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Baxter Black

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Baxter Black
Baxter Black (born January 10, 1945) is an American cowboy, poet, philosopher and former large-animal veterinarian. He is also a radio and television commentator. Black grew up in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He was trained as a large-animal veterinarian at New Mexico State University and Colorado State University, but began writing and speaking in the early 1980s. Black left his veterinary career and later published more than a dozen books of fiction, poetry and commentary. He is a regular commentator for National Public Radio's Morning Edition and also hosts a syndicated weekly radio program, Baxter Black on Monday. He writes a syndicated weekly newspaper column, "On the Edge of Common Sense." He currently resides in Benson, Arizona.
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Born
1945-01-10
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Pleasanton Express

Cowboy poet Baxter Black retires

Baxter Black, contributor to the Pleasanton Express for several years, announced his retirement at the end of 2021. The Pleasanton Express was one of 13 newspapers in Texas and over 100 in the U.S. and Canada to publish his weekly column, “On the Edge of Common Sense.”. Baxter follows...
PLEASANTON, TX
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Pleasanton Express

Baxter Black retiring

After years of entertaining our readers, Baxter Black’s column, “On the Edge of Common Sense,” will no longer be published in our paper due to his retirement. Look for a story on Mr. Black in an upcoming issue of the Pleasanton Express. Learn more about Baxter Black,...
PLEASANTON, TX
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Animals
Elko Daily Free Press

Baxter Black: A Horse Matters

I like living someplace where a horse matters. There is just some country where horseback is the only way to get the job done. Places where the four-wheeler is a poor second, not to mention a noisy, track-leaving unnatural conveyance. Besides, it’s hard to throw a rope from. Helicopters...
ANIMALS
Mountain Mail

Cowboy poet Baxter Black to retire at the end of December

Baxter Black, cowboy poet, former large animal veterinarian, newspaper columnist, radio and television host is retiring at the end of December, Cindy Lou Black, Baxter’s wife wrote in a letter recently. “Baxter has some health problems that have put him in the retirement bracket,” Cindy Lou wrote. “He has...
CELEBRITIES
tsln.com

Baxter Black: Team Ropin’ Conversation

“There’s only one thing worse than eating next to a left-handed person, and that’s heading for him. It’s like trying to screw the male end of a garden house into the matching threads on your stock tank drain,” so spoke Bob to Allen, two fair-to-middlin’ team ropers, both fives, in the prime of their addiction. The equivalent of two-pack-a-day ropers.
SPORTS
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Baxter Black: Team Ropin’ Conversation

“There’s only one thing worse than eating next to a left-handed person, and that’s heading for him. It’s like trying to screw the male end of a garden hose into the matching threads on your stock tank drain,” so spoke Bob to Allen, two fair-to-middlin’ team ropers, both fives, in the prime of their addiction. The equivalent of two-pack-a-day ropers.
SPORTS
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Baxter Black: All Ranch Rodeo

“Twas a matchup made in Elko for the cowboys in the know. Called the Rough and Ready Knock Down Finals All Ranch Rodeo. Now the Texans entered up a team they thought could never lose. When they bet their reps against the Jordan Valley Buckaroos. You could tell from where...
SPORTS
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Baxter Black: The Dreaded Blue Box

I had just finished loading 184 seven-foot steel T-posts, old ones, by the way, in my pickup and was unloading a mere 24 bales of hay from the front section of my gooseneck stock trailer. It was a hot, humid afternoon in early fall when the dead braches begin to stick out of the cottonwood greenery, and the garden starts goin’ to heck and no one cares. I could almost smell the cumin from Ramon’s #6 Combination Plate being distilled in my sweat from lunch earlier. Then I saw the blue box.
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Baxter Black: Boot Camp

Do you ever give much thought to where your weaner steers and heifers go when you load’em on the truck or take’m to the sale?. You think maybe it’s like goin’ off to college? Stay in the dormitory, have a nice roommate who doesn’t bawl or stay up all night talking about the cute Charolais they met in the cafeteria.
SPORTS
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Baxter Black: Deer Hunting Cow Lick

I’ve got a mule deer hangin’ on my wall from northern New Mexico so I could relate to Rafael’s story. He had joined two of his cousins for a deer hunting trip near Cuba, NM where his uncle had a cabin. They arrived late and missed the first day because cousin Dee Dee was going through changes in her life. To be fair, Dee Dee was a good hunter so her ditsy behavior was unexpected.
HOBBIES
harrisondaily.com

ON THE EDGE OF COMMON SENSE by Baxter Black, DVM

Dr. Fosse, once of Pretoria, told me about Martha and Arthur, two star crossed rare white rhinos. In a governmental gesture of goodwill, South Africa agreed to ship Arthur to Tanzania to mate with …. This item is available in full to subscribers. Attention subscribers. We have recently launched a...
ANIMALS
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Baxter Black: Excuses for Keeping Culls

I try not to make this column too educational but sometimes there is a need that can’t be ignored. When ranchers and cowmen work their cowherd, they are often under pressure to cull cows that they have developed a peculiar fondness for. Their excuses for keepin’ the ol’ darlin’ can be pretty feeble.
AGRICULTURE
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Baxter Black: R.C. & Bud

R.C. is an animal lover. Maybe not the kind of animal lover that the term has come to mean in this era, but the kind that requires a greater commitment. He would tell you he’s a farmer. But he’s a horseman and trainer, cattleman, hog producer, corn grower and great-grandfather. He’s also a dog man, with the patience and persistence to deserve a good stock dog.
ANIMALS
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Baxter Black: Visiting Dogs

When I hear a truck pull up in front of the house and the pandemonium of dogs barkin’ would wake a hibernating mastodon, I relax. It’s only my neighbor, D.K., come to borrow something of his back. He doesn’t get this ferocious reception because he’s on the canine list of...
ANIMALS
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Baxter Black: Waitin’ For Daddy

“Mama, when’s Daddy comin’ home? Is it time to worry yet?”. He rode out this morning early. Like he does six days a week. ‘Specially when I know he’s headed over on the canyon side. At least I know I’ll have a place to start. So in case he doesn’t...
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS
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Baxter Black: The Right Tool for the Job

Some might wonder why prehistoric cave drawings weren’t more detailed. Surely there were artists capable of rendering intricate representations of the circulatory system of aurochs or the dentition of a Saber Tooth Tiger drawn to scale. But what we see on these cave walls are stick figure men chasing antelope...
IOWA STATE
livestockweekly.com

Baxter Black

Ted and his dad needed some cows to stock their little ranch in Oklahoma, and they needed 'em right away. A local trader solved their problem and injected a couple loads into them. By fall, Ted began to notice one calf that stood taller than the rest. Must'uve had some Chianina blood coursing through his...
OKLAHOMA STATE
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Baxter Black: Ted’s Big Steer

Ted and his dad needed some cows to stock their little ranch in Oklahoma, and they needed ’em right away. A local trader solved their problem and injected a couple loads into them. By fall Ted began to notice one calf that stood taller than the rest. Must’uve had some Chianina blood coursing through his veins. They called him Alf.
OKLAHOMA STATE
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Baxter Black: The Fairboard

It was every fairboard’s nightmare when the lightning hit the stage. Course, it might have been expected; it was just another page. In a trail of disasters that befell our county fair. That began when Dr. Knockwurst told us we should be aware. That a stomatitis outbreak might shut down...
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