I have written before about Agape Boarding school and the great people that help young boys with a little trouble through the horse and God.

When I was there last year I spent a lot of time learning from and being inspired by a cowboy in the truest form from a skill standpoint, try standpoint and a spiritual standpoint.

Tim Mulloy has some rare disease that is taking parts of his body.  He had one leg missing when I was there last year and was still getting horseback and working and getting lots done.  I just found out they have to take his other leg.

They are doing a fundraiser for Tim and this saddle is being donated.

I have more to add to this story.

Several years ago I was at an event where there lots of saddle makers and artists.  If you know anything about western saddle makers in the west Dale en he Harwood is one very well known and respected saddlemaker.  I couldn’t afford one of his saddles and didn’t want to wait the 6 years on the waiting list, but I always wanted one.  Dale and his wife Karen were at the deal and when I got introduced I told Dale how good it was to meet him.  He said he new me when I was a little kid.

My grandfather worked at a big feedlot in Roberts, Idaho and when he went to town he would stop and visit Dale at the saddle shop.  I remember going in there and hanging out, but I didn’t realize it was his “Trails End” saddle shop.

That brought back memories and made me want a “Harwood” even more.

As the story continues I was doing clinics in the Kansas City area and I met a fellow by the name of Tim Trabon.  We hit it off for some reason, and I tell you he truly was the most interesting man I have ever met.(and I have met a lot of interesting men)

Through the years when I would go to the area I would ride his horses and use his gear.  He was a great collector of good gear and had the best.  He new the story and my desire to have a Harwood and always wanted me to ride a wonderful full carved slick fork that fit me just right, when I was there.  He would just leave the stirrups long and not ride it so I could use it the next time.

We had so much fun and I really enjoyed spending time with Tim and his wife Patty and their boys.  They were people that had done very well in life and really lived.

Tim got cancer, spent lots of months in Houston fighting it and getting the most out of life even then.  He wrote me this note one day.

Curt,

I’m getting real tired of storing that Harwood saddle of yours in my tack room
Takes up space and I feel the need to clean it up.
I thought you were more of a responsible guy.
When I get home in February, I’m gonna ship it to you.
Tired of looking at it

Tim

  I told him no, that I would come ride with him when he got home and we would discuss it.  He agreed and I was so much looking forward to riding with my real good friend.

I can’t tell you how many acts of kindness I’ve seen from Tim, but how much crap and guff he could give to his friends.  He was the best storyteller I’ve ever heard (and I’ve heard some good storytellers.)

My friend Tim died.  It really never hit me until I went to visit the family long after his death.  To go his home and family and him not there it really hit me.  I was very sad.  The reason I was there is his wife Patty had read the email that Tim had sent giving me the saddle and she wanted me to have it.

So I now have a full carved Harwood that means so much to me.  Every time I put it on a horse, I have a piece of my memory of my childhood with my grandfather, know I am riding a saddle by a real legendary craftsman that has been an inspiration to lots of folks I know that build saddles, and when I pull up my cinch it always brings me back to a “Tim” story and sometimes I look at the spur tracks he left in the seat. Tim had more buck off story’s than anyone I know,(and I’ve herd a lot of buck off story’s)or think of his hunting bear with a black powder rifle, or how much he loved his family and life and the pride he had in both.  My friend is with me every time I throw my leg over that saddle.

So that’s the start to my saddle stories.  I was going to go about it a little differently than I did, but when the Harwood for Tim’s benefit came up it got my emotions going.  If you need a good saddle that will only gain in value while you ride a great one, check out the benefit for Tim Mulloy.

Contact Riley Olson by email.  Here’s his email.  I’m sure you can find him on Facebook as well.

wycow703@gmail.com

The King of Hearts Ranch that was purchased and I went to work on is now named “4 Suns Ranch” spelled Suns but in honor of the owners four sons.

I think the name is perfect and “fits” the beauty of the country the ranch is in.

I have been horseback a lot.  I feel the best way to learn the land and really see things and learn is from the back of a horse.  You can see out and around as well as down at the grass and the ground.  You go slow enough to see everything and you don’t have be as in tune as with a vehicle, the horse sees the holes and sagebrush, and pick the trail.

The Zupan’s that have the cattle on the place are calving, and I help tag calves when I can.  Weston, one of the Zupan’s 4 Sons (fits the new name)works on a neighbor ranch is who I help tag with and he is real helpful on telling me things about the ranch, hunting and anything I ask, so I think it’s time well spent.  I enjoy working with all the Zupan’s.

It’s been a long time since I have tagged calves and covered lots of country horseback.  I really feel like the knowledge I have accumulated about animal behavior and stockmanship has really helped me set up the catching of these calves in a real positive and safe way.

Most of the calves are pretty young and easy to catch, but a few are a little older and want to go.  Today I had two that I was able to get them to stop and actually come toward me a step or two to get a nice standing shot.

I used the drive, draw and maintain pressure to stop the cow/calf then draw the calf and hook him on and get a nice easy safe shot.  It is so rewarding to use stockmanship skills and get the same satisfaction as a hunter or fisherman, only with stockmanship you are improving life rather than taking it. (So you can take it later)

It’s good sized pastures, lots of trotting and covering some country.  The three horses I am riding are really benefiting from the work and getting much better.

The last couple of days we have had a late spring storm and it’s been cold and snowy.  The ground is slick and it is cold riding but I still think it’s worth it and refuse to do my cattle work on the new side  by side, as my horses eat hay anyway and they only get better when you ride them, and if you find a problem with the machine you probably have to get a horse to solve it anyway.

Two things that I use everyday is my “Greeley” (my cowboy hat) and a saddle.

It’s pretty windy country and it is so good to have a hat that fits good enough to not worry about them blowing of your head.

I wear my older used Greeley’s.  I’ve had them a long time and they are well used but still look “ranchy” and are in good shape and fit good enough to stay on my head.  I don’t leave home without one.

I am going to write a little about my saddles and horses I’ve been riding in the next few weeks.  I think it will provoke some thought and give some insights in saddles and horsemanship.

Son Rial is in Wisconsin with the Sackett’s doing a horse clinic and starting some colts.  In true Rial style I have not heard from him or how it’s going, but I bet he’s making it just fine, and doing good for horses and people.

Wife Tammy is in Oklahoma with Daughter Mesa, who had a horse fall with and broke her ankle.  A word of advice, don’t cowboy outside with sliders on your horse, stay in the arena.

So it’s me and my dogs and horses at the 4Suns Ranch.  The cook is not to good so I’m losing weight, and their is not much else to do so I’m getting lots of work and exploring done, and enjoying the heck out of life.

Texas

I have had so many good experiences in Fort Worth, Texas.  The first being going there with my Grandparents when I was about 20 years old, and having my grandfather re-live some of his history there.  He delivered turkeys for either Swift or Armor, but he made money bare fisted fighting (like the Clint Eastwood movie).  I think he was pretty tough.  We walked around and he told me story’s and went into the stockyards coliseum and he showed me it.

[My Dad, My Grandpa, and my Uncle.  A tough bunch]

I never dreamed I would come back and have lots of things happen in that historic building and town.  I got to start colts and work cattle several times, and watched both my Son Rial and Daughter Mesa compete in events.

Mesa ran barrels and roped, and bucked lots of bulls in the arena at the weekly rodeo.  Rial rode ranch broncs.  I am so glad they both got the experience.

The first event I did in the arena was a event called Hero’s and Friends.  I was working with Purina and they sponsored it, so I demonstrated colt starting in the mornings, and Bob Avila, Ted Robinson, and Todd Bergen were the main stars the rest of the time.  Pretty good company to keep.

Next John Lions and I did a day of demonstrations for “The Horse Industry Alliance “ and they bused thousands of school kids in for the show.  All most of those city kids wanted to do was to pet a horse.  It was at the Will Rodgers Coliseum, and it was so incredible to get to work in that great arena.

I think the next event was “The Road to the Horse (Camino del Caballo).  It was another great experience for the whole family, and as part of our home school we spent a lot of time learning about the history and spending time in the old cattle pens.  It was a great time in our lives as a young family, and even though I didn’t win it is a real good memory and I’m real proud I didn’t compromise my horsemanship just to try to win a contest.  I do remember I did a roping and cattlehandling demo with my dogs and it was really a good one.  I am glad our dogs Roper, Lasso and Johnny Cash got to work in Cowtown.  They really did good.

I might have the order messed up, but the next thing I did was the “Tom Dorrance Benefit”.  It was back at the  John Justin arena at Will Rogers.  It was another great experience that I felt real good about how I got by my colt, and I was very proud to get to be the auctioneer at the benefit auction.  It was really the only time I really interacted with Ray Hunt, and he was running the show and I was selling.  We sold the heck out of things!

I’m going to skip ahead a couple of events and stay with the benefit theme.  We have had a friend and partner in the horse world for many years.  Michael Richardson is a great inspiration and Horseman.  He’s been in a wheel chair for lots of years and does great at helping people with their horses.  He had some real bad luck with injuries and spider bites and all kinds of stuff.  A bunch of us got together and did demonstrations in the stockyards coliseum and raised some money to help him out.  It was good friends helping a good friend that would of done the same for us.  It was a real special time, and It changed my opinions on some of the folks that were a part of it.

The next event was a real life changer.  I had been trying to do more cattle handling demos.  Charlie Trayer and I did some together for Ernie Rodina and I knew they had value, but it was mostly the horse crowd that was watching and they enjoyed them but it was more entertainment.

I was contacted by a fellow named Todd McCartney with the Texas and Southwest Cattleraisers Association.  He wanted to do a live cattlehandling demo for the convention.  It ended up I did the horseback portion, Joel Hamm did the on foot work, and Charlie Trayer did a cattlehandling with dogs.

It went real good, and Rene Loyd with the NCBA was watching and asked if we would all be willing to do it at the National Convention in Denver.  We did and it was very well received and the Stockmanship and Stewardship program was born.  Cattle handling demonstrations have been a part of every national convention since, and I don’t know how many demos I’ve done demonstrating cattlehandling around North America, but it has been a bunch, and it all got started because of Todd and the “gigg” in Fort Worth.

It’s real fun to be working cattle horseback in downtown Reno, or Tampa, or even New Orleans in front of some of the real progressive cattle producers in the country.

I been back to the TSCRA convention three times doing demos.  They have been in the convention center in downtown FW.  My now very good friend Todd McCartney, brought me his son “Young Ben”(think Lonesome Dove) very nice horse so it was easy for me to be in the right place at the right time. 

Everything worked great, We got to see lots of old friends and make some new ones, and my kinfolk from Coleman, Texas, Chris and Cindy Jamison spent some time with us, and I even got time to go down to the Stockyards and share some Ideas with the Fort Worth Herd Drovers,(I so much believe in and admire what they do).  To top it all off we went and had breakfast at Esperanzas, my favorite place to eat breakfast in the world.

So it was a great way to finish up my last big run I told you about.  I hope it’s not the last time I get to work in “Cowtown”, and who knows maybe I can take my Grandson “Neo” and show him around when he gets to where he would appreciate it.  Maybe his dad will help him on a Bronc in there some day.