THE GREENHORN

                               THE GREENHORN

   Sometime a while back (actually a long time back) I was day dreaming about some experiences I have had with horses.

   The first thought or word that came to my mind was (Greenhorn.). Now I am pretty sure that everyone who hears the word also forms a different image in their mind,

   Of course there were the Greenhorns in “Bonanza” on TV several years ago. Also the word Greenhorn is often used to describe a real live person who is trying to accomplish something that he or she has not been trained to do.

   The people and horses I write about were real People and Real horses and most of the things did really happened perhaps with a little embellishment. These things will not show up on my list in the order they happened, but rather in the order I recall them.

   Maybe I also should let everyone know that my teacher, instructor or whatever you want to call him was a real live cattle rancher, cowboy, farmer or whatever you want to call him. It did take me a while to realize that, but eventually I did.

                   HERE WE GO FOR A WILD RIDE

   I had rode a house around the corral, in the street and a little way from the house in the past but today we were going to move the cattle herd from the City Farm to a holding pasture a short way up the canyon. And yes I was all ready (I thought).

   I got all ready and checked out before we got the horses in the trailer. As I got in the truck the “Boss” said, ’you got new Levis Huh? I kind of laughed and said yes I did. I did not have anything but old junky looking ones. He grinned and said, “they would have been better today.” You got new boots also it looks like, and a Brand New BASEBALL hat?

   One of the younger son’s kind if smirked and said, “Come on

Dad let’s get going.”

   Well about five hours in the “sun” my cheeks and ears were scarlet red, my fancy new Levis, that had ever never been worn before had worn the skin off every place they had touched my body and that was a lot of places you do not think about!

   I am sure the whispers and giggles from the Boy’s were all directed right at me.

   During the lunch break one of the boys explained to me that the reason I got to ride “Dapple” was because she was the softest horse of all of them.

   Well I survived the first day and finally after a few years I think I may have been promoted to “First Class Greenhorn.”

   Over the years I got to where I could survive on a “ride” as they were called, when there was work to be done.  

     HERE ARE A FEW THINGS I LEARNED OVER THE      YEARS.

*I think ALL horses hold their breath when you put their saddle cinch on?

*When the boys tell you that they will toss the hay up on the wagon and you can do the easy part of arranging it on the wagon—Not true, they immediately start looking for a snake to

toss up with the hay.

*Branding really stinks, more ways than one. My daughters went one time and ONE TIME & ONE TIME EVER!!

*My wife and I were told we could go to the pasture to ride horses for the day. We left early in the morning so we could have a good days ride. We finally gave up and went home because we could not catch the horses.

*The next day “the Real Rancher” went with us. When we got to the pasture he took out a burlap sack from the back of the truck. It was half-full of oats, he shook it-and yelled as loud as he could and the horses came right to him. As they stuck their muzzle into the sack he slipped a lead rope on them and they were all his!  

*Of course most of the things in this Blog happened many years ago and things were different then. A lot of people rode their horse to the post office, the, drug store and even to get their hair cut. One thing I learned the hard way was interesting. I went to the barber shop, and like a lot of people did in those days, I just tied the horse to a rail. While I was in getting my trim, my horse left a little present on the sidewalk. I don’t know if I was getting harassed or if it was an unwritten rule, but after a couple of the guys got a good laugh, one of the guys pointed to an old beat up truck and said,” That old trucks got a scoop shovel in the back if you want to use it?”

*I learned to never “bridle-tie” a wise old Mare. She will just turn her head (so she does not step on the reins) and take off for home –without you.

*I never could tell if one cow was missing—they all looked alike to me.

*And finally an episode I probably never forget. We were gathering cows, down the river, and we run onto a Heifer that was having a hard time giving birth to a calf. What do you do?

Well you wait and watch for a while until it comes to the point, where she obviously needs help. You get off the horse and play OB-GYN until you have delivered the calf. Then you hope that all will turn out OK for the calf and the Heifer. You have just helped a calf be born, that weighed in about 75-80 pounds, and, you walk to the river to wash and clean up and go on like it was just another normal day?

   I think I gradually graduated from a “Greenhorn to a under graduate Ranch Trainee.” However that may not be true because in all the years we rode in the mountains, the river and deserts one of my trainers seemed to always teach me something new.