The rest of the story

A Rancher and His Horse. Joder Arabian Ranch, Boulder, Colorado, 2013

Sometimes you need to know the rest of the story to fully appreciate a photograph.Take the above image, for example…

The scene is a family ranch now in its third generation, but finally being sold–the end of a long, beautiful cycle. Fences, barns, horse shelters and pens must come down and all the horses dispersed to other ranches and farms. The rancher has a traumatic brain injury that has affected his speech, strength and balance (the result of a fall from a horse, naturally). He is hearing impaired and has a cochlear implant and a hearing aid. He will be in an assisted living facility after his spread is passed on to the new owner.

Still, after 30 years of wielding reins and fence pliers, the rancher can’t stay away–he just has to help. Old habits, you know. So, he is in the pasture, in his wheelchair, helping dimantle a fenceline…he takes a break…then his horse, the last the family will own since it all began in the 1930s, comes in to see what the fuss is all about.

A rancher and his horse…as they dismantle years of memories. What does the horse know that we don’t?