Category Archives: Life Lessons

South Dakota storm

Close to twenty years ago, I drove from Miles City, MT to Belle Fourche, SD.  For some reason it struck me as the place I needed to live.  Western South Dakota in my mind is one of the really great ranching areas in the U.S.

I also found at the time it was one of the least expensive places to purchase land.  We bought a place North of Nisland, SD. It was the perfect place for all the things I wanted to do. Things in my life changed and we ended up selling it.  We have been back and forth to South Dakota several times and have owned some real nice places but I think we made a big mistake in selling the place in Nisland.  Another word for mistakes is experience.

Rial, my Son always liked South Dakota and went to work on a ranch near Faith.  He learned a bunch about the harshness and the productiveness of the environment.  We were discussing the recent South Dakota storm and he questioned the running of livestock there.

He always has a way of looking at things that set me to thinking.  We were tearing out some old fence on a place we had in Newell, South Dakota. He wondered what the people that put it up some 30 or 40 years before were discussing. It probably had something to do with the weather.

It was just a few years back that many of the ranchers in that area lost a lot of the livestock due to an late spring storm.  Then 2011 had the huge drought in the south and hay prices were very high.  Most of the excess hay was sold and trucked out of the country.  Then South Dakota had a terrible drought and the hay crop and grazing was real short.  Hay prices doubled if you could find any at all.  2013 was a great crop year and pastures were very good. When I drove through the area in August it was like driving though it in May.

Everything seemed to be great.  Then this storm hit.  It is so incredible how hard Mother Nature can be.  It is also incredible how in this day and age of communication, technology and equipment how we still have no real defense against the power of nature.

Looking back on the last five years of extreme weather in South Dakota, Rial may be justified in his statement.  We may need to ask a few more questions and try to make management decisions based on these questions.

Has the weather always been this extreme or are we in a different weather pattern?

Can we change management practices to deal with extreme conditions?

If we do experience losses should the government be obligated to help financially even though history shows the risks?

What will public opinion be?

We hear all the time how animals should be free range.  Now I hear how people are questioning the ranchers care of the livestock.  They are being criticized for not having them in shelter.

Weather has always been the big influence in profit or loss in agriculture.  It seems it will always be.  South Dakota is extreme climate country.  It can be bitter cold in the winter, and scorching hot in the summer. Flooding, drought, snow, wind – South Dakota has it all.

From what I have seen, it is wise to have a years worth of feed in stockpile.  With the uncertain weather conditions it looks like it is real difficult to have a set stocking rate.  With the extreme climate conditions I think I would want to run all my livestock from about the middle of May to about the first of September.  From what I have seen in the past this is the only way to keep from the extreme harshness of South Dakota weather from getting you.

What I am going to say now is as harsh as the climate in South Dakota.  We must be honest and face reality.  When you are in the livestock business there are chances for loss from extremes in the weather.  If we keep doing things over and over and it is not working that is crazy.  This last storm was a terrible thing.  All these storms are terrible and devastating to ranchers especially if they are impossible to prepare for.

I go back to Rial’s question of “Should we be trying to ranch in Western South Dakota?” I think so, but we better really pay attention and maybe the best thing to do is to shut off all the technology and get to the highest point on the ranch, sit down and look and think things over for a few hours with no distractions.  Ask the important questions and find the best answers.  We must blend today’s technology with yesterday’s traditions.

South Dakota ranchers are tough people.  It is a terrible thing they have gone through.  I really feel for them, but know if they are tough enough they will stay and continue, if not they will go away.  This is called the survival of the fittest, and it’s the way of the land in South Dakota. It always has been and it always will be.

For the rest of us, let this be a lesson.  The power of nature should never be forgotten.  Don’t get careless.  Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

If you want to help you can check out the South Dakota Rancher Relief Fund started by the Black Hills Area Community Foundation.

~ Curt Pate

Convenience Store Critcism

I was traveling home from Colorado a while back and we stopped in Sheridan, Wyoming to fuel up at about 11pm.  While in the store a ranch couple came in and I introduced myself. The gentleman had seen me do a demonstration in Florida and was a little critical about how I worked the cattle.

I didn’t really expect to be criticized in the middle of the night in a C-store, but I have been getting pretty used to the criticism. He was not wrong in criticizing me, but I feel he missed the real problem and mistake I made.  He said I had to many cattle in the “Bud Box.”  I am not sure if that really mattered, because the real mistake I made was not preparing the cattle better before I went into the box with them. The Brahman bulls we were working were a stick-together kinda bunch.

I had talked too long and did not take the time to get them ready for working in the box properly. I could not only bring part of them so I just went with what I could in the time I had.  I learned from the first demo and then got along pretty well in the following 5 or 6 that we did.

I learned from my mistakes.  The challenge is when you do things in public everyone sees the mistake, but never see what you learn from the mistake.

It bothers me when people criticize me, as it does a lot of people.  I am doing my best to help folks figure out better ways to work with animals.  I never “pre-prepare” animals to work if I am in control.  I just let ‘er roll and see what happens.  If it works like it says in the books and movies that’s great. If it is a wreck, I feel people learn how to adjust to fit a situation or see how not to do something.  For me this is the only way I will do things or I would not enjoy my work.

If I get criticized by someone who is really good at something that does not bother me much, especially if they tell me to my face.  The ones that really bother me are the ones that don’t have the guts to talk to me about it.

I offended a friend one time by questioning the “one rein stop” in horsemanship and he did not hesitate to give me his opinion.  We are not friends anymore so I guess we really were not that good of friends.  Buster MacLaury read the same article, did not agree with it, wrote his own article explaining his thoughts, and I and many more people learned from his point of view.  I hope we are still friends, because he is a very good person to horses and humans.

One of the reasons I started writing this so called “Scoop Loop” is because of a criticism written about me in the Stockmanship Journal.  I am so thankful to Whit and Lynn, because I am enjoying writing so much, and I feel I am getting better at sharing and learning my ideas on stockmanship and stewardship.

I am guilty of being very critical of some of the folks in the horsemanship world.  I had to learn that not everyone has the same ideas.  I don’t like to sell things to people to make them a better horseman, and actually think it takes away from the actual horsemanship skills. But I now realize if you offer someone a shortcut, or what seems to be a shortcut, they will take it.  That’s just the way it is.  Who am I to judge someone for paying the bills on someone else’s needs?

The challenge for me is when I feel horsemen are putting too much or the wrong kind of pressure on an animal and then it has trouble with the pressure.  You must do too much to learn how much is too much, but I feel we should be way farther along in this area.  Many of the horse clinicians I have seen put a lot of pressure on, but talk about how natural or kind they are being to the horse. I hope they are learning from their experiences.

So I have quit being critical of others to others.  I think what I think but mostly keep it to myself. Most people involved in the cattle business are really trying to help cattle handling improve.  We may have different ideas and methods, but pretty much everyone has the animals’ best interest in mind.  This is a very good thing.

I worry when I hear talk of the Bud box being superior to the tub, or curved alleys being better than straight , or what kind of driving aid is the best.  This is the same as which halter or lead rope is best in the horse world.  The main focus needs to be on the skill of handling not what is your choice of equipment.

A problem that I think happens is when we become enamored with an instructor, and try to do everything how they did it.  From what I have observed, it is very hard to be someone else and interpret the way they think.  It would be way better to learn from someone but use their knowledge in your own style, not in a copying manner.  Just because you have the same hat, saddle, or use the same equipment or words, and try to move in the same manner does not mean you will be successful.

Tom Dorrance said many times you should feel like you could ride your horse up a telephone pole or down a gopher hole.  I doubt he told anyone what type of equipment to use to do it, and I am pretty positive he did not try to sell them the equipment if he did suggest something.

So I apologize for any unfounded criticism I have thrown out there.  Also I hope people know that when I voice my opinion it is my opinion, and just because it may be different than there own, I not trying to offend, and if I think your opinion is worth listening to I will try to learn from it.

I still don’t like to be criticized, but it is certainly a good way to fuel my fire to get better.
So thanks to all of you that have criticized me publicly.  I am sure plenty of folks are pretty critical of what I do in private discussions as well.  I know in my heart I am trying to do the right thing for humans and animals, and am willing to make mistakes, but hopefully not the same ones over to many times.

The one person that I get concerned with when she criticizes me is my wife, Tammy. She has stuck with me and supported me through all my mistakes, and had the confidence in me to know I would get it figured out.  When she has criticized, I am really in the wrong and she has not missed on that too many times. Now that is a good wife!

Buck Brannamann gave me a copy of the The Man in the Arena a long time ago.  It is very good and maybe everyone should look at it once in a while.

~ Curt Pate

roosevelt

Scoop loop

It’s time to do a little re-riding. I have been going at this writing business for quite a while now and am really enjoying doing it. I have time when I am traveling by air that I used to fill by reading or trying to watch all the women and keep up on all the latest fashions for my wife.

What it does for me is really makes me think about a topic and try to explain my way of thinking about it. It is real important for me to get my feelings known without offending anyone too much, but also be man enough to stand up for what I believe.

The goal for me in doing this is to promote proper stewardship of our resources, and the proper care and handling of all animals, including humans.

The person that makes all this happen after I finish putting my thoughts on paper is Jesse Bussard. I really wish I had paid attention in school more. I must have been preparing myself for watching women’s fashion later in life to help my wife, because I sure missed a bunch of the things you are supposed to know. Jesse fixes all that and then puts it on the air.

It’s never late and she doesn’t make mistakes. If she wasn’t so dang opinionated and independent she might even be married. She also edits some things she does not think are appropriate. All kidding aside, she does more than I expect and I enjoy paying her for her skills.

Jesse tells me some of my posts are too long. I will try to shorten them up a bit. I renamed this from a blog to a scoop loop. I find the name “blog” silly.

In roping one of the most difficult loops to master is the loop called a scoop loop. You must swing and deliver it at a different angle than any other throw. It is a throw that takes lots of thought and dedication to practice to become effective at it. The thing I like about the loop is it can be thrown a short distance if needed and be effective, or you can cover a long distance with a little more energy in your swing and still get the critter you are roping caught.

So that’s what this deal is, a scoop loop. Most of the time the shorter shot is the most effective and you need to keep short, but sometimes you just have to take a longer throw to get the job done.

Again, my main goal is to promote good stockmanship for animals and good stewardship for our land. Hopefully while doing it have some fun, get some emotions going, and get you to appreciating all the wonderful things this life gives us, especially the agricultural way of life.

I sure want to thank everyone that gives me encouragement. It gives me lots of confidence, and the desire to get better at this.

As far as the folks that criticize, I am going to coil my rope up and build another loop for next week. It will be thrown with lots of enthusiasm.

~ Curt Pate