Saddles & Stories: The Legacy

Penny Carlton • September 4, 2025

It wasn't the story I intended to write...

It unfolded in less than ten minutes. Without an introduction. Without a word spoken between us. In the days since that silent encounter, it has whispered to me in my sleep. Tapped me lightly on my shoulder. And wrapped around me, like a warm blanket of comfort and hope. This wasn’t the story I intended to write, but it’s one that needs to be told. Again, and again.


The rodeo arena had been set, flanked by holding pens filled with calves and bulls. The entrance chutes that would swing open to welcome horse and rider to the dirt stage had been secured.


 In front of me, on the other side of the arena, bleachers were filling with excited spectators. Young and old, a wave of cowboy hats from across the way. Their anticipation was palpable.


Around me, dozens of horses and riders full of grit and raw athleticism. Together, horse and rider become a team—or sometimes rivals—locked in a test of strength, speed, and balance that defines the spirit of rodeo. As the summer sun wanes, throwing long shadows across the packed dirt the time has come and a hush falls, broken only by the restless snorts of horses waiting at the gate. You can feel their power before you even see them—the steady stamping of hooves, the creak of leather saddles, the shiver of muscle under glossy hides.


Then the chute bursts open. A bronc explodes into the ring, wild and furious, his back arched, hooves kicking skyward with bone-rattling force. The rider clings with one hand, the other slicing the air like a banner of defiance. For breathless seconds, horse and rider are locked in a dance of chaos—one determined to shake loose, the other refusing to fall. The rodeo had begun. Dirt flying from beneath the horses’ hooves, the rider gripping reins with gloved hands, legs tight against saddles, hats pulled low and the crowd bursting into cheers.


It was during a brief interlude in the action taking place in the arena that I turned and spotted them. Four or five children gathered at the edge of the field behind me. It was unmistakable; they were children of the riders competing in the rodeo. I observed as a young boy removed his cowboy hat, knelt down on all fours, and tossed his head like a magnificent stallion while one of his friends pretended to hold a rope, signifying the connection between horse and rider. Another child climbed onto his back, gripping his shirt tightly with one hand while raising the other in triumph as the imaginary rope was released, initiating the rodeo’s bucking bronco. One child stood off to the side, intently watching an imaginary stopwatch in their hand, while another was ready to catch the falling rider. A perfect mirror to what had just unfolded in the arena.


Time stopped. I was mesmerized. They were the story. In their innocent play they held the very breath, the lifeline of their heritage.


I observed them carry on with their “performance” as if it were unfolding in black and white. A step back in time. I could sense the unwavering rhythm of ranchers from years gone by, their children alongside them, passing down a legacy defined by sheer grit, sacrifice, and determination. Generations of profound respect for the horses and livestock entrusted to their care. I felt a deep sense of humility in the face of such raw honesty. I found it impossible to look away from them.


In the final moments before I redirected my gaze back to the arena, a solitary rider on a magnificent grey horse rode by them into the open field, allowing his steed to trot off lingering tension. All the children rose and turned in complete silence, as if captivated by the cowboy and his horse. The sense of reverence they gave the rider and his mount spoke volumes to me.


The legacy is firmly rooted in these young hearts.

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