A Day As A Riding Boot

• Wendy Smallcombe, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2008

Hi, my name is Blackie; I work hard all day and never stop. Usually from 5:30 in the morning until 5:00 in the afternoon, seven days a week.
I wake up to hairy legs and smelly feet. I’m just lucky enough that there is a sock between myself and my owner. Then the weight, phew he should think about a diet, but trust me my days get worse than that.
Have you guessed what I am yet? Well I’m a riding boot, a hard working one too! So what could be worse than hairy legs, smelly feet and a lot of weight on your back? Well I will tell you about what I did today.
Well this morning I woke up way too early, and too make matters worse my owner stank more than usual and I think his legs hairs have grown overnight.
Anyhow after that we walked over to get the horse and on the way we walked on every stick, in every muddy puddle and past every single patch of manure in the whole entire paddock, or so it seemed.
I started thinking about giving him blisters, a terrible thought, I know, but sometimes you can’t help but think like that.
I was lucky enough though that when we got to the destination we stopped to rest while the horse came. But when the horse came a short while later we were off again to lead the big Clydesdale to his stable.
My owner then went to brush him when one of his huge hooves stood right on me. The pain was unbearable! It hurt so badly.
My owner then took the Clydesdale out for a long ride, on the ride he fell off. When he fell off I got caught in the stirrup iron and was dangling until his foot fell out of me. I hung on for as long as I could, but I soon fell off into a thorny bush.
We then went home and we were nearly there when it happened; we stood in a patch of manure! Ew, Yuk! But when we got home she took me off and I got a lovely polish, ah, that nice massage!
Well that was my day, so if you think you are treated as badly as that I know how you feel, so for once think about others and not always yourself.