Zach Aaron Red Cloud

We met up with Zach out side Saratoga Wyoming this summer and he had this to say:
My mother and Father met in southern Arizona. Scott (my dad) was not my biological father but the only one I ever knew. He was a cowboy. His rodeo career was near its end when he met my mother (TyAnn). He was working on the Sierra Grande ranch in Nogales and we all lived in one of the ranch houses for a little bit. My earliest memories are helping dad feed the ranch horses. A botched back surgery left Scott with a lot of nerve damage that made sitting a horse very difficult. That, along with the financial strains of a family with two children and one more on the way forced him to find work elsewhere.
I didn’t grow up riding horses. An occasional horseback ride, helping friends feed and building a shit ton of fence was the extent of my equine experience. I loved listening to my dad tell cowboy stories, but, for one reason or another I never thought that life to be in the cards for me.
The ten years after high school included a stint in the Air Force, working for my dad building fence, working in the oilfield and pursuing music.
One day I just asked a friend if she would teach me to ride. She had a fat gelding that needed the attention so she happily agreed. After sitting a couple crow hops I was hooked. I rode as much as I could for the next year or so.
I started working for a rope manufacturing company where I learned how to build and swing a rope. One of the owners of this company told me he was going to a bronc riding school and I said “hell yeah I’ll go with you” I was drinking but I would have said the same thing sober, probably.
I got hurt pretty good at the school, a minor concussion and a hip injury that still lingers today, but I was hooked yet again. It took me awhile to get all the gear I needed but I figured it out and still ride today. I was 32 when I got on my first bronc.
I decided that I wanted to pay my bills working with horses when I’m not touring, playing music. So, I used the GI Bill to pay for farrier school in Bozeman, MT.
I always think that I would have been much better off had I started in the horse world much younger, but hell, I’m loving it now so I guess that doesn’t really matter.
Find Zach's Music on Spotify:
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This video was recorded with permission from the singer/songwriter