I'm living a childhood dream. My heroes have always been cowboys
(and an occasional Indian); which is fitting 'cause I'm 1/4 Cherokee.
I DREAMT (DAY AND NIGHT) about Horses from early childhood. In the 7th or 8th grade we were assigned a 500 word essay on: "What I Want to Be When I Grow Up"!
Mine turned into a 5,000 word research paper on horse breeding, raising & training! I even priced land in various areas of the country, investigated various breeds & the cost of breeding stock, etc! Needless to say I ACED that English class!
But my parents were very negative & did everything in their power to dissuade me from pursuing my love of horses.
Then when I was 15 my, then, soon to be, Brother in Law GAVE ME his 20+ year old Quarter Horse Mare as a birthday present!
TALK ABOUT A LOVE AFFAIR!!
I rode my bicycle 40-50 miles (Round-Trip) every day for that whole summer; leaving before dawn & not returning till after dark, just to ride & care for that horse!
Then CALAMITY! My Brother in Law had not told his father that he had given "Penny" to me, so that September, after I was back in school, his father had included Penny as part of the sale of their house & land! By the time I found out, it was too late & the buyer refused to even CONSIDER returning the mare to me!
Unless you have Loved & Lost a horse, you cannot imagine my heartbreak & devastation! Well, I basically decided perhaps my parents were right after all & I GAVE UP on pursuing horses as a way of life! I avoided having anything to do with them for 20+ YEARS!!
Then I finally realized I could not EVER be happy unless I at least attempted to fulfill my dream of becoming a REAL "COWBOY"! And now, 35 + years later, HERE I AM "KOWBOY" KARL! On a real working horse ranch!!!
The moral of all this is DO NOT LET ANYONE DISCOURAGE YOU FROM FOLLOWING YOUR DREAM!!!! ESPECIALLY if it involves HORSES!!
I have decided to rewrite/reorganize my on line book
& hope to have it on line soon.
In The MeanTime, Here is the chronology of the contents.
Chronology
11/30/76 - 3rd DUI!
6/1/76 - 1/1/77 - Canada or Mexico?
1/1/77 - 6/1/77 - Living on the street Riding Mariah
6/1/77 - 12/1/77 - BirdHerder - Santa Cruz, CA. - Gardener, Bird Herder, Handyman.
12/1/77 - 6/1/78 - Pacifica Dude Ranch - Stable Hand, Wrangler, Equine Sanitation Engineer.
1/1/78 - 1/1/79 - Buckeye Ranch - Stable Hand, Wrangler, Equine Sanitation Engineer.
1/1/79 - 1/1/80 - Rancho Paraiso - Thoroughbred Ranch Hand, Horse Trainer, Equine Sanitation Engineer.
1/1/80 - 6/1/83 - Diablo Ranch - Cattle Ranch Hand, Horse Trainer, Equine Sanitation Engineer.
6/1/83 - 10/15/83 - The Goat Lady's - Ranch Manager, Horse Trainer. (Where I Got Sober)
10/15/83 - 10/15/90 - Living on the street - as Carl E Penny, Started Yes Pony.
10/15/90 - 1/1/96 - Living on the street - Running Yes Pony.
1/1/96 - 1/1/97 - THE CRACKER RANCH - Boarding, Running Yes Pony.
1/1/97 - 7/15/97 - Ruddway Estates - Ranch Manager, Stable Hand, Running Yes Pony.
7/15/97 - 4/15/99 - Black Mountain - Ranch Manager, Mustang Trainer & Mule "Skinner"
4/15/99 - 4/15/00 -Hornbrook - Unsuccessful Internet Romance!
4/15/00 - 5/1/00 - Concord - Stayed with John & Alice
5/5/00 - 7/15/00 - Montana - Loco Mo!
7/15/00 - 8/15/00 - Alabama - Studied with Lame Deer - Pipe Holder
8/15/00 - 11/1/00 - Florida - Studying with Sequoia's Grandaughter.
1/15/00 - 5/1/00 - Chino - Stayed with Bill & Francis
5/1/00 - 9/1/00 - Whini - Helping a rescue get started in the Nevada high desert. Adopted a Mustang Filly who was then stolen from me,
9/1/00 - 9/1/01 - Chino - Stayed with Bill & Francis
9/1/01 - 10/15/02 - Riverside - My Own Place!!!!
10/15/02 - 11/28/02 - Chino2 - Stayed with Bill & Francis
12/01/02 - 11/8/03 - Happy Camp - Living in a Junk Yard. :-(
11/8/03 - 4/1/04 - FOHRAA Greenwood Village, CO.
4/1/04 - 7/8/04 - Mustang Meadows
Home of The Epona Project
7/10/04 - 7/8/04 - Mustang Spirit - Phelan, CA.
7/15/04 - 10/15/04 - Wind Horse Foundation GeorgeTown, CA.
10/15/04 - 1/8/05 - Top Of The Hill - Livermore, CA
1/8/05 - 1/30/05 - Girvens TB Ranch - Fresno, CA
1/30/05 - 2/10/05 Mt. Diablo Revisited
2/10/05 - 12/22/05 - Rising Star Arabians - Calistoga, CA.
12/22/05 - 3/1/08 Butler Meadows Paint Horses
3/1/08 - ? - Fanning's in Knightsen