By Chance: Day 10

Word Count: 60,133

Summary of Events:

Steele continued to supervise kids as they groomed horses, as well as answering their questions about rodeo, horses, cattle, and anything else they asked him about. He also went to another physiotherapy appointment where the physiotherapist was encouraged by his progress, but refused to suggest he might get on a horse — much less compete in a rodeo — any sooner than had originally been suggested. After the appointment Steele supervised another group which included a girl who didn't seem to like him…

Excerpt of the Day:

There were five kids who lingered, among them being the girl who’d looked rather indignant, and two of the awestruck boys, who immediately came over to Steele.

“You’re a real rodeo cowboy?” one of them asked.

“I am,” Steele replied.

“Are you?” the indignant girl asked with sharp scepticism.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Steele asked.

“Do you ride bulls?” she asked.

“No,” Steele replied.

“Then you’re not,” she snapped.

“Why not?” Steele asked.

“Real cowboys ride bucking bulls,” she replied saucily. “My father is a real cowboy.”
“There would be a lot less cowboys in the world if cowboy were defined that way,” Steele replied. “As I can assure you the majority of people who are identified as cowboys do not, in fact, ride bulls.”

“They’ve just appropriated the term to make people think they’re cool,” she snapped.

Steele felt annoyance rise within him, but he forced it to stay there and just shook his head. He doubted there was really going to be any effective way to argue with her, so there was no sense wasting his breath.

“What do you do at rodeos if you don’t ride bulls?” one of the boys asked.

“Do you rope them to keep them from goring the cowboys?” the other asked.

“No,” Steele replied. “I compete in tie-down roping.”

“You rope to trucks?” the first boy asked.

“What?” Steele asked.

“Well, you tie down loads on trucks, so you use a rope to tie the bull to the truck so you can take it somewhere,” the boy replied.

“No,” Steele replied. “Tie-down roping is where you rope a calf, then lay it down and tie three of its legs together, and whoever does it the fastest wins.”

“What are calves?” the other boy asked.

“Baby bulls, and baby cows,” Steele replied.

“See, you’re not a real cowboy if you’re only roping babies!” the girl snapped.

“But why do you rope the babies?” one of the other girls asked, looking horrified.

“Because, just like human babies, they need to get vaccinations to protect them against diseases,” Steele replied. “Unlike human babies, however, baby cattle can be up and running alongside their mother within hours of being born, so we need to tie them up so we can give them their shots.”

“Oh,” the girl said. “Does it hurt them?”

“No, they’re pretty hardy,” Steele replied. “And we always make sure the rodeo arena’s dirt isn’t packed down, so they’re not landing on a hard surface either.”

“Do you vaccinate them at the rodeo?” one of the boys asked.

“No,” Steele replied. “We care more about speed than vaccinating the cattle, but on a ranch it’s the other way around.”

“What kind of diseases can cows get?” the other boy asked.

“I don’t know,” Steele replied. “You’d have to ask Alida’s dad, brother, or husband, but right now you should be brushing the horses.”

“Are you another brother of Alida?” the last girl of the group asked.

“No,” Steele replied. “We’re not related at all.”