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As I mentioned on our About us page, I grew up on a large cattle ranch in the high desert country of Eastern Oregon. My grandfather homesteaded this ranch first with my father and uncle, then adding to the property in later years. Parts of it are still in the family today including the house where I spent my childhood. The following are some favorite photo’s from my early childhood that bring back fond memories and give an indication of how horses and country living have always been a part of my life.
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This is a horse named “Old Night” that my father rode as a young man and is believed to be a draft/thoroughbred cross. He was somewhat cantankerous to catch but served me well as an introduction into the horse world.
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Brother Ken is sitting in front of me and we are about ages seven and one when this photo was taken.
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This is a picture of my entire school which here included only 10 pupils. I had the largest class of four with me in the cowboy hat. This school house was in Wapinitia Oregon and one my father also attended – it is also the school that I rode horses to and from (uphill both ways!!). Miss Spencer shown here was my favorite teacher – any clue why??
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We had our own milk cows of course along with the Hereford and Angus beef cattle that we raised. This is a calf that I trained to do tricks and rode him around the property much like one of my horses. I suspect his fate wasn’t good even if he was my pet calf.
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This was the first horse that I could really call my own and I named him “Tony” after cowboy movie star Tom Mix’s Tony “The Wonder Horse”. I taught him tricks like I thought Tom Mix might have done with his own horse and we ultimately could walk across this trailer while it tipped from one side to the other. My cousin Diane is here in the picture and we are about 10 years old.
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This was one of my favorite early horses named “Fancy” (which she certainly was) and she was an Arabian cross. It was her gorgeous looks, stamina and fire that introduced me to Arabian horses and was responsible for my life long interest in the breed. I was fortunate to visit many of the more famous Arabian stud farms around the world including actual Bedouins in the
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desert birthplace of these magnificent animals - due to the travel associated with my overseas work.
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This is my great great grandfather – J. W. Hix Sr. on my mother’s side of the family with his team of 11 black Percheron work horses. This photo was probably taken around 1900 or so and serves to indicate that my horse heritage runs deep in the family history.
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This is a picture of my mother’s brother – Bruce Hix – who is one of my most favorite and storied relatives. He is shown here at age 90 riding one of my horses that he mounted from the ground without assistance. Uncle Bruce and several of our relatives came out from Oregon and California in September 2006 to help celebrate his birthday and we were all impressed with his physical abilities. Aside from still being able to ride horses, he walks about 2 ½ miles every day regardless of weather and was raring to go early in the morning during his visit before most of us “youngsters” were even awake.
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I owe Uncle Bruce the beginnings of my interest in horses because he purchased my first horse Tony for me and then delivered him in an open trailer to the ranch.”
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This is Uncle Bruce again during his birthday visit driving a pony and cart owned by one of my horse boarders. Uncle Bruce indicated he last drove a team of horses in the 1930’s but he picked up here right where he left off those many years ago. His visit – along with all of the other relatives – was certainly one of the highlights of our year.
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