She rode all the time before I was
born. In the first months of life I was carried in a
sling, then in front of her on the saddle. When I could hold
on I rode behind the saddle. I rode alone, at least part of the
time, by 3. The first horse that was really mine I got about 5, and a
saddle that fit. (I still have it) I won a prize at the 4th of July
Rodeo parade in Red Lodge, Montana with the new horse and
saddle.
The old cowboys taught me early on, "No
point getting thirsty till you get where the water is. Don't get
hungry till you get to where supper is."
"Never ride your horse harder than it takes to get
the job done." And the unquestioned, hard and fast rule,
"Take care of your horse first, no matter how tired you are."
I've had my share of really special horses, and
many pretty good ones, and there were some dinks and flakes too, bless 'em
all.
We've done a lot of miles doing a lot of different
jobs, and we've also played a lot of different games.
My world has never been complete without
horses.
I'm down to one semi retired cow pony/endurance
horse and one little 7yr old Arab that wants to be a 100 mile
horse. She and I have done some 50s and LDs, don't know if the
100 is in the cards for the rider,. but I plan on going down the trails as long
as we can get it done.
