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At 16, the author spent a summer on a mustang ranch working 12-hour days, six…
Brief
Lilly Sharples recounts a summer at 16 working on a mustang ranch (12-hour days, six days/week, $100/month gas, occasional Friday lunches, multiple concussions), where she learned to break semi-feral horses, move cattle, and parallel-park a truck and trailer. She credits a blunt rancher with building resilience and argues modern teens miss that, saying phones "wear it down."
Why it matters
At 16, the author spent a summer on a mustang ranch working 12-hour days, six days a week for $100 a month in gas money, with occasional Friday lunch breaks and a concerning number of concussions.
Key details
- She learned hands-on skills—breaking semi-feral horses, moving cattle, and parallel-parking a truck and trailer—and mental habits: patience, sitting with discomfort, and accepting harsh feedback from an old rancher.
- She asserts most 16-year-olds today won't get that experience; a "cold-blooded rancher" will "break your spirit and build something back," while "a phone just wears it down."