We raised registered Thoroughbred horses on the ranch in Thayne, Wyoming where I grew up. My grandfather (Clint Jasperson) started breeding Thoroughbreds when he owned the ranch. Grandpa Clint trained the horses he raised as racehorses. He took the horses across the tri-state area (Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming) to the county fairs and other local race events to compete. My dad (Bryce Jasperson) and his brothers, Jerry (aka Jake) and Tex, rode as jockeys at the events.
When my dad acquired the ranch from Grandpa, he inherited the horses as well. While Dad continued to raise and breed the Thoroughbred horses, he was less interested in racing them and began raising draft horses to compete in pulling contests. We did have a few Thoroughbreds that we sent to the track over the years while I grew up. However, in the early 1980s, a woman named Lockey (I do not remember her last name if I ever knew it...we always just referred to her as Lockey or to her and her husband as Grant and Lockey) began visiting the ranch once or twice per year to purchase our green broke colts. Lockey trained the horses to play polo.
One spring, (1982 if my memory is correct), when Lockey came to visit, she brought a horse with her named Canadian Feather. Lockey had purchased Feather after she failed to live up to expectations at the track. Despite Lockey's efforts, she had not been able to train Feather as a polo horse either. Feather was a bit "flighty."Lockey brought Feather to Dad to ride as a cow horse to see if she would outgrow her "flightiness." Over the course of the summer, and through the fall, Feather became the primary horse that I rode.
As we started riding Feather for the regular work on the ranch, we discovered Feather had a few quirks. At times she liked to take the bit and refuse to go where you asked. If you were not watching carefully, when she walked past a tree on a trail, she would ram your leg into the tree. She did not figure out how to follow a cow or to head a cow that was trying to wander off while you were moving the cows. Thus, I was frequently assigned to ride "point" to lead the cowherd when we moved it.
Feather's biggest quirk was that she did not like to cross moving or running water. Every time we rode, we would come to a creek to cross. Every time we needed to cross a creek, she would balk at the crossing. She needed lots of coaxing to step into the water before she would cross. She would walk to the edge of the water and then shuffle her feet to the left or right and move sideways but would not step into the water. Dad tried a number of different approaches to help her get better at crossing water but nothing seemed to change her approach to crossing the water.
We had early snow that year but not much accumulation (only about 3-4 inches). We had the cattle in the meadow and river bottoms. One night after school, (and wrestling practice I believe), in the first week of December, Dad decided that he wanted to move the cattle across the river because we still had some good long grass feed on the other side of the river. Dad felt like we could delay the date when we needed to start feeding the cows for the winter.
Dad, Cade, and I rode to the river bottoms to move the cattle. Dad rode Al's Tiger (aka Al). Cade rode Ten Thirty (aka Thirty). I rode Feather. We got the cattle bunched together and started moving them to a river crossing. (The Salt River flowed through the east side of the ranch.) Dad sent me to the front to lead the cows across the river.
It was a cold night (probably around 10° - 20° F) and overcast so there was not much light. I was wearing a stocking cap, heavy winter coat, cowboy boots with rubber overshoes, and my winter gloves. I was also wearing the "batwing" chaps.
I rode Feather to the "point" and started toward the river crossing. The cows were following nicely. We came to the edge of the river and Feather refused to enter the water. She shuffled to the right and to the left while I continued to urge her into the river.
Due to the cold temperature, the edge of the river had a shelf of ice along the bank. The ice shelf was about 12 to 18 inches wide and likely about 2 to 4 inches thick. Eventually, Feather was turned parallel to the river but facing upstream. She moved sideways onto the ice shelf with at least two feet.
Suddenly, the ice shelf caved away from the bank. Feather fell over sideways into the river (with me on her back). As she fell, her left side went into the river first but she twisted so that her feet were upstream of her body and I was in the water just downstream from her. As I came up for air from under the water, I looked upstream and could see the water washing over the top of Feather.
I remember being shocked that the water was so deep (remember we were trying to get the cattle to cross the river right there). I started swimming to get away from Feather so that she would not take me under in her struggles to get out of the water. I was doing the elementary backstroke as hard as I could.
Then, Dad was at the river's edge on his horse. He shouted to me, "Stand Up!"
I stood up and realized the water was only about 8 inches deep. I also realized that during the time I was swimming, I was likely lying on the bottom of the river, not moving but flailing my arms and legs. The reason the water had washed over the top of Feather was she was lying on her side and the water had washed up and over her.
I walked to Feather, gathered up the reins, and led her to the river bank.
Dad came over and we assessed the situation. The chaps had mostly kept my legs dry. Similarly, my overcoat was wet but my shirt was dry underneath. Of course, my boots were filled with water and my feet were wet and cold. My gloves were also soaking wet.
Dad took my gloves and coat to wring out the water. I sat down and removed my boots and socks. Dad wrung the water out of my socks as well. Then Dad traded socks, boots, coat, and gloves with me. He put on the wet ones. I put on his dry ones.
We mounted our horses again and moved the cattle across the river.
I think Cade rode Thrity across the river as the lead point for the cows to follow. It still took about an hour or so to get all of the cows across the river. I also believe that Feather never crossed the river that night. Cade and Dad crossed to push the cows into the willows and toward the grass feed.
The next time that Lockey came to visit, we sent Feather back with her. She never got over her "flightiness" or her resistance to cross the water.
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