audience.
“Ladies and gentlemen!” Mary hollered in her best ringmaster voice, “today we will present to you our act, a circus act, an
act of death-defying courage and riding trickery such as the world has never seen! Was that bad grammar?” Mary asked Jody.
Jody nodded and giggled some more. A few cows raised their heads.
“Anyway, ladies and germs, we shall begin today by introducing our fearless, beautiful, and well-trained steeds—the indescribable
flaxen chestnut mare from the highlands of Europe, Gypsy Amber . . .” (Jody applauded enthusiastically.) “And accompanying
her in the fantastic and incredible spectacle you are about to witness, straight from the wild and untamed Western plains,
raised and trained by the Indians, the painted mare, Lady White Cloud!”
At this, Jody raised herself to stand on Lady’s back and bow grandly to the audience. Several more cows looked up at the curious
sight of the girls standing side by side on the ponies, but they soon lost interest and dropped their heads again to graze.
“Now, let’s start the show!” bellowed Mary.
On cue, the girls clasped each other’s hands in the air, dropped their reins, and raised their free hands in a majestic salute
to the audience. At the same moment, their feet slid down the ponies’ sides and they were seated on the pony’s backs for just
an instant before sliding back with their hands still clasped, off the hind ends of the ponies, landing on their feet in the
pasture. The well trained and amazing Gypsy and Lady stood perfectly still while Mary and Jody, in unison, took three giant
steps backwards, then ran and vaulted onto the pony’s backs again from behind.
“A trick we learned from watching the unforgettable Western movie actor, Mr. John Wayne!” Mary announced proudly. Again in
unison, the girls gently slapped the shoulders of their mounts with their right hands and then raised them to the sky in another
grand gesture of the circus.
“For our next feat, we will demonstrate the astounding agility and dexterity of these fearless beasts as we guide them through
the serpentine! Note the flying lead changes executed by Lady White Cloud and Gypsy Amber as they maneuver around each pole!”
The girls clasped each other’s hands in the air, dropped their reins, and raised their hands in a salute.
The serpentine was a straight line of rickety fence posts at the side of the pasture that had not been removed when the new
fence was put up. The ten posts were just the right distance apart for a pony to snake through, in and out all the way down
the line.
“The challenge, ladies and gems, is to ride this difficult course at a canter—that is, faster than a trot and slower than
a gallop—without the rider’s legs touching the posts, or banging into them, which is a most painful occurrence, as we well
know from our years of practice!”
The girls trotted Lady and Gypsy to opposite ends of the serpentine and then turned to face each other. The ponies pranced
with excitement, remembering this trick from previous rehearsals.
“Aaaaannnddd . . . on your marks, get set, GO!” screamed Mary. Jody leaned forward and Lady took off at a canter, swerving
through the posts at a fearful rate but with such skill that Jody’s legs never brushed any of the posts. At the end of the
line, Jody slapped Mary’s outstretched hand, and Mary took off in the opposite direction on Gypsy, whooping and hollering
through the posts with one hand in the air.
After the last post, Mary reined Gypsy in and trotted calmly to Lady and Jody. The girls again saluted the crowd, none of
whom were paying the slightest bit of attention.
“And now, ladies and gents, for our final and most awe-inspiring performance of all, we will attempt—and I did say attempt—a
stunt that has not been performed since Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, by none other than the world famous Miss Annie Oakley!
Now, riders
“Ladies and gentlemen!” Mary hollered in her best ringmaster voice, “today we will present to you our act, a circus act, an
act of death-defying courage and riding trickery such as the world has never seen! Was that bad grammar?” Mary asked Jody.
Jody nodded and giggled some more. A few cows raised their heads.
“Anyway, ladies and germs, we shall begin today by introducing our fearless, beautiful, and well-trained steeds—the indescribable
flaxen chestnut mare from the highlands of Europe, Gypsy Amber . . .” (Jody applauded enthusiastically.) “And accompanying
her in the fantastic and incredible spectacle you are about to witness, straight from the wild and untamed Western plains,
raised and trained by the Indians, the painted mare, Lady White Cloud!”
At this, Jody raised herself to stand on Lady’s back and bow grandly to the audience. Several more cows looked up at the curious
sight of the girls standing side by side on the ponies, but they soon lost interest and dropped their heads again to graze.
“Now, let’s start the show!” bellowed Mary.
On cue, the girls clasped each other’s hands in the air, dropped their reins, and raised their free hands in a majestic salute
to the audience. At the same moment, their feet slid down the ponies’ sides and they were seated on the pony’s backs for just
an instant before sliding back with their hands still clasped, off the hind ends of the ponies, landing on their feet in the
pasture. The well trained and amazing Gypsy and Lady stood perfectly still while Mary and Jody, in unison, took three giant
steps backwards, then ran and vaulted onto the pony’s backs again from behind.
“A trick we learned from watching the unforgettable Western movie actor, Mr. John Wayne!” Mary announced proudly. Again in
unison, the girls gently slapped the shoulders of their mounts with their right hands and then raised them to the sky in another
grand gesture of the circus.
“For our next feat, we will demonstrate the astounding agility and dexterity of these fearless beasts as we guide them through
the serpentine! Note the flying lead changes executed by Lady White Cloud and Gypsy Amber as they maneuver around each pole!”
The girls clasped each other’s hands in the air, dropped their reins, and raised their hands in a salute.
The serpentine was a straight line of rickety fence posts at the side of the pasture that had not been removed when the new
fence was put up. The ten posts were just the right distance apart for a pony to snake through, in and out all the way down
the line.
“The challenge, ladies and gems, is to ride this difficult course at a canter—that is, faster than a trot and slower than
a gallop—without the rider’s legs touching the posts, or banging into them, which is a most painful occurrence, as we well
know from our years of practice!”
The girls trotted Lady and Gypsy to opposite ends of the serpentine and then turned to face each other. The ponies pranced
with excitement, remembering this trick from previous rehearsals.
“Aaaaannnddd . . . on your marks, get set, GO!” screamed Mary. Jody leaned forward and Lady took off at a canter, swerving
through the posts at a fearful rate but with such skill that Jody’s legs never brushed any of the posts. At the end of the
line, Jody slapped Mary’s outstretched hand, and Mary took off in the opposite direction on Gypsy, whooping and hollering
through the posts with one hand in the air.
After the last post, Mary reined Gypsy in and trotted calmly to Lady and Jody. The girls again saluted the crowd, none of
whom were paying the slightest bit of attention.
“And now, ladies and gents, for our final and most awe-inspiring performance of all, we will attempt—and I did say attempt—a
stunt that has not been performed since Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, by none other than the world famous Miss Annie Oakley!
Now, riders
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