HOME
The Natural Horseman – Celebrating Fall
By Steve Stevens
We have started a new tradition in the Stevens house the last two years. We put up a cute white fall Christmas tree to celebrate all the hard hours put in during the summer. It is a celebration of the changing of the seasons—the sun coming up a little later in the day and going down a little earlier in the evening.
We celebrate the stillness that comes with the air of fall and the turning colors of the trees.
And even the black birds that fill the Walmart parking lot as the sun falls.
For us, fall leads to our daughter’s birthday and the holidays of Halloween and Thanksgiving that are so fun to experience when you have young children.
This is my favorite time of the year to ride and train horses, especially watching the sky change colors in the early evening.
The Native Americans believe that everything comes full circle: the circle of life, the wind, the earth and the seasons. I try to remind myself of this when working horses in a round pen. How we use the round pen tool to work horses is an endless circle. No matter the horse, age, experience—we continue to make circles and like the seasons, if we grow in that circle we can make changes.
We must grow to continue in the circle. We and the horse must learn to flow through the change of seasons. If we break the flow, we can break that circle of life and growth. I don’t want to sound too out there, but if you have seen as many horses as I have that have circled around me in my life, you would understand how I can be a little horse crazy.
All good horsemen know that much like in our human life, we must ride many circles to achieve straightness. At the end of the day we are looking for a straight horse and a straight line to happiness.
When riding in circles, remember how those circles connect us to the circle of life and the circle of our lives and the circle of the seasons.
Many blessings to you all. Love, ride and dream through the seasons of the fall.
The Steven’s beautiful fall tree. (Photo courtesy of Steve Stevens)
By Donna Long
If you are hankerin’ for home cooking just like grandma used to make with fresh ingredients, then look no further than Dixie House Cafe with locations in Fort Worth, Saginaw, and Euless. Dixie House, which was originally named Theresa’s Cafe after its owner, opened its first restaurant in 1983.
In the early days, it was just Theresa and one employee that ran the cafe. Between the two of them, they created mouth-watering meals from scratch using tried and true recipes. Dixie House is where the nostalgic vibe of a 60’s diner meets the charm of Southern hospitality and cooking. The portions are substantial, and the flavor is reminiscent of a time when meals were slow-cooked with families gathered in the kitchen and not hurriedly microwaved.
To read more, pick up a copy of the March issue of NTFR Magazine. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.
By Phillip Kitts
With most of America fighting off the winter blues and setting their sights on the warmth of spring, the rodeo world is already heating up. It is often common chatter about how the rodeo world really does not have an off season. In October when the regular season wraps up, it is not even a week before rodeo athletes start running to fall rodeos so they can start building up money toward the next year’s finals. It is true that fall rodeos do not have big payouts, but many athletes take the every dollar counts approach and throw several of them on the calendar.
November and December may be the slowest months of the rodeo year, but believe it or not, there are still plenty of places rodeo athletes can go and earn a small check. Traditionally the number of rodeos in the winter months is lower, but the few events that do happen tend to have big payouts. Pretty much every rodeo fan knows all about places like Denver, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Rapid City. These are all big scale events with huge payouts.
To read more, pick up a copy of the March issue of NTFR Magazine. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.
By Lindsey Monk
Calving season is in full swing, which means branding is next!
-
Country Lifestyles4 weeks agoScott & Stacey Schumacher: A Growth Mindset
-
HOME6 years agoGrazing North Texas – Wilman Lovegrass
-
Country Lifestyles3 years agoAmber Crawford, Breakaway Roper
-
Country Lifestyles6 years agoStyle Your Profile – What your style cowboy hat says about you and new trends in 2017
-
Country Lifestyles7 years agoCowboy Culture with Clay Reid – Being a Man
-
Country Lifestyles6 years agoDecember 2016 Profile, Rusty Riddle – The Riddle Way
-
Country Lifestyles2 years agoCody Lambert
-
Country Lifestyles7 years agoJune 2016 Profile – The man behind the mic: Bob Tallman