This Thursday, when I join my buddies for a four-day horseback ride in New Mexico’s Pecos Wilderness, I will wear his hat.

It seems only fitting. For Roy knew horses the way I know books; he handled them every day. They were both his work and his pleasure.

You see Roy was born in 1904, a time when Chief Quanah Parker still lived in Oklahoma and Texas-Ranger-turned-cattle-driver Charles Goodnight still ran a herd of longhorns in the Texas Panhandle.

Hanging out with Roy is the closest I’ve come to experiencing the Old West face-to-face, something I also hope happens, at least in small measure, this week.

Oh, and Roy was more than just a man I once knew; I was related to him, sort of. You can read about it here.