{"id":22754,"date":"2025-09-03T00:56:56","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T06:56:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=22754"},"modified":"2025-09-04T13:57:52","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T19:57:52","slug":"courage-over-trauma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/03\/courage-over-trauma\/","title":{"rendered":"Courage Over Trauma"},"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 watched him walking on the trail, his horse behind in tow. Each step was placed to keep from falling to the ground below.
\nHe has learned to practice caution. He stays back from the edge. Two years ago his horse fell down and slid right off the edge.
\nI\u2019d say the man up in the sky was watching him that day. He slid down off the horse\u2019s back. The horse then slipped away.
\nI think we\u2019ve all been traumatized at one point in our life. Some traumas never go away and likely cause you strife.
\nMy father told me \u2019bout a ship that sank in World War II. The sailors who were rescued only numbered but a few.
\nBut after being traumatized, they\u2019d always stay on deck. Not one of them would go below. They feared another wreck.
\nI\u2019m sure my friend was scared to death. I\u2019d prob\u2019ly wet my pants. Some men would call it quits right there, not take another chance.
\nBut he is strong and didn\u2019t let the trouble break him down. He\u2019s always riding with a smile. You\u2019ll never see him frown.
\nNext time we\u2019re all together and the trail is slick and steep. I\u2019ll wonder what he\u2019s thinking and I\u2019d bet he\u2019s not asleep.
\nHe\u2019s been my inspiration and a plus to all the crew. He\u2019s proof that one can conquer fear and never say, \u201cI\u2019m through.\u201d
\nAnd after all these years I\u2019ve been inclined to take a look. So, friend, if you don\u2019t mind, I\u2019ll take a page out of your book.
\nLet\u2019s stay riding these old ponies. They will keep us young at heart. I don\u2019t really need to tell you, but you\u2019ve always done your part.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I watched him walking on the trail, his horse behind in tow. Each step was placed to keep from falling to the ground below. He has learned to practice caution. He stays back from the edge. Two years ago his horse fell down and slid right off the edge. I\u2019d say the man up in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","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-22754","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\/22754","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=22754"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22755,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22754\/revisions\/22755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}