Now I fully admit the legend of Monte and his Palomino is fictionalized. Highly so. I wasn’t there. I tried to paint a true picture of Monte, the Two-Toed Coyote and his Palomino taken from stories Monte told me.
But here’s where things get real again because I was there. This was my fourth summer working for Ted and he had talked Monte into working for him again. No one, especially not Ted or Monte knew how long that would last.
But the mission that day was the P-Bench outfit had told Ted they had found one of his rams. And it was apparently “wool blind.” Meaning it had escaped being sheered for at least a year maybe two. That allows the wool to grow over the sheep’s eyes. Not making them literally blind but blind enough because all they can see is the wool in front of their eyes.
The ram was in D Pass and Monte and I were supposed to find him and get him corralled so we could bring him down and get him sheered. It sounded easy enough. How much trouble could one ram be.
Monte and I knew each other pretty well by then. Or as well as a town kid summer help could know a man like Monte. Whether he worked for Ted or not Monte and I had at least encounters every summer I worked for Ted.
I had to wrangle the saddle horses that morning just like I did almost every morning. And Ted said I would need a horse to go after the wool bind ram. Which kind of terrified me because I thought Ted was going to make me go after the ram alone.
I had no idea what to expect so I selected Friday. A horse for all occasions because Friday was a chestnut color and biggest and best horse in my string.
I already had Friday saddled when Monte came rolling in with his pickup and a horse trailer. Monte told me to load up Friday in Ted’s stock truck. And then much to my surprise Monte unloaded his Palomino from his horse trailer.
He had apparently figured something about the Palomino out. If the Palomino was loaded up in a stock truckhe might try to fight another horse coming into the truck. But if the other horse was already in the truck the Palomino would go ahead and load without a rodeo. Theoretically at least.
So with Friday already in the stock truck Monte loaded his Palomino without incident. But I still had to ask Monte, “Are you taking him”?
Monte instantly bristled at the question wanting to know what was wrong with that. And I said I had just heard some stories the Palomino had mental problems and there wasn’t a psychiatrist with a big enough coach for him to lay down on.
Now I thought that was pretty funny. Monte did not and bristled like a frightened porcupine.
“Listen you little shit” Monte began. “Not that you would know anything about horses but that Palamino is one of the best horses you’ve ever seen.”
That was the verbal equivalent of Monte punching me in the nose. I wasn’t worth a damn with sheep and not a great hand with cattle either. But horses, including breaking them, was my specialty and Monte knew it. But I decided maybe better to just shut up and get in the truck because I could see Monte was really pissed off.
We headed up the road past the house in cold silence and I could see Monte’s jaw was still cliched.
There was about 200 yards past the ranch house to the first gate. Then a set of railroad tracks. And then another gate on the other side of the railroad tracks to turn onto the county road.
But when we got to the first gate for once in a blue moon there was actually a train coming which we almost never saw and had to stop for it. And apparently the engineer on the train was just as surprised to see us. Because he stuck his hand out of the locomotive window waving and blasted the train horn. Saying good morning.
And all holy hell broke loose in the back of the truck. There was a violent rocking. Then it sounded like a car wreck on the roof and I felt the ceiling cover touch the top of my cowboy hat. Then there was this huge blond tail that looked like a giant windshield wiper going clear back and forth across the windshield. Then another bang on the roof on Monte’s side. And then the Palamino appeared right outside Monte’s window.
The halter rope was still tied to the stock rack and was so short the Palamino was hung up unable to get its front feet on the ground. He was looking at Monte through the window with its eyes really wide and its lips quivering just like Mr. Ed the talking horse in the old TV show.
And the Palamino seemed to be saying “Excuse me but I might need a little help here.” And Monte was already on the move.
He couldn’t get out on the driver side door so Monte was jumping over the gear shift screaming for me to get out of the way. Monte was also multi-tasking he already had his big double bladed Schrade-Walden knife out opening the big blade that was about five inches long.
I decided discretion was the better part of valor considering the circumstances and the razor-sharp edge Monte kept on his knife. So instead of trying to get out of the truck I just got the hell out of the way. Just throwing the door open and pivoting from the seat to climb the stock rack instead of getting in front of Monte and his knife.
Monte hit the ground running going around the front of the truck. While I was climbing the stock rack. And when I got to the top of the stock rack I had never seen Friday that spooked. His eyes, ears, and whole body were on full alert and asking me what the hell was that?
In the meantime Monte looked like a Major League Baseball player running the bases to get around the truck. He had to go under the Palamon’s neck to get to the rope and then with just one quick swipe of his knife the Palamino was loose with his front feet back on the ground.
And let me describe “loose.” It was about 300 yards back down road past the house to Badwater Creek. There was a mile of open pasture to the east of the road. And another open mile to the west. The Palomino could have picked any direction he wanted to run away. And it would take a rider on another horse to try to catch him or run him back into the corral.
I am pretty sure any other horse on Ted’s whole outfit would have chosen to make a break for it with that much open country. But when I looked Monte and the Palomino they seemed to be engaged in conversation.
Monte was saying the normal woah now easy boy just settle down with his hands in the pleading position. But the Palamino was in a spraddle legged position eyes wide and apologizing.
The Palamino seemed to be saying, “I am so sorry Monte. I didn’t mean to do that. I just had never seen anything like that and it kind of spooked me.”
And between the whoas and easy boys Montewas whispering to me to slip what was left of the halter rope down tohim and “get the gate.” Which meant for me to take the gate off the back of the stock rack.
Now I could see Monte’s plan or maybe it was more like the concept of a plan.There was only about six inches of the halter rope hanging down from the halter. Which wasn’t even enough to hold the Palomino let alone tie the rest of the halter rope to it. So it looked like Monte was just going to try and throw what was left of the halter rope over the Palomino’s neck and maybe try to hold him with that.
I got to the back of the truck and being me unlatched the gate before I took the cross bar at the top of the rack off. Which was opposite of how you are supposed to do it.
I managed to crawl up on the stock rack and reach down and grab the gate and wrestled it out to drop it to the ground. And then remembered the cross bar and started crawling back up again to get it off.
About that time Monte was trying to ease the loose end of the halter rope over the Palomino’s neck but instead that’s when the Palomino decided to make a break for it and ran around and past Monte.
But instead of running away the Palomino ran to the back of the truck. He pivoted so quick he was nearly sitting on his rump with enough room for a few quick steps. Took the steps and then came running and jumped into the back of the stock truck. With me not even getting a cross bar raised all the way.
The back of the truck was on the downhill side making it even a little higher jump. But with the cross bar still above him the Palomino had to tuck all four legs under him like a cat jumping through a small opening. Then get all four legs back down where he stuck the landing standing up. That spooked both Friday and me because neither of us had ever seen anything like that.
Monte was only a few steps behind the Palomino and when he got to the back of the truck was kind enough to grab the gate and hand it up to me because I was so short it was always really hard for me to put the gate in from the ground. Then Monte climbed into the back of the truck before I slid the gate into place.
Now we had the two of us and two horses in the back of the truck which made it very cramped quarters. But Friday was crowded up against the passenger side of the rack as far as he could get and still quivering. So I worked my way up to Friday’s head to make sure he wasn’t hurt some way and try to calm him down.
Meanwhile Monte went under his Palamino’s neck to get on the “right” side of the horse which is actually the horse’s left side.It was just a cowboy etiquette thing that you do everything especially getting on and off a horse on the horse’s left side.
It looked like the Palomino was still trying to apologize for the incident. While Monte looked at the cut rope in one hand and the cut rope still hanging on the halter.
Which was when Monte asked his Palomino, “will you be good”? The Palomino seemed to nod his head yes. So Monte just took the halter off him, grabbed his bridle off his saddle, put the bridle on the Palamino but then just tied the reins off to the saddle leaving the Palomino loose.
Then we both started to climb out over the top of the stock rack but then stopped to survey the damage to the roof which was pretty bad as far as being noticeable at least. With a round dent about two feet across on the passenger side and a smaller but much deeper dent on the driver’s side.
Then we both went over the rack and swung into the cab of the truck. And I think it was because both of us, but especially Monte, were still running on adrenaline but trying to pretend not to be shook up that we just sat there for several seconds before Monte looked me and asked “Are you going to get the gate”?
Oh yeah I had forgotten all about it so I jumped back out of the truck and opened the gate across the road. Closed it when Monte drove across the tracks and opened the other gate and just left it open because keeping both gates closed when there was no stock on the other side of the road was just Ted being a pain in the ass.
Once back in the truck Monte still had his jaw locked up and was still coming down from the adrenaline so I kept my mouth shut as we drove down the road in silence for a ways. But you can ask anyone who knows me keeping my mouth shut is one of the things I do worst.
So as we turned off the Badwater road and started up the Bridger Creek road I finally had to say it. “Well Monte you are right. I have never seen a horse like that.”
Monte turned and glared at me like I had lit the fuse that would make him blow up for cracking a joke about his Palomino.
But I cut him off with, “No Monte I am serious. You didn’t see him. But your Palomino jumped in the back of the truck with about a 10 foot run. I didn’t have the cross bar all the way up so he made the jump with his legs tucked under him like a cat. And then stuck the landing on all four feet. You are right. I have never seen a horse that could do that before.”
That finally broke the ice and Monte started telling me how badly the Palomino had been abused. That he was actually a really good horse that had the misfortune of being owned by really bad humans. And how the Palomino had come to be his.
Monte also asked me how things were going in my life and what I had been up to. And how school was going. And if I was getting any. And they weren’t just polite questions. Monte actually wanted to know.
With the tension off and one of those days of blue skies, no wind, and bright sunlight it was a very pleasant ride up Bridger Creek. And I also wanted to know how Monte. Mickie and Butch were doing. And how in the hell he was back with Ted after their last big blow up. Monte said it was a long story but money changes everything.
