Lockhart: 1500 miles

I took Fred, a young horse with me to Nebraska the other day, it’s seven hundred fifty miles up there and seven fifty back home. So all together it’s a little over a fifteen hundred mile round trip.

We had a filly in a sale at the Pitzer ranch. I took Fred along because he needs to be hauled and rode in strange places. I didn’t bother putting him in the sale because I was about half afraid he’d buck someone off. I don’t plan on selling him, mainly because the rest of my family hates him and he’s the only horse I can ride and not have to share with anyone, at least not yet. Not until I get the buck rode out of him.

I’ve always called it “seasoning” a horse. Young horses just need to see a lot of new places. He got hauled fifteen hundred miles just so he could see the sights and maybe learn to behave. He bucked me off awhile back, I figured fifteen hundred miles in the trailer would be good for him, kind of like a teenager getting a weeks worth of community service.

I couldn’t keep him at the ranch because he wasn’t in the sale. So I was told to keep him at the local salebarn, which is only three miles down the road. So, we bedded him down the first night in a big pen at the salebarn. The next morning I saddled him up and rode him to the ranch. I fed him at my trailer. It was about thirty degrees with twenty mile an hour wind. Needless to say it was a cold son of a gun riding him up there, I was expecting him to try and dump me. My wife and kids had their phones ready in case he splattered me on the road. They were all laughing when I got in the truck to warm up. That evening we rode him back to the salebarn. I let my son ride him part of the way since I was fairly convinced he wasn’t going to try out for the eliminator pen at the nfr.

The next morning, same thing except it was spitting snow, it was really really cold riding him to the trailer. We rode him around a good bit both days.

They had a round pen with deep sand in it. The second day I worked him around in it quite awhile. He’s moved up from a ring snaffle to a gag bit and this week I’ve put a mild ported bit on him. I fiddled around in the round pen teaching him to start off my hand like a roping horse leaving the box. I think some guys watching thought I’d lost my mind. I’d kind of swing my rope as I started him. We’d lope a circle or two and I’d slide him to a stop. What those guys didn’t know is he bucked me off a while back when I was trying to heel a slow steer. I was kind of daring him to try it again. If he’d have tried dumping me I would have made him lope a bunch of circles in that deep sand. I don’t quit loping until I can smell him sweating, that takes awhile. He never acted up and after a few laps of roping the imaginary calf I called it a day. The guys that were watching were about half sauced up, and as I rode by I was expecting a smart comment or two, but I think they were only interested in more sauce from their ice chests.

I’ve never drank and rode my horses. These days I try to keep my kids away from all of that type behavior. Nine times out of ten it leads to bad things happening one way or another.

I rode the dickens out of Fred on this little trip. He sure needed it. I learned a few things about him. He eats and drinks good on the road, which is a plus. Some horses don’t eat or drink much on the road. I was glad Fred did. He’s also pretty dang tough. We probably rode him ten to fifteen miles a day and he didn’t act the least bit sore.

It’s hard to explain if you’ve never roped, but some horses have a timing, a certain feel to them. They are really easy to rope on. The more I fool with Fred the more I get the vibe that he’s going to be one of those really good rope horses. I’m not giving up on him yet.

James Lockhart lives near the Kiamichi mountains in southeast Oklahoma. He writes cowboy stories and fools with cows and horses.