CJCJ

I was a student at Rice University in the mid eighties, and lived near Westheimer Stables. I would be there every weekend, and most weekday evenings helping out...giving riding lessons, and taking out groups of riders. It was a fantastic place, run by a feisty old redhead named Miss Avis, and her crusty old cowboy husband, John Willoughby. The latter introduced me to team penning, and we went on to win prize money at rodeos all over the state. It was a really happy time in my life...simple and carefree. Needless to say, property developers were always sniffing around the large and perfectly situated site, and it was only a matter of time before Miss Avis was forced to move on. My fondest memory is riding down Westheimer Boulevard to the local Circle K with John W, to pick up his beer...and him insisting that as a rancher, he didn't have to pay tax on the purchase! There would often be a black and white police car parked on a obscured edge of the property, waiting to pounce on any speedsters...and John took great delight in running the cops off his land!