The relationship people have with dogs, with the exception of working dogs, is mostly that of owner and pet. You enjoy them and love them, but you might not have all that much respect for them and probably take them for granted.

Horses, on the other hand, are a lot like a colleague you work with on a regular basis. They all have their own personality and varying degrees of heart.

When a cowboy gets a good one, a horse is appreciated for his help and maybe making the cowboy look good or in some cases make money.

Twenty years ago I bought a two-year-old filly in Ft. Klamath that had been tied up and led to water for four days then turned out. I liked her looks but worried about her behavior.

She acted more like a deer than a horse and earned the name Wild Thing. I got her loaded and drove home.

Starting her was not easy due to her athletic ability. After getting her to put up with a little training, I had her bred and got a nice colt.

When the colt was weaned, I decided to go on with Wild Thing’s training. I saddled her and took her down to a sand bar on the river and got on.

If she had been on solid land, she would have got me. She would buck four to six times each session for about a week, and I was scared to ride her on solid ground.

When she quit, she quit and never bucked again. This horse learned fast and was all business. She wasn’t affectionate but would do anything I asked and run her guts out chasing cattle that needed doctoring then stand on the end of the rope while medication was administered.

She was what I called real sensible. When Wild Thing turned about 14, she finally decided she liked me and was not so stand offish. I have never had a horse I trusted more or had as much confidence in.

If she got in a jam, she trusted me to get her out of it and never panicked. Over the years, a mutual respect had developed.

Time finally caught up with my mare and she is a little peggy on the front end and not able to put up with hard work or hard riding, so a couple of years ago I bought a replacement for her.

Mel Coleman has an old horse that has served him well and has been in retirement for a while. Both of our horses are not the kind you can just discard because they got old. They have earned and deserve a better deal.

Since both our horses are super well broke and sensible, we have both come to the same conclusion … little girls.

Mel gave his horse, Peanuts, to Rhylin Compton. I am sending Wild Thing to Harper Krebs. I hope things don’t get sentimental when I load her for the last time.

Both these girls are around five, and I am pretty sure these horses will take good care of them. I know the girls will love and pamper them.

THE 11TH annual CJD Ranch Rodeo was a success but not so successful for the team I was on. We were hoping for a fourth consecutive win but were snakebit from the start.

I was pretty disappointed at our effort, but as my daughter pointed out, we had brought a lot of joy to a lot of people that we will maybe never like again.

Sportsmanship is really over-rated, but it’s hard not to be happy for the teams that did well. In rodeo I have seen more sportsmanship than any other sport.

When a cowboy does well in an event, he gets a lot of accolades from his fellow contestants even though he moved them down in the standings and cost them money.

You don’t see much of that in other sports, and cowboys stand for the National Anthem. The guys I have coffee with were less than supportive in my time of sorrow and seemed to take joy in my pain.

I always knew they were a heartless bunch.

Barrie Quallie is a Wallowa County-based cowboy and author.