September 2009 - Saddle Tramp

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Name: Saddle Tramp aka David Scott

Location: Priceville, Alabama

What’s your typical day like?
Usually up before 5 and get Tammy up for work, and Koty off to school. Then I have a few minutes of quiet time. Just me, a cup of coffee, and this beautiful portrait God painted just outside my window. Time to reflect. study, rethink, preplan and get my ducks all lined up for the day.

Then I go feed and give our horses the "once over" to make sure they are ready for the day. I usually go around the place and see that nothing is out of place or needs immediate repair. After the horses, dogs and I have been fed, and the horses have had time to digest, I work each of them for at least an hour in the round pen. We want to start showing by next spring and getting the "herd" in shape and trained for this has become "Project One" for us. The afternoon, if the humidity here in North Alabama isn't too bad, I usually work on things around the farm. There is always something that needs repair… the quads, one of the trucks, the tractor, fencing to be mended. You know the typical day around a Horse Farm.

Koty is in from school around 3:30 pm and gets his homework and then his chores done, and then whatever till Tammy gets home from work. She will usually grab a cold drink , change clothes, and tack up one of our mares, then work on western pleasure patterns with them. Koty will tack up Comanche (our little stud prospect) and work and ride him. He will be three next May and we want to see if he will throw some pretty babies, so we plan to breed him to our two mares. Then we'll see if he proves himself to be a good Sire, our breeding program will start. If not then we call the vet, geld him, and start looking for another stud.

Life around BitterCreek Stables is mostly like any other horse farm other than due to my health I am here every day, which is not a bad thing totally. We experience all the things that confront every other horse owner. We do try to have things arranged so that if anything out of the ordinary happens, everyone here knows how to react, and where everything is so as to not waste time having to find the things you need. We all know there is no set routine around Horses, and that is the great thing we enjoy so much. But we try to be ready for anything that may pop up.
We built this little place ourselves with very little outside help. It has made us a stronger family. We all have the same dream - to be able to own and enjoy our horses. Everyone understands the work involved with owning and caring for horses and has to do their part to make a success of the farm. We want to expand, get into a solid breeding program with quality Foundation Quarter Horse Stock. We have had to start out crawling, and think we are where we can stand and take the first steps. When our plan fulfills itself everyone will know of BitterCreek's Quality Bred Quarter Horses. It may not happen in my lifetime, but Koty has the same dream as Tammy and me, so it will be up to him.

How did you first find horses … or did they find you?
I was raised in the early 50's. When we finally got our first TV I discovered "Cowboys." Lash LaRue, Gene Autry, Roy and Dale, Tom Mix, then John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Glen Ford right on up to Tombstone, Lonesome Dove Shadow Riders and all the other great Westerns. I'll soon be 58 years old. I still wear cowboy boots, a cowboy hat and try to live by the "code.” You can't be a cowboy without a horse. We grew up "dirt poor" and Dad finally bought me a horse around the time I turned eight. That was half a century ago and I still have horses. There have been times I didn't own a horse of my own, but always seemed to find a way to be able to ride and work with horses.

Favorite horse story?
There are so many, I wouldn't even know where to start. I guess the best one known in this part of the country would be the "Best Rabbit Hunting Appaloosa" in Middle Tennessee. I had the pleasure of owning an Appaloosa Stud, named "Ringo.” The people that had owned and trained Ringo were there when he was born. They raised him and trained him to work cows. You could ride, rope and shoot off him then go trail riding in your spare time. He was just an all around good horse. We tried breeding to him, but he threw some Ugly babies (notice the capital U). They turned out to be good horses, but just double Ugly so I had him gelded. Ringo had bad habits like every other horse, but he had one in particular he became famous for locally. We used to do cattle work all over middle Tennessee and Northern Alabama. Round up your cattle, cut, vaccinate - anything cattle ranchers needed we tried to do. We made some good extra money doing this and had a ball doing so. We weren’t "out west" but we did the best we could on this side of the Mississippi.

Back to Ringo. I could be working any part of the round up. Makes no difference where you were - bringing a stray back, working the brushes trying to find a stray or whatever. If a Rabbit was scared up in the process, I had to be ready. Ringo loved to chase rabbits better than anything else. He would cut right out from under you wide open after a cotton tail. I had tried everything known to humankind to break him from this habit. I happened to know one of the buyers at the "King Ranch" and he talked to their trainers and the Vaquero's to see if they had any hints on what to do. Nothing worked. Someone suggested since he was colored the way he was, could it be possible he thought he was a Beagle. Whatever it was he died with it cause he never gave up chasing rabbits.

We were working cattle for one of the country music stars on their place outside Franklin, Tennessee. We had started before sun up that morning. Sometime during the day some photographers came out and got in the way. Sometime during all this Ringo scared up a swamp rabbit and the race was on... all but he had no rider. He left me in a patch of "Prickly Pear" Cactus. A large patch. I had on chaps, but that wasn't the side that hit the ground. This cactus doesn't have large "spears" to hurt you; it has tiny fine little spines to make you suffer for days trying to remove them. Once Ringo gave up the chase and came back, there was no riding back. So we walked. Me cussing the horse and under his breath Ringo laughing at me. Once back at the Head Camp, I had to change clothes. Cowboys always keep an extra set of clothes in the pickup for special occasions and emergencies. Even after removing my clothes I was still loaded with the stickers. The best way to remove the tiny painful objects is with a dry bar of soap. Now here I am, between the horse trailers, in all my shining glory, trying to rub my butt with a dry bar of soap… and one of these aggravating photographers snaps a shot. I still have my hat on and my socks, but nothing more. Once that picture was released along with the story of why I was caught in my "Shining" glory, it spread like wild fire. It was our claim to Fame, for a dirt poor Cowboy and his "Rabbit Hunting Horse” - Ringo!

If you could change one thing within the horse industry, what would that be?
As I see it, the main problem the Horse industry is dealing with now are Un-Wanted Horses. The economy and other circumstances have flooded the market with horses no one wants, can't afford to feed, and nowhere to go with them. The rescue operations are overloaded with horses. People who want to help are loaded up to the point they can't afford to feed anymore. People are abandoning them at Boarding Stables, on Federal Land. Really anywhere they can find. The worst part is that some people are just plain letting them starve to death. There has to be an answer somewhere. I have my thoughts and opinion, as do others, and neither the twain shall meet. I think we have to put the Human side of this argument aside and start doing what's best for the Horses. I don't want to see any Horse hurt or mistreated in any way especially to stand in a pasture and starve or die from not getting proper care, but something needs to be done. Even Almighty God, thins the herd.

Other than horses, what else do you enjoy doing for fun?
I have been involved in music since I started playing drums at 12. Koty is playing drums now at 13. He plays bass drum in the Priceville High School Marching Band and plays drums for our Praise and Worship Band at Church. Of course the 'Ole Man plays bass guitar at Church. We have gatherings here at the farm and everybody drags out a flat top guitar, washboard, spoons or whatever instrument and sit around and have a good time "Pickin’ and Grinnin’." Music is a large part of our lives. Even if it's nothing but a radio or one of the internet stations, there is music around our place all the time. Sometimes I think I catch the horses "Two Steppin" around the pasture... you know out of the corner of your eye. But then if you look they quit!

Is there a special significance to your avatar?
That picture is of me and Koty during a hard time in all of our lives. It has a special meaning to all our Family. The part you can't see is to the left of where we are where there is a herd of probably 50 horses, ten or so cowboys, and a fire with a big pot of Texas Chili waiting on all of us. This place is in Southern Middle Tennessee and we all call it "Cowboy Heaven.” It is back away from everything. You can't see any power lines or any sign of civilization from where we are. Nothing but the horses and nature and all us humans trying not to mess it up by being there! I guess it’s one of those pictures you would have to see in Color!

Anything else we should know about you?
I love to cut up and carry on a bunch of foolishness all the time. Life is too short to go around all sulled up all the time. We have our serious times, but get together, get it fixed and move on. Our Family is based on God, Love, Honesty and being together, and being there for each other. This little farm and our Horses are a large part of our Family being able to be the way we are. God gave us the privilege to be able to get to where we are. We have been blessed many times over. We ain't rich; far from it. We struggle every day to survive and to keep our dream alive, sometimes robbing Peter to pay Paul, then trying to catch up next week. I had an old Black Blues Man from Memphis tell me you can't play blues on a guitar that hasn't ever been "Hocked.” Well here lately I should be able to play the blues on any of my guitars. We have taken them to the pawn shop to be able to dream. Sometimes even eat… and we still hold on to our dream. We haven't lost any weight and the horses are doing great. There are many, many people that don't have what we have and we all feel blessed. If we were the only ones going through this, there might be something wrong with us but truthfully there are more than us in our boat.

When times get tough, the tough get going. The Pioneer Spirit that built this Great Country is still alive and doing well. I see it more every day. It's not only us horse lovers, but people from every walk of life. Our Country has seen rougher times and still stands Tall. We have a heritage to be proud of and that Heritage will live on. Many have tried to destroy it from outside and within. It will survive Now because of one thing… WE THE PEOPLE. I believe in God. I believe in Family. And I believe in Our Great Country. No man or army will change my beliefs. I thank Him every day for all the blessings, my family and my friends.

Tammy, Koty and I all have many friends here at U Rock ‘n Ride and each one is special in their own way. The way it is supposed to be. I personally would like to thank each and every one for being there for us when we were having such a hard time. People I have never met eye to eye, just internet folks, but people that gave us the support we needed at the time. The true meaning of Friend. Thank you all!

Tammy, Koty and David