By J. Bryan Wasson
I have probably told this tale before, but this time I hope to put a little different twist on it. My home town, Abilene, Texas is known as a university town. It has three universities; they are Hardin Simmons University, Abilene Christian University and McMurrry University. At the time period of this story two of them; McMurry and Abilene Christian had not yet reached university status and were colleges. At the same time there was a stable north of Abilene known as Elm Creek Stables. Elm Creek Stables had a nice little arena and was the site of weekly armature rodeos as well as occasional play days. As this story unfolds, I will explain the part that Elm Creek Stables played in this little tale.
In those days as well as at the present, two annual events that the locals term as major events occur in Abilene. These are the West Texas Fair and Rodeo and the Hardin Simmons University Rodeo. Hardin Simmons is known as “The Cowboys.” It is well known for the famous Hardin Simmons six white horses and the Cowboy Band. The Cowboy Band and the Six White Horses have performed all over the world. Today the Six White Horses are ridden by six HSU female students dressed in white western clothing. To be selected as a rider of one of the six white horses is considered to be a high honor. I do not know, but suspect that there are alternates in the event that any one girl might be unavailable for some specific scheduled event. In those days there were five female HSU student riders and one male non student rider. He was known as Sheriff Will Watson who rode a white horse named Bear. To the best of my knowledge, he had never been a sheriff so I don’t know how he obtained this title. I believe that he organized the Six White Horses group for HSU.
What is now known as the Hardin Simmons Stables and Rodeo Arena was once known as the Hardin Simmons Riding School and was located on the property now occupied by the HSU Chappell and the President’s residence.
At the time of this story, I was in the Paint Horse business. My little remuda consisted of one Paint stallion, a number of Paint mares, some heavy with foal and some with foals at their side, one Appaloosa mare, one Mammoth Jennet and one brown mare mule.
A friend of mine called me and said he “had been asked to put together an all paint horse group for the up coming Hardin Simmons rodeo parade.” He had Elm Creek Stables leased at the time. He wanted to know if I would participate. I sure did not trust my paint stallion to be ridden in a parade and I also did not want to ride any of my Paint mares in a parade. I did not believe that an Appaloosa mare, a Mammoth Jennet or a brown mare mule would be suitable for such a group. Any of the three would stick out like a sore thumb in a group of paint horses. If the brown mare mule had been paint, I would gladly have ridden her in the parade. Looking back, I guess I could have painted some big white spots on her.
I told my friend that although I owned many Paint Horses that I did not have anything to ride. He said, “I will take care of that.”
On the day of the rodeo parade, I went to the area for the parade to line up with my saddle in the car. I found my friend there with a trailer full of paint horses. He showed me a big paint mare that he had brought for me. She was good looking, but a little on the drafty side.
The plan was that after the parade we would load all of the horses in trailers and go to Elm Creek Stables for a big barbeque. In Texas, barbeques always go hand in glove with rodeos. After the barbeque, the plan was to load the horses again and haul them to the Hardin Simmons Rodeo grounds and ride as a group in the grand entry.
After I had my fill of sliced barbequed beef, I saw that the arena was full of riders riding around in circles. We had about an hour to kill before time to load the horses again so I thought I would join them. I mounted the big paint mare and headed toward the arena. Just as I rode through the open gate into the arena, the big mare put her head between her front feet and exploded. I did not get bucked off, but I was lucky. I turned the mare out of the arena and went to locate my friend. I told him about the explosion that occurred as soon as the mare entered the arena. He started laughing. He then told me that this mare was one of the horses used in the bareback and saddle bronc riding for the weekly rodeos.
I decided that all arenas would look alike to this mare and that as soon as we rode through the gate at the Hardin Simmons Arena she was likely to explode again. I might not be as lucky the next time.
I told my friend that there would be one less rider for the group in the Grand Entry that night. I unsaddled the big paint mare, threw my saddle in my car and headed for home.
05-29-08, JBW
Copyright 2008 © by J. Bryan Wasson
I have probably told this tale before, but this time I hope to put a little different twist on it. My home town, Abilene, Texas is known as a university town. It has three universities; they are Hardin Simmons University, Abilene Christian University and McMurrry University. At the time period of this story two of them; McMurry and Abilene Christian had not yet reached university status and were colleges. At the same time there was a stable north of Abilene known as Elm Creek Stables. Elm Creek Stables had a nice little arena and was the site of weekly armature rodeos as well as occasional play days. As this story unfolds, I will explain the part that Elm Creek Stables played in this little tale.
In those days as well as at the present, two annual events that the locals term as major events occur in Abilene. These are the West Texas Fair and Rodeo and the Hardin Simmons University Rodeo. Hardin Simmons is known as “The Cowboys.” It is well known for the famous Hardin Simmons six white horses and the Cowboy Band. The Cowboy Band and the Six White Horses have performed all over the world. Today the Six White Horses are ridden by six HSU female students dressed in white western clothing. To be selected as a rider of one of the six white horses is considered to be a high honor. I do not know, but suspect that there are alternates in the event that any one girl might be unavailable for some specific scheduled event. In those days there were five female HSU student riders and one male non student rider. He was known as Sheriff Will Watson who rode a white horse named Bear. To the best of my knowledge, he had never been a sheriff so I don’t know how he obtained this title. I believe that he organized the Six White Horses group for HSU.
What is now known as the Hardin Simmons Stables and Rodeo Arena was once known as the Hardin Simmons Riding School and was located on the property now occupied by the HSU Chappell and the President’s residence.
At the time of this story, I was in the Paint Horse business. My little remuda consisted of one Paint stallion, a number of Paint mares, some heavy with foal and some with foals at their side, one Appaloosa mare, one Mammoth Jennet and one brown mare mule.
A friend of mine called me and said he “had been asked to put together an all paint horse group for the up coming Hardin Simmons rodeo parade.” He had Elm Creek Stables leased at the time. He wanted to know if I would participate. I sure did not trust my paint stallion to be ridden in a parade and I also did not want to ride any of my Paint mares in a parade. I did not believe that an Appaloosa mare, a Mammoth Jennet or a brown mare mule would be suitable for such a group. Any of the three would stick out like a sore thumb in a group of paint horses. If the brown mare mule had been paint, I would gladly have ridden her in the parade. Looking back, I guess I could have painted some big white spots on her.
I told my friend that although I owned many Paint Horses that I did not have anything to ride. He said, “I will take care of that.”
On the day of the rodeo parade, I went to the area for the parade to line up with my saddle in the car. I found my friend there with a trailer full of paint horses. He showed me a big paint mare that he had brought for me. She was good looking, but a little on the drafty side.
The plan was that after the parade we would load all of the horses in trailers and go to Elm Creek Stables for a big barbeque. In Texas, barbeques always go hand in glove with rodeos. After the barbeque, the plan was to load the horses again and haul them to the Hardin Simmons Rodeo grounds and ride as a group in the grand entry.
After I had my fill of sliced barbequed beef, I saw that the arena was full of riders riding around in circles. We had about an hour to kill before time to load the horses again so I thought I would join them. I mounted the big paint mare and headed toward the arena. Just as I rode through the open gate into the arena, the big mare put her head between her front feet and exploded. I did not get bucked off, but I was lucky. I turned the mare out of the arena and went to locate my friend. I told him about the explosion that occurred as soon as the mare entered the arena. He started laughing. He then told me that this mare was one of the horses used in the bareback and saddle bronc riding for the weekly rodeos.
I decided that all arenas would look alike to this mare and that as soon as we rode through the gate at the Hardin Simmons Arena she was likely to explode again. I might not be as lucky the next time.
I told my friend that there would be one less rider for the group in the Grand Entry that night. I unsaddled the big paint mare, threw my saddle in my car and headed for home.
05-29-08, JBW
Copyright 2008 © by J. Bryan Wasson
This article has previously been published in The Brayer, offical publication of the American Donkey & Mule Society (ADMS)
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