HorseSouth Magazine | In his honor, a tribute to Steven Bland

In his honor ~ A tribute to Steven Bland

By: Tess Vanattia

In a lot of ways, the pairing of a rodeo cowgirl Tootie Bailey and Texan roper and cattle rancher Steven Bland seems simply perfect. After all, cowboy sees a beautiful cowgirl, swoops her up and takes her back to Texas, right?

What you should know, first and foremost about Tootie Bailey Bland and the love of her life, Steven “Dooky” Bland is that nothing about them is simple. Everything, is full on … laugh out loud, kaleidoscopically colorful, about plumb crazy … sometimes unbelievable. But, believe it! This is Dook's story told from the eyes of his wife and my friend Tootie. It should be said now, that I never got to meet Steven. I've only listened to one of the bravest women I've ever known tell me story after story about him. I've been to the home they built together, seen the photos that tell the story of their lives. I've laughed til my sides ached and I've cried over the absurdity of his sudden death. I have to tell this story in the first person. That's not really how professional writers are supposed to write, but I can't really tell this one any other way.

Hook, Line and Sinker

I laugh when I think about what Tootie Bailey might have said if someone had told her long ago that she'd follow a Texas cowboy to a place called Noodle, live in a skunk infested trailer she'd dub “the tuna can” and raise cattle. I think her big blue eyes would have rounded and she'd have laughed her distinctive and energetic belly laugh! I don't think she'd have said “no way”. Nope, she'd have stopped laughing and then … I think she'd just ask to see that cowboy.

Had she seen him, she'd have been instantly smitten, just like she was some years later when she did get a glimpse of Steven Bland at a rodeo.

“I knew I was in trouble” is what Tootie told me when I asked her about seeing Steven for the first time. No doubt, Dook was a handsome man. He was tall and lean with an athletic build. He was, if fact, an athlete. As a young man he played typical high school sports. He was a cowboy first, a tried and true Texan. He excelled in rodeo sports, particularly roping. There are saddles and plaques, awards and the like … all over their house. So, yeah … Steven was a qualified hottie. Tootie was hooked and there was no turning back.

Hard to Get At

I really can't tell the whole story here … but let's just say that Steve went WAY out of his way to have a date with Miss Tootie. He slick talked his rodeo buddies into driving all the way to the Los Angeles area for a rodeo . Imagine driving a stock trailer down a LA freeway. See, his attempt to talk to her at a closer pit stop was foiled. He wasn't a man to be deterred from his objectives.

The whole story is long and twice as funny, but we'll write a book about it one day. The abridged version is that while Tootie was tending to her duties as the rodeo secretary, Steven was baking away in the hot sun, just outside the windowless block rodeo “office” in a broken down lawn chair. A patient man, his wait got him a hell of a sunburn and then he was out flanked by bulldoggers more interested in their freshly posted rodeo scores than poor ol Dook's love life. Tootie slipped out quick, posted the scores and slipped back in before he ever could say anything to her.

So, a couple weeks later … it was off to California he went.

This time, he arrived in ample time and was able to talk Tootie into lunch and dinner! He made a promise that night, that he'd get her out of that city. He was not impressed with LA.

All Roads Lead to Noodle

When the time came to go home with her cowboy, Tootie didn't think much about what it'd be like in the Texas town of Noodle. She was in love! The name Noodle comes from Noodle Creek, I read it means “nothing”. Not so ironically, literally: “dry creek bed”. To say there isn't much in Noodle, TX is perhaps the world's greatest understatement.

The area was settled in 1882 by a shepherd named Criswell. Later, about three more people showed up and claimed the land at a mere five dollars per acre! After that, a store opened … then a post office! It seems the little town peaked around 1924.

The bones of a cotton gin are still there. The front porch of the store holds an old refrigerator, inside that, you can pick up the newspaper and leave your money. It's an honor system.

My research told me, the population of Noodle, Texas remains WELL under 100.

Behold the Tuna Can

To drive out to Tootie's house today is a far cry from the story she tells about arriving there with Steven. I arrived to a beautiful gray stone house, sweeping pastures dotted with cattle, beautiful and thoughtful landscaping and a welcoming portico.

Tootie arrived to overgrown desolation and no real “living quarters” in sight.

“When we got here, I said “but darlin', where are we gonna live? Steven pointed to a big ol overgrown area and said 'right there'. Well, I just started to cry … and he said 'don't worry darlin' it'll be alright'.”

Tootie says that was a common phrase uttered by her husband. He didn't say it in passing, he meant it. It was alright too. It all managed to work out somehow.

Tootie explained, that's just how he was. He never got too excited. For her every hyper moment, he matched her with low key, easy going, quiet strength.

They had fun!

“It was so much fun,” she told me more than once.

And so, it was a tiny little trailer surrounded by Texas brush that Tootie moved her cosmopolitan Californian furniture into. What little would fit. There were some holes in the floor. There were some visitors. Critters came a visitin', even a skunk or two. Steven and Tootie were so very happy, it was only the skunk's calling card that ever spoiled anything.

For the Love of Life

This story is not about Steven's death … it's about his life. It's about how much he loved life, his wife, his friends … it's also about Dook's profound influence on Tootie and how he helped shape her into the person she is today.

Steven and Tootie are both well known for a lot of reasons. Tootie was a stunt woman in major motion pictures, a producer and a rodeo cowgirl. Dook was a champion roper. After he and Tootie got together, he began to work in the movie industry. Sometimes as a boss wrangler, sometimes acting and occasionally both.

The couple are undoubtedly best known for the event called Road to the Horse. It was an idea that sprung from a conversation around a dinner table with friends. See, ranch life dictates that top hands be great horsemen. They need to be able to train a horse quickly to work cattle. It's just about getting a job done. Most of the events in modern rodeo come directly from jobs that cattlemen need to do on a daily basis just trying to keep cattle healthy and grazing. There were no competitions for best horsemen though. So, it was born. Who could successfully take an untouched horse, a colt … and gentle it and have it ready for farm work in the shortest time. It had to be done naturally, gently and with the horse's best interest in mind.

Dook was so well respected, so loved, so admired by his friends … it'll make you question the impact of your own life. No one could have ever imagined the sudden way in which he was gone, but anyone would want to be remembered with such love and admiration.

Truth be told, Tootie admits she didn't want to invest in the idea of the first “Road to the Horse”, then called the “In a Whisper Challenge”. It wasn't that she didn't have faith in the idea. It was a more financial concern. The funding for the first event was obtained by mortgaging the Bland Ranch cattle (eventually called the 2T Ranch). If the event wasn't successful, Steven and Tootie could easily lose what was their main source of income. In match to Tootie's fretting … Steven's words? “Don't worry darlin, it'll be alright.”

A Gift of Surreal Proportions

I have a hard time writing this, my eyes are burning because the salt in my tears stings this late at night. I'm usually a very confident writer, I almost never second guess what I type. It's just that Steven was an amazing person. I worry that I can't adequately convey to you, the man he was. I want you to understand the tremendous gift he gave horse lovers, owners and the industry as a whole. This is easily the most personal article I've published in HorseSouth to date. See, Tootie is my dear friend and I love her.

I also love Road to the Horse because as much as the time limit goes against what most natural horsemanship teachers endorse, it makes up for in the paradigm shifts that occur en mass every year in that arena. When 6000+ people see first hand that a horse can be partnered with in such a short time, without the aid of force, fear or gadgetry. When they see a colt go from skittish to even be touched to cantering under saddle in three hours of gentle training and bonding … the entire horse industry takes a gigantic and collective leap forward. I feel they deserve a prestigious award for their commitment to the horse and horsemanship. It's a huge contribution to the lives of horses all over the world.

Tootie told me a story about standing at RTTH for the last time with Steven. She said they stood, arms around each other looking out over the crowd when the realization of what they'd accomplished together hit them. Even then, they couldn't have known the reach and scope of the idea and how many lives they'd change.

I always think about the tremendous horseman that Dook was. He wasn't a horse trainer by trade, but he was one for the love and need of a good partner. He practiced the same gentle techniques at home with his own horses. Tootie explained that he could really talk anyone into anything, be they four legged or two.

“He had that ability, he could convince you to do about anything,” Tootie laughed.

The origins of RTTH are tame compared to the stories that make up Dook's life. To say he was a quite a character and bit larger than life would be a start on the biography. So many stories we are saving for a book one day … and some, I've been sworn to secrecy! My favorite story is when Dook came home and announced to Tootie that they were going to a dance!

Life's A Dance

Coming from the Hollywood lifestyle, when Tootie heard the word “dance” she became reasonably excited! She ran and curled and teased her hair as big as the 1980's demanded. She was rockin' the shortest, reddest dress the law would allow. On her dainty feet, were the highest, most pointy Italian stilettos she owned. Dook may have been laid back and easy going, but he was a little ornery too!

See, the “dance” was at the local VFW.

I laugh every single time I think about this portion of the story. Here in North GA, where I grew up, VFW's aren't fancy. They are just meeting halls with bad carpet, old furniture and some of them double as bars. I gathered from this story, that the local VFW in question, wasn't much different.

So, to say Tootie was taken aback when they wheeled up into to the gravel parking lot and she sashayed into the room looking like “nuthin” the folks from Merkel, TX had ever seen before, would be another one of those gross understatements.

“It was like time froze; you know like in the movies when time kinda freezes or slows down and it seemed like everyone's head spun around and their jaws dropped,” Tootie laughed.

Steven failed to mention that the dance wasn't fancy and jeans and boots would have been more appropriate attire. He played it super cool too … just told her how beautiful she looked, stuck her in the truck and waited … for the evening to unfold.

I know a lot of you ladies reading this are thinking “I'd have rung his neck!”

But Tootie, she doesn't roll that way. She just went with it. She danced with every interested man in the room (all of them) and shrugged off the fact that not one single woman spoke to her that night.

The best part of whole story is later on in the evening when someone offered up that she'd made “quite the impression” … Tootie's reply was a sweet, innocently uttered “I'm just trying to fit in.”

For all his orneriness, he was creative and sweet. Steven planned his wedding to Tootie down to the last detail. He rented a ranch and brought in all their friends for a week. He planned what the girls would wear … and the guys. Every single day was a celebration. Steven sang and played the guitar and entertained their guests. Mostly, he managed to sweep Tootie right off her feet again.

Good Boots & A Cup of Coffee

A lot of times perception is not reality and that's the case of Road to the Horse and the 2T Ranch. People assume that Tootie is rolling in money. It's not their business, but it's not true. Tootie continues to raise cattle and manages a large herd. It's only in the last couple years that she's had the ability to hire a “foreman”, who doubles as the boss wrangler during Road to the Horse. The exterior of Tootie's ranch home fits the surroundings. It's not huge. It's understated. There is a quiet elegance about it and it has the feel of a broke in pair of boots. The covered porch begs you right through the door. This seems like a good idea when so much ranch work keeps you outside more than in. The inside is colorful and cozy. I'd call it Texas chic or flamboyant California cowgirl meets Ben Cartwright (or in this case, Steve Bland). It's really a perfect blend. It looks extraordinary.

Steven's family also owns a feed lot. So, with that … a movie gig here and there, the couple earned a good living. A cattle rancher's income depends a great deal on mother nature. A time or two, things have been lean. Dook was always a hard worker. He felt it was his duty to look after his wife and often told her that he'd take care of the work because she was “just decoration”.

“He was never one to linger in bed, he was up early every morning ready to do what needed to be done,” Tootie explained.

He loved coffee in the morning, so when they finally built their home Tootie designed the kitchen so that Dook had a “coffee station”. It held his coffee maker and the bean grinder. Tootie was up in the mornings with her husband, even if she didn't want to be, because the coffee grinder was impossible to sleep through.

Heavenly Views, Heroes and Heartache

No one makes a big deal of the fact that Steven had diabetes for most of his life. He dealt with it. It occasionally flubbed up his plans. No one he knows, that I know, talks a lot about it. So, no sense in talking about it much here. (There is a story, that one day I'll write down about Dook needing to go to the hospital while in the Bahamas for a wedding. The story involves a $60 cab fare, Dook showing back up among friends half naked and barefoot and being more scared of Bahamian doctors than whatever his disease could throw at him.)

Steven and Tootie's house has a large office that she now runs RTTH and the Ranch from. Previously, the office had been Steven's. I wish I had a photo of it to share. You'll have to use your imagination. Imagine a wall of tall windows over a built-in, leather-topped credenza. Those windows overlook a pasture that is flat and green and dotted with cattle and a few horses. The sky is enormous. When land is that flat, it looks like if you walked … or rode … just far enough, you'd disappear into to the ether of the sky. I really don't know how Steven or Tootie got any work done in there. I couldn't stop staring out the windows.

The house itself is built from stones found on their own land and collected largely by Steven. Nearly everything in the house is custom built or is a found treasure from so many excursions they took together for this and that.

What I loved most about their home: the pictures! Everywhere was a photo that provoked another story. Tootie is a great story teller. She made me laugh. She shocked me a time or two, and inevitably we both ended up in tears. I love stories.

I imagine that Steven would have made me laugh too. I think his versions of the stories would have been interesting and funny in their own way. I didn't know him. I wish I had. I can see him there. I can see him riding through the pastures, up the road or just walking across the yard from the barn. His image fits that landscape like your head fits your favorite pillow. I can see him wrangling horses at RTTH and hugging his wife close and laughing with his friends. They've kept him alive in spirit. It's easy for me to imagine him.

I hope you have a better image of the man most responsible for the event that changed modern horsemanship. Dook is a true American Hero. I know the Lord is proud to have him up there above, where that Texas sky meets the land. Sometimes, you have to wonder why such great people can't stick around with us longer. The best we can do is honor his life by sharing his stories and continuing to to share his gifts. I know I am better for it all. Better for the lessons from RTTH, better for knowing my dear friend Tootie and better for writing this all down for you.

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