Read "Smoky the Cowhorse" by Will James online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
Twenty feet of rope is laying between the cowboy's hand and the pony's head. The cowboy is standing there just watching and smiling some at the surprised look that's in the pony's face, that pony had just been stopped sudden in his bucking with an empty saddle; -- it was the first time a saddle had been on his slick back and it was no wonder he tried to get out from under that thing; nothing had ever clung there before.
"Now, you just take it easy for a spell, and keep your head up," says that cowboy as he started walking towards the pony.