Rosey **** Chapter 4 **** -or- saying Thank You

Stardate 1998-2008

Here's lookin atcha Partner...


My cousin Worth took me trout fishing one day on the South Fork of the Walla Walla River, while I was visiting Oregon on vacation, this was some years back. It was then that I saw this place. Coming off the river that day was like leaving a fisherman’s paradise. We passed by the Demaris Century Farm (since 1863), now McKuster Ranch - I remember that.

I remember the bluff and orchards and I remember telling Worth that I felt the people living in this valley must be some of the luckiest, most blessed people on earth, that was many moons ago.

Now, I have loved to fish this river (in our backyard) with it’s short drive (48 miles-one way) out of Pendleton and have done so many times while living in Pendleton, working the fly shop, and now living at Kittee's and Dale's McKuster Ranch.

It was when I owned Blue Mountain Anglers & Fly Shop, LLC many moons ago, that one day a red Dodge 2500 PickEmup truck pulled up in front of the store. Shortly thereafter an older cowboy type fella came into the shop. He was wearing a cowboy hat (I remember that), jeans, boots, probably a leather vest and if I remember correctly, he may have been wearing those spurs that jingled-jangled-jingled as he walked around the store. Nowadays it seems that this same cowboy fella is always wearing spurs, and he rarely professes French literature / philosophy at Whitman College these days.
That day he strolled around the shop for a bit, I then went over introduced myself and asked if I could be of any help with anything. It was probably the next hour to and hour and a half that we talked fly fishing, the mountains, the western lifestyle that we love, our lives/ time spent in Montana and France and now what we were doing in northeast "by-the-grace-of-god" Oregon. Needless to say we found a connection with each other and I learned as he was leaving the fly shop that day his name was Dale.
Another thing I learned that day was that Dale lived outside of Milton-Freewater at the upper end of South Fork Walla Walla River Road. I also learned that Dale’s place was right next to the river, the same place that I had coveted since the first time I had seen it… the day Worth took me fishing on the So. Fork. Yep Dale has a 160 acre spread in Oregon, with a river running through it, and the carved wooden sign in front of the house which read – South Fork Arabians. Dale has lived on his place for thirty some odd/ nearly fourty years, and is now a retired professor from Whitman College.
That day I told Dale of my fishing experiences on the So. Fork, he told me some of his.
I told him how many times I had passed his place and really envied the folks that lived in the house with the horse ranch sign in the front “yard”.
I am glad I had the opportunity to have met Dale that day. I now consider him and his wife Cheri to be most valued friends/ neighbors.

Fly shop ownership served me well, when I moved to Oregon with all the folks that I met inside those four walls; from my business partner Gail, my dear wife Kittee, and many, many others including Dale.

But this story is about my friend Dale. Long story short... it was Dale's & Cheri's place that Kittee and I were going fishing on July 4, 2002 when we saw the For Sale sign in the front yard of now our home/horsey ranch. Since the day that he came into the fly shop, we have spent many hours together in the saddle riding our Oregon neighborhood/back country, in each other’s home, walking our perspective horse pastures together, standing beside Walla Walla River Road, communing on the metaphysical things of life including trading jokes, and horse trading.

Yep, I will have to say that it was Dale Cosper that sank Kittee and I so deeply into our beloved horses. When Kittee and I met we were hoping that someday we would have the opportunity to have a couple of horses to ride in Oregon/ the Pacific Northwest. Having bought our ranch, and then Derby then Nugget, it was our friend Dale that made the deal for us to buy Shaiela and our Quarab mare Goldie. It was Dale that talked us into breeding SF SHAIELA to his Arabian stallion EAGLEFROMTHELIGHT.


Now we have “Rosey”, granddaughter of the AHA World Champion Stallion-- *SIMEON SHAI and SheilaVarian’s DESPERADO V.

It was our friend Dale that we talked to about birthing and imprinting foals. It has been Dale that we have talked to for hours concerning horse behavior and care.













It is to our friend Dale that we say “Thank You” for being there/ being here and heightening our knowledge in horsemanship/equine handling.
It is to our friend Dale that we say “Thank You” for bringing us around to now having and holding our Rosey.

So Dale, Cheri we just want for you to know, that if you ever drive away from our ranch and we have not said "Thank You" we hope you will realize how much we appreciate the opportunity to walk this Earth together with folks like YOU. ---Dale & Kittee

life around the ranch -- Dale

a YouTube video link to watch with this blog