WEBVTT - Ep. 163: THIS COUNTRY LIFE - What’s in a Name? 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:09.240 Welcome to this Country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:13.680 from coon hunting to trot lining and just general country living. 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:16.040 I want you to stay a while as I share 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:18.479 my stories and the country skills that will help you 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:22.360 beat the system. This Country Life is proudly presented as 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:25.880 part of Meat Eater's podcast network, bringing you the best 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:30.000 outdoor podcast the airways have to offer. All right, friends, 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:33.040 pull you up a chair or drop that tailgate. I 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:38.480 think I got a thing or two. The teacher, What's 0:00:38.520 --> 0:00:42.800 in a name? Have you ever thought where some names 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:46.640 come from? Why is old Spot called Old Spot? Well, well, 0:00:46.680 --> 0:00:49.519 the answer to that may be obvious, But what about 0:00:49.920 --> 0:00:54.760 sea biscuit Ren ten ten or Old McDonald's faithful sidekick. 0:00:55.160 --> 0:00:57.920 What's in a name? And should we put more thought 0:00:58.000 --> 0:01:00.560 into it? Since there may be a chance you could 0:01:00.560 --> 0:01:05.319 be raising a historically significant human being or an animal. 0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:08.399 That's the subject today, and I'm going to talk all 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:17.960 about it. But first I'm going to tell you a story. 0:01:20.160 --> 0:01:23.480 Back around nineteen eighty eight, I was working for Georgia 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:26.600 Pacific and renting a house with a barn, a pond, 0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:29.679 and a pasture not far from where I grew up. 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:32.640 My brother Tim and I had yet to start our 0:01:32.720 --> 0:01:35.760 duck and gooseguid in business, so I still had time 0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:38.920 to for all my other hunting passions, and squirrel hunting 0:01:38.959 --> 0:01:42.399 with dogs off horses was right up there at the top. 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:46.000 My dad, as I've sat on here before, was a 0:01:46.040 --> 0:01:49.520 tree dog man from way back. The line of mountain 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:52.040 kerk tree dogs that we had had come from a 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:55.120 long line of dogs that had started way before I 0:01:55.240 --> 0:02:00.200 was born. There was Bob, Trixie, Tip, Sambo, Prissy, and 0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:04.000 and others like Buck. Now don't confuse him with Dad's 0:02:04.080 --> 0:02:08.040 huge buckskin horse whose name was also Buck, but Buck 0:02:08.120 --> 0:02:11.440 the mountain kerr, who was the last squirrel dog to 0:02:11.560 --> 0:02:16.360 hold that rank of being my dad's last dog. But 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:19.920 this isn't a dog story, it's horse story, a story 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:24.240 of perseverance and persistence. I didn't make a lot of money, 0:02:24.320 --> 0:02:27.240 having just gone to work, but I could afford horse feed. 0:02:27.360 --> 0:02:30.120 So my dad and a friend of his were at 0:02:30.160 --> 0:02:33.440 a horse sale and ate of Oklahoma one weekend and 0:02:33.520 --> 0:02:36.600 he called me to tell me, said, son, check the 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:39.000 fence around your pasture and get a stall in your 0:02:39.000 --> 0:02:42.320 barn squared away and go get some horse feed. I'm 0:02:42.320 --> 0:02:47.919 bringing you a horse. I was beyond excited, so being 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:50.200 a good son, or trying to be, I did exactly 0:02:50.240 --> 0:02:52.640 what he told me to do. I walked the fence, 0:02:52.800 --> 0:02:55.360 I made sure there was no gaps. I prepared a 0:02:55.360 --> 0:02:57.440 stall for the new member of the family the dad 0:02:57.480 --> 0:03:00.000 was bringing me, and made a run to the feed store. 0:03:00.720 --> 0:03:03.800 Well that night, around midnight, Dad rolled in with a 0:03:03.960 --> 0:03:08.680 regsted sorrow quarter horse named Ken's Reward. I let him 0:03:08.720 --> 0:03:10.800 off the trailer and through the gate and into the lot, 0:03:10.840 --> 0:03:12.959 and I secured him for the night in his stall. 0:03:14.360 --> 0:03:17.080 Dad said, start early in the morning, get him brushed off, 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:20.519 feed him, lead him around, and start getting him used 0:03:20.560 --> 0:03:26.679 to you. I couldn't wait. I could hardly sleep. Tomorrow's Saturday, 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:29.239 and I'd have all day to start working with his 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:33.200 horse together. Kin's Reward. Now, I were going to dominate 0:03:33.200 --> 0:03:36.400 the squirrel woods this winter. By the time all the 0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:39.360 leaves hit the ground, I'd have a woods horse that 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:42.880 was as solid as Dad's old buck, the buckskin horse, 0:03:42.920 --> 0:03:48.440 not the mounta Kirk. The Dad pulled in about the 0:03:48.440 --> 0:03:51.320 time the coffee stopped dripping, and after a little breakfast, 0:03:51.400 --> 0:03:54.000 we went to the barn. He'd brought me a good 0:03:54.000 --> 0:03:56.480 Herford saddle, a couple of blankets, and a brand new 0:03:56.520 --> 0:04:00.320 headstall and set of reins. I was set. I had 0:04:00.360 --> 0:04:04.320 an open pasture with good grass, a spring fed pond 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:07.360 that wouldn't turn over in the summertime, and a barn 0:04:07.440 --> 0:04:10.320 that was older than anyone I knew, but was solid 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:14.000 with a good roof. Dad had just added the last 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:18.080 component to complete the circle, a fine bread American quarter horse. 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:21.440 I rigged up some haystring and hung my saddle from 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:25.200 a rafter, and then A fed my horse. Then while 0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:27.120 we watched him e Dad told me the story of 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:30.080 how he came to buy him. He gone to the 0:04:30.120 --> 0:04:32.520 cell with one of his best friends in the whole world, 0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:36.240 mister Steve Ashcraft. And mister Steve is a wonderful man, 0:04:36.279 --> 0:04:38.880 and I love him and his whole family. They're good folks, 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:42.159 they're real good folks. But he said, me and Steve 0:04:42.200 --> 0:04:44.839 went to the sale looking for something for you specifically, 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:47.920 and when this horse came up, we both knew he'd 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:50.120 be what you wanted, and I got him at a 0:04:50.160 --> 0:04:53.120 good price. So, for some reason, and I can't think 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:55.720 of one, but for some reason, if he don't work out, 0:04:56.240 --> 0:04:58.440 we can get him money back on him, and we'll 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:02.280 get you another. Sounds good to me, Dad, I can't 0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:04.760 thank you enough for getting him for me. We just 0:05:04.839 --> 0:05:07.560 stared at him. He was slick as a minute. After 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:11.360 I brushed him off. Dad looked at his feet. He'd 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:14.039 eventually need to be shod, but I wouldn't be hitting 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:16.279 the gravel for quite a while, and I had plenty 0:05:16.320 --> 0:05:19.880 of good pasture to ride him in until we did. Now. 0:05:19.880 --> 0:05:22.520 I don't remember exactly how it came up in the conversation, 0:05:22.640 --> 0:05:25.479 but I do remember the change in Dad's tone of 0:05:25.560 --> 0:05:28.960 voice when he said, Now, this horse comes from rodeo stock. 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:31.800 He wouldn't buck to suit them folks, so they broke 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:34.760 him and used him as a ranch horse. I didn't 0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:37.119 even acknowledge it. He said the word buck. I slid 0:05:37.279 --> 0:05:38.960 right over it, and I asked, you can rope off 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:43.440 of him? Dad said, that's what the man said. Cool, 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:47.520 he must be pretty solid. He sure looks it. We 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:49.520 walked back up to the house and had another cup 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:52.160 of coffee, and Dad took off to whatever he had 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:55.279 planned for the rest of the day. Now, my job 0:05:55.400 --> 0:05:57.960 was to get this horse used to me. I let 0:05:58.040 --> 0:06:01.800 him around the lot, changing directions, telling him whoe even 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:04.840 had him trotting a couple of times. And this was 0:06:04.880 --> 0:06:06.880 going to be easier and quicker than any of us thought. 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:09.719 Dad said, let him get good and used to you. 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:11.919 Let him see that you're on his side before you 0:06:12.000 --> 0:06:15.760 saddle him up, Feed him, pet him up, brush him good. 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:19.039 Just interact with him, show him who's the boss. Then 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:21.600 saddle him up, put his butt to work for you, 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:26.160 ride the hair slap off of him in that pasture. Hey, 0:06:26.320 --> 0:06:29.400 that's easy enough for me. I've been riding horses all 0:06:29.480 --> 0:06:32.800 my life. I ain't scared of them. I respected them 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:35.360 because they were a lot bigger than me. But I 0:06:35.400 --> 0:06:37.960 grew up riding horses that my dad had broke to 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:40.560 the point that I could stand up in the saddle 0:06:40.640 --> 0:06:44.320 and pull vines to make a squirrel move, with limbs 0:06:44.320 --> 0:06:47.080 and leaves falling all over the horses head and ears, 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:51.240 and they not move a muscle. Old buck, the horse, 0:06:51.480 --> 0:06:54.680 not the mountain kerk. I have stood in the saddle 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:57.560 and fired a shotgun over his head at a running 0:06:57.600 --> 0:07:03.360 squirrel and his ears didn't even he was solid. Now 0:07:04.320 --> 0:07:07.200 That's what I'm used to dealing with. They didn't all 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:12.680 come that way. Ken's reward would fall into the latter category. 0:07:14.080 --> 0:07:17.360 I wondered about that name. Who was Ken? And how 0:07:17.520 --> 0:07:21.840 was this horse his reward? I just assumed Ken was 0:07:21.840 --> 0:07:24.240 the boss cowboy at the ranch in West Texas where 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:28.120 he came from. Yep, West Texas. He was sold through 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:31.760 a horse auction in Oklahoma. But old Kin's reward was 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:35.440 a bonafide cow pony from West Texas. And it just 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:39.800 didn't get any more wild and western than that. Or so, 0:07:39.880 --> 0:07:44.600 I thought everything was going good. He was taking to 0:07:45.240 --> 0:07:47.880 his stall and his new digs, you know, fairly well. 0:07:48.280 --> 0:07:51.080 He was leading around the lot like a champ, coming 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:53.400 up to me whenever I called him and shook the 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:57.040 feed bucket, and had yet to display anything other than 0:07:57.080 --> 0:08:00.080 acknowledging my right to live alongside him as he he 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:03.600 ate the feed from my bucket. I might as well 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:05.960 go ahead and saddle this rascal up. By the time 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:08.360 Dad comes back through to check on me this evening, 0:08:09.040 --> 0:08:11.520 I'll have a rut walked around that pasture edge, and 0:08:11.600 --> 0:08:13.720 this horse will do my bidding as well as a 0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:17.400 Lavador retriever. Dad's going to be so proud of me. 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:21.760 I led Ken over to the fence and I tied 0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:24.840 his halter off. I grabbed a headstall and placed the 0:08:24.840 --> 0:08:27.040 bit in his mouth without much trouble, and I saddled 0:08:27.080 --> 0:08:30.680 him up with a relative ease. This cat had gotten 0:08:30.680 --> 0:08:34.560 the memo. I don't know what had taken place out 0:08:34.559 --> 0:08:37.880 in West Texas, but in South Arkansas, the new sheriff 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:41.000 in town was yours, truly, and I was running this show. 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:44.400 I sence that front gird up tight as a fiddle string. 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:47.120 I knew it would loosen up, you know, after we 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:49.880 made a few laps around the pasture. But I wanted 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:52.600 a good tight seat when this started, and I didn't 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:54.640 want to have to slow down his workout once it 0:08:54.760 --> 0:08:59.160 did to retighten that saddle. I was working against the clock. 0:08:59.360 --> 0:09:01.559 By the time Dad came through, I was going to 0:09:01.640 --> 0:09:04.720 have him retrieving ducks and making biscuits. There had been 0:09:04.880 --> 0:09:09.000 no issues during any of the saddling. His ears, his 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:11.360 eyes were they were just as relaxed as they had 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:13.200 been while he was eating or when I was brushing 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:17.160 him down. It was just another day. I'm thinking, my 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:20.280 dad stole this horse from that sail barn because whoever 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:25.920 had him had seriously missjudged this kabayo's value. My left 0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:28.240 foot went in the stirrup and I swung my right 0:09:28.320 --> 0:09:31.160 leg over and the moment myle behind hit the saddle, 0:09:31.200 --> 0:09:33.520 I felt him suck in a big belly full of air. 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:37.480 I leaned forward. I was talking to him while I 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:40.240 patted him on the neck, just reassuring him that all 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:43.120 was good and that we were going to be pals. 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:46.120 I reached down and untied his lead rope from that 0:09:46.160 --> 0:09:49.360 fence and I dabed it around the saddle horn. Now 0:09:49.360 --> 0:09:51.480 I gave him just a little left hand rein and 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:54.440 he turned sharp as a cutting horse. Spied the gate 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:57.400 out open just before saddled him up, and I assume 0:09:57.679 --> 0:10:01.720 had a flashback to his rodeo days. His eyes rolled 0:10:01.720 --> 0:10:04.920 back in his head. He pinned his ears back, dropped 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:07.319 his head, and pitched me over the fence I had 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:10.000 him tied to like he had just flicked a cigarette 0:10:10.000 --> 0:10:15.680 butt out of the truck window. All the air left 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:18.760 in one big grunt as gravity took hold of me 0:10:18.840 --> 0:10:22.840 between the gate and the fence post. I was laying 0:10:22.880 --> 0:10:25.600 flat on my back, holding the reins in my right 0:10:25.640 --> 0:10:27.680 hand and looking back over the top of my head 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:31.280 at kend Reward, who was just chilling looking back at me. 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:37.000 I sat up, and I looked around. Nobody saw that 0:10:37.080 --> 0:10:39.040 except for me and this horse, and I wasn't gonna 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:43.560 tell nobody, and he didn't know anyone but me, so 0:10:43.679 --> 0:10:46.920 having never turned the reins loose, I climbed right back 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:48.800 on top of him, and he shot out of that 0:10:48.880 --> 0:10:52.040 barn lot like a cannon ball, bucking and crow hopping, 0:10:52.080 --> 0:10:55.600 after running about forty yards. Now, I'd like to say 0:10:55.760 --> 0:10:59.440 that I rode him during all that, but truth being known, 0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:01.800 I was stuck in the ground like a yard dart. 0:11:01.840 --> 0:11:05.720 After about the first thirty yards, I wiped the dirt 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:08.000 off my face, and as best I could, I walked 0:11:08.000 --> 0:11:10.360 over to kens re Ward, who by now was just 0:11:10.400 --> 0:11:13.240 standing there amongst a tangled set of reins and a 0:11:13.320 --> 0:11:18.200 dangling lead rope. He just chilling like nothing had taken place. 0:11:19.200 --> 0:11:22.600 I walked right up to him. He never flinched, he 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:26.440 just looked at me. Now, nothing on me hurt at 0:11:26.440 --> 0:11:29.480 the moment, and it had been somewhat to my advantage 0:11:29.760 --> 0:11:33.760 that he had stopped where he did. The ground was 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:36.440 a little soft there. It was a little low spot 0:11:36.440 --> 0:11:39.480 about twenty yards or so above where that pond started, 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:43.640 a kind of a little seap where it was always soft, 0:11:44.000 --> 0:11:48.080 even in the summertime. I knew what I was gonna do. 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:50.880 I fixedly get right back on this joker, and we're 0:11:50.880 --> 0:11:53.920 gonna walk around in this soft ground till we dig 0:11:53.960 --> 0:11:56.920 a hole of china. He gonna have to work double 0:11:57.000 --> 0:11:59.360 hard to buck and cut up in this soft ground, 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:02.520 sinking up to his pastorns with about every step. And 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:05.440 after ten minutes or so, I figured, I'll have his 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:09.079 attention to the point where he'll recognize who's running this show. 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:13.760 And that's just what I did. I climbed right back 0:12:13.800 --> 0:12:15.880 on top of him, and he went right back to 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:19.439 bucking like he had a license to fly. The soft 0:12:19.440 --> 0:12:22.600 ground worked great, but only to break my father. He 0:12:22.600 --> 0:12:24.679 didn't seem to be having a lot of issues with it. 0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:29.120 Speaking of bucket, I was having a little trouble understanding 0:12:29.320 --> 0:12:32.520 the issue that old Ken was having with Ken's reward 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:37.400 in the bucking category. From where I was occasionally momentarily sitting, 0:12:37.800 --> 0:12:41.520 I thought he was doing really, really well. He threw 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:44.480 me all four times before he quit bucking, and I 0:12:44.600 --> 0:12:47.080 just kept putting him in that low spot, making figure 0:12:47.280 --> 0:12:50.000 hs back and forth left and right. We were both 0:12:50.080 --> 0:12:54.280 leathered up pretty good. Finally I had the upper hand. 0:12:55.240 --> 0:12:57.640 It had been a rough go, but I had it 0:12:57.679 --> 0:13:00.520 going my way. I wrote him back to the barn 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:03.240 and was taking off his saddle when Dad walked up. 0:13:04.280 --> 0:13:06.800 I told him everything that had happened. He said, Son, 0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:10.760 you need to act right, stick an act right stick Yep, 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:13.680 you need a little stick. Then when he does that 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:16.679 bucket again and he will, you give him one in 0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:18.360 the top of the head and show him move's running 0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:23.800 the show. Ah, the caveman approach. I liked it, so 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:26.920 that's what I did. That evening, I went down to 0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:29.720 my brother Tim's house and borrowed a tea ball bat 0:13:29.760 --> 0:13:32.520 from one of my nephews, and the next morning, right 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:36.120 after daylight, I was saddling up Ken's reward for the 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:39.480 final installment of his lesson. It was going to be 0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:43.040 his semester test and would determine his future. On the 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:47.679 ponderosa bat in my right hand and left foot and stirrup. 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:51.120 I swung my right leg over and settled in the saddle. 0:13:52.280 --> 0:13:54.440 I gave him just the nudge with my heels and 0:13:54.520 --> 0:13:58.320 it was the Calgary Stampede all over again. I was 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:00.520 struggling to stay in the saddle, and he was doing 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:02.719 everything he could to show me the other side of 0:14:02.760 --> 0:14:05.680 the moon. I swung at him with a bat and 0:14:05.880 --> 0:14:09.240 hit his right ear. He grabbed a gear, and neither 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:12.880 of us knew he had, and I swear Larry Mayhan 0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:16.080 would have bailed off on him. Don't know who Larry 0:14:16.120 --> 0:14:20.240 Mayhon is. Look him up, But Larry wasn't sitting straddled 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:23.400 this killer. I was, and doing all the math I 0:14:23.440 --> 0:14:26.160 could muster in that time. I calculated that I would 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:29.560 be rejoining Terra Firma within the next few seconds if 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:34.080 something drastic didn't change. I swung once more for that 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:37.000 spot I had picked out between his ears and connected. 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:40.720 It sounded like Mickey Mantle had just smashed one over 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:43.440 the fence, and Ken's reward fell like a one egg 0:14:43.520 --> 0:14:48.960 pudding and laid over on the ground. I just stepped 0:14:49.000 --> 0:14:51.120 off of him, holding the reins in my left hand 0:14:51.600 --> 0:14:55.400 and my act right sticking my right. He didn't move, 0:14:56.240 --> 0:14:59.120 and I just stood there, wondering how I was gonna 0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:01.440 tell my dad had just killed the horse he had 0:15:01.480 --> 0:15:04.920 bought from me the day before. Then Old Ken blinked 0:15:04.920 --> 0:15:08.280 his eyes and stood up, and as he was standing up, 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:10.920 I swung my left leg over him, and when he 0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:13.800 was upright, I was sitting in that saddle just like 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:17.960 I had never left. I nudged him with my heels, 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:21.360 and he walked like a gentleman in every direction I 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:25.280 rained him to go. He was a different horse. The 0:15:25.320 --> 0:15:28.280 act right stick had worked. I rode him the rest 0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:30.680 of the day, off and on, and every time was 0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:33.800 like he had seen the light, and that bucking was 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:39.240 an undesirable quality and one that I appreciate. He not continue. 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:44.800 He was a changed horse, or was he? I was 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:48.320 feeling confident in my horse trading the bilding, so having 0:15:48.440 --> 0:15:50.640 just fixed him, I thought I might stretch him out 0:15:50.640 --> 0:15:52.880 on the pasture and see how fast we could make 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:56.280 the loop around the fence. I gave him some slack 0:15:56.360 --> 0:15:58.560 in the reins, nudged him with my heels, and that's 0:15:58.600 --> 0:16:02.680 all it took. He came out of that lot like 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:05.520 a bottle rocket, hugging the edge of the pasture like 0:16:05.560 --> 0:16:08.680 we were in the Kentucky Derby. Down one stretch of 0:16:08.720 --> 0:16:11.440 the fence line some low hanging limbs stuck out in 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:14.680 the pasture. I light rained him to the inside to 0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:17.600 go around him, and he slowly moved over like a 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:20.280 seasoned vet right up to the point of contact, and 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:24.040 all at once he dodged right under them and wrecked 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:26.040 me out of that saddle before I could even think 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:31.400 about what was happening. We didn't keep him. He had 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:34.600 to go before he killed me. But I figured out 0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:39.120 his name. It finally dawned on me that they must 0:16:39.120 --> 0:16:41.960 have named that horse as he was leaving that ranch 0:16:42.320 --> 0:16:46.800 and headed to the horse sail because Brin's reward was 0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:49.280 living long enough to see him in a horse trailer 0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:53.760 headed back to the sailbarn. And that's just how that happened. 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:05.800 What's in a name? Naming animals? How do we come 0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:09.520 up with them? Now? I don't mean like scientific names. 0:17:09.560 --> 0:17:12.159 I know how that's done. And if you don't prepare 0:17:12.200 --> 0:17:14.280 to be bored for the next twenty seconds of your 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:16.960 life that you will never get back while I explain it, 0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:21.760 But here it is. Scientists use a two name system 0:17:21.880 --> 0:17:26.920 called a binomial naming system. Scientists name animals and plants 0:17:27.040 --> 0:17:30.639 using the system that describes the genus and species of 0:17:30.640 --> 0:17:34.520 the organism. The first word is the genus and the 0:17:34.560 --> 0:17:38.800 second is the species. The first word is capitalized and 0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:42.800 the second is not. For the love of humanity almost 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:45.359 jumps out the wind of reading that. I promise not 0:17:45.400 --> 0:17:48.000 to try to make you think anymore today. What I'm 0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:50.879 talking about are the names we give dogs, horses and 0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:53.760 the like. And where did the historical names that we've 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:58.399 heard of come from? Remember that movie about Seabiscuit, the 0:17:58.480 --> 0:18:01.680 fastest thing on horseshoes back in nineteen thirty eight, beating 0:18:01.720 --> 0:18:05.040 a horse called war Admiral, who up to that point 0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:07.879 had won't everything but the World Series and the Super Bowl. 0:18:08.440 --> 0:18:12.320 And his name was war Admiral. I name you'd associate 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:17.199 with power and greatness. But Sea Biscuit. How did they 0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:22.080 settle on that? Sea Biscuit's dad was named hard Attack. 0:18:22.800 --> 0:18:24.840 That's a type of cracker from back in the day. 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:29.600 His grandpa was named Man of War. Now, how did 0:18:29.600 --> 0:18:34.080 that happen? How did that lineage go from intimidating toughness 0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:36.520 to food you can eat with one hand and goes 0:18:36.520 --> 0:18:40.200 in soup? I wish I could tell you, but see 0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:43.480 in the movie, I was always distracted by that silly name. 0:18:43.960 --> 0:18:46.600 I'll give them their dues, though, because here it is 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:49.760 nearly one hundred years later and we're still talking about 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:54.320 that horse and his funny name. So what's in a name? 0:18:55.480 --> 0:18:59.960 I've had dog's name gold Mine, Luke, Tom, Peanut, Sambo, Anna, Whaler, 0:19:00.200 --> 0:19:03.760 Tip Ranger, just to name a few. Some of them 0:19:03.760 --> 0:19:05.960 you've heard me mention on here in other places. But 0:19:06.880 --> 0:19:12.480 the name, what's in a name? The first famous movie 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:16.000 dog was Rin ten ten. He was a rescued German 0:19:16.119 --> 0:19:19.640 shepherd from the battlefield of World War One in France, 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:24.879 came back to the US starred in silent movies. Now, 0:19:24.920 --> 0:19:27.520 that name is highly original and one that I haven't 0:19:27.560 --> 0:19:31.320 heard of outside of that particular dog. But you can't 0:19:31.320 --> 0:19:35.840 mention famous dogs of TV and film without Lassie. The 0:19:35.920 --> 0:19:40.920 name Lassie alone is a descriptor from Scotland that literally 0:19:41.040 --> 0:19:45.080 means girl. Lassie was a rough Collie breed of dog, 0:19:45.480 --> 0:19:48.159 and she had nearly a dozen feature length films and 0:19:48.240 --> 0:19:51.359 a TV series that ran from nineteen fifty four to 0:19:51.440 --> 0:19:55.359 nineteen seventy three. She saved the day more than once 0:19:55.720 --> 0:19:59.080 by being able to communicate the misadventures of Little Timmy, 0:19:59.240 --> 0:20:02.359 who led a color lamity field life not unlike my own. 0:20:03.200 --> 0:20:05.960 He was either falling in the old well or getting 0:20:06.000 --> 0:20:08.679 stuck in a mind cave in, or caught up in 0:20:08.720 --> 0:20:11.840 some situation that required a dog to use everything from 0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:14.600 an illumined welder to quantum physics to save that little 0:20:14.640 --> 0:20:18.280 idiot whose sole purpose in life seemed to be to 0:20:18.320 --> 0:20:21.959 worry his mama slapped to death. Pretty good for an 0:20:21.960 --> 0:20:27.520 old gal, except she wasn't a girl. In every TV 0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:31.880 showing movie, Lastie was played by male Collie every time 0:20:32.680 --> 0:20:36.800 makes sense, of course, not why would it, But it 0:20:36.960 --> 0:20:39.960 just goes back to wondering if names are really that important. 0:20:41.440 --> 0:20:43.919 I and both of my brothers go by our middle names, 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:47.120 not our first names, like the federal government and your 0:20:47.119 --> 0:20:51.080 health insurance intended. No, that would have been too easy. 0:20:52.080 --> 0:20:55.160 My mother decided to throw that little extra challenge into 0:20:55.200 --> 0:20:59.680 the mix, so you wouldn't hear my mama hollering Wilton, Richard, Tracy. 0:21:00.400 --> 0:21:03.480 When it was time to eat, it was Tim, Chuck, 0:21:03.600 --> 0:21:07.080 and Brent. I don't ask me why. For the reason 0:21:07.200 --> 0:21:09.680 behind that has been lost to time. I will say this, 0:21:10.520 --> 0:21:13.399 when others found out my first name was Tracy, the 0:21:13.440 --> 0:21:16.119 boxing lessons that closely followed served me well in my 0:21:16.200 --> 0:21:19.800 law enforcement career years later. I bet no one tried 0:21:19.840 --> 0:21:25.080 that with Lassie anyway. The names we use, at least 0:21:25.080 --> 0:21:29.120 in my case, always have some roots and a feeling 0:21:29.200 --> 0:21:35.080 or an observation for about that particular animal. Buck the horse, 0:21:35.240 --> 0:21:39.280 not the mountain cur Pretty simple. Buck is short for buckskin, 0:21:39.640 --> 0:21:41.960 the color of the horse, and buck the mountain cur 0:21:42.560 --> 0:21:46.280 not the horse, was buckskin color too, So Dad named 0:21:46.320 --> 0:21:50.080 him Buck. I know, very original, right, Whaling my coon 0:21:50.080 --> 0:21:52.879 now was named when I got him, and that name, 0:21:53.240 --> 0:21:56.359 among a few other little factors, was the reason I 0:21:56.400 --> 0:22:00.400 brought him home. So there is a traction and familiarity 0:22:00.480 --> 0:22:04.560 with names, something that connects and helps us identify that 0:22:04.720 --> 0:22:08.840 individual or family. Now, when I was guiding for a living, 0:22:08.880 --> 0:22:11.560 it was November and I was standing in knee deep 0:22:11.560 --> 0:22:15.200 water in flooded green timber. I was leaning against a tree, 0:22:15.280 --> 0:22:17.840 and I was trying to decide on a name from 0:22:17.880 --> 0:22:22.240 my son, who would be born the next March. What 0:22:22.440 --> 0:22:26.200 should I name him? What would a duck guide name 0:22:26.320 --> 0:22:32.320 his son? What would a duck hunter name his baby boy? 0:22:33.000 --> 0:22:37.640 Drake Drake Hunter? That's it. I was so proud of myself. 0:22:37.880 --> 0:22:40.560 It was perfect. I had one of the best mornings 0:22:40.600 --> 0:22:42.959 I'd ever had in the timber, calling in ducks by 0:22:43.000 --> 0:22:46.280 the droves, and my whole party limiting out on green 0:22:46.320 --> 0:22:49.480 heads before the sun had gotten above the trees. It 0:22:49.560 --> 0:22:53.639 was a perfect day. Six limits of Drake Mallard's and 0:22:53.680 --> 0:22:57.919 I had, without much effort, chosen the perfect name for 0:22:58.000 --> 0:23:02.120 a duck guide's son. We called him by his meddle name, 0:23:02.240 --> 0:23:05.320 always have no need to let him coast through life 0:23:05.359 --> 0:23:08.800 without a few challenges. Well, I know I'm going all 0:23:08.840 --> 0:23:11.840 over the place with this name and thing. But how people, animals, 0:23:11.840 --> 0:23:16.440 and places get names has always intrigued me. But maybe 0:23:16.800 --> 0:23:23.679 for the wrong reasons. It's really not the name, but 0:23:23.800 --> 0:23:27.679