Having been raised in the grasslands of Montana, and from my early years a fan of the Great Plains Indians, I came to the notion that the apogee of American freedom occurred after the horse, and before barbed wire.

With a good herd of horses, one’s family and friends could follow the great buffalo herds, camp in majestic landscapes, and raid the villages of enemies to steal their horses and whatever else one could carry away.

Of course, there were rules and regulations then, as there are today, that would slow one down.

But the horse set you free to roam, and that was freedom!

I came to this notion as a California college student who took a summer job on the Clint McFarland ranch near the tiny prairie village of Molt, Montana. The ranch was perched atop a prairie benchland, and underneath a monstrously big Montana sky.

After the day’s work was finished, and the evening’s chores checked-off, I would saddle up one of the ranch’s horses and ride out onto the prairie to enjoy those long, lingering high-latitude sunsets.

Sometimes the exuberance of my freedom would overwhelm me. When that happened, I would nudge the horse into a run, and whoop and holler with abandon, just as those plains Indians must have whooped and hollered as they raced their ponies across the prairie.

Of course, we are all fenced in now – horses, Indians and cowboys. One can still find an occasional horse to ride, and maybe even find a reason to whoop and holler, though please hold the abandon!

Recently I received a press release noting the release of a book entitled Horses: A 4,000-Year Genetic Journey Across the World, and thought of all the whooping and hollering that book must have captured. And so today we pause to ask: Have you ridden a horse?

Tune in here, for the syndicated Michael Olson Food Chain Radio Show #1401 October 1, 2025 Saturday 9AM Pacific