We found one of our mares caught in the fence a couple weeks ago.

By the time we got to her she had cut her hind leg pretty bad. It wasn’t into the tendon. We’ve been through that before. But the cut was deep and large and I’m still doing dressing changes.

She walks fine, and I’m sure she’ll be back to work soon. But it got me thinking about fences. We have noticed that the horses will use smooth wire to scratch where they itch. This they won’t do with barb wire. Cows and horses both appear to respect barb wire.

The problem is at night when they get spooked and run into barb wire, or when they play “horsey tag”, then the injuries can be bad.

So, we use net wire some places, but occasionally a horse will kick into the web, and get hung up there. Also not good.

Then there’s electric, but what about when the power goes out?

PVC looks good but it does have a tendency to break when a thousand pounds of red meat plows into it, and it deteriorates in sunlight.

Never mind wood, I can’t afford the maintenance.

So, my mind wandered back to a time before fences, back in the open range days. Buffalo herds passed through, eating and tearing up the turf, leaving plowed, fertilized ground, then the grassland was left alone for months to recover.

Fires swept across the dead grass, opening up space for new fresh grass to grow, and eliminating the brush that invades so much of our land nowadays.

Grassland prairie is much more fertile than forest land, since the grass constantly turns organic matter into soil, so the fire was really helpful. And it didn’t require the use of controversial agricultural chemicals.

Maybe Charley Goodnight was right!

We should have stayed with open range!

Sometimes i wonder if the worst plague to happen to ol’ Mother Earth hasn’t been the human race with all that fencing wire!

But then again, when I need a horse I’d like to know that I can find him without sending out a search party!

We were adjusting my saddle for a friend to ride when she asked about my saddle.

It was kind of different from what she was used to.

I explained that it was designed to reduce the layers of leather under the rider’s legs, to allow for closer contact with the horse. Then the seat of the saddle doesn’t have build up in the front, which allows the rider to roll his pelvic bone forward and sit on his seat-bones ( ischial tuberosity, if you want to look it up in Greys anatomy, not the TV show, the book ).

So, where did this saddle come from?

It is very much like the currently popular “ranch roper”. But this saddle was designed back in the 1950’s by the team of Monty Foreman, the scientific horsemanship author, and “Slim” Fallis, the saddle maker.

It was designed to put the rider in the “forward” position of balance on the horse. Riding this saddle you feel more “plugged in” to the horse.

The seat is very similar in feel to a good dressage saddle , only it is a western roping saddle, and has a strong rawhide tree, which can withstand heavy roping work.

I was introduced to this type of saddle by reiner Buddy Ralston, back when we were all forming the Texas reining horse association. It helped me to get into the position i needed to be in for reining maneuvers.

I also find it helps a lot in starting colts, to keep me in a balanced seat so as to help young horses find their balance with a rider on their backs.

I got my first one from Slim back in the late 1970’s. But since then I’ve purchased five more, one of which was for my oldest grandchild, now a teenager who rides with us. Now I deal with Slim’s son John Fallis whose shop is in Idaho, and who does all his own work. So it is truly a custom made saddle.

We see essentially no back soreness with this saddle, and I am more comfortable as well.

I’ve had colts fall over backward on it without breaking the tree, we rope calves, cows and occasional bull, and I don’t have to use any special padding under it.

Just thought maybe other horseman who are always looking for that perfect saddle might like to hear my (humble) opinion on the saddle business! June 1 2018