When you worked on a ranch that used horses you got to ride the new young stock every spring. They came in from being out all winter and they were fresh, strong, and frequently came with attitude. Our job was to catch the three-year-olds and get them ready to be trained as working horses. The idea was to not let them buck much because we wanted them to have spirit and be courageous but, bucking people off was not an acceptable option.

You only have to walk several miles home, in cowboy boots, following your horse once to know the wisdom of that. And if you broke anything on your body in the fall, it was worse.

But let’s get back to that guy on the horse.

Everybody who works has a place where they do their job. Pretty much everybody I know uses a computer now, and has a desk of some kind, but each of us works some place. The bronc rider did his business from the saddle. His job was to break and educate as many horses as he was given. This guy is just a professional, up there doing his business.

Hollywood and rodeos give people the impression this job is all about fighting the horse, and dragging your spurs all over them, until they gave up or bucked you off. The actual process is quite different.

When we started each spring, we were each given one old proven horse, one or two that started last year, and then about 5 new three-year-old bronks to start. As the snow melted away and the mud dried up, you started catching the young horses, teaching them to lead and carry a saddle. Then you started riding. First in the round pen and then outside.

It is no joke that riding 5 new horses a day is a lot of work, and if they keep trying to buck you off it is just harder. Remember these cowboys had other ranch work that also needed to get done. They might shoe horses, clean stalls, build fence, cut and stack hay, manage other ranch livestock, and whatever else needed to be done on a working ranch.

I worked on a Dude ranch, did pack trips into the wilderness, and worked at a kid’s summer camp, among my various jobs. Each of these required different skills, but all of them used horses, and all of them involved both old reliable horses and some number of “trainees.” But in each case, it was my place to work and my saddle and a horse were where I worked.

My dad once told me “If you have something to complain about, take a magazine and go talk it out in the outhouse!” He would listen to whatever I had to say but he was not one who put up with complaining. He thought if I was getting paid to work then I should show up and get the job done. Maybe a little more of that should be part of what our young people learn at home and in school.