Loadin' Up

Do you ever have one of those moments when the whole world just slows down around you? ....You’re not sure if it has stopped for anyone else ....but everything around you is perfectly crisp and free of distraction. You are acutely aware of every sound around you. Often when loading the truck to come home from a rodeo....these are some of the images that flash through me & I wanted to attempt to share them in words.
There is a still in the air when we load out. Rodeo grounds once filled with trucks, trailers, contestants & fans....now only a barren parking lot and memories remain.
The silence that fills the air is broken only by the sounds of going home.
You can hear & feel each thundering broncs hoof striking the earth as they barrel down the alley to load on the truck.
Pound pound pound.....I struggle to describe the sound that their strong fierce hooves make as they eat up the ground below them. It is heavy & pounding but quick and agile all at the same time.
You can hear a change in the hoof beats the second they make their way from the dusty alley floor and up the wooden loading chute. It is almost a hollow echoing as they ascend to the semi.
Booming, a loud symphony of hoof beats rumble from the trailer. To the untrained ear it sounds like a ruckus of collision and ciaos as the horses feet hit the aluminum and shake the whole truck but it is nothing less than perfection as they single file march up the ramp and slide in to place!
Down the alley, standing alone, with the stock awaiting the next passengers to be called for. Listening to every latch the truck driver moves and foots step so that you almost know the Ready call… before the words leave their lips. The stock knows it too.
You can hear the rattle and clang of every latch and chain against the panels. Standing at the gate you can feel the excitement from every animal as their gate is called and the rush of energy as they hightail it for home.
Even a hot and tired set of baby calves are bucking and playing as they eagerly make their way to the trailer. Bellering with excitement as the last one slides into place.
Every last animal is loaded and ready for the trek home as the long door is pulled closed.
These are the sounds of Loadin' Up!

THANK YOU so much for traveling the gypsy trail with me today! 
Here are some more posts you might enjoy

• Loadin' Up :http://rodeotalesgypsytrails.blogspot.com/2011/09/loadin-up.html

• Bucking Horse Ballet :http://rodeotalesgypsytrails.blogspot.com/2011/04/bucking-horse-ballet.html 
• Load'em in the Dark : http://rodeotalesgypsytrails.blogspot.com/2011/10/rexburg-rodeo-and-more-from-rodeo-trail.html
•  Poetry in Motion :http://rodeotalesgypsytrails.blogspot.com/2011/03/bucking-horse-ballet.html
• Sounds of Rodeo :http://rodeotalesgypsytrails.blogspot.com/2013/05/sounds-of-rodeo.html

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