Southern Idaho. Many times I have wished to run into more horses and horsepersons in the so-called Western states. I suppose there is just so much overhead and inconvenience involved that an ATV makes more sense to most people.
But I got lucky yesterday. Something immediately grabbed me about the guy. He was retirement age and gnarly, weathered, and laconic. He had an impressive grey handlebar mustache. His horse was half-draft horse, with huge hooves. The ol' cowboy had three dogs along.
I liked how home-made or at least home-repaired his horse's tack looked, as did the cowboy's clothing. I have seen people riding horses in the Colorado mountains, but they looked like McMansioners or trust-funders. And their clothing looked new, clean, and fake.
This guy seemed authentic. He was not a tourist or recreationalist. He had a job to do: he was working for the Stockman's Association, and needed to check on the water tanks out on the grass and sagebrush range.
We talked for over a half hour. Even if I had had a camera, it would have been insulting to him to reduce the experience to tourism. After all these years, something authentically Western finally happened.
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| In the Arizona desert one winter, some horse people were looking pretty authentic and non-Hollywoodish. |
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| A classic outback ranch scene near the Utah/Colorado border. |
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| On the horns of a dilemma in New Mexico. |
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| Livestock security services provided by Great Pyrenees dog. |
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| Peruvian shepherd in the high country of southwestern Wyoming. |
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