Operation "Back in the Saddle"

Fat and Furry

Day one of “Operation Back in the Saddle” went just as planned.  I went out early this morning and pulled Solo out of his stall.  He is fat as pig, wooly like a Shetland pony, and fresher than the veggies you’d find at a farmers market.  I decided it wouldn’t be a bad idea to pull him out, brush him off, and let him stand saddled and tied for an hour or two.  Solo, registered AQHA Solano D Or, is a horse that I am very fond of despite his little “quirks”.  He has a tendency to buck a little bit when he's fresh, he squeals like a mare when he's "upset", and he has the biggest personality that I've ever seen on a little horse.  We bought in him in 2005 at the Red Bluff Bull and Gelding Sale held in Red Bluff, California every January. 

               

I’ll never forget that memory with my dad…perhaps that is why that horse is so special to me.  I was going to school at Chico State and living with my dad at our winter ranch.  I was convinced by my boyfriend at the time to head up to Red Bluff with him and all of our friends.  Apparently, it was one hell of a good time and one hell of a wild party.  Being freshly 21 years old, drinking beer and running amuck was what I loved to do best (next to roping of course!).  As I was walking out the door with my things, I asked my dad if he wanted to meet us up there.

 

Before I continue on with my story, I need to delve into a little bit of family history.  My dad was a horrible alcoholic for many years.  After a lot of things went wrong in his life (divorce from my mom, losing visitation rights from me, etc.), he quit drinking.  He did it with no help what-so-ever, cold turkey.  I was very proud of him, but what I saw him go through during his detox time, was one of the scariest things I have ever seen in my life.  He battled with depression and eventually secluded himself from many of his friends and family (except for me), only dealing with people when he absolutely had to…or when he went roping.  Not too many people that knew him, knew what he was going through.  He was very good at slapping on a smile and making everyone laugh with his jokes and stories.  When all this went down, I was about 10 years old.  As I got older, he got better and better and we really started doing a lot together.  By the time I was 18, he and I were going roping together every weekend. 

 

So, I asked him if he wanted to meet me up in Red Bluff.  His response was simply, “No, I don’t want to go hang out up there with a bunch of drunks.  But you go, have fun, and be careful.”  I hugged and kissed him goodbye, told him I loved him, and left for my weekend of fun.  During the Bull and Gelding Sale, there are a lot of other events that happen.  There is a huge trade show, stock dog competition and sale, they show the horses in cow work, roping, and dry work, and they show and sell cattle for a whole week.  I was walking through the trade show and found a nice pair of boots that I had to have.  As I walking back through the Pauline Davis Pavillion where they were showing the horses in dry work to put my boots in the pickup, I heard that laugh.  It was a laugh that couldn’t be duplicated.  It was my dad!

 

He was talking to a family friend.  I walked up to him, shocked, but so happy that he came.  That afternoon, I blew off my partying friends, and we walked around and looked at every horse that was for sale.  We had a sale book and we walked around with our “wish list”, deciding which ones (if we actually had money) that we would bid on.  As the sale was getting started, I grabbed my dad and we stopped at the sale table to get a number.  “You never know,” I told him.  “One might come through that we like that we can get for cheap!”  Number in hand, we started walking around the sale ring.  Now, the Red Bluff Bull and Gelding Sale is one big party.  There is a bar on either end of the arena and the sale ring sits in the middle.  People from all over cram into that arena and it is typically shoulder to shoulder people, making it tough to get around.  Dad was doing well visiting with everyone and I wasn’t holding back on my cocktails.  I would come back and check on him and hang out with him every hour or so.  At one point, I came back and he was bidding up a roan horse that we both really like earlier that afternoon.  I didn’t think much of it until he got up to $4000.  My dad was not one to spend money freely.  You could call him a tightwad and it would be a completely accurate term.  And he definitely never spent money on horses.  The most expensive horse we owned, he bought for maybe $1200.  I remember thinking to myself, “I hope he hasn’t taken up drinking again!”  Despite my shock, I was on a drinking mission myself…blame it on being 21 and selfish.  I told my dad we were headed to the bar and we started making our way to the door.  As I was walking out of the pavilion, I heard the announcer say, “Congratulations, Lacey Maddalena of Chico, California for your purchase of Solano D Or.  $6100.”  Everyone looked at me.  My face was white with panic.  Had I dropped my sale number?  No way my dad spent that kind of money on a horse!  I waited by the sale office and saw him headed my way.  He had a huge smile on his face. “Well, he said, I bought us a new horse!” 

 

I had no words.  I was completely in awe.  But as it started to sink in, I really started to get worried.  I knew my dad better than anyone.  I was waiting for him to come down off of whatever adrenaline high he had and realize what he had done.  Surely he would go into a depression and regret spending that money.  I kept asking him, “Are you ok?”   He smiled, wrote out his check, and handed me the halter they gave him.  “Let’s go see our new horse!” he said, excitedly.

 

As we walked out of the pavilion, he pulled me aside.  “I don’t want you to worry about me,” he said.  “I’m not going to get upset about this.  I talked to our accountant a while ago and because of some of the projects we worked on this year, I really needed a tax write off.  Let’s just call this horse an executive business decision.”  Hearing him say that really put my mind at ease.  We walked out to the stall where his brand new, prize horse was eating his dinner.  Dad walked in before me.  “Well, he’s not very big, is he?  Looked bigger in the sale ring.  But I guess he’s just a baby…only a two year old.  He’ll grow up nice.”  He laughed, more to himself than to anyone else.  I walked in and the horse pinned his ears and came after me with his mouth open, squealing like a stuck pig.  “Nice horse, Dad!”  I exclaimed.  “He’s scrawny and he has an attitude!”  "I'll take care of that later" he said.  We both laughed about it and then I slipped off to the bar while he drove home to get some sleep and get the horse trailer. 

 

Ridin' Solo

The next morning, I woke up bright and early to find my dad in the warm up arena riding his new pony.  “He’s kind of a fresh little shit,” he said. “But he’s damn sure broke pretty.  I think I’ll call him Solo.”  From then on out, he and Solo were a matched pair and practically inseparable.  I never saw my dad be so easy on a horse before.  He was really getting soft in his old age.  The horse was a character for sure.  Dad could do anything with him.  He would even lead him in through the front door of the house and feed him junk food!  The horse was spoiled rotten.  When my dad died, I knew I couldn’t sell him.  But, I had never ridden him either.  I started legging him up the spring after my dad had passed away.  Solo would have been 4 or five then, I guess.  I really liked him and he became my number one horse to ranch on.  But he was still pretty tiny, not big enough to make a head horse. 

 

Years have passed.  Solo is now coming 11 years old.  I really haven’t done as much with him as I should have.  He has done a lot of sitting in the pasture the last 6 years.  I either had another horse to rope on or I was taking a hiatus from roping altogether.  Either way, I haven’t put enough faith in him.  He has really grown up a lot in the last few years.  I’m looking at him now and realizing that he has enough size and heart to be a head horse.  Last year, my ex-boyfriend heeled on him a little.  He had high hopes for him and even offered to buy him from me, but I absolutely could not bring myself to sell him.  As a matter of fact, I have convinced myself that I needed to sell him several times.  I always had some sort of reason.  He needs to go to someone who will use him.  He needs to go to someone who heels better than I do that will love and appreciate him.  He needs to go to someone who could win on him.  Not only was I doubting my horse, but I was seriously doubting myself.

 

After riding cutting horses for a year, my riding has greatly improved.  Things that used to make me nervous while horseback, no longer do.  I decided to give him another shot.  I started logging my roping sled around on him and he took it really well.  On my birthday, I made the decision that I would go roping…not just for me, but for my dad.  I felt like I must be really letting him down by not doing his good horse any justice.  I hadn’t roped in well over a year.  I started out on the heel end and things went well.  But, I am NOT a heeler.  My confidence roping lies in my heading.  It is where I am most competitive and where I know I can win!  There were a lot more heelers practicing that day versus headers so I decided to give Solo a shot on the head end.  To my surprise, he was fantastic!  I had been worried and not putting faith in him for no good reason.  I had been walking around with a negative idea and my head and I was proved completely wrong.  Maybe it was God telling me that I could handle the challenge.  Or, perhaps it was my dad, touching me on the shoulder and telling me that I could do it.  Either way, I am so happy that I didn’t sell him.  

 

Puppies!

So here I am.  It’s the end of December and I have made a commitment with my best friend to rope with her in the Reno Rodeo All-Girl.  I have a little over 6 months to take this horse that I have hauled to one practice roping and make him a finished head horse.  I know this is not going to be easy and I’m going to have to commit a lot of my time to this.  But, thanks to quitting my job, I have all the time in the world.  I have a little money saved up to help me pay for feed, rent, and pay my bills.  Next month will be a good month for me.  I have been offered a job where I will make a good chunk of money just for working the month of February.  Plus, I am selling my American Bulldog puppies, so my nest egg will be comfortable for a while.  This is the first time in a long time that I have committed to team roping.

 

After letting Solo sit saddled for a about an hour while I made some phone calls and ate breakfast, I went outside to lunge him around.  Lunging him is nearly impossible.  He is literally the laziest horse on the planet sometimes.  I would rather take my chances of him bucking me off then try to get him to lope circles from the ground.  I don’t know what I’m so afraid of.  The little turd will buck, but not very darned hard!  I climbed on him and away we went.  Every time I climb on his back, I remember why I love him so much.  He is such a smooth ride and he is so broke.  He just has this style to him that is so unique.  I really do love riding him.  We took off at a lope through the neighbors hay field.  As I was loping past my neighbor’s house, I saw him standing on the front porch talking on the phone.  I don’t have an arena at my house, but they do and they rope all the time.  I’m really hoping that one of these days I’ll lope past there and they will invite me over to rope.  I don’t know if it’ll ever happen, but a girl can dream.  It didn’t take long to get him tired and after about 3 laps, he was done.  It’s going to take about two weeks of exercise to get some of the fat burned off of him and get him in shape.  His feet are a little long and it probably wouldn’t hurt to get him shod, if not just trimmed.  I am planning on heading up to my cousin’s house and roping with her family for about a week very soon.  They have 3 kids, lots of horses, and they rope every day that the sun is shining and the arena is dry. I think it’s just the start that I need to get rolling again.  No pressure, just practice and fun.

 

I have a game plan.  If I stick with it, I know that I will be successful.  For the first time in a long time, I’m not doing this for my dad or to impress anyone.  I am only doing this for myself and my love of team roping.  It’s so much more than just a hobby.  It’s a part of who you are.  It’s a lifestyle.  And I can’t wait to be back!