Jeff Lubeck

A Brilliant Exposition of American Life: The Rider

The Rider by Chloe Zhao tells the story of the hard-scrabble life of rodeo riders on a South Dakota reservation. The Rider is honest feeling to its core, and is presented in a simple yet elegant fashion.

The main character of The Rider is a recently injured rodeo rider named Brady Jandreau (played by Brady Blackburn). Brady must come to terms with the fact that what he feels he was born to do – riding – is now a life threatening event. Brady has the support and love of his family and friends. However, given economics and other hard realities of life, Brady will reach his decision on his own terms.

I knew little to nothing about The Rider going into the viewing. Similar to Winter’s Bone (2010) it is hard to discern if the The Rider is a documentary or fictional piece of work. It’s script is fictional injected with the truism’s of life and actual factual situations. The Actor’s in the film are related or know each other in real life. Zhao blends all of these aspects with terrific effect.

Covering the Great Basin to Meet Some New Family Members

There are new members in the Lubeck family. Sage and Willow have endeavored to join up with Shae dog, Merry [Christmas] dog, Valentine dog, Kyle, Linda, and yours truly.

I decided pick up our Border Collie girls by traveling the Great Basin to the Los Angeles area (Chino) and back. It took me 52+ hours to complete the 1,606 mile round-trip.

As is well documented I have made this trip many times.

We purchased the puppies from Nancy Olds owner of Larks Croft Border Collies. Nani is an engaging person, and at 80 years-young – she has experienced much in life. Nani has bred and raised National Champion Jump horses in addition to Champion Border Collies. She and her (late) husband raised four children and has lived in the same house in Chino since the mid 1960’s. Larks Croft Border Collies are a staple in the Ralph Lauren print ads. Nani was born in Honolulu, HI and at the age of 3 1/2 was living next to Hickam Air Field and the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard when the Japanese attacked on December 7th, 1941. Nancy remembers the burning sky, holding her mom’s hand during the attack, and hiding under her crib.

Below is my photo essay.

The Great Basin near the Pony Express crossing on US 93.

Starting the drop down to I-15 and Las Vegas.

Poppet (mom – far left) and her four pups. Willow 2nd from right and Sage 3rd from right.

Sage on her first patrol around the house.

Willow conducting her first review on the grounds around the house.

Wild Horse Reconnaissance

Later this month MESH Gallery’s very own equine photographer Claire Porter will capture images of horses throughout the region – from purebred to wild. I love horses but have no idea how to shoot them photographically. Luckily for MESH, Claire is exceptional and exclusive to our gallery for the mountain west.

Over the fall and winter period we (Kyle and Jeff) worked through possible photo-shoots Claire could perform in 2018. With the assistance of Ed Cannady – another exceptional photographer and member of the MESH Gallery – locations and time schedules have been put in place.

My role for the photo-shoot of horses in the wild was to check out the locations identified. This task was to start in the first week of May. On Thursday and Sunday (accompanied by my buddy Doug) I took my first foray’s into the wild horse country abutting the East Fork of the Salmon River on the west and Lost River Range on the east. It is named the Challis Herd Management Area.

The Challis Herd Management Area (HMA) is 154,000 acres of land controlled under the auspices of the United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The role of the BLM in this region is to protect the land including the 185-200 wild horses living on it. Since 2010, the non-profit organization Wild Love Preserve has participated with the BLM in protecting this HMA and five others located in Idaho.

The Challis Herd is believed to be made up of horses and burros descending from those brought to the region when livestock was first introduced in the 1800’s. It is suggested the animals either escaped or were let go by their owners. The Challis Herd is considered to be different in that genetic testing demonstrates they are materially larger and stronger than any other herd in the U.S.

The Challis HMA is about 50 miles north of Ketchum\Sun Valley as the crow flies. However, given the multiple mountain ranges and river systems in between the drive time to the Challis HMA from the Wood River Valley takes about 2.5 to 3 hours. Luckily the route via Highway 75 to the East Fork of the Salmon River Road is exceptional and worth the effort on its own.

The Spar Canyon acts as the spine of the Challis HMA. The Spar Canyon is mix of environments; narrow, broad, rocky, craggy, steep, flat, grassy and full of sage brush and dry springs. The Spar Canyon Road is fairly gentle and well maintained from the East Fork of the Salmon River to U.S. Highway 93 south of Challis. A normal sedan can navigate the route. However, the trails and jeep roads shooting off Spar Canyon Road are demanding and off-road rigs are required for exploration of any length.

I brought some basic gear for the reconnaissance to document what I uncovered. And… yes, I ran into wild horses each day.