I've written before about my first horse, Duke. He was a trick horse that flipped over backwards you may recall. I bought him with my firewood money, without my parents knowing about him. He was also the first horse I ever really taught a cue to. Dangerous as he was, I had a ton of fun on him. I'd go to the barn early on a weekend and just ride. The barn was right beside the Mississippi river levee. A lot of the levee is leased for cattle, as grazing it is about all you can do to make the land productive beyond flood control. 

I could get on the levee and go several miles until I hit the north fence/gate. That was the Arkansas state line. If I crossed over the levee to the east, there was a lot of hunting land that would flood. In flood stage, that land became navigable water. The hard lines of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi became blurred. So, technically, I could and did frequently ride my horse in 3 different states, all in one day.

One one such day I had probably covered 15 miles or so. Being a teenage boy, I'd gone through swamps and mud, and all the roughest terrain I could find. It'd been a blast. Duke sure rode well after about that 10th mile. He'd actually relax and offer a nice, easy, controllable canter. Anyway, on this particular ride, I returned to the barn and got a nasty surprise. My wallet had worked its way out of my back pocket. I never ride with a wallet anymore because of this day.

Being 15, I wasn't worried about my platinum card or anything like that. Probably 20 bucks and the inconvenience of having to get a new driver's license made was the worst of it. I can neither confirm nor deny a certain ID in there that may have said I, or someone who resembled me, was over 18. I thought I'd give it a week or two to see if it turned up.

One of my favorite places to ride was right up against that north fence. There was an area of about 15 acres on the west side of the levee. It had a ring of trees around it with a nesting pair of hawks. I had seen a bald eagle around there twice before. There were beavers. Mallards landed there regularly, as did Wood Ducks. It was one of my favorite places to just go and think. 

Inside the ring of trees was a very deep barrow pit. Barrow pits line the levee. These ponds were where the dirt came from to build the levee. A lot of my teenage years were spent on or around that long dirt snake. We'd fish, swim, catch turtles, shoot guns, and loads of fun things in those ponds. Everytime the Mississippi River flooded in the spring, they were restocked with fish. Most of them are just 3-4 feet deep. This one had a horseshoe around it more like 9-12 feet deep.

My buddies and I sunk a boat, complete with one of our shotguns while duck hunting in that hole. Diving for our guns taught me exactly how deep it was. There may also have been advantages to seeing game wardens and being able to run 200 feet and be in a different state, allegedly. Really good duck hunting, I say again... Anyway, on this day I headed up there to see if there were any ducks or something cool to see in that pond. 

I'd never seen any turkeys out here, just the feathers, and had been riding here regularly since I was about 9. Low and behold, on this day, there was a flock of turkeys on the levee as I rounded a bend. What's a teenage boy to do? I over and undered my horse and had a run at them, of course! Yeehaw! Chasing the turkey's was a good excuse to run full speed, the hallmark and true goal of most of my rides. 

My hat had blown off while giving chase. So, turkeys thoroughly molested, and now beyond my reach across a fence, I turned back to get my hat. Laying there, within a foot of my hat, was my wallet. Miles and miles I had ridden. 1 foot away... I could have used up that bit of luck on a lottery ticket later in life, but no, just found my wallet... 

Our Webinar This Week

If you aren't aware of signed up, we'll be doing 3 sessions (all the same presentation) this week of our newest webinar. "Order from Chaos: Navigating that Sea of Bits" is designed to give you an outline of things to think about when purchasing a new bit. It'll be offered on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday. You must pre-register. 

https://www.thebitcourse.com/opt-in-0bb92413-2483-41b3-8c80-0d06edc412e4

Our Next MasterClass

Cohort Echo will begin on September 20th. Registration is now open if you are interested in increasing your understanding of bits and communication with horses by several levels. We continue to receive great feedback from our participants on how valuable the course content has been to them. It's not the sort of thing that is an end point for you. It's the beginning of a whole new journey.

If you are a professional in the bodywork space, or giving lessons, the certification and ability to do bitting consultations will pay for the course in the first month. It's a no-brainer.

We've got options to pay for the course all at once, or to spread it out over 3 monthly payments. 14 day money back guarantee kicks in once the course begins. 1 full year of access to the content. 10 weeks of live weekly access to me as we go over the study guide for the week's content.

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