The String

Don't matter what it is, you gotta walk before you run
A kid starts with a slingshot 'for he gets a gun
A string a horses don't come overnight
Plenty of culling to get it just right

Before a guy can get his stirng to be just so
From somewhere in the middle one's bound to blow
A rattlin' pot, a draggin' rope or a blowin' slicker
There ain't no warnin' not even a nicker

It's kinda like braggin' on a hunt'n dawg 'for he's out the truck
Or calling youself a hunter when you've never killed a buck
But we was plenty proud of the packin' string we had
We’d covered some miles, all was good and nothin' bad

I was ridin' point and Cinco he was ridin' drag
In the middle Dad was messin' with a saddle bag
The outfitters string always seem to be the best
Ours weren't too bad though there'd been no test

The horses had settled in and 'tween them seemed a bond
We was countin' on it since up ahead lay a beaver pond
We was to cross some water near chest deep
Good for us the trail weren't too awful steep

With that pond laying just ahead and getting' near
I turned to warn Dad in the middle and Cinco in the rear
Be ready for that beaver to smack his tail
The wind picked up, darn near a gale

It weren't really water and not really mud
That beaver sleaked away, never made a thud
Startin' to breathe again we felt the relief
When in the willows what looked like a beef

O'erhead we heard the southbound goose
Standin' in the water damn if it weren't a bull moose
I was the first to see the 'ol bullwinkle
Like he knew what was comin' his eyes were atwinkle

I had a good seat but feared for the others
The moose was moving straight for my brother
The horses blew and the wreck had begun
I could only think don't fall on your gun

Dally ropes were tight and burnin' the horns
Panniers were spillin' and gettin' all torn
The pack horses turned and they headed for home
The string was scattered, their bond clearly blown

The mare made a move and Dad took the horn square in the gut
Upside down in the pond all you could see was his butt
Things had gotten bad in a hurry, we had trouble
From Dad's spot in the pond all I could see was bubbles

Now Cinco was still hangin' in the rear
He wanted to know if we had jumped a deer
The moose was headin' his way for sure
For what laid in store we had no cure

Cinco was astride a stout little bay
On the trail was no place to stay
That little bay knew all too well
If he'd wait it out they'd all prefer hell

So with eyes buggin' out and nostrils flairin'
The moose saw Cinco and was just a stairin'
Not a second to spare that little bay was haulin'
From the trail, for Cinco, I was callin'

A bit down the trail Cinco lost his seat
Hung in a stirrup his head got beat
That bay had no designs on slowin' down
He'd lead that moose all the way to town

Don't know how but Cinco got his boot free
A good thing, just before he's to take out a tree
By any standard it was an awful fall
But that moose stopped and just stood tall

He could have charged had them dead to rights
It wouldn't have been a very fair fight
He turned and walked away
He'd wait to fight another day

Now there's never been a cowboy who's ever rode
That ain't got wet or even throwed
So to blame them horses, it weren't their fault
It they's never tested, they ain't worth their salt

Now I can brag just a little on my string
They spilled some but didn't break a thing
As the years drift from this season to that
I'll lean back, tell the story and push up my hat