Jet lag is an interesting thing. I don’t know but I imagine it is how you feel after a drug high. It sure leaves your mind not working as normal.

I flew to San Antonio, Texas from Hawaii and went to work for Texas Cattle Feeders the next morning. TexAnna Feeders is one feedlot I always enjoy visiting. Jason Peeler and his family are not normal people. They all have this spark and ambition and a way of looking at things a little different and it really inspires me every time I go there. Had a long visit with Jason, and his son Ben showed up and he has his own style to keep the Peeler thing going.

Head cowboy Brad and his band of immortals (from the movie “Tombstone”)always impress me. They can get it done in any situation and do it with the right amount of pressure for the job. They exemplify what I feel a Texas cowboy should be.

We had a nice turnout for the day with other feedyards from the area attending and everything worked out good. Rode a nice horse, cattle worked good and they were very receptive to improving Beef Quality Assurance and cattle handling.

Great day, but I really don’t know what I said or did, and I had a tough time driving to Kingsville. Ben Weinheimer and Matt Davis of Texas Cattle Feeders treated me to the “Kings Inn” for supper and I was at the beach in the Gulf of Mexico. The seafood and the beaches are a little different in Texas and Hawaii.

Next morning we are at “Howell Feeders ” and we were treated with the great hospitality that I always find in Texas. They have a certain pride and a certain style of cowboy culture in this area as I found in Hawaii. Great place, great cattleman, great meal.

Mexicans will humble you. I’m not being prejudice here. I’m talking about cattle that have a “M” brand. This means they were imported from Mexico. After all the nice success in Hawaii at working cattle, a big old Mexican steer decided I was getting a little big for my britches and fed me a little humble Mexican pie. Everything I tried to do he did just the opposite.

I really enjoy watching and working with these cattle. You really need to read them for what they need, and some of them have a lot of feel, and some are just dull to any human pressure. That steer gave me much to think about and learn from. The rest of the work, pulling a pen, and processing through a tub system went pretty good.

Everything I did here was in total contrast to the time spent in Hawaii. Grass finished to grain finished. 98 degrees from 75. Cattle confined in pens to cattle in big open pastures.
Here’s the amazing thing. I think the cattle and the humans were just a content or more content in Texas! It’s all about attitude.

This is something we as humans need to realize and understand. The cattle in both places were content in either situation as long as they have feed and water and have the proper pressure put on or taken off by the human. We as stockman need to realize this and we need to help consumers of beef realize this.

The King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management has 6 students a year, 3 first year, 3 second year. They are prepared to manage large livestock operations. Ron Gill and I have presented at their symposium a couple of times and they do big things for the industry. I visited with Clay Mathis and Rick Machen , who head up the program, then we had a nice informal visit with some of the students. They were great, we shared ideas, I learned a bunch and feel much better about the future of big ranch operations after my visit. Check it out at “krirm.tamuk.edu”

I have just learned that Cargill has sold the Leoti and Yuma feedyards. I have been working with Katie Holcolm at these yards for the last few years. I am going to miss spending time with her and all the great folks we worked with at the yards, both in the office and out in the pens. Katie, you made a difference.

I can’t tell how proud I am to be a part of the livestock industry. The people I get to work with everyday are just salt of the earth solid people. That is from organization leaders like Katie, Ben, Matt, Clay and Rick to the pen riders and cowboys I have been working along side for the past few weeks.We don’t do everything perfect, but we’re working on it.The protein we produce is so important to the world. We will just keep getting better at it.

Well this is it.  I’m at the airport headed for Texas.  Tammy and I had a nice supper and she dropped me off at airport.

We did a lot of reflecting on the past 12 days today.  It has been the most rewarding hardest work we have done since last time.  It feels good to be plum wore out at the end of the day from doing real work, not from talking or flying on a plane.

There have been some changes since the last time we were here. I saw some real nice upgrades on facilities that really improved the availability of feed and water for these newly weaned calves.  I really missed a couple of guys that are no longer on the crew, but their life is going on as well as the ranch is surviving without them.  I was very surprised at how good the calves weaned and how much change the guys had made in their behavior.  I learned that my style of horsemanship might not work for Parker Ranch horses and the way they ride.  I understand and even though I won’t change the way I work horses, I have no hard feelings.  We tried and it didn’t work very well.

I made some mistakes along the way.  I am really seeing the challenges of dealing with big crews and boss’s.  I really believe that everything in life is about pressure, and we need to learn driving pressure, drawing pressure and maintaining pressure. This may be more important to get good at with people than animals.

If you try to drive Stockmanship before someone is ready for the pressure, it just doesn’t seem to work.  I feel the first step is to draw people to an idea, get them hooked on, and then you can use the proper amount of driving pressure, then develop the curiosity to maintain the draw.

For me I have my own style to try to do this.  I just don’t think it works to shove it down someone’s throat.  The mistake I made is using the wrong pressure on some people, but that’s how you learn.  Most of them put up with me and we learned from each other.  The other thing that is important before you start is to make sure everyone in charge wants what you are going to try to do.

I visited a horse operation today, and the crew there didn’t agree with some of the bosses ideas, and when the boss was away they did what they thought was right.

This is why I feel it’s important to make sure you draw the change, and make sure it works for everyone, or you will have discontent and you won’t get the buy in you need to make it work.

I have been watching people for years that get real interested in a certain horseman and the style of horsemanship they present.  They are “drawn” to it until they will drive you crazy.  Folks that are followers of Bud Williams are the same way.  It is like a religion.  The folks that decide it is good and are passionate about it want to get everything they can learn.

Other people feel we are crazy and don’t believe in the horsemanship or Stockmanship that some are so passionate about.  I think it is important to be able to show why it is a good thing and have the skills when showing it to make sure it works and make some kind of sense.

So to everyone at Parker Ranch, a big thank you for all the hospitality and effort you put out to make us feel so welcome.  Tammy and I love the culture, the food, the people, the animals and the land in Hawaii.

I hope those of you from other parts of the world enjoyed our little glimpse of our life for a few weeks on this great ranch.

Ill leave you with this you tube video as a tribute to the Poniolo culture.

Jason Van Tassel and I headed up to Wakii to “prowl” on the calves we turned out yesterday.  That’s a term Ron Gill uses for checking cattle and Jason mentioned how he liked that term, and I Agee.  My old boss at Sieben Ranch, Clark Atkinson used the same term.

I was worried the heifers would be walking the fences, as we didn’t get them out and settled as good as I would have liked the day before.  We rode up where we could see them, and they were all bedded down or grazing and looking real content.  We rode to them and they weren’t concerned at all.  We did just the opposite of what I thought we were going to do.  We got them up and drifted them up to water.  Jason thought it would be good to prepare them for the gather for shipping in a month, by teaching them to move.  Good thinking.

We just happened to be in the same pasture that started this whole process three years ago, when rode over a hill, the cattle saw us and ran like a heard of antelope, and we had a hard time getting them stopped.  That day started this whole process.

We rode to the steers and same thing.  They were real content and the grass was better in this pasture and they were all in the lush spots grazing or laying down.  We picked them up and drifted them towards water.

We talked cattle and ranch and family and religion and morals and people and how it all tied together.  It was a very relaxed and enjoyable few hours spent enjoying the results of what we set out to do three years ago.

We rode back to the pens and one of the “what nots”, small calves that don’t fit the bunch, that were still in the corral bawled and we thought he was needing attention, so we got our ropes down.

About the time we got one necked it started raining really hard, and two grown men, that had just been discussing how smart and what good stockman we were, were getting soaked, roping cattle that didn’t need to be roped, for no real reason but that we enjoyed it(even though I was not roping very good).

We were actually doing some good.  The young horse I was riding needed it.  He was got real good after holding a few calves.  Jason and I got better at settling a calf on the end a rope by the proper release of pressure.  Jason needed to do something he does not get to do much, as this style of roping is not very popular here.  I got to rope with my “skin rope” which is the  poniolo name for a reata, on my Hawaii tree saddle.  When we were done we were soaked, muddy, and satisfied.  A good hour spent.

I got a nice surprise when I got home.  One of my favorite people in the world to be around was coming over for supper with his family.  Bill Ferreira lived with us in Montana for several years.  He has a life philosophy that I really enjoy.

He also happened to be the one that created the skin rope I used earlier.  He brought some reins he is working on to show us.  He is creating usable art out of the hides of the very animals that they will be used to help manage.  It is to good of quality to hang on a wall.

Bill and his wife Ali, have twins that are 4 years old, and we really are proud to have them as friends.  Bill was a great influence on our kids, and it is great to see him so happy.  Ali lights up the room with happy!

Today was a much more relaxed and laid back day then the past ten.  It was just what I needed.