Horse Tails - Part 1



Me at Riata Ranch

I've been in love with horses for as long as I can remember, which is a really long time. From a very young age, I watched every movie about horses over and over  again:  "Flicka," "Black Beauty," "National Velvet," you name it. I also read every book I could get my hands on about horses and ponies, which means I read every one of the books by Marguerite Henry, with Misty of Chincoteague being my all time favorite. I used to fall asleep dreaming about Chincoteague Ponies and begged my parents to take me there to get one of the ponies. That never happened, but at least I tried.

Then I read about wild Mustangs and I spent all my time day-dreaming about a Mustang coming out of the hills and into my backyard. I could envision a beautiful stallion jumping the five foot tall redwood fence in our backyard, yeah right, and coming to find me. That dream stayed with me for years.

The Los Angeles County Fair, in Pomona, CA, was my favorite place to go when I was a kid. Even better than Disney Land where I went on many of my birthdays. Anyway, my parents would escort me to the Livestock area of the fairgrounds and there I would be for hours on end. I'd pet and sweet-talk every single horse, from the huge Clydesdales to the golden Palominos (my favorites at the fair) and all the other horses and ponies. My parents never had to worry that I'd wander off. Just look for the horses and there I'd be.

My first memory of actually riding a horse, I was seven years old. We were on vacation at Uncle Buell's ranch outside of Steamboat Springs, CO. Buell was actually my Mom's cousin, but everyone referred to him as Uncle Buell. Anyway, "Dolly" was an old gentle mare and she didn't mind having both me and my little brother riding on her back at the same time. I only got to ride "Dolly" at a walk, but that was good enough at the time. I was in love with that beautiful mare and never wanted to leave the ranch.

Eventually, my parents gave in and sent me to summer camp at Riata Ranch in Bass Lake, CA. I was 12 years old the first time I went and stayed for a whole month. Riata Ranch was all about horses. It was owned and run by Tom and Vicki Myers. As a young man, Tom had been the stunt rider for Elizabeth Taylor in "National Velvet." For one whole month I lived in Levis, cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. I rode horses all morning long and then learned to groom and care for them after.

I learned to ride both English and Western and even learned cross-country riding and rudimentary jumping, both in the arena and on the trail. I also learned some trick riding and could do a running mount, a scissors kick to reverse in the saddle and ride backwards, how to ride standing up and could even do a back-roll dismount. I'm amazed when I think back on all that. As a parent I would have been horrified to see my child doing all those things. But remember, my parents were not at the camp with me, so I could try all kinds of cool stuff. Needless to say, I never wanted to leave Riata Ranch.


"Gunsmoke" and a Pinto at Riata Ranch

When it came time to leave, gee, I had to go home and back to school, I begged my parents to buy me one of the ranch horses. Tom trained all those two and three year old Quarterhorses himself and often sold them to the kids' families at the end of the summer camp season. I'd fallen in love with a big buckskin gelding named "Gunsmoke." I was just sure I had to take him home with me. My parents pointed out that we had nowhere to put a horse and so I didn't get to bring "Gunsmoke" home. I hadn't yet figured out that a horse could be boarded out and my parents weren't about to mention that possibility. Hmm!


Another of the Riata Ranch Horses

At the ranch we often rotated the horses we rode. However, "Gunsmoke" was bigger and some of the other kids preferred not to ride him. He also had a bad habit of bucking off any kid he didn't particularly like. But "Gunsmoke" and I were buddies, so I always volunteered to be the one to ride him. He and I clocked a lot of hours together in the arena and out riding trail, where we'd jump over brush and logs. "Gunsmmoke" was so gentle with me, that I actually remember one extra hot day when I lay on his back and took a short nap.

The following summer I only spent two weeks at the ranch. Much to my dismay, "Gunsmoke" was no longer there. Someone else had bought him at the end of the previous summer. So for those two weeks I took turns riding different horses. They were all great fun to ride, but none of them ever compared to "Gunsmoke." 

Now the Shetland Ponies at Riata Ranch were another matter. They had a string of Shetlands, which they used to give pony rides to little kids. Sometimes some of my fellow campers and I would take the ponies out in the afternoons and go trail riding down to the lake and then take the ponies in the water for a swim. We rode those ponies bareback, and let me tell you, a couple of those guys were mean as all get out. You'd be riding full speed, which isn't all that fast on a Shetland, and then come to a trickle of a stream and the pony would throw you right over his head.

It never made sense to me that those ponies would swim in the lake, but had an aversion to a tiny bit of water. Go figure. Anyway, one time, when I rode one of the mean little geldings, I got thrown so many times that I got off and led him all the way back. I swear he had a very satisfied grin on his face. Needless to say, I never again rode a Shetland Pony.

I had no problem riding a Quarterhorse bareback. During all my camp days, I was never thrown from a horse. I had no problem sticking to the saddle or bareback. I was probably more comfortable on a horse than walking. So I always considered it such a shame that I didn't have a horse of my own. For that reason, I kept my dream of someday getting a Mustang. I was sure there was one out there somewhere waiting for me. (Read more in Part 2.)

Please Note - Somewhere there's an old photo of my brother and I riding "Dolly." For some reason, no photos were ever taken of me riding a horse or pony at Riata Ranch. In the only photo of  "Gunsmoke," I didn't get his head in the picture. I was just learning how to take photos back then and wasn't very good at it. Thankfully, I eventually got better with a camera.