A drifting cowboy: Cowboy Culture -- Making of a cowgirl

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Cowboy Culture -- Making of a cowgirl

When she agreed to marry me--nearly 40 years ago--I was a carpenter, and she was a high school English teacher. The last thing she ever figured would happen in her life was horses.

But, I had grown up with horses and always planned on having them in my life again when the time was right. This is the brief story of the "Making of a cowgirl."

Jerry and Joyce (1972).

Joyce with her first horse, 20-year-old Star (1996). When we were hanging out at the boarding ranch--way up in Browns Canyon--where Sunup was living, a lady asked us if we'd like a free horse. I talked Joyce into taking the offer. At age 58, Joyce began her journey as a horse owner.

"Leader of the Pack" Joyce with (l to r) Annie Oakley, Bronco Billy, Rusty, Cash (1998). Within a few months of riding, Joyce was dumped off old Star and suffered some compression fractures in her back. She was the true definition of "cowboyup" because within a few months she was back in the saddle. It didn't take long before she was ready for a better horse, and in 1997 she acquired 7-year-old Cash, a reining horse with a quarter horse pedigree that goes back to Poco Bueno.

Joyce learning to harness and drive Biggs (2001). Some of our friends and neighbors owned miniature horses and had lots of fun driving them. We bought 4-year-old Biggs and a Meadowbrook cart. Over the years Joyce and Biggs have participated in parades and other equestrian events.

Jerry on Cash and Joyce on Zinger high above Morro Bay in Montana De Oro State Park, California (2002). To learn more about Montana De Oro State Park see http://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2011/10/cowabunga-surfs-up-dude.html

Joyce and Zinger in the rocky hills of Chatsworth, California (2004). The extraordinary sandstone outcroppings in Chatsworth attracted filmmakers a century ago. Since then the rocky hills of Chatsworth have become a visible Western icon.