Print Edition Archives - Page 4 of 11

Departments

Frankly Speaking: Circus Circus

BarnumBailey FE The Ringling Bros. and Barnam & Bailey Circus will perform for the last time on May 21. • Courtesy of Feld EntertainmentThis coming May marks the final performance of one of the most iconic entertainment troupes in history. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus performs for the last time in New York City on May 21. And so comes the end of “The Greatest Show on Earth” – one that entertained those from ages 1 to 93 and lasted nearly a century. How sad that we will not have “The Circus” in our lives any longer, and our next generation will never experience the thrills and excitement that we, our children and their children enjoyed during our lifetimes.

Departments

Cornbread Thinks: Darren’s People

Before the boring part starts, if you don’t know Penny Youngblood and Nancy Pearce of Circle Y Ranch, you should. They do a lot for all cutters, the sport and humanity in general. Do your homework. Please.

During the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Futurity, I was concierging around, minding everybody’s business, when I noticed a couple of blacked-out vehicles with chauffeurs. Being as they had the road blocked, I decided to mind their business, too.

Departments

Cornbread Thinks: Different We Have to Be

The John Deere Limited Open finals are tonight. I am predicting the Will Rogers Coliseum to be maybe one-third full. This is nothing short of a shame on us. They are the best two sets of cattle to showcase cutting to the public. It has a high entertainment factor. It is the right length of time. It provides a time period to educate. Actually two time slots, the herd settling. We are wasting this.

Departments

Cornbread Thinks: Leading and Measuring

I was penning 600 head of steers once. I needed them to go in a gate they had been in and out 2,010 times that winter. The uprights were tied together at the top with drill pipe. It was a bright day, and that drill pipe cast a shadow across the mouth of the alley. It might as well have been the Palo Duro Canyon. They ain’t going. Fortunately, I had a real cowboy, a geezer, heppin’ us.

Departments

Cornbread Thinks: Essence

Cornbread loves people, which is good cuz there are a lot in the world, a very tiny percent of whom have the mutant gene of cutting in them. To the unaware, it appears to be from crossing a country boy farmer/rancher/cowboy with a country girl farmer/rancher/barrel racer. Closer examination will show these traits to be markers, not causes.

Departments

Frankly Speaking: Let Your Sons Grow up to Be Cowboys!

In an expression of the “cowboy way,” everyone stands at attention during the playing of the national anthem at major Western performance events, like the National Reined Cow Horse Association Snaffle Bit Futurity. • Photo by Stacy Pigott

As all of you probably know by now, thanks to full-blown media coverage, the United States and our national anthem have been purposely disgraced by several players in the National Football League and other professional athletes who refuse to stand during its singing as a way to protest racism in this country.

Features

Taking After Dad

Ron (right) said Phillip (left) is the better rider, while the son credits his dad with teaching him family values and a strong work ethic. • Photo courtesy of the Ralls familyOn a farm on California’s central coast, a 3-year-old boy sits in the corner of an arena playing in the sand while his father works a horse on the other end. The scene was a familiar one for the Ralls family, as Phillip grew up watching his dad, Ron, train reined cow horses and compete in National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) events.

Departments

Cornbread Thinks: Trainer Brains

Trainers got brains. I am sure of it. I’ve seen a couple take them out and play with them. Otherwise, I would wonder. It is difficult to evaluate how many brains with just conversation. The first problem is many of them are stingy with words and even tighter with syllables. Secondly is the narrowness of topics. There are no IQ tests based on cows and horses. This creates a gap in levels of expertise. It is like asking a rocket scientist the best way to light your string of firecrackers.

Features

Breeding To Win

“How can we explain that one of two Thoroughbreds, birth brothers, offspring of the same parents, may turn out a chestnut and a great galloper, and the other, a bay with no special talent? For me, that was Hamlet’s dilemma.”

Departments

Cornbread Thinks: Learning People About Cutting

Yogi Berra once said, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humility.” That about sums up the National Cutting Horse Association Summer Spectacular so far. It has been hot, but it always is in summertime Texas. The difference is the humidity, very high. Horses and people sweat for the cooling of evaporation. The more water already in the air, the less it can take up. This makes us produce even more sweat, which means you have to drink lots of water. The trick is to stay ahead of water loss; it takes 24 to 48 hours to replace water if you get in deficit.