Last spring my wife asked me one of those questions that stops a team roper’s heart for a moment. She said “Could we go somewhere this weekend that doesnt involve roping?”
I began to shudder as she went on to say “Something like Tahoe, or the coast, Fort Bragg maybe?” Ropings would be starting up everywhere in the spring and I was geared up and ready to go rope.
It was decided that we would be going to Fort Bragg. I felt somewhat better as we got closer to Willits, Calif. I remembered that there was a memorial for the great Seabiscuit, just outside of town. After all, he wasn’t a rope horse so it would be okay to visit. After some investigation, we found the memorial. It was a small rebuilt stud barn where “The Biscuit” had spent the remaining days of his short life, on a portion of the original Ridgewood ranch. His inscription read May 23, 1933 — May 17, 1947. He was a legend and a symbol of hope to many during the Great Depression.
I was impressed to think about the dash between 1933 and May 1947, where a life change took place. He’d had a very unpromising career, and early in that dash something happened that would take his inauspicious start to an all new level of success. He was sold for $8,000 to Charles S. Howard in 1935.
Howard provided a new trainer, new jockey and a new discipline for this horse. Discipline is asking, causing or forcing someone or something to do what they don’t really want to do in order that they may become what they want to be. It proved to be a life change for all involved. The jockey, Red Pollard, with very few wins in his career, Tom Smith a trainer without a job and a country looking for hope, found it in this rags to riches story.
As I think about the dash of my life, I know there is a place on that line where there was a life change. A place where I stepped into my true identity. I realized that self interest and pride were controlling my life and my success. I was a person like most everyone else not realizing my purpose.
I came to a life-changing realization. I was created to live my life for the One who created me. I humbly asked for His forgiveness, and began to study (the owners manual for life) “The Bible.” What will your memorial look like? Will there be a place in your “dash” where you had a life change and reached your true identity? It will improve your life, could even help your roping. Take a risk, gain life, and rope great!
Thank you for your comments and prayer requests. Email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.