Calving was starting and my son was gathering the cows at night while I fed them some good hay in a grass lot. Colin was 12, and he was riding his filly Callie who was a three year old. He had officially “started” her the summer before, but unofficially, he’d been sneaking off and riding her bareback since she was a yearling. They were quite a team and the best of friends. Gathering the cows and bringing in the pairs to make sure the cows were getting enough to eat and not just chasing the new green growth was a good daily job for a colt. They’d sometimes bring in a new pair so that was good practice for both of them too. Each evening I’d pull into the grass lot with the tractor and start stringing out the hay while Colin brought in the stragglers and then sat in the gate while I finished feeding. When I was done, I’d pull through the gate and he’d shut it. Sitting in the gate got boring, so he would do some little close order drills with Callie, just simple suppling moves and foot work. It had rained and was muddy in the gate and he wasn’t making her work in the sticky gumbo, so he did what only a kid would think was a dandy idea on a colt. He started by swinging his leg over her neck and facing away from her, pivoting all the way around until he was back where he started. Next he was standing in the left stirrup with both feet on that side. Then he took his foot out of the stirrup and was doing an arm stand with his hands on the saddle, feet hanging. He worked his way around her hind quarters, grasping the cantle of his saddle, and while draped over her butt like a spider britching, he worked his way around to the other side, never touching the ground with his feet. When he made it around to her other side, he managed to work his way under her neck, and back up into the saddle, still without touching the ground. I was watching all of this while feeding the hay. The filly never moved a foot. Just stood, reins crossed on the saddle horn and trustingly accepted what he was doing. He repeated it but went the opposite way the second time. By then I was done feeding and had driven back over to the gate. He got back in the saddle and rode out of the way. It might seem odd that I didn’t say anything to him about doing something like that, but I decided that he and Callie had it all figured out and I also knew he probably did and had done things with her that I hadn’t seen but that would have made my hair turn white. Part of the fear young horses have is due to the lack of confidence in the rider. Well, Callie sure had no fear and Colin was bursting with confidence in his filly, so it was a good match. Over the years, I’ve seen some pretty interesting things done by people on horses, but none can compare to what a young boy can think of to do with a willing accomplice. He and Callie never doubted each other for a minute in their whole working life together. If he thought they ought to do something, that was exactly what she thought ought to be done as well. Furthermore, they never, one time, ever let each other down. I’d call that solid.
Jan was raised on a ranch in far western South Dakota. She grew up horseback working all descriptions of cattle, plus sheep and horses. After leaving home she pursued a post-graduate study of cowboying and dayworking in Nebraska, New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota....
