Dollar Ride

I've been away to Moab, Utah, with the family this week. My husband has a conference at Red Cliffs Lodge, which is one of the most beautiful desert resorts I've ever stayed at. Next door, a man runs a horseback riding ranch.

Last night, I took my kids on a little walk at dusk to see the horses. I asked the Lodge front desk if we could go pet them. I told her we were going through a little horse withdrawal (meaning, we have horses and we won't be stupid about being around them). The front-desk person said she'd prefer we didn't. I said, but there are two people out there in the pasture with the horses...

She didn't say no or yes, just said to wait during the day, the horses were enjoying their time off. I decided to take my kids anyway (my husband was off-roading) to see what we could see.

The ranch owner was untacking a three year old horse named Tuffy and tacking up a three year old named Dollar. Sierra, my oldest, asked if he named the latter after John Wayne's horse. The owner said yes, didn't she think he looked like him?

We visited a while, then the man excused himself to go train Dollar. We watched in the falling light, a man in a cowboy hat riding this young horse, doing spins and loping in endless circles, probably a good half hour before we couldn't see hardly anything anymore. It was almost ten by the time we were leaving.

That man on a horse, riding quietly in the dusk; he looked like someone who loved his job and was living his dream.