Ridge Runnin' Roan (originally penned by Carmen William "Curley" Fletcher)
The Ridge-Running Roan
It was up in the Bad Lands, I was rangin' alone, I first heard of this cayuse, The Ridge Runnin' Roan. He was fleet as a deer and as tough as a mule, Pretty as a picture and nobody's fool.
High headed and leggy, he was just built for speed; The cowboy that roped him could own that there steed. I figured the reason this bronk was still free Was he never had crossed a mustanger like me.
So I went right to work and I got me a pair Of the best saddle horses that ever wore hair. I hunted that mustang and I took to his trail; When he hit for the ridges he was packin' the mail.
I never did head him nor turn him about, I aimed to just trail him till I wore him plum out. Then for five or six days I gained not an inch; He was wearin' no crutches and that was cinch.
He was tough as a boot and as wise as a fox; He kept on the ridges and a-dodgin' the rocks. I'd trail him till dark and at dawn I'd begin. Till I got pretty weak and my horses got thin.
I followed those tracks till I got stiff and sore, But he stayed right in front where he kept makin' more. Then I got so I felt like a tired, locoed sheep A-trailin' that fuzztail and a-losin' my sleep.
He went short for water, with no time to graze, While I camped on his trail for seventeen days. Then he got awful gaunt--he was wearin' out fast, Till he looked like a ridge runnin' ghost at the last.
He was placin' his feet like he's walkin' on tacks, Till I saw he was leavin' fresh blood in his tracks. So I started to crowd him and turned him around, He quit the rough ridges and hunted soft ground.
I shook out a loop when we got to a flat, I threw a riata and it fit like my hat. He sure gave up quick when I jerked out the slack, Then I noticed some old saddle marks on his back.
I had done myself proud and I felt like a champ When I got him all haltered and headed for camp. He was strikin', and kickin', and plum fightin' mad. I could see he was spoiled and sure enough bad.
Well, I got him at home and into the corral, I fed him some hay and some oats for a spell. When he got fat and strong and I gave him the news, I hog-tied him down and nailed on some shoes.
Then I put on the bridle and I fixed it to fit, It wasn't the first time that he'd champed a bit. I threw on my saddle and I cinched it right down. Then I crawled his old carcass--I was headed for town.
I drug out my quirt, 'case to me he looked tame, Like a twenty-two pistol on a forty-five frame. I got a deep seat and I froze to the cantle, I jabbed in my meat-hooks clear up to the handle.
He let out a bawl and he went from that spot Like the ground where he stood had sudden got hot. He topped that first jump with a shimmy and shake, Like a-poppin' the head from a live rattlesnake.
Then he went to sun-fishin', he sure was a peach, And I turned from a wild-cat into a leech. He was mad as a hornet and I guess he saw red, He was handy afoot and his feet wasn't lead.
I thought I was up on the hurricane deck Of an earthquake and a cyclone a-havin' a wreck. I was doin' my best and was just gettin' by, But he's doin' better with blood in his eye.
He was duckin', and dodgin', and a-walkin' the dog, He had me so dizzy I was lost in the fog. And then he got busy and the things that he did Was like a volcano that had blew off the lid.
He was bawlin', and gruntin', a-humpin' the hump; He turned wring side out with every new jump. At ridin' bad horses I'm no crippled squaw, But he showed some tricks that I never had saw.
With a giratin' jump he goes over the gate, And I grabbed for the horn, but I was too late. He hit with a jar that 'most shed his hair; It buste