August in the Yellowstone wilderness can be cold and that morning it was about 35 degrees and frozen dew cracked off my bedroll tarp as I peeked out to see the morning sun was already glowing over the pine trees on the rim. Damn, that meant I was late and old Jack...

My life’s been a great experience but sometimes I wonder how I lived through some of it. For example, one summer I worked in the Grand Teton Park delivering bug spray for the park rangers. We’d load mules, or horses, with Jerry cans of bug spray and then haul them...

My cowboy hat gets complimented so frequently that it does not surprise me anymore, but a little girl in a café, maybe three years old, saw me and asked her mother if she could talk to the cowboy. I heard her question and I stopped and introduced myself. Of all the...

For as long as there have been sentient people, men have gathered around a fire to tell stories and share experiences. That changed from a real fire to bars, cafes, and old stores with pot bellied stoves. But now young men are on social media sharing bathroom...

It was about 9:00 am and I was riding a three-year-old horse I had started a few weeks back. He was coming along like a Labrador puppy, happy to please and learning every day. Experienced riders know these are the ones you need to watch the most because you get...

My daughter showed this picture to my grandsons and one of them asked me if that was me. I told them, "No that was not me, I rode bucking horses but never like that." They asked me what I meant and I told them I could get it done but that guy was a business man at...

As I start this blog, I invite you to get some coffee and join me for conversation and friendship. Because it is my blog, I may do most of the talking, but you're welcome to share. I do have a few rules though. You can disagree but you can’t be disagreeable here,...

In 1979, Merle Haggard released a song called “I wear my own kinda hat” and the lyrics talk about there being many ways to look at things but “I stand right here where I’m at, cause I wear my own kinda hat.”  That song always spoke to me because I grew up around...

When did having personal honor and integrity stop being popular? Popular, hell, when did it just stop being the way people lived, being what was expected of you? I grew up on ranches in Wyoming and two of the common themes I was raised on were the importance of...

I was with my dad checking on the cows and we came upon a mother cow and her newborn calf. Mom was new to this motherhood thing, and she was not mothering up to the calf. My dad got off his horse and just kept pushing the calf under the mother cow. It took a few...

I had not planned to start this blog with this news, but it is important to me, so I will. I had to send Marco (Mark of the Galaxy), my last quarter horse, to his maker this last weekend. It was harder than I had anticipated. I have said final words to a lot of...

When the snow goes off the winter range the prairie dogs start popping out, and Coyotes are everywhere. Cowboys start riding the hollers and the hidey holes listening for the bell mare with the mules, and to look for the horses. They find some with new foals, and...

In 1965, I was working for an outfit that took teenagers into Yellowstone Park on wilderness pack trips. We packed about 15 mules to carry the gear necessary for two weeks outdoors for between 12 and 20 campers and staff. All of the mules were mothered up to a bell...

A friend and I were discussing the stuff we had done over our lifetime. He commented on a polo trophy I had and how it must be great to have the trophy. I told him "You will always remember the ride long after you have lost the trophy buckle." I cannot take credit...