Welcome to Appalossa Saga 7

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The Appaloosa Saga Continues
Down Memory Lane! page 7

I Wish to thank Polly, a very thoughtful and special lady for the Gift of this Lovely Appaloosa Snow Globe which she designed and made just for me. The leopard stallion in the center looks just like Stormy and the color scheme is superbly put together. I think it is beautiful and I am proud and honored to display it in my Appaloosa Horse Saga Section. Polly loves animals and it shows forth on every page of her site. She is the owner of Sundog Kennels, located at her home there in Canada.
Thank You So Much......

THIS IS THE STORY OF THE GREAT BUFFALO HUNT.

A long time ago when Indians used to roam the plains in search of buffalo, a great source of food and hides for their lodges and clothes for the long hard winters which they had to endure. This source came from the great buffalo herds which grazed those plains. This is no longer a practice since the near extinction of the bison created by the early American Settlers. And since we can no longer hunt these great beast, the next best thing is a simulated hunt at the Appaloosa Horse Club Shows.

It was at one of these shows that I wish to relate this story to you. We were at the Murray State College indoor arena, an exceptionally nice facility, and as I recall there was a new class called the buffalo hunt in which a rider and his mount would park in a U shaped partition. Next to this partition was a chute in which was placed a calf with a circle painted on each of it's sides. This circle was about 12 inches in diameter. The object of the class was to, at the whistle, release the calf.

The rider, armed with a broomstick, a rag dipped in paint tied at one end, would chase down the calf and mark or paint inside the circle representing a kill. This was a timed event. Miss Nan told me that this was going to be a super fun class and ask me to participate. After signing up I noticed that there were 23 contestants sign for this class and I was to be number 16. Well, Van and I were new to this show business at that time and neither of us had but very little experience... For at that time I had trained him only for the saddle seat class and the poles.

So as rider after rider bolted out to tag the calf I thought, this doesn't seem to hard.. Van and I watched every move and then number 14 contestant was up. The times were averaging about 6-10 sec. A couple had been over 1 min. and one poor soul chased the calf for 3 min. and never did catch that fast little booger.. Now number 14 contestant was a case where the horse knew more that the rider. The only thing that I can remember about number 14's attire was the hat. It was a Hoppa Long Cassidy type. Real tall on his head.

Well the whistle blew the calf shot out of the chute and the knowledgeable horse bolted after the calf almost jumping on top of it. The calf went to the right, the horse went to the right, but the poor #14 went over the back of the horse, doing a perfect headstand on what once used to be a tall hat. He stayed perfectly in the upright position for a few seconds and then fell down. Of coarse the crowd at this point became ecstatic and as the cowboy got to his feet was greeted with cheers and laughter which only added to his embarrassment...

At this point I became very nervous to say the least. Finally the announcer said, and the next contestant up is, Jim Keeling riding Rula's Zane Van. I parked Van next to the calf chute, my stomach in a knot, took a deep breath, and nodded to time keeper to indicate that I was ready for the whistle. The next few moments were kind of a blur. For, as the whistle blew the noisy chute clanged open the calf jumped out at lightning speed, and I spurred Van to jump in pursuit of that calf. I guess all this being new to Van, the noisy chute, the calf jumping out, the spurs, the crowd, had an adverse reaction and instead of forward Van ran backwards as hard as he could go which to my surprise left me sitting on his neck in front of the saddle.

Now try and picture this in your mind's eye. Here is a rider sitting on his horse's neck, one hand still under him holding to the saddle horn and the other hand gripping the broomstick which at this point was painting the whole side of Van's face. I might add that sliding across the saddle horn is a racking and painful experience. If this wasn't bad enough when Van reached the back of the partition and his butt hit, he lunged forward bringing the saddle horn back through and sliding me over the back of the saddle.

But I had a death grip on that saddle horn and I didn't leave my mount, even though I was in the prone position, stretched out and feet hanging over Van's butt. The calf went to the right and Van and I were going down the left side of the arena. I finally, after what seem to an eternity of time managed to get back into the saddle, turned Van and chased down that Calf and marked the kill.
To my amazement and wonderment, this whole procedure took only 11.84 seconds.
Thus, my first experience at buffalo hunting..........

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