Cattle penning and a missing saddle

INDIANOLA, Neb. - Back in the day, Farmer Tom and I enjoyed “Cattle Penning” at the Red Willow Arena and sometimes a few other town events.  We had one horse named Red that wasn’t anything to look at, but he was another favorite ride.  This guy not only excelled at barrels and poles, but he was also excellent at working cattle.  He was the type of animal that would shift his weight when he felt me losing my seat and that›s a fact.  

Our oldest daughter had started with a chronic illness when she was 10 years old and had to take large doses of prednisone.  As you can imagine, there are terrible side effects of taking that medicine, but she was always a trooper.  She rode a quarter/pony mare and was often our third rider.  At the Calcutta, no one wanted to bid on our team, so the bank got us cheap.  Yep, we won!  They made a great return on their investment.  Just goes to show, one can’t judge a book by its cover.

Farmer Tom also cattle-penned with his dad and brothers at different events, and they really enjoyed it. Tom had an old «Hereford» saddle that his great uncle had when he was little. It was in the back of the pickup under the gooseneck.  The boys stopped to grab a drink and unbelievably, some jerk stole our saddle but left the newer two.  It was one of the saddest things since it had such sentiment and it had to be someone we knew which makes it worse.  

In recent years they have changed the cattle-penning to almost a cowboy ranch rodeo. I see a few great women riders and love that, but for many of the jobs it takes brute strength not necessarily a good horse and rider.  Still fun to watch but not as easy for female competitors.

Have a good one!