Casey Kramer — Illinois
I adopted my Mustang, Chief, in September of 2019. Chief was a 4-year-old gelding from Nevada when I brought him to the Chicago suburbs. This was my first experience with a Mustang. It was the greatest challenge of my life, but one that taught me invaluable lessons. That first year, Chief and I fought, loved, learned and, eventually, became best friends and almost inseparable.
Chief taught me several life lessons. 1) Trust is the main ingredient to relationships — a horse (and people, too) needs to feel confident in your intentions. 2) Patience and persistence — Galatians 6:9 tells us to never get tired of doing what’s right, and Chief taught me that lesson in real life. Keep going, don’t quit on your horse and he won’t quit on you. 3) Celebrate small victories — it’s easy to force a horse to do something, but true horsemanship comes from your quiet teaching and celebrating with your horse when they get the right answers.
In Chief, I found a lifelong buddy. He made me a better horseman and a man. In May of 2022, I loaded up this once wild Mustang and took him to my family ranch down in Oklahoma, where I rode him in our family’s annual gather and branding. Chief is everything I wish to be — honest, tough and full of character and personality.
Heather Fehr — Iowa
The best adventures, for us, are always in the trials! Our favorite place, so far, has been Eminence, Missouri.
Sonia Kudalsky — Colorado
My name is Sonia Kudalsky, and I live in southwest Colorado with my three Quarter Horses. Horses have been my passion since I was 3 years old, as my father is a horsemen as well. One horse I’m particularly close with, Whiskey, is a 5-year-old registered paint horse that I started as a 3 year old in 2020 during the pandemic. He is the first colt I have ever started, and we share a very special bond. One of my favorite adventures with Whiskey was being able to take him on the cattle range, where I am currently working as a range rider for Twin Mountain Cattle Association. In the summer, the local cattle ranches in this association graze their cattle on around 50,000 acres of National Forest.
My job during the spring, summer and fall is to check grass, water springs and troughs, pack salt, fix fences, move and doctor close to 2,000 head of cattle.
Every day, I wake up at 5 a.m., before the dawn, to ensure my horses have enough time to eat breakfast before we head out for the day. I saddle my horse, pack my saddle bags and make sure I have all necessary items I may need — fencing pliers, bullwhip, food, water and a good slicker — and head out to the range.
I meet up with my mentor and co-worker, Cathrine Keck. She was born and raised riding range, and has been doing this work for over 25 years. Before she rode the range, her mom and dad rode it, and her sisters and daughter do this work as well. I feel privileged she has been training me and teaching me all she has to know. Many of these lessons must be passed down generationally and taught first-hand.
We ride out together with her three Hanging Tree cow dogs, Edy, Aby and Kali. They are always eager to get to work. We always have a “plan” for the day, but things don’t always go as planned. Then, the plan sometimes changes or priorities get shuffled. The weather does not always cooperate, either. In this line of work, especially in the mountains of Colorado, one must always be ready for all types of weather — burning sun, cool winds, rain and even hail or snow.
In the West, we always pray for rain. Mother Nature delivered this year, sending rains unseen for many years in this area. This, in turn, caused flash flooding on the range, drastically changing the landscape. On the bright side, it made the grass grow abundantly. It also created some unique challenges. The land was cut and ravines deepened. Places where we traveled on horseback were no longer passable. Roads were taken out with massive soil and rock erosion. The water even picked up an entire trough and moved it down-slope. It certainly created more work for us, and the cattle were on the move constantly, with us not far behind on horseback for most of the year. I keep track of and log my miles and areas I ride. I average about 200 horseback miles a month. One thing is for certain: the miles I put on my colt, Whiskey, out on the range were invaluable. I was able to expose him to so much. We get to spend a generous amount of time together. We also have a job to do, giving my colt a sense a purpose. It has also made him a safe, smart and sensible gelding with a great personality. The best part is: I know there are still more adventures to come, as I ride my journey. Happy trails!
Jason Black — Tennessee
Otis and I are a part of the Broken Road Mounted Search and Rescue team. We absolutely love the training.
Cody Goodson — Connecticut
There have been so many adventures; I would say it’s more been the honor of raising my boys around these beautiful animals that have made them who they are today. I would like to submit an essay my son wrote when he was in 7th grade; he is now 22 years old. Cody’s essay was picked to be published in Creative Communications’ book. If you are a horse person, please know Cody may have taken Dad out of context.
Horse Riding
One of my favorite things to do is ride horses. If you put a lot of hard work and effort into learning how to ride, you can do some pretty cool things.
I learned how to ride horses because my dad learned how to ride and teaches other people how to do it, too. The first time he showed me how to ride, I thought it was so fun. I think anybody would feel the same way. One thing you can do when you learn how to ride is jumping. I’ve only watched people jump obstacles with horses. It still looks like a lot of fun, though. In my opinion, the best thing to do when you know how to ride is find a long trail through the forest and go trail riding. It’s relaxing and you can see some cool things in the woods.
People do a lot of other things with horses. Another example would be riding cross-country. It seems like an interesting thing to do. It would probably take forever, but it would be like a trail ride for days. I heard from somebody that, if you take a horse cross-country, you have to retire it after that, because their hooves get damaged. So, if you go on a cross-country ride, make sure you know that you’ll have a pet, not a riding horse, after that.
If you ever decide to go riding, always be safe, but have fun!
By Cody Goodson, Grade 7
Bruce Clark — Colorado
My brothers and I have a good friend who invited us to hunt at his cabin, which is situated at the end of the road above Ouray, Colorado. To drive into his place is to love a one-lane, narrow road made of dirt and rock. Most people would call the drive more adventure than they wanted. To pull a 20-foot horse trailer up to his cabin takes skill and perhaps a lack of fear of dying.
Anyway, surviving the road trip in was the easy part of our adventure, so I will get to my story. His cabin was on Cutler Creek, and it was rustic to say the least. My brother and I received hand-drawn maps of the trails in the area, and each had their own story our friend told us about that night in the cabin. We decided a great ride would be round-trip, up to the top of Boyeds Meadows and down Dexter Creek Ridge, past the old mine and back into camp. Our friend agreed, but mentioned he had not been over on that ridge in a while.
Our ride up to the top of Boyeds took more than 2 hours. There, we took a right on the ridge and headed to the top of Dextor Creek. We found the ridge, but not really a trail. One did appear, though. To the left, it was very steep for 50 to 60 feet and then it was a cliff that dropped into the creek maybe 500 to 600 feet below. There was no going left, so staying on top or going to the right were the only options. Soon, we found an old, narrow trail off the top of the ridge that entered the timber-covered hillside to the right. “Perfect,” we thought, as we were now 5 hours into our ride with no desire to turn around. We couldn’t even consider the thought of telling our friend that we turned back. So, off into the timber-covered trail we went.
Now, I may need to explain what “steep” was in this situation. There was no way to get off the trail and ride parallel to it. You could not get between the trees. The hillside was so steep that the trunks of the trees were just around 2 feet apart.
Now, wouldn’t you know it, we started hitting down-timber on our trail. We are mounted good — my brother on a mountain-wise mule and me on a high-dollar team roping head horse. Why am I on an arena horse in that kind of country? Well, because “Tank” had previously been used to chase wild horses on the BLM roundups. This stout horse had a great mind and he was very sure footed, and I was about to put both of those traits to the test. We hit a log we could not get over and neither one of us wanted to turn around and go back through what we had already overcome. You see, going over big logs on a downhill trail is one thing, but going over the same log heading uphill is another. We had no saw with us, as our friend never advised that we should carry one. We were on a joy ride, after all, right?
Well, my older brother lead the way “leading” his mule, if you can call it that. It was more like a controlled fall, or slide, and down the hill he went. We stopped at a tree where he could step left with is mule.
My turn. Tank was 1,350 pounds of rock-hard, stand-up horse. So, when we left the trail and I fell on my ass and was sliding down holding the reins of my horse, you could imagine my concern when my feet planted and I came to a stop. As I lay there in an almost-standing position, because the hill is so steep, I had the large front legs of my horse on either side of me, his head over the top of my right shoulder and his tail buried in the hillside (and I hoped it was anchored there). Now, I see where my brother and mule turned. I even see them on the trail again, maybe around 20 feet away. Now, I have never been accused of being a smart man, but I did know that huge horse was not going to stay where he was for long. Keeping a hold of my reins, I did my best to leap sideways as far as I could and then keep scrambling until I reached the trail. I love that big horse. He came right with me and never stepped on or trampled over me, though he had every opportunity to do so.
That was the last big log we encountered on the trail, and we made our way to the old mine and down the draw to the cabin. Our friend came out of the cabin when his mule started sounding off at our arrival. His greeting was that he did not expect to see us so soon, because no one had been on that trail in years and he didn’t think we could make our way through it. Before we sat down for supper to regale our story, as we were just dismounting, we mentioned it being pretty steep and logged-in. Our friend just laughed said, “Yep, it can get pretty salty up there!”
Craig Fisketjon — North Dakota
This photo was taken while halter-breaking a 4-H steer. I halter-break them like a colt. At the shows, we had the best leading steers. They weren’t taught to pull, but give to pressure Cattle are a lot smarter than people think.
Aaron Betts — Texas
While traveling the world, I’ve had many experiences. Peru was amazing, as I embarked on a journey riding horses there. The equine community was amazing as I became friends with a Peruvian Paso horse who was a multi-champion in paso llano competition.
From ages 5 through 7, I was in foster care. At age 7, I was adopted. I’m thankful I’ve been afforded the opportunities I have, being that the odds were never in my favor from my unfortunate circumstances. Horses and bucking bulls are now an intricate part of my life.
“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” — Saint Augustine
Bob Franzi — California
My mom kept after me to bring by my horse Cochise. So I did, and at 101 years old, that’s all she talks about.
Courtney Joiner — Idaho
I began doing obstacle course challenges with my yearling this year through Equine Trail Sports. They offer in-hand classes, and I felt it was a perfect opportunity for training and to expose him to new surroundings while he’s still young. Our first one was in April down in Pasco, Washington. After reading through the instructions for all of the obstacles, I chose to do one of them at the advanced level. The instructions were to start in the middle of two barrels and back your horse in a figure-eight around them. I felt a tad arrogant doing the advanced level with a 1-year-old, especially since it was our first time doing an event like this, but I knew he could do it based on how I’d been training him. After we completed the obstacle, I felt really good about how he did and actually shed a few “proud mom” tears. Overall, we won a partnership award, voted on by the judges, and he scored a 10/10 on that obstacle. It was a very validating weekend for me in that his training is working. Especially since he’s the first horse of my adult life I am training all by myself.
