The Long Con
It was a long con. I got bamboozled. Scammed. Hoodwinked. All by a sly, black-as-the-midnight-sky, crafty cat.
The Horse Who Won the American West
I had already bought one horse and killed him. This time I'd be more careful. I would see at least ten horses before I made a decision.
Cheap Education
I had come to move poles. Instead, I was getting an education.
What I didn’t know yet was how much of horsemanship lived in details I couldn’t even see.
The Choice
“The responsible thing,” he said quietly, “is to put him out of pain.”
I’d worked in veterinary clinics for years. I understood euthanasia.
But this was Tex.
The Bathtub
The bathtub had seemed like a practical solution. Cheap. Temporary. Good enough.
It wasn’t.
Thirty Sessions
Thirty sessions felt like momentum. DVDs promised progress if I followed the steps. I worked hard, checked the boxes, and believed effort alone would get me there. This chapter is about mistaking activity for understanding.
When Trying Harder Makes It Worse
The question had shifted without me noticing.
I wasn’t asking Is something wrong? anymore.
I was asking How do I manage this?
Confidence, DVDs, and the Illusion of Progress
January ended with momentum. I was moving forward. I just hadn’t yet learned the difference between forward motion and actual direction.
Apprenticeship
By early February, I’d worked Tex through thirty sessions.
The mechanics were improving. I thought that meant we were ready.
What I didn’t yet understand was the difference between repetition and understanding.
Horse Trading Is a Strange Business
When we got back to the house and untacked the horses, I knew I wasn’t just looking anymore. Standing there in that quiet corral, I stopped pretending. I didn’t just want a horse. I was ready to take responsibility for one.
Confidence in Strange Places
For the first time in eight weeks, I wasn’t managing Charlie. I was riding him.
It felt like learning a word in a language I didn’t yet speak.
Becoming a Student Again
Dusty got me in the saddle, but it took Charlie—and a stack of RFD-TV horsemanship shows—to turn me into a student again.
Dusty Steps In
After Vandy died, the yard felt empty. Then Dusty arrived—a younger, well-trained horse who pulled me deeper into horsemanship than I ever expected. This chapter is where everything began to shift.
The Thousand Pounds of Quiet Energy
In 1979, Ranae brought home a colt named Vandy. I didn’t know it yet, but that horse would shape our home, our marriage, and the direction of my life in ways I wouldn’t understand until he was gone.
The Horsemanship Years
A look back at how horses entered my life, what they taught me, and how a casual blog became the start of a long horsemanship journey.