My son Rial pointed out to the folks at the Tribe Cattle Co that I would try do anything not to use a side by side or four wheeler after we had used a saddle horse to take down and put up a new grazing paddock.  I had never thought of it before but it’s true.

The reason is that I always have horses that need to be Improved.  The way to do that is to use them in a way that gets them better.

Lots of people don’t see the value in it, but if you plan things and set things up, you can get lots of things done at the same time and really increase the value of time spent and the quality of your job satisfaction, if you enjoy being horseback.

The advantage of being on a small place is you can ride lots of horses.  If you are in big country, you have to be careful to ride a horse with lots of bottom to them or you’ll ride the fire or try out of them.  You’ll make some awful good horses, just not very many of them.  It’s easy to get five or six horses a day ridden on a smaller place and have real work with a purpose rather than going around and around in an arena.  What’s even better is to work in the arena a little bit and then get out and do some real work(doesn’t have to be cow work).

I like to start my morning jingling the horses in from pasture.  It’s the best way to get a horse straight and moving forward with lots of life.  Then I like to finish my day taking the cavvy back out to pasture in the evening.  I start and end my work day the best way I know.

Remember, every time you start an engine and drive a machine it decreases in value.  Every time you saddle a horse and get them handier and safer he increases in value.  The way horses are selling now, they really increase in value!

Here’s a few YouTube videos that show some of the things I like to do horseback.

Heres some video from the demo in North Dakota. Some real nice heifers to work, My own horse to ride, and a good arena to work in.

I slept in my own bed last night after a couple months of being somewhere else.  It sure feels good to wake up early, sit in my chair drinking coffee with our cat Helga on my lap and enjoying the comfort of our small cabin home.

I have enjoyed being in Arkansas at the Tribe Cattle Co and living in our mobile cow camp, and wife Tammy and I just had a wonderful trip home via Wisconsin for a clinic at Devils Hole Ranch, then on to the country I really love, southwest North Dakota and northwest South Dakota (funny).  

We spent a couple of days in Hettinger, North Dakota in a sea of grass and good people.  We haven’t been on a clinic road trip together for a long time and it was just great.  We had three horses, five dogs and a semi with a sleeper.  

It was just like the old days of travel on the road.  We found a sale barn the first night and slept in the truck.  Our horses spent the night with goats, mules, pigs and cattle in the barn.  I’m not sure how well they slept!

I bought a big stock trailer with lots of cuts and it is great for hauling my horses.  I had bedded it with grass hay and put some alfalfa in the corners when I loaded so they were loose and could eat and stand how they were comfortable. I try to be a good truck driver and shift smooth and make it as comfortable as possible for our horses.  My semi has a two hundred gallon water tank so when we stop I can give them water that they are used to.  It’s a great way to haul horses, and the dogs have a compartment with dog boxes and lots of places to get comfortable.

It’s really important to me to have my animals as comfortable and content as possible wherever they are, and hauling them loose in a big trailer sure is nice.

We got to the Devils hole in Northwestern Wisconsin, and man what a beautiful place.  Steep rugged cow country!  We spent three days moving cattle in different pastures to new grass, and enjoying the family and guests, eating good food and discussing stockmanship and life.  It’s a laid back place with crazy people so we fit right in!  

The Menns family are good people and know how to make you feel comfortable and content, just like my horses in the trailer.  It’s a great place.

We finished up on Memorial Day afternoon and headed west as we had about a thirteen hour trip so we wanted to split it into two days.  We traveled for a few hours and then Tammy figured out we were driving into bad storms.  We went to Austin, Minnesota and found the fairgrounds.  

They had an arena but no pens.  Tammy called the grounds keeper and he came and unlocked the arena and a bathroom for us.  We parked next to the arena, had a great place for horses and dogs, slept in the sleeper of truck and didn’t have to worry about a tornado!  A great fairgrounds with a very nice man taking care of it and us.

It is so nice to get up step out of truck load horses and go.  I cleaned up the arena, loaded horses and dogs and we were loaded and ready to go by six a.m.  

We made the trip across Minnesota, South Dakota and then into North Dakota to the great town of Hettinger.  Shawn and Cat Weinert were  our host’s and we fell in love with their wonderful family. Great kids being raised comfortable and content, and getting exposed to all the wonders of the world.  

We spent two days in Hettinger doing a stockmanship demo one day and a horsemanship clinic for 4H group the next day.  We finished up with the kids and headed for home.  A beautiful drive with the excitement of getting home.

It feels so good to pull into the yard and get the horses and dogs back to where they are the most comfortable and content, just like us, home.

The theme here has been comfortable and content.  We need it, our children need it, our animals need it. It is what creates quality of life.

If you can create comfort and content in your life, in your animals life and your family and friends life, you will have the best quality of life.

My wife is incredible.  Every place we go she fits in and does what needs to be done.  She’s willing to stay in the semi sleeper at a sale barn, jump in and help cook and clean at the guest ranch, talk to everyone and make them feel good, help people with their horses and look good doing it.  She is amazing. 

We used to be on the road as a family a bunch. We learned to be comfortable and content as a family, and now Tammy and I are comfortable and content at home, but still got it when we are on the road.

Quality of life is about being comfortable and content.  This is for our animals and us.  It is so important to create this in your life, and enhance it in the lives you come in contact with.

It’s sure good to be home!