FANNIN THE FLAMES

19”H x 11”W x 11”L          Edition of 10             $3,800

A new buckaroo had just hired on with us at the Guiser Ranch and the first thing to be done was to cut him a horse to use. “Gunner” was a horse that no one wanted to ride because he would buck incredibly hard, and you never knew when he would buck. So it was Gunner that we cut out for him.

We didn’t leave the new hand without a warning though. We told him to beware of Gunner. One day when we were branding a little bunch of calves in the open and this kid was holding rodeer when a cow decided to up and leave.  Well I guess he thought he was quite the cowboy, because he quickly turned old Gunner and stuck him with a spur.

The spur was all it took for Gunner to explode straight up in the air. I have to admit that the kid was doing pretty good. The problem was, the new buckaroo thought he was doing pretty good too and figured he’d show off a bit by fanning the horse with his hat.

When Gunner felt that hat come down across his neck, he stuck his head between his hind legs and did a 180 in mid air.  This bucked the kid off but Gunner bucked and turned right back underneath him.  Feeling cocky, the kid felt he had a pretty good seat, so he fanned him again.

This time the result wasn’t as favorable. The horse launched that kid at least fourteen feet in the air and about twenty five feet away. The kid gained a little respect for Gunner as well as for all of us and our warnings that day.