An Equation for a Valuable Lesson

What do you have when you take: 1 two year old horse+12 panels+one state sentinel?

I’ll tell you, you have an equation for one valuable lesson…and not just for the colt. 

I can remember watching all the cowboys break horses at Liberty Ranch when I was little.  Back when my idea of quality ranching was as simple as telling all the hands, “If we just keep the cows with the cows, and the horses with the other horses and we don’t get bucked off at branding we will have a good day!” I also remember thinking, “Someday that is going to be me stomping those broncs!”  Eventually I was able to begin doing just that, and this summer marks my third consecutive year of breaking colts for the ranch, unfortunately I guess 3 years isn’t a big anniversary to everyone else so I didn’t get a party. (Sad Day)  I did however get a valuable lesson.

            There is an old cowboy quote that reads, “Whoever said a horse is dumb…was dumb.”  This saying proved very true for me.  I was working with a beautiful red roan gelding who was doing magnificent on his first ride, we were on a fast track to becoming best friend; I mean drink morning coffee over a nice can of oats best friends now. That is until we got to the point where he was supposed to start trotting figure eights in the round pen.  Instead he vapor locked and decided it was time to go all NFR on me.  This happened twice, which resulted in me wanting to go all CAPS LOCK on him.  Luke, a good friend of mine who happens to be the definition of a “top hand”, saw all of this transpire.  He promptly trotted his colt over and asked, “Why do you keep having the same argument with that colt?”  I simply replied (at a high volume), “I don’t know! I think he’s just hot, mad, and really doesn’t want to do right by me anymore no matter what how hard I try!” (This overconfidence stemmed from the fact that I believed, key word believed, I was the next Clinton Anderson on my way to win the Road to the Horse)  Luke then told me to attempt to get my horse to move out again, only this time he had me make some extremely small changes in what I was doing with my reins and body language.  Of course the horse did exactly what I wanted him to and we proceeded to work figure eights like we were attempting to win the county fair.

            The lesson here was simple: I was putting all the blame on my colt, when I was the true cause of my own problem.  Too often when we encounter a difficulty or something begins to not go our way, we automatically try and find some other person, machine, or even a horse.  We play the blame game and fail to see the error of our own ways, when in reality if we look to ourselves first we may realize that the problem was self-caused.  Think of how many times you have seen someone wrongly place the blame, or even of a time when you may have done it yourself.  Think of how that felt.  I know that after I accused my colt wrongly I felt like packing my tack on the spot.  So I encourage you to do what Luke made me do: Don’t falsely place blame until you are 100 percent sure that it isn’t actually your own fault.

What's in my Saddle Bag?

        As many fans of the “old-time” westerns know, cowboys used to basically live out of their saddle bags. If they could not carry it on a horse it did not go with them.  Now, while we may not live in a day and age where this is necessary, I personally hold many morals and ideas that I always keep stowed away in my “saddlebags.” These are the things that I try and stick by not matter what the situation is. A few of the things in Cole Smith’s saddlebags would include the following:

·        A faith instilled in me by my grandfather·

·        A hard work ethic developed by working for my father

·        A love for spending time with friends and family

·        As a dear friend of mine once stated I have a “cowboy’s code of ethics”

·        A fondness for the FFA and agriculture

·        And a deep passion for the outdoors, be it hunting, fishing etc.

        It is this last item, my passion for the outdoors that gave me the idea for my first blog.

        I was on vacation in Dillon, Colorado awhile ago.  I was sitting on the front porch of the condo we were staying in enjoying an early morning cup of coffee. (For those of you who don’t know I am an avid coffee drinker and if my coffee can't float a horse shoe then it is not black enough)  It was early enough that the sun was just beginning to crawl out of bed and shed its first rays of light.  The town was not yet alive with traffic, and the house I was in was equally peaceful.  As the sun crept higher, the mist began to lift off of the mountains revealing one of the most beautiful pictures I have ever seen.  It was in these early hours of the morning that I was able to just sit and enjoy my coffee, without having to worry about FFA related paperwork, what the market was doing, or which colt I wanted to start first when I got home.  I was able to just sit back and enjoy nature’s beauty: to simply reflect and realize how blessed I was to live in such a wonderful country.  We all lead very busy summers, which are filled with sports camps, jobs, and many other obligations.  So busy that we sometimes forget to stop and just breathe.  Granger Smith once wrote an immensely powerful song urging everyone to stop and think about what they would do if they had five more minutes with a loved one.  I am going to do something much similar. (Unfortunately my message will not have a catchy tune or great guitar to back it up)

        I encourage anyone who reads this blog to do what I did that lovely morning high up in the mountains: Simply take a few minutes to stop and breathe, to reflect on how amazingly lucky we are to be surrounded by so much beauty.