The Promise

The power of a thing or an act is in the meaning and the understanding.
NICHOLAS BLACK ELK, The Sacred Pipe

The thrill that goes through you when you see him gliding across the prairies is the thing that makes the long days ahead seem so few and short when thinking what the youngster might give you in return. The stride that you are seeing is smooth and flowing like the gentle breeze whisking across the prairies. What could be better than this, riding your horse across the open prairies watching a young dog that is overflowing with potential? The distance he goes without any effort makes the heart beat faster. Not much else in the world of bird dogs gets better than this.

Just when your mind is full of this thinking, what does that young fellow do but fly past the bush, turn on a dime back to it, flash point and put a covey of prairie chickens in the air. All this done with bravery and energy that sends a wave through the air. What a thrill, what a thrill!

The days, the nights, the many hours in the saddle, many miles in the truck, the weather that is ridden in; all these things are worth it to witness what you have just seen.

When your day is done on these prairies and it is late in the evening when you finally sit to rest as you feel each joint ache, you are tired but not weary as you think to yourself, “I can’t wait to see what he does next time.” This is the thing that keeps you going — the hope of tomorrow with such a promising young dog.

This is the promise — as you think maybe this one is the next ONE, the future of this great sport is promised.