by erictknight | Feb 13, 2020 | action and adventure, Americana, Arizona history, cattle, cowboys, humor, Old West, ranching
By the time I was five or six I was judged old enough to ride my own horse during round up. At last I could begin to earn my keep. The horse for beginners on Date Creek Ranch was Lady, a horse so ancient she had turned white, speckled with little brown spots, like...
by erictknight | Jul 5, 2016 | Arizona history, autobiography, cattle, comedy, cowboys, creative writing, Date Creek Ranch, Eric Knight, horses, humor, ranching, short story, writing
Back in college I used to do a lot of backpacking with one of my friends. One time he and I were headed out to backpack in the Chiricahua Mountains and as we were pulling our packs out of the car I noticed that he had a milk jug full of water in the back seat. When I...
by erictknight | Jun 11, 2016 | action and adventure, Arizona history, autobiography, cattle, comedy, cowboys, creative writing, Date Creek Ranch, Eric Knight, humor, ranching, Sonora desert, writing
Time for the tale of how I earned a scar worthy of a champion. In the early days, our lone piece of “heavy” equipment on the ranch was on old Ford tractor. I’m guessing that it was of a 1940s vintage, but without going to the trouble of emailing my sister for...
by erictknight | Jun 2, 2016 | action and adventure, Arizona history, autobiography, cattle, comedy, cowboys, Date Creek Ranch, Eric Knight, horses, humor, ranching, writing
I’m not quite sure why I wasn’t riding Cortez, my horse, on that fateful day. I have some vague recollection that she had a limp. I’m not even sure how the decision was made that Dinah should be her replacement either. Maybe it was just the universe having a little...
by erictknight | May 29, 2016 | Arizona history, autobiography, cattle, comedy, cowdog, creative writing, Date Creek Ranch, dogs, Eric Knight, family, humor, ranching, roping, writing
Shortly after I bought Cortez, Mom started taking Kim and me to compete in gymkhanas. And now I’m guessing that you’re wondering what in the heck a gymkhana is. Well, it’s like a rodeo for kids. However, instead of roping or bull riding or any of that dangerous stuff,...
by erictknight | May 25, 2016 | action and adventure, Arizona history, autobiography, cattle, creative writing, Date Creek Ranch, dogs, Eric Knight, family, horses, humor, ranching, roundup, writing
So the first horse I tried out turned out to be a lemon. There was nothing for it but to keep on trying. The right horse just had to be out there. The next horse that arrived at the ranch was a friendly-looking mare. The initial stages of saddling and mounting all...
