I spent the past week in Elko, Nevada, visiting my friend Rachel Toler and attending the 38th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. It was my first Gathering; I have a feeling it won’t be my last.
It was a whirlwind of various events and buckaroo gear shows, great people, amazing food, beautiful artwork and incredible craftsmanship. Underlying it all was a shared love for horses and the American West, for keeping memories and traditions alive, with older generations passing their passion and wisdom on to the younger ones.
It’s going to take me a few more days to catch up on sleep… It turns out the quirky little town of Elko never sleeps, and so Rachel, Tristram Hokenson , Laura O’Connor and I didn’t either. What we did do is wander, look, learn, listen, network, eat and dance our way through the event, for 3 days that felt like an eternity and a second all at the same time.
I’m so grateful to have been able to spend some time in a wintery Nevada, on a ranch where all my pipe corral dreams (if you spend much time around horses and livestock, you understand why 6ft pipe fence is a beautiful thing) are being realized, and with brilliant, accomplished women who are doing amazing things with their lives and their horses.
We talked about horses, men, work, goals and plans – more or less in that order – while meeting makers, artists, horsemen and -women from across the country whom we’d previously only seen on social media or heard on YouTube and Spotify.
This fabulous group of ladies is so horse crazy that we fully supported each other if one wanted to see something “just one more time”. There was a bosalita I probably stared at for an hour over the course of 3 days.
Rachel and Wyatt took time to show me the hidden beauty of Nevada when we went scenic driving, wild horse watching – we saw well over 100 Mustangs on the range; yay for borrowed binos , if you look closely, you’ll see a small, colorful band in one of the pictures – and snowshoeing the day after the Gathering.
I feel inspired, tired and so thankful for the friendships, connections and memories created on this trip. 740 miles (one way) is a long way to drive. I’d do it again in a heartbeat though.
Many thanks to Tay Martin for holding down the fort. It’s back to work with the wild ones here today, I’m excited!
