'Local Cowboy' Does Good

National Day of the American Cowboy is coming up July 28. This year, I decided I would ask the city council where I live (Eden Prairie, Minnesota) to officially declare by mayoral order the day of celebration. I wasn't sure how difficult it was going to be, this being a highly urbanized suburb.

Mayor Phil Young was quite cordial when I emailed him the details. He's a great guy and I think he'd make a heckuva cowboy. Anyway, he pushed the idea into the pipeline and a few weeks back, one of the Eden Prairie city staff called me to let me know it was going to happen.

Oh, and could I come to the council meeting to accept the proclamation dressed in cowboy gear? No problem there, other than finding "gear" clean enough to wear in a public setting. I didn't discover my roping gloves had some sort of green "stuff" on them until I was standing in the foyer of the city council chambers.

The mayor allowed me to give a brief background on National Day of the Cowboy and talk a little about what I was wearing, including my new Ariat Western shirt, complete with underarm ventilation. Yep, a lot of things have changed about cowboying in the last 100 years!

The mayor read the proclamation and handed me a beautifully detailed copy, which hangs prominently in the Tack 'n Togs offices. Photos all around.

Here's the one that ended up in one of our local weekly newspapers, Eden Prairie News. I'm not sure exactly what the reporter meant by the tag line or the reference to me as "local cowboy." I'm sure there are probably a few others in Eden Prairie.

I'm always amazed how intrigued people are with Western apparel. I usually wear a Western hat of one sort or another and I often have people come up to me and ask if they can tough it, where did I get it, is it comfortable? It's a great opportunity to share what our industry is all about and generate business for our retailers.

My thanks to Mayor Young, the council and city manager Scott Neal for making this happen. Scott and I have one other thing in common -- we both blog regularly. His blog can be found here.

If you haven't already had National Day of the Cowboy proclaimed in your city or county, get with the program. It's really painless and quite a bit of fun besides!

Trail Wisdom

I've come to the conclusion I was born more than 100 years too late. Were this the 1870s or 1880s, I could see myself earning a living driving cattle out on the open range. As it is, I have to be content writing about it.

I learned a great deal during my adventure on the Great American Trail Drive.

Like, it is possible to get callouses from riding. I have never ridden that long and hard that many days in a row before. Even the callouses were enjoyable.

The biggest luxury in life is being able to spend three or four days with the cell phone turned off and without a watch. Out on the trail, the sun is your clock. Of course, there were a lot of drive participants who couldn't part with their cell phones. We'd be riding out in an area where was absolutely no sign of civilization and you could transport yourself back 100-plus years ... until someone's cell phone would ring. I'm not convinced cell phones should be considered a societal good.

The backs of my hands suntan very nicely. That was about the only portion of my body that wasn't covered by either a shirtsleeve, hat or other garments. Now I have to figure out a way to let my arms catch up with the backs of my hands.

By the way, if you'd like to have more information about the Great American Cattle Drive or would like to plan to attend with me next year, drop me a note at pwahl@tackntogs.com. I'm going to start an email list to keep everyone up-to-date. I guarantee you, you will remember this trip the rest of your life.

My wife and I will be in Door County, Wisconsin for the next few days. I'll chat with you more when we get back.

Come and Get It!

Working cattle out on the open range can generate a powerful hunger in a person. Those of us who rode in the Great American Trail Drive in Vici, Okla., feasted like kings and queens on chuckwagon grub of the highest order.

Each day began with the smell of freshly brewing coffee wafting across the campsite, followed by the odor of bacon cooking. Breakfasts generally consisted of pancakes, eggs, biscuits and gravy and even French toast.

Lunch was usually sandwiches or something similar and for dinner, the menu included such delicacies as chicken-fried steak and mashed potatoes as well as a very popular hamburger macaroni hotdish (called goulash in Oklahoma and many other parts of the country).

The cook wagon followed the cattle drovers from location to location each day. Not only was the food delicious, there was plenty of it and it was served with a smile.

There's something about coffee cooked over an open fire that just beats the heck out of even a cup of Starbucks. Same with bacon. I can take or leave it most of the time, but bacon the volunteers on this drive turned out was a must-have.

A number of those who worked in food service were young people from the community of Vici, who benefit from the proceeds of the trail drive. They did a great job and had great attitudes.

In fact, I was very impressed by the quality of the young people who were part of the event. They were respectful and quiet young people. They weren't prone to cussing or fighting. They could ride like the wind.

As a city dweller, I'll have to say it was great to see young people who weren't dressed in gothic black with black lipstick and black hair. Kind of gives you faith in the generation of leaders coming up.

In Praise of the Ranch-Raised Gelding

Meet "Heck." He was my mount for the Great Western Cattle Drive in Vici, Okla. in early June. He is one heckuva a horse, no doubt.

In the urban equine world, a lot of emphasis is placed on building a bond with your horse, spending tons of time to make yourself a team with your horse. Some of it is part of the Natural Horsemanship Movement, some of it is just misguided advice.

That was in the back of my head when my friend Randy Thompson offered me Heck (who actually belongs to his wife, Dana) to ride for the cattle drive. How would we function together since the horse I ride four times a week or more and I don't always do that great at communicating? Would it be three days of battling with the horse to get him to do what I wanted to do?

All my fears melted when I began working with Heck the first night, saddling, tacking and finally swinging aboard. He is the ultimate in been-there, done-that horses. He didn't fuss or fume because I didn't ride exactly the way the person he was accustomed to rode. He gave me his full attention from the get-go without weeks and weeks of round-penning and join-up.

Perhaps it was just Heck's trusting nature that created an instant bond. I've seen it in other ranch horses, though. The bond is with the land, with the job at hand and not so much with the personality involved.

Heck and I navigated hills and valleys, roads and trails, stoney ground and soft without an argument. He went wherever you pointed him. Through the water. Up the side of the embankment. Down the other side. It didn't matter.

While I would never pooh-pooh anyone's training method, I do believe that every horse should spend some time on a working cattle ranch. Something seems to seep into their souls in that rough and tumble setting that makes them a better horse.

I'll always remember Heck and his partnership on this trail drive. He was an honest a horse as a man could ask for. Everyone should be so lucky.

The Long Dusty Trail

Yours truly riding the range as part of the Great Western Trail Drive.

The Old West is alive and well and living in Vici, Okla. This past week, I had the opportunity to particiapte in the Great Western Trail Drive, along with about 125 other riders, moving 100 longhorns over 30 miles in three days. It was about as much as you can legally have on horseback! The weather was great, the bugs weren't even too bad and the scenery was spectacular.

I met up with my hosts, Randy and Dana Thompson, on Wednesday afternoon. Randy operates Randy's Leather Shop (http://www.randysleathershop.com) among other pursuits near Vici. For those of you uninitiatied, the name of the city is pronounced VIE-SIGH and yes, it is the last part of the phrase Veni Vidi Vici, is a famous Latin phrase coined by Roman general Julius Caesar in 47 BC. "I came, I saw, I conquered."

Vici is located up in the panhandle not too far from the Kansas border, right in the heart of farming and ranching land. Just as some communities have carnivals or fun days to raise money for various needs, Vici hosts the trail drive. Nearly all of the 700 residents get involved as volunteers in one form or fashion. Proceeds are divided up between deserving organizations, such as the school and the rodeo club.

Gas prices apparently dampened this year's numbers but not the enthusiasm. Riders came from as far away as Tennessee and California and yes, even Minnesota. Over the next few installments of this blog, I will share with you some of my insights after spending time reliving the Cowboy tradition.

You just plan to trail along, okay!

Longhorns have very long horns.