My son is a 15 year old cowboy.
Not a wanna-be, a real seasoned cowboy.
He started riding a miniature horse when he was 5 years old.
When he was 6 years old, he could saddle his horse by himself and knew when it was time to get off and tighten the cinch.
He has worked at rodeos since he was about 8, chasing out calves and ponies.
Usually for free admission, sometimes he was paid as well.
He has ridden in cattle round-ups, he has roped and dragged calves to the branding pit and has branded calves with a red hot branding iron.
With this background, one of his friends from High School Rodeo invited Will to spend the weekend.
They will have a chance to practice team roping (one rider ropes the steer’s head and the second rider then ropes the steer’s hind legs) and a local rancher will be branding calves (the calves are roped by the hind legs and dragged to the branding pit).
Which brings us to the unique challenges of a cowboy sleep over.
Friend lives 110 miles away.
Will took two horses.
Fortunately friend’s brother met us half-way.
Here is the transfer:
I’m not sure yet if I have to go all the way to pick him up on Sunday or if we will meet half way again.
Here’s a picture of Will pulling a flank strap off of a bucking pony.
Kids as young as 6 years old are riding these mini buckers.
The little black mare that Will is riding is 36" high at the shoulders.
Will was 11 that year.
