Backcountry Ballads

Fifty-five poems. One life lived on horseback.

Backcountry Ballads is a rugged, heartfelt collection of cowboy poetry about wild mustangs, grizzly encounters, dusty trails, and quiet campfires. These are verses about loyalty and loss, mistakes and triumphs, and the unbreakable bond between rider, horse, and wilderness — written by a man who has lived every line of it.

You will ride with a family fighting for survival, lost on the range. You will meet greenhorns, outlaws, and old campaigners along the trail. You will laugh at midnight mishaps in a line cabin and sit a little quieter through poems of remembrance, aging, and passing the torch to the next generation of riders.

The collection gathers Eric Becker's poems alongside contributions from fellow writers and Backcountry Horsemen of BC members, including Pat Thomas and Joy Kessels — thirteen member-contributed pieces that carry the same dust, humor, and heart as the rest.

Whether you ride, used to ride, or just love the West, these ballads belong on your shelf.