IS IT TRUE A COWBOY LOVES HIS HORSE
AS MUCH AS ANYTHING ELSE IN THE
WORLD?
I love mine.
WHAT GOT YOU INTERESTED IN HORSES
AND COWBOY STUFF?
I grew up in it. My grandparents and my father
had a family ranch (in very rural British Colum-
bia, Canada). It was 19,000 acres. Really huge. A
cattle ranch. Originally that is what we used the
horses for — taking the cattle to the mountains
for the summer and then we’d go up and get ‘em
and bring ‘em down for the fall. And the people
I most admired, the guys I looked up to… I was
just raised doing it so I didn’t really know any-
thing else.
THIS LOVE AFFAIR WITH HORSES AND
THIS LIFESTYLE, HAS IT BEEN A HIN-
DRANCE TO RELATIONSHIPS OR A HELP?
It’s probably been a hindrance I would say. It’s
great. I meet a lot of new people all of the time
and a lot of great people but it’s hard to establish
a long term. I’m not home every night. It’s hard
because it is not normal.
YOU PHYSICALLY LOOK LIKE A COWBOY.
HAVE YOU BEEN AWARE OF THAT OVER
YOUR LIFE?
What you see in photos is the real stuff I wear
every day. It’s all real.
For years I had no idea I had that image. I had
very few pictures taken as a child. I just didn’t
see myself that way for years. I was unaware of it
until I stepped into the gay community I had no
idea. The first time I went out I felt embarrassed.
What do people wear? I was thinking ‘I can’t
wear what I wear.’ But I couldn’t do it. I tried.
But I looked a dork.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT ON A
HORSE?
There are so many of them. I’m so blessed. And
new ones happen almost every day.
To see more photography by Dave
Jackson: molallacowboy.zenfolio.com
36
JustOut.com
One that stands out is when we rescued a horse
on the side of a mountain. The rescue team had
given up on him. A buddy of mine and I hiked in
with food and water and shovels and equipment
— and guns, just in case — and we spent the
night on the mountain with him on the moun-
tain. We had to dig a trail on the side of the hill
because the stallion couldn’t go up or down. The
horse had slipped and gone down the hill. The
girl that was on him was okay but he kept going.
He screamed when he saw us coming. How
smart he was. He just stood there and stared at
us as if he was saying ‘Now what?’ We picked
with the shovel and dug out a 12 inch trail along
this bluff. We dug it out 4 or 5 feet in front of him
and then he’d follow us. If he’d gone even an inch
left he’d be off and at the bottom of the river.
We got him out. It was great. I’ll never forget it.
We were really able to make a difference. That is
a great memory. He was gonna die and we got
him out of there. It was the best thing... there
were a few tears.
IS IT DIFFICULT TO BE GAY AND BE
AROUND SOME HORSE PEOPLE? SAY,
REALLY RURAL CONSERVATIVE HORSE
OWNERS AND RANCHERS?
Whether I’m sitting here in The Pearl or on the
road at one of the ranches in Wyoming or Mon-
tana I don’t care…I don’t apologize for being gay.
I hear some fag joke and I’m the first to inter-
rupt it. It’s bullshit. They all get over it. Even the
roughest, toughest, drunkest ones are kind of
embarrassed how they sound when you point it
out to them. I’m not a hero. I think anyone com-
fortable with themselves will stand up and say…
‘Did you just say that?’
The people that hire me as a horseman hire me
because I’m really good at what I do. I know what
works for me. Ninety-nine point nine percent of
them know I’m gay. They don’t care. I don’t care.
Many are religious. They could care less. They
treat me respect and I treat them with respect.
People’s minds get changed over a period of
time. Most of these crazy red-necked guys, and
I can say that because they are, they don’t know
I’m gay up front. We become friends. We spend
years working together on projects and later they
say ‘Are you serious?’ Some of them are my best
friends. They’d be there for me for anything and
I would be there for them.
It’s kind of one person at a time. It’s logical, right?
They love you or they don’t love you. If they don’t
love (me) I can’t help that. But I doubt that it be-
cause I’m gay.
Continues Page 38
January 2013