Making Nice Horses…

I was at a roping yesterday…how many of my stories start that way? …and old Hombre was working like clock work, making catching and handling steers pretty easy. A fellow came up to me about sixteen steers in and said, “Ma’am, that’s an awful nice horse you got there. He’s surely a keeper, but if he ain’t, I got some of my pension check burning a hole in my pocket.”     Well, of course I laughed, as I was meant to, and felt all warm and proud fit to bursting, but at the same time his words caught me for an instant, brought me pause.     You see, it’s easy for people who ride nice horses, to stand up and take the bulk of the credit, and I’m not saying they shouldn’t take some of it. After all, it takes a heck of a lot of work to get these equine partners we admire so much working good, and then just as much effort to keep them working good, but it’s not all on the rider. Sometimes, it’s just the horse. Somehow, often despite the rider, they figure out the moves and act accordingly. And sometimes it’s because we go and get help when we need it the most.     In Hombre’s case he was dealing with a hard headed old horse trainer who knew just enough to be difficult. So there was that. In my case, I was dealing with a hard headed old range stud…a natural chauvinist if there ever was one. So there was that.     When we came down here this winter, after five years of struggling to make Hombre into a truly nice horse, I was about ready to pass him on to somebody handier than I. Simply concede defeat. After all, I had Skinner, our big black gelding, who was fast, honest, uncomplicated and had NEVER blown up in any way, shape or form. Now there is a nice horse who was easy to make.      After all that time trying to build the foundation of our partnership on what appeared to be quicksand, I had half decided it was time to throw in the towel. I figured Hombre was just out of my league and I owed it to him to see that he ended up with somebody who could make him into the horse he had the ability to be. Blah, blah, blah.     One day, looking for some input from a roper and horseman I respect immensely, I got an opportunity to ride with Levi Simpson. I told him as clearly as I could what the latest problem was between my grey horse and I, and then I made a run and showed him. That horse would never take my throw away, but then every run, on the dally, he’d load up lay his shoulder down and go left. On that quick pin hook, he’d pinch and blow up. I’d tried everything I knew to keep him moving forward through the turn.     Levi watched us on one run and he quietly told me how to fix it.     One run, that was all it took for him to give me the tools I needed.     Anyway, I guess there are two morals to this story; if you are ever at a roping and see a really outstanding horse working, keep in mind that in some aspect he probably started out a nice horse and just got the right helping hand. Nobody made him in the strict sense of the word, they just showed him the way.     The second moral of the story is; if you’re struggling with something in your roping or your horsemanship, or just life in general, go get you some ‘eyes on the ground’ that you trust. Someone you respect who you know wants you to succeed. It might just be a small tweak that is needed to fix everything up and set your world right again.     Have a great day folks!