Those Were the Days

Sitting here looking back like the old song by Mary Hopkin ringing in my ears, “Those were the days my friend, we thought they’d never end. We’d sing and dance forever and a day. We’d live the life we choose. We’d fight and never lose, for we were young and sure to have our way. Those were the days, oh yes, those were the days.”

The year was 1972 life was full of whatever you wanted. Gas prices were less than fifty cents. This country had more opportunities, and adventures, to fill you’re idle time than the night sky had stars. The word freedom took on a whole new meaning. This was the time before electronics had you located and occupied, before cable TV had you glued to the set, and before children for some of us. I say that because today’s children raising takes on a whole new meaning of time constraints and your personal freedom is washed away with yesterday’s memories. It was just about this time in life when I had a new bride and the world by the tail. Fresh into our marriage we were loving and living with all the gusto of two young and carefree adult children. We had no boundaries and the sky was the limit when it came to fun and entertainment. I must say looking back on things now I can’t imagine where we got all the energy from. I get tired just writing this story.

Well back in the day on many occasions us boys would gather together and take a trip out on the west deserts of Utah and Nevada to pursue mustangs. This was first class adventure in the finest degree. We would chase the wild horses with our ranch stock and if luck was with us we would rope several horses and try to tame them for our personal use. Of course back in those days it was perfectly legal and no one really cared about the wild horse herds that were left over from the bye gone era of the western frontier. They were a nuisance to the stockmen that ranged the areas with cattle and life seemed to have passed them by for the moment. Sometimes on these adventurous trips our wives and girlfriends asked if they could be part of the grand ceremony. So on occasion we would include them in the details. This one particular trip I was encourage by my better half to take her along with some friends of ours. Now my bride wasn’t a seasoned horseman by any means so I selected the softest and most gentle trained mare I owned to let her ride on this outing. This horse would take an extra step just to catch you if you started to fall off her back. She was dead solid broke as they say when it comes to describing horse flesh. We would be going on this hunt with some friends of ours that were experienced in mustang chasing and it would be a fine time in the hills for this old cowboy with his beautiful bride and good friends to enjoy company with. I was all lathered up with excitement and anticipation as we loaded up our four horses and set out for the day.

We trucked out west of Lehi that day and pulled into the desert hills ready for whatever came our way. We saddled up while the girls made some breakfast on a camp fire and after we had made plans for the chase and slammed down the vittles we hit the stirrups with eagerness and speed. This would be our day and we were sure of the outcome. My friend Lance and I had spotted a large pinto stallion several days previous in this area and we were determined to capture him and see if he would make a good saddle horse. He was running with a herd of twelve mares and colts so we figured the chase would result in some horses being caught if we weren’t able to noose him over with our ropes. As we rode out that beautiful spring morning I had told my bride Patty that if we came in sight of the mustangs to hang back with her horse and not give chase. She was a rookie and I didn’t want her to get hurt in the flair. I had instructed her to dismount when we started swinging up the ropes and stay there until I came back for her. She nodded her understanding as we rode though the cedars and sage that morning.

After about an hour’s ride we spotted the pinto across a twenty foot deep wash and up on a side hill with his mares. We rode down into the wash to conceal our approach and made a plan that when we cleared the other side of the wash we would be within striking distance of our prey. All of our horses traveled through the wash and up the other side. As we cleared the cedars the pinto was less than a hundred yards from us. Without hesitation we slung loops and put our horses in high gear across the broken ground. The horses were in a full run within twenty feet and we started to press the chase. I remember thinking how easy this was going to be with three of us from different angles all throwing ropes at the big pinto. He was ours for the taking. Running and slapping leather we were in full stride and just about on top of the big horse when faintly I heard in my right ear the sound of hoof beats off to my side. I turned in the saddle and nearly fell of my horse. There along my side was my new bride with both her hands wrapped around the saddle horn with a white knuckle death grip and her eyes the size of saucers. Pat and the mare were stride for stride in the chase although only one of them was enjoying the run. I reached out and barely grabbed the cheek piece on the mare’s head. As I did this the whole scene came to a high humping slamming stop right in the middle of the fray. Pat was terrified and could barely speak. I asked her what she was doing and she said that when the other horses took off after the pinto it all happened so fast that her horse took off also. She couldn’t stop the mare so she just hung on and hoped for the best. Well I’ll be damned if I didn’t learn a good lesson that day. Not all of us are comfortable riding a big beast such as a horse. And very few of us are comfortable in the saddle at a full 35 MPH run. Now add that to the fact we were on broken rough ground with sagebrush, cedars, rocks and all manner of obstacles in our path and the scene becomes a little more daunting. I guess it’s a miracle that I didn’t join the ranks of the divorcee’s that day. Looking back on it now Pat and I laugh and jest about her time in the saddle. For a brief moment there she ranked right up there with Gene Autry, John Wayne and the great one, Roy Rogers. They had nothing on her as the saying goes.

Well the story finished well and we captured a grey mare from the herd only to find an old brand on her hide. We had her wrapped around an old cedar tree with our ropes. After several hours trying to get our ropes off the mustang we finally were about to do the worst thing a cowboy can do and that is cut his rope and give it up, when we were surprised by an old scary looking bearded man with a gunny sack on his back and a shovel in his hand. He looked like he stepped out of an old western novel and was the old grizzled prospector type. He introduced himself and I’ll be damned if it wasn’t old Wolfman Jim Davis from Lehi that trained Charlie the cougar for Walt Disney and Ben the bear. He was out coyote pup hunting and he had a sack full of little pups with their eyes still closed. He was calling the mother coyotes out of their dens in the wash when he spied us with the mustang. We explained our dilemma with the ropes and he said for something to eat and drink he would help us out of the situation. We agreed and he produced a simple hay string. He crept up to the frightened horse and looped the string around the horse’s upper front leg muscle. He instructed Lance to pull hard on the string so that it would make a tourniquet effect. As Lance pulled on the string the horse quit pulling back on the neck ropes and we quietly pulled the ropes from off her neck. Mr. Davis told Lance to let go of the string and as the horse jumped and ran off the string fell to the ground after several jumps from the horse. Wow, we got schooled that day and by a real life animal whisperer. Needless to say we fed him all we had and as he left to walk away he paused and said, “Make sure they aren’t branded before you throw those loops boys.”

And as the song goes, “Those were the days my friend. We thought they’d never end.” Really they didn’t end for you see life was just getting started for us and we have lived and loved all those days together and they never will end. They are etched in our memories for all time to cherish.

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