I just noticed that our kitchen stove is a Frigidaire. I sat down with my “cuppa’” and scratching what’s now left of my hair, I puzzled over that. Frigid air Cooketh not! Just another one of those things called oxymorons, like jumbo shrimp, or military intelligence. Then I got to thinking about other terms, like “cow boy”. In a recent agricultural meeting in our county there must’ve been hundreds of men and women. The speaker asked for all those under thirty to stand. Out of the hundreds, fewer than twenty stood. Then he asked for the under fifty five to stand, and got about 30 more. That left hundreds still seated. He said to those seated “you are the future of agriculture.” I got to thinking that at age seventy one I am neither cow nor boy, and if I am the future of agriculture what are the nine billion going to eat in thirty years when we are gone? The point he wanted to make was that we need to encourage young people to enter agriculture as their life’s work. This needs to happen at a very young age. For instance my father persisted and putting me on horses before I started school, and I was driving tractors before I was old enough to have a driver’s license (which was then only fourteen in Texas). However the federal government’s new laws would make it a crime for anyone under eighteen to do any form of ranch work! You do the math.
Monthly Archives: February 2017
The Term Paper
As a teenager in College Station, Texas I had been given an assignment in one of my high school classes to write a “term paper” as they were called. I chose to study the life and art of the Spanish painter named Velazquez. I was thrilled to be able to put horses and art together. However, the paintings that I saw did not depict an equine that resembled the quarter horses in my day to day experience in Brazos County. Those arched necks and long wavy manes and extremely collected postures were quite different from our modern cow ponies. Years later I ran across pictures and writing of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, with their Lippizaner horses. There they were again, the Velasquez horses. So when we began to study Spanish and Portuguese horses as a part of our journey with the Texas Ladies Aside, it wasn’t long before we found ourselves also studying classical dressage and seeking out Andalusian horses in the US of A.
I even discovered that there is a cowboy school of horsemanship in Spain, the Doma Vaquera. Now, I was in hog heaven! Well, as you can easily imagine, we are now involved with breed shows, and we own a stallion and mares, and we are beginning to use Andalusian (Spanish) and Lusitano ( Portuguese) horses for ranch work. After more than a millennium of breeding for livestock work and bullfighting it sort of makes sense that they are yet another terrific ranch working horse! Even if they do look funny to those of us who grew up with quarter horses. Actually. I’m starting to get used to how they look– ‘cause, “pretty is, as pretty DOES!”
Working Equitation Clinic: Mercedes Gonzalez Cort
The Twin Creeks Ranch is a busy place these days. Spring has definitely sprung (although the pecan trees aren’t so sure yet). We have already started spring roundups, even though we did get sprinkled on. The weeds are looking pretty suspicious already, so I guess we will be cranking up the spray rig soon. Meanwhile we’re getting ready for a clinic the first of April. This will be our second Working Equitation Spring Clinic. We’ve been blessed with one of the finest clinicians, Mercedes Gonzalez Cort. A past president of the Spanish Horse (PRE) registry, she has studied and performed and taught in the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, as well as the Royal School of Equestrian Art in Jerez, Spain. We became acquainted with Mercedes as judge of both the National Andalusian & Lusitano horse show in America, and the Eastern Regional Andalusian show, where I have been the announcer for most of twenty five years. Mercedes has ridden all of the high school movements in shows around Europe and England. She is involved with working equitation in Spain and France, and works closely with WAWE, the international association. Her English is way better than my own Texese, and her Spanish is Castilian. We have learned much from her in the past as she has judged and given clinics across the US. In addition to the fact that she “talks the talk” and very much “walks the walk,” she is a truly gracious person with a fun personality and a generous heart. What a treasure it is that she will come to us in far away Texas! We are looking forward to having a magnificent two day working equitation clinic.
Keep Yer Friends Closer
Many years ago my old neighbor Andrew decided to run for County sheriff. He did all the usual elbow Rubbin’ and palm greasing and pressing flesh (handshaking). He even painted a few signs and put them up at prominent crossroads. Unfortunately, while he was a pretty sharp fellow, and knew the county way better than most, he had a few flaws, as do we all. Moreover, His opponent was very popular, and had strong financial backing. Well, election day came, and folks came to town, some in cars and pick up trucks, even a few still driving mules to farm wagons and gigs. The next day when all the smoke cleared and the votes were tallied up, my friend had only two votes. Probably one was his and the other was his wife’s! that morning he sauntered into the café at the corner of the two Highway intersection, locally known as “the Y “, and ordered his breakfast. One of the locals sitting there nursing his coffee looked him over and commented “Andrew I see you’re packing iron (carrying a pistol in a holster) don’t you know you lost the election? You’re not the sheriff! Andrew slowly turned around, looked over the rims of his glasses and remarked “I seen the election results. I figured any son of a gun that ain’t got any more friends than I got, damn well BETTER carry a gun! “