{"id":17453,"date":"2022-02-23T00:30:55","date_gmt":"2022-02-23T00:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=17453"},"modified":"2022-02-22T21:01:53","modified_gmt":"2022-02-22T21:01:53","slug":"a-saddle-too-far","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2022\/02\/23\/a-saddle-too-far\/","title":{"rendered":"A SADDLE TOO FAR"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Bryce Angell – The outdoors has always been a large part of my life. My father was an outfitter and guide for 35 years and I was there to shoe and care for the horses and help him do the cooking. We took many great trips into the Yellowstone area. Even now that I\u2019m older, we still ride into the Tetons, Yellowstone and surrounding areas. My poems are mostly of personal experience. I am now retired and enjoying life to the fullest. I plan to do more riding and writing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019ve always had to stretch my legs when climbing to the saddle. And now my age is telling me, Each time I\u2019ll have a battle.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard it said a man who\u2019s short will choose a horse that\u2019s tall. Call it short-man syndrome, to cover up for being small.<\/p>\n

You see I stand at five-feet-three, a product of my source. So I guess that\u2019s why I always seem to ride a danged tall horse.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve watched my father ride his horse. His choice was tall as well. He always mounted from the ground, as far as I could tell.<\/p>\n

And even though his age has kept him down, but mostly sound, he says, \u201cI\u2019ll ride a tall horse till I\u2019m six feet in the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve used a stump so many times, for sure a rock or two. And now I wonder should I place extensions on each shoe?<\/p>\n

I might as well sport high heels. I\u2019d be the laughingstock. I guess I\u2019m not clear thinking \u2018cuz those cowboys sure would talk.<\/p>\n

Last week I hung a strap down low with a stirrup at the end, so I\u2019d have an extra foothold to climb up and then descend.<\/p>\n

But the strap and extra stirrup snagged a sagebrush, \u2018bout midday. Though I\u2019d tied it to the back cinch, tore the strap and cinch away.<\/p>\n

My wife said, \u201cTry some yoga. You will limber up the most.\u201d But stretching me proved stiffer than a juniper fence post.<\/p>\n

Rodney Yee\u2019s new video was more than I\u2019d afford. And I\u2019m sure that namaste translates, \u201cGet lost, you stiff old board!\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard that camels kneel to help their riders to the seat. Could Cyrus learn to bend a knee? That\u2019d sure enough be sweet.<\/p>\n

But Cyrus ain\u2019t about to kneel to help someone get saddled. There ain\u2019t no clear solutions and I\u2019ve never been this rattled!<\/p>\n

So once again I find myself back at the drawing board. I\u2019d welcome your ideas, some I haven\u2019t yet explored.<\/p>\n

And if you see me leading Cyrus off the beaten track. I\u2019m not walking for the exercise. I can\u2019t climb on his back!<\/p>\n

\u00a0 <\/span>\u2013 Bryce Angell<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve always had to stretch my legs when climbing to the saddle. And now my age is telling me, Each time I\u2019ll have a battle.\u201d I\u2019ve heard it said a man who\u2019s short will choose a horse that\u2019s tall. Call it short-man syndrome, to cover up for being small. You see I stand at five-feet-three, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160,2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17453","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-cowboy-poetry","7":"category-commentary"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17453"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17454,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17453\/revisions\/17454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}