This weekend

I just returned from a weekend with WHOA - the Wild Horsemen of America on their annual Cattle Drive. Every year the San Bernardino County Fair opens with a cattle drive that goes through the town of Victorville. The cow's regular home is at the Los Flores Ranch in Summit Valley which is between Hesperia and San Bernardino. It is such beautiful place with green grass, water, and blue skies that it is hard to believe that it situated between two hell holes. Anyway, this ranch has several types of cows, but the kind that go on the cattle drive are the long horned cattle... apparently long horns have more crowd appeal. So first, the cattle have to be gathered and the long horns have to be separated from the regular cows, a messy, dirty, and hot job. So what's the solution? Well, you have a cattle drive and invite idiots like myself to come help with the aforementioned job and charge them for the privilege of doing so! What a racket! Truth be told, I didn't really help with the cattle drive. I went on a trail ride and watched the sorting. I apologized to the poor little cows and made sure they knew that I didn't eat meat! But the rest was fun. I've never seen people drink like they did and still stay on their horse, but they did with few exceptions. People had come from as far as Ohio to participate which says a lot!

But a lot of money was raised for a worth cause, the name of which I never got, but it involves support for police officer's families. Sad that this is a charity that needs to exist. Police put their lives on the line, some are killed, and their families are dependant on charity to educate their children or provide for them? Doesn't make sense to me. It's funny that a large majority of people who ride horses in my area call themselves conservatives. They don't want to pay taxes that would help eliminate the need for this charity, but they participate whole heartily in the charity work. They think it should only be voluntary. Hope they never change their mind about participating. If I were those families I would want to know that I could depend on recieving benefits rather on the uncertainty of contributions. But God bless them for helping now.