My meeting John Wayne Hayne happened during the last leg of his seven-month journey across America with his two Appaloosa horses, Misty and Harley, and his two dogs, Sheila and Little Rudy. It was a journey that took him through 10 states after leaving his home in Hudson, Michigan. “I have always been a horseman,” John said that afternoon. “It’s just something that I’ve always wanted to do.”

I’d meet up with John the following year for the first anniversary of his adventure, commemorating the moment with a 25-mile ride from his new home at the Broken Saddle Ranch to Santa Fe’s historic downtown plaza.