06/27/08 Quick Switch

Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do to get the job done. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back to tell you about one of those times. Years ago there weren't too many fences between neighbor's pastures so livestock would stray, but word would be passed along about what horses or cattle were grazing where and what brands they were wearing so the owner would know where to look for his missing stock. That's how Granddad found out one of his young unbroken horses was vacationing at a ranch about ten miles away. Granddad saddled one of his partially trained horses and rode to collect his horse. After Granddad and his good friend exhausted all the news and gossip they each knew, Granddad roped the young horse, haltered him and headed for home. Now, I mentioned this stray was young and unbroken which meant he might already be four or five years old and had never been haltered. The neighbor watched Granddad ride across a flat and disappear into a brushy draw. There was quite a commotion and noise for a little bit and when Granddad came out on the other side he was riding the horse he had been leading and leading the horse he had been riding. A few weeks later the neighbor asked why he had switched horses. Granddad said the young horse wouldn't lead and raised so much trouble he figured he would just ride him home, besides he knew the unfinished saddle horse would lead. My riding skill just wouldn't let me use that kind of logic. I'm Jeff Keane.