I’ve always had a fascination with horses—and harmless mischief—and have enjoyed plenty of both in my life. UCF’s 1976 Homecoming provided me the opportunity to experience both.<\/p>\n
I highly recommend attending UCF’s Homecoming; however, my advice to you is not to attend it while riding a horse. Not because it’s a bad idea, but because it may take an unexpected turn.<\/p>\n
On a cloudless October morning in the City Beautiful, I was 24 years old, completely sober, and decided upon waking that I needed to immediately borrow a horse.<\/p>\n
Impulse is a funny thing, assuming it’s harmless, and it can even be downright hilarious. It also can provide great memories 35 years later.<\/p>\n
Have you ever tried to catch and saddle an unwilling horse? It’s not easy\u2014even for a cowboy born and raised on the Plains.<\/p>\n
At some point, my horse gave in. The saddle was on, the bridle fixed, the stirrups adjusted\u2014things were looking good. I was excited for Homecoming, and welcomed a respite from studying and exams.<\/p>\n
I mounted up, and we moseyed down Rouse Road and then up University Boulevard, stopping at red lights and getting a few honks while I tipped my cowboy hat to passersby.<\/p>\n
As we got farther from the barn, however, the horse became a little uneasy. Finally, we trotted across Alafaya and entered the campus.<\/p>\n
The campus was alive with excitement as everyone prepared for the parade, a new tradition for our fledgling university. The Homecoming theme was Whiskey, Wild Women and Horses\u2014it was a different time\u2014and we fit right in.<\/p>\n
Rufus, a university maintenance employee, watched as we rode up to say howdy. Oddly, Rufus wasn’t surprised to see me on his horse, and his horse seemed glad to see Rufus.<\/p>\n
We joined the parade, placed between a chuck wagon float and a fraternity dressed for a roundup. As the noisy parade circled the Reflecting Pond, the horse began to get feisty, and suddenly we were splashing through the water, me waving my hat and hooting a hearty “Yee-haw!”<\/p>\n
I looked back to see the campus police headed our way, so we galloped across campus to our secret hideout, waiting for Rufus to give the all clear. I knew I had pushed my luck enough, so we headed off campus as soon as possible.<\/p>\n
As we zigzagged through neighborhoods, apartments and back roads to the safety of the barn, I reflected on the greatness of the day. As Winston Churchill said, “There’s nothing more exhilarating than to be shot at without result.” It was a perfect day and a memorable Homecoming\u2014a willing horse, great weather, fun friends, a little mischief and a lively ride home.<\/p>\n
As I’ve grown older, I’ve realized that the only things I regret are the things I didn’t do. There are no YouTube videos, tweets or Facebook posts about that day, but the details are perfectly clear in my mind. It was a Homecoming I’ll always remember! I still get a big smile on my face remembering that horse, those friends and UCF back in the day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One morning, a future Board of Trustees Chairman woke up with an urge to ride a horse on campus. Then things got weird.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":37996,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[2194,3996,202],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-37986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinions","tag-homecoming","tag-rick-walsh","tag-alumni"],"yoast_head":"\n