Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Into the Mystic (part 2) Horses I've Rode

                                                                     
There's some damned fine horses out there.  And there's been a bunch of good ones over the years.  I've been lucky enough to ride a few.  Good ones that is.   They're all good to some degree.  But there's no doubt, if you're riding a counterfeit sumbitch and you've got a bad feeling going the entire time you're on his back it ain't worth it.  As we all know, there's too many good horses out there to be riding bad ones.  I was given a real good looking nine year old registered quarter horse a few years back.  A grandson of one of the famous foundation studs of all time, Doc Bar, and to this day I can't get around that horse.  I might have a good ride on him on a particular day and then he'll be off his game the next and be plumb dangerous to ride.  There's a few of you reading this that know the horse.  You may have ridden with me on a day I was on his back and so you damned well know what I mean.  He's a headcase there's no doubt.  But I'll keep him and maybe age will slowly but somewhat surely will him down.  I wouldn't bet on that last statement, however.  I'd say it's a 50- 50 deal with him.  One of us will die first and I hope it ain't me!

Speaking of dying, I started a big colt a bunch of years ago and his name was Casey.  He was a 1200 pound three year old breeding stock paint when I started him for a real good fellow from South Dakota now living in the Flathead Valley of Montana.   Casey was named after the famous bronc rider Casey Tibbs.  Actually, there were two colts, full brothers, and both were pretty similar in looks and temperament.  But Casey, for whatever reason, possibly, the heavier set of hindquarters and ass end, captured more of my attention than his partner, and was the first of the two I crawled up on.  I mounted both of those nice geldings after a few weeks of ground work and got around them well enough.  Hell, they were both real nice, even tempered colts so one could say they helped me out a fair amount.  Casey was the first of the two under saddle and rider, however, and handled those first rides in the round pen real well.  It wasn't long before I had him out doing longer rides in the hay stubble and over to the Flathead River and along the banks and through the brush of that scenic body of water.  All was good.  Casey was progressing real well and rarely showed any lack of confidence in his abilities to understand his environment or me.  He didn't have any "issues" that I could see and in any case those horse "issues" that are so often referred to are in many cases people "issues."
But that's another story.  Casey and me were doing well.  And we continued to do well until I jerked him up and over and onto me one icy morning in the round pen.  I'd been having trouble getting him to flex to the left and doing so in an icy round pen on a December morning didn't help matters.  I was too harsh and unyielding and in return tipped that big colt up onto his back legs and over onto me, the majority of his weight and momentum ending up in big woomp on my pelvis.  Casey might have been able to get around me but being on ice he was flailing for balance and I'd bailed out of the saddle and stirrups but had undoubtedly pulled on the reins as I was dismounting so there was the perfect storm for one helluva wreck.  And it was.  Casey's owner found me a few minutes later on and ultimately got me to the hospital where I spent the next couple of weeks recovering from major surgery.  I think if the saddle horn had hit me square in the chest instead of the pommel on my pelvis I'd be growing daisies.  So there's a story for you and a lesson to boot.  Ride with a light hand, take your time, and if you have to bail out don't take the horse with you!  By the way, I hear Casey is in Wyoming and has become one helluva calf horse.

Well, as Augustus McRae said to his gal Lorena, during what was becoming a morbid conversation about life, "it ain't about dyin,' it's about livin'.  I couldn't agree more.  But we still have to be careful out there.  We put our health and lives on the line sometimes when we're horseback.  Getting hurt or killed ain't worth it.  Alright, "that's all I have to say about that."

I did alot of horsetrading with "Papoose" Rattler years ago.  Not as much lately since the price of horses has dropped through the floor and apparently so has Phillip.  But not too many years back I'd pick up a couple good mounts from Phillip, or as we've called him for years, "Papoose."  Doesn't matter what their creed or color is, if you're horsetrading for a living you bear watching.  "Papoose" was no different than any other horse trader I've known.  He bore watching.  But he was a good guy and I did get a kick out of him even while he was sticking it to me.  I used to meet "Papoose" at his place on Two Medicine.  We'd exchange pleasantries and then get down to business.  He always had a bunch of horses for sale.  On the particular day in question he did as well.  But one of them really stuck out and that was Positive (Positivio, out of Amber Su Cat and by a local stud named Sensitivio). Boy did he stick out.  Positive was one good looking animal with the kind of conformation that made your eyes bulge.  I bought him on the spot.

Pos had been trained up north, on the border, by Tracy Vaile, a very well known and exceedingly well respected trainer  Why she got rid of and unloaded him on "Papoose" I have no idea but then again folks in this part of the country can run out of money in a hurry and horses can be good trading collateral so who knows.  It wasn't long before I began to recognize I was riding a real different mount. A damned good horse but a real bundle!  When you mounted Pos you had to be ready to rock and roll.  He was a hand full. Safe for the most part, soft in the mouth, attentive to leg aids, but a rocket nevertheless.  Pos, as I began to recognize, could run barrels, rope on the front or back end, break away, and certainly leg up on the variety of trails in the mountains.  I wish I'd been able to use my body language better while I was in the saddle cause  I was often too heavy handed on his face.  I used a correction bit to a fault with Pos and didn't use a light handle and physical cues well enough.  But, we got around each other and over a period of time we did good together.  I learned how to stay off his face in the roping box and use my body language to cue him to a hard stop and sometimes a slide.  He was real good on both ends.  I think he was probably the first horse I'd ever ridden that was close to a pro on so many levels.  I even won money on him!

As I look back on the horses I've ridden Pos definitely stands in the top 5.  You know, making that kind of a statement is so judgemental but whether he was first or fifth he'll always stand way out there to me.  Pos collicked a few years back and is mostly buried in our back pasture.  I say mostly cause I saw a sow and a cub grizzly dig him up and feed on him late one fall.  I guess that's as it should be as well.  His last act was providing those two bears with some good protein prior to a long winter sleep.  Vaya con Dios Pos!

Well hell, I really get sentimental recalling some of the fine horses I've known.  They've taught me alot and provided lots of some of the best memories I have of years gone by.  And you know what, there's lots of years left and lots more good horses to ride!

Positive and Bill (We won that night!)

Giz (Gizmo)
Tucker (Doc Bar Grandson)

Hombre (quiet and humble like Paul Newman in "Hombre")