Cody Johnson’s Texas Ranch Dream and Why It Hits Home for Me

By Pauline Reese

Cody, how old were you when you first pictured having a place in Texas with good horses, cattle, and room to raise a family?

He told CBS Mornings he was about eight. I got to know Cody through country music, but that answer took me right back to the ranch where I grew up in East Texas. That’s where I fell in love with horses, the land, and the work that comes with both. I understand why, with all the places music could take him, he wanted a place like that to come home to.

The Dream He Almost Didn’t Believe In

Cody knew what he’d spend his money on if he ever made enough. He wanted land, a house for his family, good horses, and good cattle. Believing he could build that life and make it in country music was another thing. “Truthfully, at my core, I didn’t feel like I was capable of attaining a goal that big,” he said on CBS Mornings.

That’s the part that got me. He could picture the life he wanted long before he believed he could pull it off. Today, he and his wife are raising their family on a Texas ranch.

The Cowboy Behind the Country Songs

After winning CMA Album of the Year for Leather, Cody was telling ABC Audio about shipping calves and bringing in new bulls. When he talked about who he is back home, he put it simply. “I’m the rancher, the husband, the dad.”

Cody, I know that feeling. I’m a country singer, a rancher, a single mom, and a real estate agent. I love being onstage, but when I pull in at home, I’m ready to go check on my horses. And when I hear you sing, I hear some of what made me want to sing country music in the first place. The stories sound like people I know and places I’ve been.

From My Grandfather to My Daughter

Cody talks about taking his kids hunting and fishing when he’s home. That made me think about how much we pass down to our kids just by taking them along.

I rodeoed when I was young, and my grandfather rodeoed before me. He belonged to the Cowboys’ Turtle Association, which later became the Rodeo Cowboys Association and eventually today’s Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, or PRCA.

Now my daughter ropes breakaway in high school rodeo. I still get butterflies when I watch her back into the box. For a second, I think about my grandfather and how much he would’ve loved seeing her there. Then the shoot opens, and all I’m thinking is, Come on, baby.

A Place to Build Your Own Dream

When I help someone look for a place in Texas, I like to ask what they picture doing on a Saturday morning. Maybe they’re saddling a horse. Maybe they’re turning the kids loose to play outside. Maybe they just want to drink a whole cup of coffee on the porch while it’s still hot.

Then we get to the things I’ve learned to look for from living with horses. How’s the fencing? How’s the well? Can you turn a horse trailer around without backing it all the way out to the road?

Cody, I’m glad that little boy who dreamed about good horses and a place to raise a family gets to wake up on that ranch. And if you, the reader has a place of your own pictured in your head, what would you do on your first Saturday morning there? That’s where I’d start looking with you.

Explore Texas homes and ranch properties at ReeseRealEstate.net, and follow along for music, upcoming shows, and life here in Texas.

Sources include Taste of Country’s coverage of Cody’s CBS Mornings interview, ABC Audio, and the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.