Outlaw Was His Name
Slick Bates was mighty happy when I visited with him at the Drover’s Café. He had been down to the livestock auction and sold an old renegade horse for 78 cents a pound.
Now, selling a horse by the pound means it got bought by the canners. I don’t suppose I need to detail the implications of that. Speaks for itself. Considering the fact Slick paid only $250 for the horse that weighed close to 1,000 pounds, you can see he made quite a profit.
Other Expenses
Of course, he didn’t factor in two years of winter feeding, nor the salt block, whole oats, deworming paste, vaccination shots, and repairs to the corral after the horse kicked the gate down. Come to think about it, Slick probably didn’t count two years of getting bucked off, stepped on, stomach kicked, and arm bit either.
The black gelding had never really been rideable, but Slick was too stubborn to admit it. Every month or two I’d see him hiking out of the canyon with a ripped shirt and mud sticking to the top of his hat. Due to all that, his original $250 purchase mounted to highway robbery.
Old What’s-His-Name
Slick never got around to officially naming the horse, but he shouted out about every epithet in the book. As far as I’m concerned, he could call the animal Outlaw. Sure did fit him.
For a hundred and fifty years, vicious and untamable horses like Slick’s had been called outlaws. The term was used equally concerning men or animals.
A Stubborn Condition
I suppose outlaw will be one of those words that last a long time, since there seems to be some outlaw in all of us. The Scriptures call this lawlessness.
The Bible says, “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4).
Couple that verse with the one that states,
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).
Fortunately for you and me, it’s a curable condition. The Bible makes it plain that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Of course, we are given the freedom to reject that provision. In that case, we remain outlaws and that seals our destiny forever. Then we’re only fit to be sold to the highest bidding canner.
Stephen Bly
Circa 1995
Slick’s Bucking Horse Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
Horse Out-Of-Control Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
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