A new way to ride
Kraig Galloway saves gas by saddling up in Payette
By Johna Strickland
Argus Observer
Saturday, July 12, 2008 10:12 PM PDT
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| Probation and parole officer Kraig Galloway parks his horse, Foxey, by his office in Payette. Galloway said he plans to ride Foxey, a 13-year-old quarter horse, to his job with the Idaho Department of Corrections about once a week. The 41⁄2-mile ride takes them 30 minutes to an hour, but they go home faster, Galloway said. |
Payette — Some days Kraig Galloway parks his “car” on the lawn by his office in Payette. Then, as he goes about his duties as a probation and parole officer, she mows the grass.
Later, they go home together for lunch — the clover-fed, gas-free vehicle and the man who rides his horse to work.
Galloway, 43, started riding Foxey, a 13-year-old quarter horse, the 41⁄2 miles from his home to work in June. Together they have made two trips into Galloway’s office on South 16th Street so far.
“It’s fun to ride your horse ... it’s relaxing,” he said.
Galloway, who travels across the Treasure Valley for his job, plans to bring Foxey to town once a week in the future. His motivation in seeking alternative transportation wasn’t high gas prices though.
“The main reason was I wanted to make sure I had more time riding her,” he said. “She works on our little farm, and the kids like to ride her, and (so does) my wife.”
So Galloway saddled up and rode Foxey to town, a 30-minute to an hour ride depending on their moods. Foxey walks, trots and lopes her way along back roads to the clover-laden snack bar behind the Idaho Department of Corrections office.
“She’s in horse heaven with that clover,” he said, adding she had a “horse smile” on her face as she grazed Friday morning.
Galloway calls their partnership a “win-win” arrangement. He saves on gas, and Foxey gets some exercise.
“I tried riding my bike in a couple times,” Galloway said, noting he could run to work, but he doesn’t. Usually he just drives his 1988 Chevrolet Sprint.
“I think I’d rather ride the horse than the Sprint,” he said.
Friday he gave the ride a try with his full work gear — bulletproof vest, pistol, oleoresin capsicum pepper spray. It wasn’t too bad, he said.
Once at work, Galloway strips Foxey of her saddle and bridle, then ties her to a metal pole. He comes out periodically to walk her. Once he let her roam the lawn and she tried to sneak off to the Arctic Circle next door.
While other tenants in the building love Foxey, about 50 percent of the visitors to the adult felony suite find Foxey’s presence surprising.
“They’re kinda shocked,” Galloway said.
The other 50 percent, mostly ranch hands, advise Galloway on what he’s doing wrong with Foxey, he said.
Shock at the Western way of life continues in Galloway’s office.
Once he sat trying to convince a young gang member from California that life in Idaho was different when another probationer, who trains horses for a living, came in wearing spurs and a cowboy hat to drop off his monthly report. The gang member was “just in total shock,” Galloway said.
A probation and parole officer for 16 years, Galloway enjoys making a difference in the community.
“We get people that are already convicted and into the system. A lot of them have really broken lives, and they’re at the point in their lives where they know that something has to change in their lives,” he said.
“And we help them make those changes, kinda like leading a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink.”
