Another western

Here is the story that started the thread about horse wrecks. I guy I know online post this and was kind enough to let me share it on here, as long as I didn’t mention his name. So I won’t.

Yet.

LOL

“OK – here a stupid story on myself-
I was living up at a cow camp, the branding wagon had already been through my country, branded the calves and moved on. I got back to my camp one day later a found a note from the cowboss telling me a couple guys had quit and he was short handed and wanted me with the wagon for a few days. he said trail your horses down and use a company pickup to come back for my bed. etc.- well I’m smarter than the average bear and had read one too many Will James or Charlie Russel books. I thought it would be plenty western looking to trail my horses into the wagon with my bed packed on a horse. ( it’s all about image when you are that age you know) (1st mistake) So it isnt an elaborate or well thought out plan (2nd mistake) , but I have a plan. I run the horse in, catch one to ride and one to pack, and turn the rest out in the direction the wagon sets. ( 3rd mistake) well I saddle my horse, then lash my bed on the other, and led him around the corral a little, warmed my saddle horse up, no problem, the bed horse never even looked back at his pack ( oh I’m feelin so smart, 5th mistake) so I lead him through the gate so he won’t snag my tarp or anything and turn him loose ( ok this was maybe the worst mistake, I lose count now)
So the bed horse takes off to catch up to rest of his buddies, my string of horses look up to see this giant marshmallow with a horses head and leggs sticking out of it bearing down on them. I don’t know if they saw one to many horror shows when they were young or what warped them so- but they were terrified of this ” monster” bearing down on them. well instinct tells them to leave- leave fast- leave now. So they do!
Now my bed horse has instincts too- mainly join the herd- so he takes in after them trying to catch up- string of horse look back- oooooo they are justified in running – the “monster” is chasing them!!!!!!!
I can tell you that bed horse could run faster than my saddle horse- course by now he wasn’t too sure what it was either and had caught the “fear factor” himself so he wasn’t trying his best to catch him.

Luckily there wasn’t a fence for a long ways-( 12-15 miles as my memory recalls) and we made that in record time.
it was the fence going into the horse pasture where the wagon’s cavvy was held. By the time we got there everything was winded enough to hold up and the bed horse got amongst them and I held them there till things settled down. Now I knew ( see you do learn something from these things) better than to let him in loose with the whole cavvy. So I caught him up and let us all through into the horse pasture. it was only a mile or so down to where the wagon was camped. So we came walking down the road feelin way more wore out than western for sure.
Now I had already made a circle that morning before I got back to find the note, so this was well into the afternoon,
and late June, so plenty warm. Now horses running 12-15 miles on a warm afternoon tend to sweat a bit, if I had been paying close enough attention when we came to the fence I would have observed every horse there had sweat running off his belly EXCEPT my bed horse. Gosh he had a good absorbant “sponge” to soak it all up. U’d think my bed tarp had been made by “Bounty- the quicker picker upper”! Anyway it was a lasting lesson as my bed didn’t dry out for days and I’m not sure I ever got all the horse hair and stink out of it.

well when I went back to my camp I used the pickup to haul my bed back- then came back and trotted my horse home.

Moral of the story- do what the cow boss says-he usually knows best- he was probably young once too!”