Not Thursday

Luke was riding around pretty well and I had just transitioned him to a walk after guiding a while at a lope when the phone rang. It was John. My older brother lives just south of me about 130 miles and I don't get to see him, or his family, nearly as often as I'd like. Time is a precious commodity when you are trying to go through ten head after lunch everyday so the phone usually goes unanswered until after dark. However, the fact that Luke deserved a quick break coupled with my brother being the caller resulted in me whipping open my still beloved tough phone.

Jesse Howell needed a horse. He had made arrangements with John prior to our visit, but John had just found out that he wasn't going to be able to pull away from work in order to meet Mr. Howell at the ranch. Well, my brother has an amazing ability to influence people and I'm no exception. The next thing I was doing was thanking him for the chance to head south and show Jesse Howell my brother's mare. This reads a bit like my brother is a silver tounge professional persuader in it for his own benefit. I assure you he is not. He's good because he's genuine. He'd do it for me in a heart-beat. And he asked me to take along an additional colt for Mr. Howell to look at that I felt would fit his needs and budget.

So Tuesday morning rolls around and after getting everyone fed four lucky prospects won a free trip southward bound to Quincy. Tuseday's are pretty nice down there. Mostly maintenance days at the beginning of the week. Your looking at projects like gate hanging, water checking, feeding, checking foaling mares, etc. It's a steady stream of effort, but nothing that will get you hooked off the fence or round housed into the roundpen floor.

The horse demo went great. John's mare looked great, but Mr. Howell took a fancy to the little sorrel gelding I took down there. He was a double-bred Gay Bar King two-year-old that had just started to make a move. By that I mean he was getting comfortable with the maneuvers he was being taught and starting to try a little harder. Gaining confidence. Jesse loaded him up and off they went. And just like that, I was 1 head lighter for Wednesday. The Scholl's will be excited. The little gelding belonged to them and they've recently had a stroke of bad luck with the horse deal. This lick was just what they needed.

Don Lotspieche was at the ranch. For those of you who know Don, you're already laughing. For those of you who don't, let me try to shed some light on this stay-put-drifter. Don's child-like wisdom will astound you with it's insight while his cow-hand-gone-hippie facade will mesmorize you into just staring at him wondering what the hell he's gonna come up with next.

Well he came up with plenty. He took John's mare for a ride after Mr. Howell headed back to Premont. Don started that mare and wanted to get a couple of last rides in before calling the job done I guess. So he heads up the hill.

There aren't many hills in South Texas. There is one on our place though. Or so that's what we call it. It's in the same pasture that we keep the roping steers in and it's a great place to take a colt to just push cattle around and get them comfortable doing "real work". When Don got back we had an interesting conversation.

"Hey James, what about that Border Collie? He worked his ass off," he half hollered at me across the pens.

I stepped that way and he continued.

"I was loping that mare down that north fence and she was doing real good. That little charolais-cross-lookin bull that always stays off to himself was out there layin down. We rode up on him and that mare shied from 'im a bit so I walked her back up there and made her stay put. When he got up, I tracked him ALL OVER that place until he had just about had it. He finally turned around like he was wantin' to fight. That damn mare pinned her ears and cowwed down on him. I was real proud of her. She's gonna be a nice mare. That yella gyp and collie dog were lettin that sucker have it the whole time."

"Well I really like hearin that about that mare," I said.

"Yep, that's a nice dog," Don said as he was noddin his head and walkin towards the saddle house.

Here is where most people would think... "What the hell?" ;)

But I know Don. I was once the young fella who would listen to the dogs when we were in the brush and tell him which way the cattle were. Then, ride like crazy trying to keep up. I've seen and heard about him doing things for people that few would bother doing. He's a good man. And having a conversation with him at the ranch is most definitely worth a trip south. Well, if you can call it a conversation.

As in our little conversation today, Don knows where he's headed in life. We might not know where Don's headed, but Don knows. Straight ahead. What you see is what you get. The ability to disregard other's opinions is often frowned upon and sought after by the same individuals. We could all use a lesson in turning loose. Gather your thoughts and realize who it is that you are. Then stand for something. You'll piss some people off. But . . . if you really master the Don way of life.

You won't care.

Palm Sunday: No Happy Endings, Only New Beginnings

Today's Readings prepare us for the holy week approaching as Easter Sunday draws near. They share a message of self-sacrifice, which is what Lent is all about, and the Passion.

Fr. Ed delivered a wonderful message. Beginnings.

Green horses, young horses and finished horses leave the barn for a new home when their time has come. Clients will arrive with high hopes, watch their prized possession go through the motions and then load up and head out. It usually goes well and there's another happy ending.

Well, Fr. Ed gave me a new way to think about it today. It also applies to just about everything else in my life . . . and yours. There is no ending for that horse that leaves. Only a beginning. The beginning of its relationship with someone else.

I'm left to focus on what's to come for the horse instead of what has been. And with other circumstances in life, it's the same. A whole different mindset. With every change from now on, I'll be eagerly anticipating where Our Lord is leading me now. Close your eyes and take that step. Or Leap. A leap of faith into your new beggining.

Dedication

Hal is a calf roper. He meets a good friend of his at least once a week and they trot out into the pasture to the arena and rope calves. A couple years back, Hal was given a son of the great Doc O Dynomite by Mr. John Scott. This horse was the real deal. No amount of money could touch him. And he knows it. You can see it in his eyes. He's one of the great ones, but he has nothing to prove. His new job is to take care of Hal. And he does.

Hal works hard. He recently told a good friend of mine that he just couldn't get to those calves like he wanted to be able to so he started running wind sprints in the mornings. He practices every week. And tries to make a calf roping every weekend.

That horse he's got makes it look easy. You can see that he knows that he is one of the great ones. But he just cruises out there and lets Hal rope. He puts those smaller calves on the ground for him so he doesn't have to get them up. He can just tie them down right there.

You see, Hal is 78 years old. His buddy that ropes with him every week is rollin by 80. They'd rope every day they say, but it hurts too bad.

Now I've seen Hal get down the rope, and I can't imagine how long that set of wind sprints takes him in the morning. ;)

But, that's not the point. Dedication. That's the point. Planning like we'll live forever and living like we may die tomorrow.

Thursday's: Shakey Start - Solid Finish

4:30 - Tweety is GOING TO TOWN right outside the bedroom door that leads to our back yard. He must have been on my frequency though due to the steady breathing of my lovely bride. She lay at peace as my subtle little reminder from Him that my alarm was about to blast us to reality was being whistled just outside.

Still the alarm caught me laying there when 5:00 rolled around and the day was rolling.

The truck and trailer were waiting for me right where I had hooked up last night. So, after everything in the barn and outside stalls were fed, it was time to go get my roping calves. Trailers are not the most fun to back in the dark. Especially without trailer lights. Those of you who know me know that this is no surprise. Anyway, no mishaps this morning thank goodness. One stronger black calf had to stay for a second session of being a roping calve but the other santa gertrudis calves were loaded on the trailer and I was headed for Quincy.

Branding some yearling fillies was to compose most of the day today, but the morning started off with a bit of worry. My Grandfather, John Morgan O'Brien, also known as J.M. by some, Pop by even fewer, and PoPo to me, had been sick. We got an early call while feeding requesting us to come by the main house and see PoPo.

I was worried. Dad, however, knew what this meant. It was time to convince a man who'd seen 83 years of South Texas ranch life and still works the crowd pen that he needed to go to the doctor. And Mary Kathryn was drafting some help.

What ensued I can only describe as Love. This is an Irish Catholic family. So when I say we can get worked up, I mean we can get WORKED UP. ;)

But, today was not one of those days. No convincing. No persuasion. Nothing. They just cared. We are blessed to have a close family friend that is a Doc in Victoria. We visited with J.M. a while and then my uncles, Mick and Dick gave him a call. The normal pleasantries followed and then a couple of quick questions about PoPo. Dad lined up a visit with the physician in the nearest town and that was it. A couple of them loaded up with John Morgan and off they went.

We stayed. Foaling mares still have to be fed by somebody. And the two's can't ride themselves. The branding, though, was off.

The day wasn't empty though. Any rancher knows that being bored, unfortunately, is not ever a problem. You adapt, change plans and accomplish new things. Morgan and I sorted a group of calves at the Murphy and dropped off the old set from my house. The Murphy also had a dozer operator that we needed to check on.

A group of three twos were caught up this morning and so they got worked this afternoon as well. There's a black in particular that I'm very excited about. Nice colt.

Well, PoPo got his report and it was a good one. We spent most of the morning and some of the afternoon visiting with him. After we wrapped the twos and I got loaded up to head north, we stopped back by the house. My time with him today was a great chance for a couple of stories. So here they are:
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We were chatting about pasture work making for nicer horses down the road when an event my grandfather had attended, no doubt as a careless youngster, made itself present at the forefront of his mind.

Me and Richard Walker went to a ropin one time out in the middle of the pasture. Great big arena. And there wasn't a fence on one side. The momma cows were over there. So they pulled the calves that day. Penned them and then turned 'em out headed straight back for momma's milk.

Well we had our calf horses there but they couldn't catch 'em fast enough to do any good. Needless to say, nobody else was catchin' 'em either.

Oh and Chic Alexander was with us too. Man, he could tie one faster than anybody I knew. That was if he could catch one though. Tied good, but didn't catch many.

Well Richard and this fella from whoever's place that was were buddies. And that friend of Richard's had a race horse. So Richard talked him into lettin us borrow him.

"I never have roped on him, " he said.

Hell, we didn't care. We just needed to get close fast. That's it.

And you know we backed that runner into the box blind folded. And when we nodded and took that blindfold off, you had better been screwed down. That booger was floatin.

We just had a ring snaffle on him and herded him by those calves. He never even saw 'em. And wouldn't you know it. We won 1st, 2nd and 3rd on that thang that day.

Me and Chic and Richard. That Richard was a hellofa individual.

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We were sitting there with old westerns playin on a tv that was probably made the same year that movie we were watchin was made when some poor man on the tv headed out into the rain horseback.

We haven't had any good rain in a while so the comic relief and back-handed comments were flowin free when Dad remarked about how miserable that must be.

"I've been there, " Popo remarked but didn't sit up like he usually does before a story. Almost like he was feelin what he was talking about.

We were drivin a set to the Greeter, when I was just a little fella, comin from the Sarco. . .

That's a 20 mile clip for those not familiar with the area. We don't make drives like that anymore. I'm not sure if anyone does.

And we had one boil up over us and go to rainin. It hadn't been going too long and lightning struck not to far from the herd throwing dirt WAY yonder into the air. Haven't seen anything like it untill then. And hadn't since.

You know there was something else I saw on that drive, too. Those sparks dancin on the tips of those cattle's horns. not like the movies glowing and such, but dancing. Same as it does in the clouds, but from steer to steer. Damndest thang I ever saw.

We were out on that prairie country so it wasn't like we were going to go anywhere or get out of it. Probably a good thing with the way that lightin was hittin. A tree bustin or fallin could of killed somebody.

Anyhow, we kept a ridin. Didn't have much choice. Directly one of the hands come ridin up to me and says, "little boss, you need to climb down from that horse and unsaddle him. Cover yourself with that blanket 'cause we about to get some hail."

And damned if we didn't. Not even five minutes after he told me that we got the hell beat out of us. I'll never forget that trip. I don't know how he knew that about that hail.

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Well, hopefully you got this far. If you didn't, I understand. Since you did, I'm going to push my luck. ;)

Please say a quick prayer for all those who have seen the ways of life and freedom change before their eyes. Pray that we can adapt, overcome and persevere just as they did. Ask that they be given the strength and wisdom to continue guiding us through times that hopefully will mold us into the people that they already are.

Blessed by Down Syndrome (Part two)

Part 1 Here

Down Syndrome is definitely not a curse. It's not a misfortune, nor even a mixed blessing. Those with Down Syndrome are gifts delivered to us straight from the hand of God.

Pure, unadulterated and perfect kindness. Love in the flesh. The life they lead is most often cut short. Why?

Because we don't deserve to have them any longer than that. That's why. They are an opportunity for us to witness what it means to be 'good'. Not as in, good brownies or good times. Not even as in good family, or good spouse.

More like "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good" (Genesis 1:31)

Thanks Kevin. Good to see you again. Hope we can do lunch again soon - James

Who started this April Fools thing anyway?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29975985/

Stick to your guns

Many, Many colts come through here and everyone of them is different than the last one. In order to get the same results from different horses, you have to get pretty creative. Lots of thought goes into setting up a situation in order to get a young horse to decide it wants to do a certain thing. And it doesn't always workout as planned. You can't jump ship and start over doing something else or mass confusion will set in. You have to stick with it. Keep after the original concept until you get the response you were looking for. That's why it's so important to put some thought into your goal before you get started. Because if you don't believe in what your doing to get the response you need, you're going to start doubting yourself if it doesn't go smoothly.

In Today's Readings Daniel shares the story of three men who are rescued by an angel from the furnace of King Nebuchadnezzar. The only reason they got to see that angel is because they stuck to their guns. It sure would have been easier to hit their knees when the King told them to. However, they stayed true to what they believed.

Then in John's Gospel, Jesus shows us perseverance as well. Though the people continue to deliver a barrage of ridiculous statements, questions, and accusations Jesus calmly guides them back to the Truth. Even though He knows that that truth is going to end with Him being thrown into the 'furnace' as well.

He knew, though, that His God and Father would be there to rescue Him. Know that He is there for you. Be steadfast in your efforts to walk the line. Doing right will almost always get you ridiculed by someone. Sometimes it will be even worse. Stick to your guns. Your angel is waiting.

P.S. The other time an angel appears in a 'rescue' situation is when Peter escaped from prison. Another great story of perseverance. Here it is.