Faraway Horses by Buck Brannaman, William Reynolds

all behind your back. At the time only two people in the history of trick roping had ever done it. Will Rogers was one, and I was the other. The audience applauded and whistled and screamed, and that was quite a thrill for me.
    Afterward Cathy, Adrian, and I went out for a bite to eat. Adrian was a blonde, three years older than me. She was real witty, too, with a comeback for anything or something else cute to say. Plus, her dad was Pete Logan, a famous rodeo announcer, and she had been around ranches and the rodeo business forever. I did whatever I could to charm Adrian. Although she knew I was interested in her, she also knew Cathy was attracted to me, so she remained pretty standoffish.
    I didn’t see Adrian again until the fall of 1984 when one day she just walked into the arena in Gallatin Gatewaywhere I was riding horses. I couldn’t have been more surprised. She was a student at Montana State, and she was looking for a place to keep her horse. She was also interested in the training methods I was using. At that time she was engaged to marry a world-champion bronc rider named Clint Johnson, who was using these methods, too, on his own saddle horses. Kevin Stallings, a good hand from South Dakota and a friend of Clint’s, had mentioned to Adrian that I’d quit doing rope tricks and was using the new methods as well. That’s when Adrian decided to look me up.
    It was a cold day, but the stall barn was warm, and we sat and talked for a couple of hours. We really hit it off. Her interest in hanging around made me start to think that maybe I had a chance with her after all. I was amazed. I’d never have thought that a girl like that would have given me a second thought.
    I had been studying accounting at Montana State off and on, and I was thinking about going back for the winter quarter. Knowing Adrian was a student cinched it.
    We got to be good friends at school, and we spent quite a bit of time together. We had a lot of fun, and I helped her with her horse. Adrian really liked to ride; she had good balance and a pretty good feel for a horse. She really liked horses, which meant quite a lot to me.
    Adrian broke off her engagement, and we started dating. Shortly after we became serious, she took me home to meet her parents, Pete and Audrey. Pete wasn’t very friendly, but Itold him that I was honored to meet him and that I had always wanted to work in one of his rodeos. Pete worked the big shows, and even though my trick roping was top level, I had never been in one that size. I told him that I’d have known I’d made the big time if I’d gotten to work in a rodeo that Pete Logan was announcing.
    As soon as I said that, Pete decided I was all right. He’d been a legend in the rodeo business, but some of the younger, more outgoing announcers were getting the work now. All legends eventually have to back away and let the younger guys take over; that’s where Pete was in his career, and he was a little bitter about it.
    The Logans had two boys and another daughter, but Adrian was sort of the son that Pete had really hoped for. He was closer to her than he was to his other kids. They were so close she’d rarely make a move without first checking with her dad. Pete never really wanted Adrian to move away, and neither did Audrey. Adrian was their way of hanging on to their youth, I suppose. The pressure of their possessiveness had ruined Adrian’s relationship with a couple of good men before me, but I figured that I could fix about anything, and I hung in there.
    Nevertheless, there were times when Adrian’s parents encouraged her to go out with other men. I guess I should have seen that early on. Adrian was telling me how much she loved me, but at the same time she was going out with—of all guys—my buddy Jeff.
    The three of us were taking classes at Montana State. One night she’d be with me, and the next night she’d be with Jeff. Neither guy knew it until I came by her place unannounced one night. She