Bob left the rodeo arena in 1978, he continues to train horses and write cowboy poetry at the old place in Stowell, TX. In Bob’s book, ‘Poems and Stories of a Saltgrass Cowboy’ he wrote about the White Ranch in Stowell, "I break horses for this Ranch, which inspired me to write this poem about the old days. The Crossed W, their brand, is not only a brand for cattle but a symbol of ranching tradition.
Leading Horses For White Ranch
By Bob Kahla
I'uz ridin' broncs for the W crossed,
"Tween me and them weren't no love lost.
I wasn't fond of them
And they most surely musta hated me.
I knew they did by the way they'd fight
And buck and beller with all their might
And fill my life
With pain and misery.
I caught this snake one summer day
And started out to earn my pay.
To think a cowboy's
What I thought I'd wanna be.
Them was the days of the loin disease
And cowboys could chew up bones and trees
And anything else
They thought might give 'em ease.
I roped this cow with a bone in her mouth.
I laid a trip and I headed south.
I'll tell you how
That outlaw broke an egg in me.
We stretched the twine, and he laid her down,
And fore my foot near hit the ground,
He broke in two
And went as high as any horse could ever be.
Well, he bucked and he bellered
And he swallered his head.
I thought, oh no! This time I'm dead.
Salt grass marsh and gator holes
As far as my two weary eyes could see.
Well, I landed face first on the ground,
Right by a big ole muskrat mound.
By now the taste
Of mud and dirt was nothin' new to me.
When I come to and begin to talk,
I told that bronc for that you'll walk.
Back to White's Ranch,
You'll walk, you wait and see.
Well, I led that horse ten miles that day.
I guess I really made him pay.
I showed that bronc,
There ain't no horse could get the best of me.
Bob’s mother taught first grade for many years and read poetry to Bob when he was young. Bob credits his mother for instilling in him he love of poetry. The following information is written in his book, "Bob goes to the area schools, when invited, which is often. He dresses in his cowboy outfit from head to toe; wearing boots, spurs, chaps, hat, bandana, and all the other trappings of a cowboy and tells his poems and stories to the students. Bob once brought his horse and let one hundred and thirty-two second grade kids have a ride. “It is important to teach the children that a cowboy can be literate and sensitive as well as being tough,” Bob has been known to say. “Be strong enough to be gentle.”