Life Beyond the Camera :Part Two

My horses have become a large part of my life now. Although I have been around horses most of my life, I have not, until recently, been able to own and breed them as a part of my everyday life. Since leaving the city for life beyond the "big smoke" I can now do that. For the moment,my herd consists of a Belgian mare,two geldings,one a Canadian,the other a Clydesdale and Mats,a registered Quarter Horse stallion. It is with Mats that I am finding my greatest pleasures,as he is a true cow pony and a willing accomplice in my rodeo ambitions. Not that we are likely to win any overall championships or gold buckles,but we are competing in team penning with an eye on doing some hazing or perhaps even roping.I grew up emulating cowboys of the old west and now I guess I have my chance to live a tiny piece of that heritage. Mats on the other hand,just loves pushing cows.

The cowboy and his history and the live style holds a lot of value for anyone willing to step back from todays over paced and frenetic world and settle on a more pragmatic way of seeing things. Theirs was and to some extent is a simpler world based on simple truths and hard work. It is a simpler set of values and they are based more on what a man does,than on who he is or was,his skin colour or his native tongue. Not that cowboys were saints,they were not,there were good and bad,bigots,racists and villans,but in general they were accepting of anyone who pulled their weight and did their appointed tasks with skill and diligence. Over all, that isn't a bad way to look at or live your life. I guess I've spent more than my fair share of time,in "cowboy country". Taos NM is like a second home to me and I have traveled the highways,byways and back roads of New Mexico,Arizona,Texas,Montana,Wyoming,Alberta and BC,in search of parts unknown and western adventures. Tales of the wild west and the frontier have fascinated my imagination, from the fur traders and the mountain men to the cattle barons and the gunfighters. Whether it was Clay Allison,William Bonney or Wyatt Earp,I knew their stories and followed their steps through history as best one can in today's hustling world. Much of what they saw and lived is gone now,the buffalo herds,the beaver,the tribes of free roaming Indians and the vast herds of cattle headed for the railheads and the eastern cities. The frontiers are settled and the wild rivers tamed,but the cowboy is still here,still pushing cattle across not so open ranges and still living by many of the same codes and rules as they did in their heyday.Todays working cowboy is likely to be university educated and gets to work in a pick up truck,but he still works cattle from the back of a horse and he still takes better care of his gear than he does of himself. Cowboys heal up,broken gear stays broke!There are more than a few today who could do worse than work harder than they play,speak only when they have something to say and expect to be treated as they treat others.