Old Hand

COWBOYS AT THE FOUR SIXES KNEW SOMEthing was wrong when a horse returned to the barn with an empty saddle and his reins dragging the ground.

The horse belonged to Boots O’Neal, one of the most seasoned cowpunchers on the ranch. They knew an empty saddle meant trouble, especially given O’Neal’s long experience on horseback. He had been riding since 1946, when he was 14 years old.

The day his horse came back without a rider, O’Neal had been out in remote pastures with terrain sometimes inaccessible except by horseback. Even ascertaining where he was would be a challenge, but the cowboys eventually found him—unconscious—and called for a helicopter medevac.

“It was really hurting,” O’Neal says, remembering that day five years ago when the horse “bucked me off pretty hard and jumped on me.”

“I told those helicopter boys, ‘I’ve had a pretty good run. I wish you would leave me here.’ They said, ‘No, we’re