The National Day of the Cowboy

National Day of the Cowboy is celebrated on the fourth Saturday in July- this year being 22 July 2023. Recognition of the American Cowboy with a dedicated day for reflection and celebration started 

in Wyoming in 2005 and I believe Arizona was the first state to declare a National Day of the Cowboy. 

 In any event, this day as well as the lifestyle, skills and legacy of the Cowboy are celebrated and practiced all over the world. Many of best horsemanship clinicians, Buck Brannaman and Randy Rieman among many others, routinely conduct clinics in Europe and especially Italy and Germany are sponges for skills of the Buckaroos.

Cowboys and Buckaroos represent the calling to be free to follow your heart, placing what's good for your soul over making money. And most of them if not all of them would simply say they feel blessed to live and work that way.

The iconic Cowboy hat is recognized all over the world, and I mean everywhere.  And while some people lump all western movies into the category as Cowboy movies, some of the more famous movies bear small resemblance to the Cowboy life. The current television series "Yellowstone's" best moments are when the cast is moving and working cows, and showcasing working and performance horses. There was a quote in this show where one of the actors says words to the effect that "someday no one will ride horses." Well, I'm old enough to know that day will be long after I'm in the ground, but it's still sad to think of that day may be coming. By the way, if someone wants to talk movies, the remake of "Monte Walsh" with Tom Selleck is about the best Cowboying movie yet made. If you haven't seen it, then you really should.

Recently, friends of mine called to elicit my help finding a good home for their father's horse. I said "I can't imagine you dad giving up his horse" They replied "Well, we haven't approached him about it yet, but he is getting too old to ride." I said "Please don't do that to him. Even if he doesn't ever ride again, but just visits with the horse, it's worth the time, money and labor. He can just rub on that big stout but aging Quarterhorse, and talk to him in a soft voice about what they used to do together. That's what Winston Churchill meant when he said "the outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man."

 

God Bless America

On this hallowed day I hesitate to write anything that does not uplift this Great Nation or our founding ideals and principles as well as the people who so tirelessly believe in those. But its hard not watch the news on what is going on around us and not lose at least a little faith in the belief that our Country's greatest days are still ahead of us. 

Much is made out of how divided this country is. From the people who do not want to work and instead have the government provide for them, to the people who want to wrest control from the parents of school age children, and to the government institutions that seemingly favor one group of people over another. 

We have been bitterly divided before - half the colonies did not support independence in 1776 and in fact the For Independence Group and Against Independence Group routinely killed each other; 80+ years later we again had half the country trying to kill the other half during the civil war; and, of course some of us remember the anti-government, anti-war protests of the 1970's. But I take solace in the fact that the majority of the people, whether the polls say so or not, believe in freedom and individual responsibility....about the importance of having a higher power in our life whether you call him God or not,....and about family...always about family.

This country will right itself and be better off for the lessons learned. Keep the faith and lean forward. God Bless these United States.

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