A Native American California Indian, he was short, dark, in his fifties', and a little on the plump side. He worked part time as a cowboy on a small cattle ranch near Lake Shasta in California. My Uncle Tom Wyatt knew him well. They drank a lot of beer and whiskey and rode horses together. Uncle Tom told me stories about his friend.
Uncle Tom said, "Johnny Dias knows more about western horses than anyone I've ever met. If you want to learn how to train horses, I will introduce you to him. He will teach you if I ask him because he and I are close friends. We play dirty jokes on each other just for fun. That's how it is when you are real close friends with another guy. Johnny carries a pistol all the time. He is scared spitless of snakes. Last week he was asleep in a tent outside my house. I sneaked into his tent during the night. I put a rubber snake in his sleeping bag with him. When he woke at dawn, Johnny saw the toy snake, grabbed his pistol from under his pillow, and shot three holes in the toy snake. He was so scared he used all six bullets to get three hits. Boy, was he mad at me! But he didn't stay mad. We are good buddies, and he never stays mad at me. Besides, he gets even. He plays jokes on me, too."
I drove to Mountain Gate, near Lake Shasta, in 1970 to spend a long weekend learning about horses from Johnny Dias. He came from a family of very early Californians from way before the state was named. He was living in a pup tent on a cow ranch near Uncle Tom's house. Johnny owned an old car and a fine looking young quarter horse The heavily muscled bay gelding had a shiny, short-haired, brown coat. He had a black mane, hooves and tail. The horse stood 15 hands high or about five feet from hoof to withers. The withers is the bony hump behind the neck. That's a good size for a roping horse. Everything Johnny owned was strewn about his campsite. He didn't own much stuff, and if he had sold everything, his pockets would still be half empty. Like other Native Americans I have met, property was not a high priority with him.
As I watched him saddle the horse, Johnny said, "I use this extra heavy roping saddle. I don't have to worry about it slipping around and hanging under the horse. It is shaped to fit the top of his back. It is heavy enough to stay there even when I put my full weight on one stirrup before tightening the cinch. I can let the horse be more comfortable without a tight cinch. Eventually, this horse will learn to wear a spade curb bit. Right now, I am using this heavy rawhide Mexican bozel (halter) to teach him to turn and stop on his hind legs. When a horse stops right, he has his shoulders up high and his rear end dragging low. That way you set right there in the saddle nice and easy. You don't go flying over the horse's head like those fancy English riders do when a horse won't jump. See how I taped this block of wood in the bottom V of my bozal. It's my own invention. When I pull on a rein, the block of wood presses up under the horse's chin bone. It hurts enough to get the young horse's attention, and make him do a sliding stop. I also tie his head down to the girth strap to keep his head low, out of the way from my lariat when I swing it over his head. It also tends to prevent him from rearin' when I ask him to back fast and straight."
Johnny loosened the belly strap and demonstrated how he could step up on the stirrup without making the saddle slip to one side. Being a short man, it was necessary for Johnny to mount from a curb or a rock. Otherwise, he had to jump into the stirrup. I lifted the saddle to test it's weight. It was heavy.
Johnny continued, "I'm single now, but I have been married more than once. Betty was the first real beauty I ever married. She had pretty blue eyes and long blond hair. She wasn't much more than 16 when she started hanging around me and my horse. I was thirty five or more. She wanted me to teach her how to rope calves. Well, I had a nice quarter horse named Poco. He was shorter than this here horse I'm trainin'. He was 14 hands high but weighed more than 1,000 pounds. His conformation and color were similar to this horse I'm working with now. I taught Poco to help me rope calves in the pasture or in the rodeo ring. Whenever I married Betty, she started riding Poco. I taught her to rope calves on that horse. First I, taught Betty how to relax and sit up straight in the saddle. That way, no matter which way the horse moved, she went with the horse, and didn't get off balance. It was like she was a part of the horse. Then, I showed Betty how to use the reins and spurs. When you master the use of spurs and reins, it means you don't need to use them much. But the horse knows you are no one to fool with, and he does whatever you want him to do."
Johnny hunched down on his heels, picked his teeth with a piece of grass and continued speaking. 'I had Betty swing a rope while she stood on the ground. She learned to lasso a bucket or a fence post, and she practiced 'til she was good at it. She got on the horse and learned to ride at a run while swingin' the loop. She did a lot of fence post ropin' while sittin' up there in the saddle. She got good enough at it to lasso a rabbit. When she was out ridin', and a dog barked and chased the horse, Betty turned around and lassoed the dog. She was beautiful. She was slim and taller than me. Shit, she looked pretty sittin' on that horse. And she showed me a lot of love and respect at first, because, I was her teacher, and she liked me. And I was good to her, too. I gave her nice cowgirl clothes to wear. Hell, her boots alone cost me a month of work to pay for 'em. Anyway, Betty was a sweet kid, a good wife, and she became a damn good calf roper. I taught her to ride without holdin' on to the saddle horn. She could turn that horse on a dime, do sliding stops or anything she wanted."
I sat on the grass, and leaned toward the old California Indian as he spoke. 'After a year passed, I took Betty and Poco to rodeos. I let her compete in calf ropin' contests. She got to where she could win almost every time, and we had a nice heavy pickup truck to pull the horse trailer. The trailer was big enough for the two of us to sleep in when we had to. Most of the time we stayed in a motel, but sometimes we were too broke, and had to sleep free. I guess that year was about as good a year as I can remember."
He continued, "I finally figured out that Poco liked Betty, and he would do anything she wanted to do. She didn't even need her spurs and reins. I guess the horse could tell what she wanted when she gave a slight lean this way or that, and Poco would do it. One day at a rodeo, I met a gambler, and told him my wife was so good at calf roping, she could win the contest without using a bridle or anything to guide the horse. He bet me $100 it couldn't be done. So, when Betty got Poco lined up by the cattle chute ready to chase the calf, I walked over and slipped off Poco's bridle. Betty trusted me, and she trusted Poco. The chute opened, and the horse jumped after the calf running at full speed. Betty snaked out that lariat around the calf's neck before it had run more than 20 feet. I collected my $100 from the gambler, and we had steak that night, and slept in a nice hotel room. After that, I won a lot of bets at rodeos having Betty and Poco win contests without reins."
Johnny frowned and his voice became quiet. "Betty and I had a lot of fun for a couple of years. Then, I guess she got tired of me or something. I drank a lot of alcohol, and she didn't like it. She divorced me, and the judge let her have Poco, the truck and the trailer. After I sobered up, I had to start all over. It took me four years to earn enough to buy another good horse and tack. It took two more years to train that horse. Then I married another pretty young gal, and things went the same way they did with my marriage with Betty. After the good times ended, she took my horse and goods, the same as Betty did."
"I'm getting too old now to keep a woman, but I've had my share. And I'm not lonesome now. They know me at the local saloons and the pool hall. I've got good friends like your Uncle Tom here and lots more, all over California. And, whenever I get this here horse ready, I bet some other gal will want to, you know. Get to know me."