Night Rider

It's 5:00 AM and my husband just came through the doors. "I just finished riding those two new
horses and our colt", he said.
"What, it's pitch black still", I said.
He went on to explain to me what he was up to.

He had been pretty quiet the night before.  This is never a good sign.  That meant he was stewing about something.  I chose not to ask what was going on.  You know they say "ignorance is bliss".  I like bliss.  I have learned a cowboy stewing is like a General planning his troop's maneuvers.  So he apparently came up with the plan he put into action in the wee hours of the morning.

All three young horses had some sort of issues, from a horse trainer outlook.  The youngest one is just a spitfire that can jump right out from underneath him.  The mare is not real fond of "listening" to his feet.  The oldest just needed to settle down.

He rode the same basic pattern with all three.  He took them one at a time at a trot straight out from the barn into a huge field.  Now these are not flat fields.  These are fields with scrub brush, oak trees, rises and drops and squirrel holes too.  There is a dirt dam above a very dry pond.  Once he had them on top of the dam he turned them around each direction several times.  They really "listened" to him in the dark, since they had to trust him.

So I asked, because I just can't help myself, "couldn't they fall down the bank?"
He responded, "they will if they don't do what I'm telling them."

AGHHH why do I ask?

He went on this morning to tell me a great story.  His dad, Joe, was a colt breaker for Simon-Newman, one of the largest cattle operations in the central valley of California in the late 40's through early 60's.  They had a string of colts that would need to get broke in a hurry,  Joe would get a lot done in a short time by riding those young horses out in the dark.

Joe always told Coleman's mom, Gloria, when to expect him back.  One night he hadn't shown up, so Gloria took a lantern and went out to find him.  She found him lying underneath a horse in a sandy dry river bottom.  I can just imagine her panic.  The horse couldn't get up and Joe was trapped.  She dug underneath Joe and got his knife out of his pocket and cut the latigo holding the saddle.  The horse was able to get up and freed Joe.  He wasn't hurt badly and went on the next day to do it all over again.

"Gee thanks for telling me that great story, You know your mom was a lot tougher than me", I said.

"No",  he said. "I know you would come looking for me if I didn't show up for morning coffee."

That has always been a code for us.  You don't deviate from the expected without telling each other.  If you're going to be late, we tell each other or get the word home.  You leave a message with what field or what highway you'll be traveling.

He reminded me of when we first started dating.  I came up to meet him at his ranch  for a date. When I arrived he was not there.  This was very uncharacteristic since he's always early for everything.  There was a halter hanging from the tie rack, a missing saddle, and the dogs were gone. It was just about dark and I hadn't ridden in these hills but once or twice. So I went and caught a broke horse and got ready to go looking.  Just as I started down the trail from the barn in the complete dark,  he came over the hill.

"I had never had anyone come looking for me", he said.  "That's when I knew you were the one."