Chapter 9: Horses
The old cowboy didn't say anything, and Kimberly didn't ask, but took out a square glass from under the counter, sandwiched a few ice cubes with ice clips and put them into the glass, and then skillfully poured the wine from the bottle, and stopped when the golden liquor was not over the ice.
Amberly grabbed the glass and pushed it gently, and the glass slid lightly on the table towards the old cowboy.
The old cowboy didn't look at it, his left hand on the table was slightly clenched into a fist, his middle finger and index finger were half open, and he seemed to be powerless to stop it, and snatched the sliding wine glass, and then backhanded the glass in his hand.
Picking up the cup and taking a sip, he put the glass on the bar again, and then continued to look at the countertop with both eyes.
At this point, Kimberly opened her mouth
"Mason, this one's name is ...... A new friend named George wants to buy a horse".
Kimberly thought for a few seconds and didn't figure out what Zhang Chi's pronunciation was, so she followed her mood and came to George.
Zhang Chi was also not happy, he did not think that George would be George, and an old beauty to correct the Chinese pronunciation, can make you happy, as far as their tongues seem to be us Chinese speaking Russian, tongues are trembling.
The old cowboy Mason glanced up at Zhang Chi.
Kimberly added, "The new move is in the ranch at the foot of the hill over there, and the ranch just started so it needs a horse, right, George."
Zhang Chi nodded: "I need a quart, there are no other requirements, it is required to be trained, my own riding skills are average, and the price cannot be too expensive."
Old Mason opened his mouth and said, "Six hundred dollars a horse."
"Huh?!"
Zhang Chi felt a little expensive when he heard it.
Kimberly didn't interject at this time, she wiped the cup in her hand, looked at the two men sitting at the bar, and the corners of her mouth curved slightly, as if she was smiling.
"It's a bit expensive, generally speaking, such horses are more than four hundred, and the good ones are only nearly five hundred dollars," Zhang Chi said.
Old Mason replied directly: "Other horses are other horses, and the horses I trained are worth six hundred dollars."
Zhang Chi was silent, for Old Mason's attitude, Zhang Chi didn't want to get used to him at all, doing business, buying and selling, no one was begging anyone.
Besides, this is the West, it's not easy for you to buy someone, it's a crime, but buying a horse is not everywhere, horses here are extremely cheap, if you have the time and ability, you can go to the national pasture with a bridle to catch it, and there are millions of abandoned horses in the national pastures throughout the United States.
said so, but Zhang Chi didn't have such skills, if he had the ability, he wouldn't sit here drinking and buying horses.
At this point, Kimberly opened her mouth.
"George, you may not know, Mason used to be a famous trainer in the league, and his horses won many national awards, as well as two Kentucky derbys, not to mention other awards......," Kimberly briefly recounted Mason's previous deeds.
Zhang Chi didn't believe it too much, because if this old cowboy named Mason was really like Kimberly said, then he must have money, a trainer or a trainer who has won so many awards is not comparable to a middle class, and these people can get a lot of each bonus.
Horse racing is a very popular sport in the United States, and the annual Triple Crown, or any big race, is crowded with people, and the rich and famous compete to make appearances, making it like a carnival.
The trainer can live like this, Zhang Chi feels a little strange.
"You go and see Mason's horse and then draw conclusions, if you don't like it, I'll introduce someone else to you" Kimberly saw that Zhang Chi had not spoken, so she opened her mouth and said
Zhang Chi still didn't believe it, but he was a little interested in Old Mason, because even if Kimberly lied to put gold on Old Mason's face, this old man was at least a professional trainer, and he hadn't seen a professional trainer until now.
Of course, the ranch doesn't count, which cowboy can't train horses with both hands, if he can't be a cowboy.
"Can I go and see it?" Zhang Chi asked.
Mason didn't answer, but the hand holding the glass sped into his mouth, swallowing the liquid into his stomach in a few bites.
After taking the last sip, he gently lowered his glass, and there was a soft sound between the glass and the bar.
After putting down the cup, he took a ticket out of his pocket and put it on the bar.
"Follow me".
Mason stood up from the bar, reached out and grabbed his cowboy hat and buckled it on his head, and turned around and walked towards the door without looking at Zhang Chi.
Zhang Chi immediately remitted the money for the beer and followed Mason out of the bar.
As soon as he got out of the bar, Zhang Chi found that the old cowboy was not driving, but riding a half-breed horse, chestnut hair, and a wide white meteor on the bridge of his nose.
Seeing Mason, the horse snorted softly, and then barked twice, apparently to see his master and make it very happy.
Mason still didn't say anything, went to the place where the horse was tied and untied the reins, and rolled over and got on the horse's back.
"Keep up!"
Mason threw down his words and rode his horse forward.
Zhang Chi immediately got into the car, started the car and followed Mason all the way.
On the road, Mason kept walking close to the side of the road, and Zhang Chi drove behind him.
After leaving the town, he walked for more than a mile, and at a small intersection, Mason turned in, and Zhang Chi naturally had to follow up.
The path is not wide, and if two cars meet, then everyone has to be careful and walk as close as possible to pass.
After walking along the path for more than ten minutes, Zhang Chi finally saw Mason pause.
A small horse farm, the area is not large, because Zhang Chi saw the fence around it, and the visual inspection is about ten acres.
Usually the area of the horse farm is not very large, because professional horse farms generally do not raise too many horses, such as Zhang Chi has been, and the horse farm of a friend of the uncle has only raised about 30 horses, but most of the horses have pedigree certificates, of which registered thoroughbreds account for a large part.
When he arrived at the door of the racecourse, Mason dismounted, opened the gate, motioned for Zhang Chi to drive the car in, and waited for Zhang Chi to drive the car in, and then closed the door.
After Zhang Chi entered the gate, he parked the car on the side of the road, and people got out of the car.
Mason did not get on the horse again, but reached out and patted it gently, and the horse he had been riding back automatically came to the place where there was grass, and lowered his head and gnawed on the grass.
There are several small enclosures in the horse farm, and in each enclosure there are several horses grazing.
Zhang Chi's attention quickly fell on his horse, because there were several very good-looking quart horses in the nearest enclosure to him.
These quartes are all old-fashioned breeds, that is, horses that are usually used for herding.
The Quarter horse is a breed of horse bred in the United States, generally speaking, there are two body types, one is a racing horse type, this kind of Quarter horse is actually closer to a thoroughbred, Quarter was originally a unit of length, meaning a quarter, that is, a quarter of a mile, referring to this kind of horse is quite outstanding at this distance.
There is also a herding type, also called old-fashioned quart, this kind of horse is characterized by flexible turning, calm character, and strong body, which is quite useful for cowboys, can cooperate with them to drive the herd, so it is also called the favorite horse of the Americans, or the favorite horse of cowboys.
The quatts in the pen were of great shape, neither tall nor short, and their muscles were great, in short, the kind that made them clear at a glance that the horses were very strong.
It is important for a horse to be strong, because the work of the ranch is not a dressage, and when a horse wants to adapt to the heavy work of the ranch, physical strength comes first, and no rancher wants a delicate horse in his ranch.
"All of these can be done"
Mason said no more.
Seeing the same horses for a while, Zhang Chi didn't know how to choose, he looked around the fence, and didn't decide which horse to choose.
Just when Zhang Chi was picking up the horse, he suddenly felt that there was something behind him, and when he turned his head, he saw a huge head, which startled Zhang Chi.
When I came back to my senses, I found that it was a horse in the fence behind me sticking out its head and approaching it.
Just unintentionally glanced at it, Zhang Chi was attracted by the horse's demeanor.
The horse's head is red, a rare red, with a hint of gold in the red, like a flame.
But the body was not red, but white, and the horsehair was as red as a flame from the head to the neck, and when the red touched the neck, it was a little smoky.
It is pure white from shoulder to back, and it is not pure white, and the shoulder and belly parts are white on the bottom, scattered with red hairs like fire.
It's beautiful!
Zhang Chi was shocked by the color of the horse's coat at first glance.
Like a flame burning in the snow.
As a Chinese, who can refuse this red?
Originally, he wanted to come over and buy a quart, but after seeing this horse, Zhang Chi forgot about Quart or something.
The horse's head was very close to Zhang Chi, so Zhang Chi stretched out his hand and gently stroked the horse's forehead.
The horse did not back down, nor did he open his mouth to bite Zhang Chi, just honestly let Zhang Chi's palm gently sweep over its forehead.
The horse is a hybrid horse, and it looks more like a Quarter horse in terms of body shape, but the color on this body belongs to the expression of the American flower horse, and there is a little shadow of a Morgan horse on the head.
Mason walked over at this time and stood three meters away from Zhang Chi.
"You like it a lot?"
Zhang Chi glanced back at Mason and opened his mouth to say, "I won't spend a lot of money to buy it."
"Some people have a relationship with horses, and they seem to like you," Mason said.
These words are in Zhang Chi's ears, which is equivalent to seeing that the old cowboy has drawn a machete of forty meters, what fate and what kind of closeness, that is all an excuse.
No matter how much Zhang Chi likes this horse, he will not pay more than six hundred dollars for it, not because of anything else, but because his pocket does not allow flat-headed social small denominators like Zhang Chi to be presumptuous.
"Six hundred dollars, I won't change the price I said," Mason said.
Zhang Chi originally thought that the old cowboy was going to slash himself, but who would have thought that people didn't have such an idea, so the originally retracted hand stroked the horse's forehead again.
"Four-year-old, gelding, the sire is Quart, the maternal line is a flower horse......" Mason saw that Zhang Chi really liked this horse, so he opened his mouth to introduce it.
The price remains the same, so it is easy to say that although it is a hundred dollars more expensive than the usual horse, Zhang Chi can also accept it.
"Can I give it a try?" Zhang Chi asked.
"Of course!"
Mason opened his mouth in reply, and walked in the direction of the stable.
"I have the harness I just bought in the back of my carry," Zhang Chi said.
Mason stopped, came to the back of the Zhangchi pickup, reached out and glanced at it, and then carried the saddle on his shoulders and the bridle in his hand.
He came to the fence, put his saddle on the wooden fence, and walked in with his bridle on his hand.
With his bridle attached, Mason pulled the red and white horses out.
Zhang Chi put the saddle up by himself, tightened the belly strap to the right tightness, and then took the reins from Mason's hand.