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.