http://cowboysmoke.com/blog/2006/04/25/get-out-into-it/ Cowboy Smoke Blog : Production Notes Fri, 05 Dec 2008 13:40:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.1 http://cowboysmoke.com/blog/2006/04/25/get-out-into-it/#comment-13 Tue, 25 Apr 2006 13:10:52 +0000 http://cowboysmoke.com/blog/2006/04/25/get-out-into-it/#comment-13 Mike, your letter made me stop and do a little thinking about my cowboy past. My folks put me on a horse as soon as I could hold on to a saddle. I think I was in my first rodeo event at the age of three, primarily competing in sportmanship type events, then on to barrell racing and roping events. They have the old 8mm films to show it, looks like somebody tied a baby monkey to the back of a saddle and turned them loose in the arena. One thing I do remember was how so many people wore cowboy hats at school, and always on further investigation none of them had any ranch experience, or land or any tie whatsoever to the cowboy way othe than wanting to be one I suppose. To me this was as odd as wearing your halloween costume to a 4th of July party. I would only wear my hat on the way to the ranch or at the ranch. And believe me once at the ranch you didn't go anywhere with out your hat. If you walked two steps outside the door of the house, you had might as well gone out naked. Either my grandfather or grandmother would quickly and sternly ask where is you hat? It was not an option and considered essential. One time when my hat was a little to loose, my grandpa said no problem I will fix it, he got behind me and started doing something, next thing I know I feel a tightening, very tightening sensation on my head, as it started to get unbearable I pulled away to see him standing there with a pair of pliers, when I finally pulled off my hat he had wrapped a peice of bailing wire around it and was twisting it with the pliers to tighten it up on my head. That hat never did fall off again. Mike, your letter made me stop and do a little thinking about my cowboy past. My folks put me on a horse as soon as I could hold on to a saddle. I think I was in my first rodeo event at the age of three, primarily competing in sportmanship type events, then on to barrell racing and roping events. They have the old 8mm films to show it, looks like somebody tied a baby monkey to the back of a saddle and turned them loose in the arena. One thing I do remember was how so many people wore cowboy hats at school, and always on further investigation none of them had any ranch experience, or land or any tie whatsoever to the cowboy way othe than wanting to be one I suppose. To me this was as odd as wearing your halloween costume to a 4th of July party. I would only wear my hat on the way to the ranch or at the ranch. And believe me once at the ranch you didn’t go anywhere with out your hat. If you walked two steps outside the door of the house, you had might as well gone out naked. Either my grandfather or grandmother would quickly and sternly ask where is you hat? It was not an option and considered essential. One time when my hat was a little to loose, my grandpa said no problem I will fix it, he got behind me and started doing something, next thing I know I feel a tightening, very tightening sensation on my head, as it started to get unbearable I pulled away to see him standing there with a pair of pliers, when I finally pulled off my hat he had wrapped a peice of bailing wire around it and was twisting it with the pliers to tighten it up on my head. That hat never did fall off again.

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