finally choked down to the ground.
What happened next had to happen in seconds before the Palomino choked to death or suffered brain damage from lack of oxygen. Monte took all the riata he had and threw a figure eight around the Palomino’s front feet and a clove hitch on top of it to make sure it held.
Monte tried to throw a couple wraps around the Palomino’s hind foot. He got one which wouldn’t work to hold him. But the Palomino still had enough breath and fight in him to reach up and kick Monte on the side of the head. Knocking him off the shoulder and close enough for the Palomino to reach up and bite him.
And I won’t bother to say hard because a horse’s jaws are configured in such a way once they go closed past a certain point the horse can’t open its mouth again until its teeth come together. Or as close as the Palomino’s could still having a chunk of Monet’s hide between them.
Monte got Hawk to take another step or two back to tighten the loop again. That cut off all his air and the Palomino went limp again.
Then Monte got his two wraps around the Palomino’s fetlock and used them to jack the Palomino’s hind leg up far enough to tie it off. Monte had him then and got Hawk to step forward to loosen the loop to give him some air.
Hawk was just one hell of a good horse and Monte was very glad he had stolen … I mean appropriated Hawk for this mission.
But Hawk wasn’t always that great of a horse. Ted had never trained Hawk to be “ground tied.” Which is a horse that you don’t even have to tie up. Just get off them and drop the bridle reins on the ground and they stay right there. Ted had a few long walks in cowboy boots from accidentally dropping Hawk’s reins and he ran back to the barn.
Monte knew he needed to get to Hawk in a hurry before he did anything else. He had what amounted to two ropes coming off him which had to be confusing. And Hawk could get upset sometimes.
The Palomino had landed with most of him off the road and just his head and neck on the road bank. Monte had also noticed when he ran to the Palomino Hawk had gotten a piece of him when they went down. Hawk had landed with a lot of weight on Monte’s ankle and the hard road bed under it.
Monte knew (or hoped) it wasn’t broken but it hurt like hell to put any weight on it. And then he almost had to second guess that diagnosis when he tried to go up the short but steep road bank and his ankle gave out on him.
Monte scrambled the rest of the way up the bank on all fours (both hands and both feet.) He noticed blood dripping on his arm and hand in that process and figured it was coming from either his nose or ear where the Palomino had kicked him. It turned out to be both.
And now you will just have to indulge me because the only reason I am going totell you horses talk to humans is because I honestly believe they do.
They do it in what Native Americans call “speaking in silence.” The two or more brains just connect and you carry on a complete conversation without saying a word. It is actually a very real thing and I have done it myself.
Horses do it with their faces. Especially using their eyes, ears. and nostrils. And of course body language.
And when Monte could stand up again Hawk was saying “Jesus Christ, Monte. What the fuck was that? I might just quit you over that two rope stunt and run back to the barn dragging that crazy horse with me.”
Monte was very understanding and apologetic trying to approach Hawk. Saying he was right that was a little unorthodox.
And Hawk was threatening to take a step or two back tightening the loop on the Palomino’s neck. Saying; “A little unorthodox my ass. Listen Monte I’ve been a horse all my life and have never seen any shit like that.“
And Monte agreed even adding probably no one had. At least Monte had never tried anything like that or seen anyone else do it. Hawk seemed to accept the apology and confession enough for Monte to get to him and grab the bridle reins.
Once Monte had Hawk recaptured he slipped the slack to the clove hitch around his saddle horn and just let is riata rest over Hawk’s neck.
Then Monte tied Hawk to the fence and went to the back of his saddle where he had a halter with an extra rope tied up.
It was actually when Monte had to reach up that high with his left arm that he wasn’t sure he could do it. The bite on his upper left arm was worse than he thought. Not just skin but some muscle too.
He could still make it reach high enough to untie the saddle strings but he had to take a second run at it and kind of throw his arm up to do it. His arm was stiffing up pretty fast.
Meanwhile on the other end of the rope or ropes as the case may be the Palomino had come to and never stopped fighting for a fraction second with his whole body.
And again it seemed like more than Monte had ever seen. Any other horse would have realized with its legs tied like that getting up was hopeless and stopped fighting it. But not that Palomino. He didn’t even look tired.
Monte was talking soft and slow to the Palomino both mentally and verbally as he approached him. Monte eased up on him right in front of his head so the Palomino could see him. Monte was moving slower and talking softer to the Palomino than his injuries required so as not to spook him. But also partly because he was in so much pain.
Once Monte got to the Palomino’s head he knelt down on the ground so the Palomino could see him and touched hm for the first time in a non-combat situation. And even if Monte would never admit it there was an instant connection.
Before Monte even tried to put the halter on him he petted the Palomino’s face and ears and his muzzle and nostrils so he could get his scent. Monte moved to pet his neck and shoulders talking softly to him all the while.
“Easy boy. Settle down. I won’t hurt you. I’m here to help. Easy now woah.” And Monte had to just keep repeating things like that because every time he moved his hand and touched the Palomino in a new place he would tense up and struggle.
Even Monte probably had no idea how long he sweet talked and petted the Palomino before he finally stopped struggling and would just let Monte pet him. But when the Palomino did finally relax Monte tried to slip the halter on his head and the fight was on again.
It wasn’t much of a fight all tied up like that but the Palomino sure didn’t like it. Once Monte had the halter on he tied the rope off to the bottom of a metal fence post he figured would be enough to hold him if he fought it when Monte let the Palomino back up because he’d have to take the whole fence with him.
Then Monte very gingerly, because he had lots of places hurting, stepped over the Palomino to get the hobble off him. It was the first time he got a close look at it and Monte thought he didn’t tell much of a lie. It’s a wonder the hobble hadn’t crippledthe Palomino beyond hope.
The hobble was loose enough where it went around the Palomino’s hoof that it could sort of bounce maybe a foot up and down its leg. That kept if from eating away on him in just one place. Which would have cripped and eventually killed him.
But spreading it out wasn’t much better. The Palomino didn’t have even one hair were the hobble moved up and down. His hide was sort of calloused on the leg but there were a couple places with blood and pus on the fetlock. Those could have gone to lethal infections very quickly.
But what Monte could not get over is how much pain that horse had to be in every time it even took a step. Let alone run the range like it did. Monte had never seen that much toughness in a horse.
Monte knew it would be kind of challenge to get the hobble off the Palomino tied like he was with it’s right leg on the bottom. And the Palomino would start struggling again every time Monte even touched it.
But the “challenge” almost instantly turned into no possible way. The buckle was all bent and rusted and he couldn’t even get it to budge.
It turned out to be Monte’s turn to hobble his way back up the bank to Hawk to get his fencing tool out of his saddle bag. And only then noticed Hawk also had some cuts on him. They were right on Hawk’s hip where he had met the road with little rocks on it when they went down.
The cuts weren’t real bad ones. There were only two of them an inch or two long that resembled claw marks. Like maybe a two-toed coyote had scratched him. But deep enough to draw blood and Ted’s attention if he saw him in the next couple weeks before they could heal.
Ted was always very proud of Hawk’s flawless coat and he would notice that. Monet decided he would worry about that later.
Monte got his fencing tool out of his saddle bag that looks like a pair of really long plyers with a hammer on one end and a metal horn on the other. But they are actually more like a half dozen different tools that can be used for anything needed to build a fence or pull one down.
And once Monte got back down to the Palomino and tore into the hobble he needed every tool he had. He hammered on the buckle to try and loosen it up. Used the horn end to try and get the prong to move. Tried his staple puller on the prong and buckle. And his wire cutters to try and just cut the buckle which were so close but still too small. Nothing worked and every time he switched tools the Palomino would start struggling again
Monte gave up and pulled his knife to try and cut the hobble off. Risky business with a struggling horse. But he only cut into the top inch or so before he ran into a wire cable. Which turned out to be two little wire cables that ran through the hobble for extra strength. Monte had to skin the hobble down to get to the wires and then use the wire cutters on his fencing tool to cut them.
Then once Monte got the hobble off he needed to take a little break. He had been running on adrenaline for about an hour which can keep you from feeling pain or fatigue. But he could feel both then as well as the heat of the day coming.
Monte sat there just kind of flipping the hobble around in his hands for a few minutes thinking it was just too bad the Sheath foreman or one of the owners didn’t show up about then. Because Monte was pretty sure he could still muster enough adrenaline to beat one or more of them into the ground with that damned hobble.
