W. A. "Wink" Chappell
One of the last of the Early California Horsemen AND
my beloved step-father!

Bill's passing is a great loss to the world of horses and all of us who are involved in that world. I am so thankful that my life led me to be able to have had the opportunity to be trained by Bill in the Early California tradition of horsemanship and to have had 30 years with him. There are so few of us left that have had the opportunity to continue the unbroken chain of passing more than 200 years of this knowledge and expertise to the next generation--200 years of vaquero horsemanship that was of itself derived from several hundred years of warhorse tradition from Spain and the Moorish invasion which had been converted to working cattle by the Early Californios in the 1700's. I have committed myself to carrying that tradition on to the next generation and pray that I am worthy of the 30 years Bill spent teaching me his knowledge of these vaquero methods. He taught me so much--to start the young horse, the art of handling the snaffle bit and the hackamore, how to finish the horse in the half-breed and spade bit. He taught me to understand the balance and leverage of bits, the relationship of the braided reins balanced with the "braided buttons" to finite communication between the rider's hand and the horse's mouth, how the bit and curb must properly fit and be correctly adjusted to accomplish this communication, and the importance of "keeping a good mouth" on a well-trained horse. I had to learn how to trim my horses' feet and to properly shoe them because, according to vaquero tradition, only the rider truly knows how the horse needs to be shod to travel right and he must be able to correctly trim and shoe the horses himself. I was taught how saddles must fit the horse and how to have my saddles custom made to fit not only the horse, but also myself. Bill even taught me how to have my "bench-made" boots made (that's vaquero lingo for "custom made"). The list goes on and on. I feel his presence every day I go to the barn and saddle up, handle the breeding, or work the young foals. I am sure he is still watching over me to make sure "I do it right." He will always be with me.

It can only be that Bill is looking down on us from the world of Green Pastures where he has joined all his old friends and teachers, and as he is now riding some of the many horses he trained and so loved.