every now and then in life, if you are lucky, you will come across someone who is truly genuine. a real person absent of assumptions or ego, and these people are wonderful people to know not only because of who they are, but because they help remind us all what life is supposed to be about. at least that’s my opinion. this is a brief story about one such person, whom i like to call cowboy joe.

i first met cowboy joe a few years ago. i was assisting at the time, and i was working on a series of editorial spreads for the french magazine BIBA. the stylist, kanako koga (http://www.kanako-b-koga.com) wanted to really have a great environment to showcase the western themed clothes she was using, and since cowboy stuff was all the rage in paris at the time, they ended up shooting in arizona. 

this is kanako, seen here trying on a pair of gucci onion ring glasses:

one of my many responsibilities during the week was picking her and her assistant tiphane up at 5:00 am and then driving to the location with a large trailer full of gear and clothing. it was during this time that i developed an appreciation for coffee and decided i need to learn some french because it was a little awkward there for a while. we shot all over the place, and despite the heat, the long hours, and being berated in words i could not understand except i knew they were bad because of the tone, it was a wonderful experience and a great time working with new people and making friends. (i would eventually have the honor of working with kanako and tiphane again in paris.) in addition to the above mentioned duties, i also was put in charge as a liaison between american businesses /contacts / location managers etc. that preferred to speak english. if you are at all familiar with arizona, and towns like apache junction or payson, i would highly recommend not walking up to cowboy types and speaking french.

and hence i came to meet cowboy joe. this is cowboy joe:

i call him cowboy joe because that is how i was introduced to him. i was asking a woman at a livery stable about acquiring a horse and handler for a day of shooting and she told me “well you gotta talk to cowboy joe..” and she gave me a number to call. so sure enough, arrangements were made, and on the day of the shoot, cowboy joe showed up with a horse in a trailer and we were good to go. cowboy joe is about 6’2” maybe 200 pounds or so, and a very solid guy. he has a large round head, with a big smile, and a handshake that leaves no questions about his history. this is a workin man. he was so polite, so friendly, and such a gentleman, all the ladies on set were swooning. the production manager, lisa, was often caught saying “that’s what i want, a big strong man who’s not complicated. i’ll be in the kitchen cooking and he’ll come home from the range all tough and sweaty and drink a beer while i get dinner on…” i laughed at this heartily because if you met lisa she would seem like the farthest thing from that. i’m talking badass tattoo’s, art degrees, all the way left, and the most bitchin music collection ever. so yeah, everything went off without a hitch (ha! no pun intended) the horse was great, we got amazing shots, and i even got to lead the horse around a bit and feed her carrots. horses are like dogs, they are really personable, very friendly if treated well, they just poop a WHOLE LOT BIGGER. we thanked joe tremendously and went about the rest of our week. and i thought that was the last i would see of him..

about two years later i got a phone call from an unknown number… hello? “howdy eric, cowboy joe here! how are ya?” ok so for a minute i did that thing were you stop walking or whatever you’re doing and try to decipher who exactly you are speaking to and how did they get your number… then it came back to me. holy crap! hi joe! we had a nice chat catching up.. then came the reason for his call: he was getting together a musical act, and needed some publicity photos, could i come out and meet with him and check out his operation? sure thing i said. and here is where the story gets amazing.

in the time that had passed since i last saw joe, he had become single again, his dog had died, his side business in construction was gone, he stopped working at the livery stable, and had almost died from being thrown from a horse. yet he was as chipper as ever a man could be. i went to see joe. since he was no longer at the livery, he was working from horse barn to horse barn throughout arizona as a handler/trainer/whisperer. i am not sure what you call it to be honest… but he is really good at it. when i met him at the stable he was currently working in, i discovered he was living in a trailer built sometime after world war II, it is white and blue, everything works, and that’s about all i know. it was very retro, matched the pickup truck he pulled it with, he parked in in the lot next to the stables, and this was where he had been hanging his hat and kickin off his boots for some time. it was here that i learned more about joe. he was working at another stable when his injury occurred. he was helping out with a seemingly gentle horse in the ring as a favor to a friend. he had gotten to the point where the horse trusted him and he could ride her. but on this particular day, the horse had other ideas… he was thrown off very violently, and hit in the lower backbone by the bucking rear end of the horse as he was being launched. it took him a minute or two to get up, but he did, and of course went about his day as if nothing was wrong, though it “hurt like a sonuvabitch”. eventually, days later, when he could no longer walk, he went to the hospital. (see? very manly.) he had some busted bones, torn muscles, and some infection setting in, and he was in bad shape. he was told if the infection didn’t clear up in a day or two he might not make it. friends came in to help out. after a long stint in the hospital, he recovered and got his sea legs back. on the day he was to leave the hospital he learned that the horse was to be put down. and at this moment, something occurred to joe. he knew what he wanted to do. he had almost lost his life because of a horse and decided he wanted to spend the next chapter of his life working with just one. he drove straight from the hospital to the stable where the horse was. he offered the owners $400 in lieu of destroying the animal. he drove home with her that afternoon. he named her “Love”.

this is a picture joe sent me of him and love:

here is one i took one morning…

so joe starting working with love.. they became inseparable. they spent everyday together, morning noon and night. she slept in a stall a few meters from his trailer, and he sang to her on his guitar. at daybreak, he would start his coffee and go and get love out of the stall. she would follow him back to the trailer and they would have breakfast together:

amazing you may say! lovely story! indeed, indeed… but check this s#@t out. guess what he is training the horse to do? not only has he got her fear of people conquered, and she knows a few dressage moves, and she is basically a kitten with- again- very large poop, he now has a complete choreographed routine that involves him playing guitar and singing as the horse does her moves, and then stomps along with the tune on a large wooden box. he also has her trained to carry him about with no reins so he can play the guitar and sing while riding her. she knows the words to the songs, and corresponds appropriately. true story.

i asked joe to play me some of his songs…

he has a few sponsors interested, fender, and a clothing manufacturer… it is his dream to travel and do the show at rodeos or horse shows or campgrounds and host sing-a-longs. 

we sat there in his trailer and talked almost all day. i got to meet his partner in crime, ray. ray has skin like well tanned leather. his legs are permanently bowed. he has had almost every bone in his body broken at least once. he was a jockey a long time ago and talked fondly of his first derby win, and how he left the track to buy a brand new mustang with the winnings over 50 years ago. he showed me the newspaper clippings of his victories… he lives in the house at the stable, behind which joe parks his trailer. he has long wispy grey hair and smokes camels. his hands feel like sand paper. i doubt he is afraid of anything this world has to offer.

this is ray:

neither one of these men are well off. far from it. joe and ray live the most conservative lifestyle imaginable by most of us. i am a king in a castle compared to joe. i sat in his dusty trailer that he had bought years before air conditioning was around. (fyi this is arizona people.) there is no computer, no internet, no tv. just an old radio and his fender guitar. i looked at the photos, books, knick knacks from lives past scattered about the trailer. we talked about our lives, he showed me his bible. we talked about faith. there was a few pictures of a woman here and there, but he was far more upset about losing a good dog then he ever was about any of his lady friends. he proudly displayed his saddle and bridle set he had custom made by a friend who works with leather and silver. it was absolutely beautiful. he has been through so many hardships i think i would find unlivable. i worry about being alone, about being able to have and support a family, and if i were in joe’s position, this would trouble me a great deal.  i would probably disappear into alaska with my dog and a shotgun christopher mccandless style. ( if you don’t know the reference, read the book ‘into the wild’. it will change your life.) but not once, not for a single millisecond in 6 hours of conversation did joe ever complain, look sad, or lament anything that had happened in his 60 odd years. he laughed loud and honestly, he listened carefully and patiently, and he shared his life with unconditional trust. he is the happiest person i have ever met, and he shares that joy openly. 

and now, as i have left one way of life to try to make my way as a freelance artist… i get mired in thoughts that don’t matter. i end up wasting time with people that don’t care about me, and i get caught up in the politics and bullshit we all see around us everyday. competing with each other for some kind of success, constantly evaluating, judging ourselves and others, trying to find happiness wherever we can, but never knowing how to define it. when i get too far down this hole, i think of joe. in his trailer, in 110 degrees, with nothing but a horse named Love and a guitar. and there he is. smiling, happy, alive.