24th Annual National Cowboy Symposium & Celebration
and National Championship Chuck Wagon Cookoff

Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday
September 6 - 9, 2012
The Lubbock Memorial Civic Center
1501 Mac Davis Lane
Lubbock, Texas 79401

'Ride' is a song about rodeo: where hopes & dreams collide with angry, kicking, bucking, reality. 'Ride' tells the story of a cowboy who forgoes his rodeo dreams due to the demands of ranch life & family... but when things go south, sometimes dreams are the only hand left to play.

Subscriber Cari Brown from Airway Heights, Wash., wrote me a letter recently asking about how to attach a stampede string to a cowboy hat—without ruining it with too many holes. To get expert advice on the stampede string (a.k.a. hurricane strap, chin string, head holding tie down), I contacted Trent Johnson of Greeley Hat Works (greeleyhatworks.com).

From The Horse's Mouth (Walking a mile in your horse's shoes) may be the best book on horsemanship philosophy since Tom Dorrance's True Unity. A short and easy read this book tells the story of fifteen horses in their own voice, putting the reader in the shoes of the horse. Chief tells the story of how, after an accident, his owner was spooking from things so bad that he began spooking.

I stow the shears and often grow a beard in winter to stay warm, but this is something completely different... A new reality television show debuts tomorrow (August 5) on IFC about "competitive facial hair growing" called "Whisker Wars." Set your TIVO!