National Trail Ride Leader Gary Becker Recovers

Gary Becker, who organized last August’s National Trail Ride in Sunlight Basin, Wyoming, had a close call while traveling and riding in Arizona this winter.  He and his wife Tanya were visiting with friends when he experienced pain that couldn’t be explained away.  Tanya and his friends Don and Laurie Smith from Tucson took him to a hospital where the hospital staff hooked him up to oxygen (which he said help immensely) and checked him out.  They discovered three blockages in his arteries (99%, 90% and 70% closed!) and installed three stents.  Gary is feeling much better and will continue his follow-up treatment in Billings, MT.  His plan is to take his medications, eat healthier and exercise more.  He said that Don, Laurie, and Tanya saved his life and he will never forget that.  He also said that looking back on this incident now and how he had been feeling for the past several months, he knows that he was getting more and more blockages in his heart, but “being a little bull-headed, I had denied that anything was wrong.”  So Gary’s advice to all of us is don’t ignore your body’s warning signs!

Gary and Tanya, we are mighty glad this turned out well for you and we wish you the very best in your continued recovery.

Gary and Tanya can be reached at gtbecker@tctwest.net, 307-765-2020, or 239 Hwy. 14, Greybull, WY 82426.

Charter Member Robert Steele Passes Away

Robert G. Steele, a charter member and the certified public accountant who prepared the bylaws and articles of incorporation for the Big Sky Fox Trotter Association, passed away on Monday, Dec. 31, 2007.  Bob was instrumental in helping the club get started in 1995 by providing his expertise in developing the legal documents required to form the organization.

In addition to being a certified public accountant, a graduate of the University of Montana Law School and a BSFTA member from 1995 to 1999, Bob was an expert horseman and horse trainer. He loved to ride the Western range on his favorite Missouri Fox Trotter, Frosty. Bob and Frosty spent many happy days riding through the backcountry of the Yellowstone and the Bitterroot.

Bob’s wife, Paulette Cochenour, can be contacted at 10095 Rustic Rd., Missoula, MT 59802.  A sympathy card from BSFTA has been sent to his family.

 Jill Hart

On August 6, 2007 Jill was traveling home from eating dinner with her daughter. She had stopped to let traffic go by as she waited to turn into her drive way, and was soon surprised when a large Dodge truck struck the back of her stopped S-10 Chevy pick up. She was well taken care of by area EMTs and transported by life flight to Rapid City Regional Health Center to enhance her medical attention. Through CT and MRI scans it was found that her neck had been injured severely. With further care they determined that c4 and c5 in her neck/spine had been broken and displaced. With a long surgery ahead doctors are determined to get her all fixed up! Please keep this wonderful daughter, mother, wife, and friend in your prayers. We have very high hopes and a lot of faith that with help from all of us she will make a strong recovery. Jill is now at Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colorado, for rehabilitation. She hopes to go home on December 21. Until then she can be reached through the Caring Bridge program at: www.caringbridge.org/visit/jillhart.

Her husband Don is keeping a journal of her progress at this site and it is updated regularly.

She moved to the Bitterroot Valley when she married another founding member, Bob Steele, who wrote BSFTA’s articles of incorporation and by-laws.

Her passions were family, raising and riding Fox Trotters, and music.  Char loved backcountry trail rides and songs around the campfire, and she played accordion, guitar, and standup bass in the Hamilton band Downright Country.

The service for family and close friends is Sunday, April 9, 2006 at 1:00 p.m. at the Stevensville Seventh Day Adventist Church, and a jam session and potluck for the public is at 3:00 p.m. at St. Mary’s Family Center, 333 Charlos St., Stevensville. 

If you wish to give to a charity in Char’s name, memorial gifts can be made to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, 14 Pennsylvania Plaza, Suite 1440, New York, NY 10122 or the American Cancer Society. 

Cards can be sent to Char’s family at 3824 Salish Trail, Stevensville, MT 59870.  A contribution from BSFTA will be made for Char in accordance with her family’s wishes.

This interview of Bill Free is excerpted from an article in Trail Rider Magazine (March/April 2006 issue) written by BSFTA members Kent and Charlene Krone.

Silver Saddle Tramps

By

Kent and Charlene Krone

The string-bean-bodied cowboy swung lightly onto his prancing horse.  Together they headed into Colorado’s rugged Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

The 16-hand stallion plucked a carrot from his trick trainer’s mouth.

A determined man rode from Mexico to Canada to raise money to fight cancer.  He did this trip with a pin in his broken leg.

In a cloud of dust, with lightning like moves, the cowboy and his son win another calf roping competition.

These incidents, viewed separately, are interesting, maybe.  But when lined faces and seventy and eighty plus year old bodies are added to the mix, amazing stories unfold.  Valuable lessons may be learned by us younger riders who want to become “Silver Saddle Tramps”.

Go to any gathering of horse people.  It doesn’t matter whether it is a backcountry horse group, a poker ride, or just a plain old trail ride.   Who has the most stamina, the heartiest laugh, and the best of times?  Chances are it will be riders who are senior citizens.  Time and time again, I have observed and wondered about this phenomenon. After one grueling group ride, I watched in disbelief as a bony, leather-faced cowboy sauntered by for his third beer. Of course, not all tough old horsemen are cowboys.  Some are simply tough, horse-crazy, old people.

I’ve pondered many hours over these laughing, happy, silver-haired riders.  Why do some people go galloping along in their 70’s, 80’s and 90’s?   Are common threads woven in the tapestry of silver saddle tramps?  Kent and I wanted to know.  Sifting through commonalities would be interesting in itself.  However, we also wanted to know for personal reasons.   When we’re in the twilight of our life, we want to be in the saddle not on the couch.   People need to begin preparing for old age when they are young.  Well, we aren’t young, but we still have preparation time.   With that in mind, we set out to interview older riders.

BILL FREE

Eighty-year-old Bill Free is well known in the world of Fox Trotters.  When we first met Bill, we didn’t know that he bred, trained, judged, and showed Fox Trotters.  All we knew was that he had a large indoor arena, and he was willing to let us park our camper and horse trailer in it.  It was a cold January; Kent and I were picking up a horse and we needed a sheltered place to stay on the way over and way back.

Bill Free is a very handsome, silver-haired man.  He is ramrod straight and walks with a military bearing.  And what a kind, generous man!  He had never met us, yet went out of his way to make us comfortable.

By a strange quirk of fate, the Fox Trotter that we purchased was registered as the son of Cloud’s Real McCoy.   Bill looked at my new Fox Trotter and commented on his good conformation.  It was a real surprise to both of us when we discovered that “Scout’s” Dad was Bill’s stallion, Cloud’s Real McCoy.

Bill was in his early fifties when he became interested in Fox Trotters.  He entered a Fox Trotter show just for fun and was thrilled when his horse won third place.  After that, he was “hooked on showing”.

He described winning the World Championship in halter as a “real rush”.  In 2004 he was inducted into the Fox Trotter Hall of Fame. 

When other senior citizens were gearing down, Bill was gearing up.  Bill works tirelessly for the Missouri Fox Trotting Horse Association to which he belongs.  He is unfailingly kind and generous to horse people who need help and advice.  One of his greatest joys is mentoring young people who share his passion for riding and showcasing Fox Trotters 

CONCLUSION:

So…are there any common threads?  The answer to that question is a definite “yes”!  First, all of our Silver Saddle Tramps are physically active.  Couch potatoes they are not.  Secondly, every one of them has a zest for life.  They are happy and interested in what is going on around them.  Thirdly, they have a generous, loving spirit.  These are not bitter, whiney people.  Fourth, these folks have “extra sand”.  They are willing to go that extra mile, and they are not quitters.   Aches and pains might slow them down but they keep chugging along.  And last, but not least, they really love their horses. 

To every Silver Saddle Tramp who gleefully rides while ignoring aches and pains, who smiles and laughs after life bucks you off and beats you up, who keeps on going when it’d be so easy to quit; we admire you.  Keep on riding!

BSFTA Loses Its Oldest Member

In Memory

Edward A. Witsken

1932 - 2005

Big Sky Fox Trotter Association (BSFTA) members were saddened to learn that BSFTA member and avid trail rider Ed Witsken passed away on November 23 of a heart attack.  According to his wife Lynda, Ed was not sick and did not suffer.  He had the attack while sitting in his favorite chair, but, unfortunately, paramedics could not revive him.  Lynda said this was quite a shock to her, his family, and his friends because he had no known heart problems and his recent tests had come back normal.  Ed was laid to rest in his Stetson hat and his cowboy clothes, surrounded by friends and family.

Those who knew him are comforted by the knowledge that Ed got to do what he wanted, and he enjoyed his trips to the West very much. He traveled to the Rocky Mountain region many times to go on BSFTA and Big Horn Basin Fox Trotter Association (BHBFTA) national trail rides, always riding one of his favorite Missouri Fox Trotters.  He also fished and hunted around his home in Cleves, Ohio (near Cincinnati) and lived a very full life.  Lynda said he would have wanted to go as he did because he could never stand being sick.

Two BSFTA and BHBFTA members who knew Ed well and went on many rides with him in Montana and Wyoming are Gary and Tanya Becker.  This is a note written to Lynda and BSFTA members from them:

 As Tanya and I look back on the time we had known Ed Witsken, we really feel fortunate that we were able to ride with him and get to know him.  We were only able to ride with Ed two summers, once over at Wall on the BSFTA ride and then again last summer for nearly a full month, again on the BSFTA ride and also the BHBFTA ride.  Ed had stayed with us and we really got to know him, not only as rider but also as person that really loved the West.  He was a man who most of would love to emulate as he came out West for one full month each year, which meant he drove four days one way just to fulfill his dream.  He spent time on many backpacking trips into the Bob Marshall Wilderness with friends that he had made by joining all the different horseback clubs out in this area.  He was always game for a ride no matter where or how long.  He just loved seeing the country and taking numerous pictures as he rode.  Ed also loved cooking and sharing many of his favorite recipes that were very delicious.  Ed will truly be missed by us all.  Gary and Tanya Becker

At the funeral, one of Ed’s friends wrote this in remembrance of his love for trail riding: “Ketch you on the upper trail” and that says it all.

Ed, we will always remember you.