Cutting Horse Read Free Page B

answered. The girls turned and saw Kate’s old Appaloosa, Spot. Spot’s rider raised his hand and waved. It was Skye! “Got room on your ride for a real dude?” he called.

“W OW, AM I GLAD to see you guys,” Skye said. “I don’t think I’ve spoken with anyone other than the director, the people in makeup, and the camera crew for forty-eight hours.”
    “So they’re keeping you pretty busy, huh?” Stevie said. Everyone knew that when Skye was shooting a movie, fifteen- and twenty-hour days were not uncommon.
    “I’ll say! But I managed to get a couple of hours off this afternoon to practice on Spot here, so I figured I’d sneak over to the stables in case you all had arrived,” Skye replied.
    “You mean you actually guessed that you’d find The Saddle Club with the horses?” Kate asked.
    “I did have a hunch,” Skye said, flashing one of the grins that had made him a coast-to-coast heartthrob.
    “It must be ESP,” Lisa said.
    The girls couldn’t wait to hear what was new with Skye. But first they had to escape the distracting hubbub. They trotted to the trailhead and then slowed to a walk so that they could all hear one another.
    “First of all, tell us about the movie,” Lisa urged. “As your official technical advisers, we should know the plot and all the details.”
    Skye agreed happily. “Well, I guess you know by now that it’s a Western. The name of it is
Cowboy Come Home
. It’s a romance, too—about a young cowboy who rides a championship cutting horse. He falls in love with a city girl. I, um, play the cowboy.”
    “Sounds like a great part,” Lisa responded. It was typical of Skye to downplay his success—like putting in an
um
before saying that he had the lead role.
    “Yeah, I was really psyched when Frank found the part for me,” Skye agreed. Frank Nelson was Skye’s manager. He handled every part of Skye’s career, from contracts to salary negotiations to publicity.
    “Ever since
City Cowboy
,” Skye continued, “I’ve beentrying to find another riding movie, but they don’t come along too often. I loved watching Westerns as a kid, so that makes this part even better.”
    “I love Westerns, too,” said Stevie. “Nothing beats a good John Wayne double feature.”
    “You’re right about that. I’ve been rewatching some of my old favorites to get in the right frame of mind for
Cowboy Come Home
, and man, is he a master,” Skye said reverently.
    “So it sounds like everything is going well for you, Skye,” Carole said. “That’s great.” She steadied Berry so that she could listen to Skye’s response.
    “Not so fast,” Skye replied. “I’m actually having my share of problems.”
    “Even with the role of your dreams?” Stevie asked.
    “That’s just it,” said Skye. “It
should
be the role of my dreams—especially in this setting. I love the idea of playing a real Western cowboy. Unfortunately, it’s the cowboy stuff that’s tripping me up.”
    “What do you mean? Your riding has improved so much,” Carole said. She meant it, too. From the out-of-control beginner The Saddle Club had met, Skye had turned into a competent intermediate-level rider. He sat comfortably in the saddle, controlling Spot easily with his legs, seat, and hands.
    “Thanks. I’ve worked on it out in L. A., and I feel more confident now,” said Skye. “But the thing is, in the movie I’m supposed to be an amazing rider—a champion. There are only a few scenes where I actually have to show my skills, but so far I haven’t been able to pull them off. There are a couple of herding and cutting scenes that aren’t working at all. I can’t keep control of the herd of cattle and my horse at the same time.”
    The Saddle Club knew that cutting cattle was a specialized skill. The horse and rider had to isolate a cow in a very short time. Then they had to keep the cow from rejoining the herd. Successful cutting was an elegant exercise. In rodeo competitions, it was considered