Category Archives: Stockmanship

Cowboy music

I really enjoy what I call cowboy music.  When I was in high school Chris LeDoux was my favorite. Red Steagall was added in my college rodeo days.  Ian Tyson, Tom Russell, Dave Stamey, R.W. Hampton, Don Edwards, Wylie and the Wild West to name a few sure helped myself and family enjoy our barn and riding lots of horses.

This song and these images by my friend Stocklein say it all as it pertains to this weeks subject in my blog.  Many of the people in the photos helped me or inspired me to improve.

Matt Robertson, a Wyoming boy, with a Canadian wife, is a great new talent in the cowboy world and also writing and singing about it. Corb Lund, Linda Thurston, and Adrian Brannan are some of my new favorites.

I have not put very much “cowboy” music on the Friday feel good music because it is real hard to find cowboy music that fits the theme I am trying to talk about.

I have listened to Marty Robbins for as long as I can remember, probably before I was born.
I used to sing “160 Acres In The Valley” when I was riding my pony Pee Wee, dreaming about my outfit I wanted to have.

Most of the cowboy music is about things that may not go along with what we are discussing here.  The songs portray some of the same skills and lifestyles that we are trying to overcome in having the livestock industry fit with modern day production and the consumer of this period in history.

I think this is a very important issue to look at.

First things first.  We have to define what we are talking about.  Cowboy is the most common word to describe our western tradition of handling cattle horseback, but in some regions they would rather be called a “buckaroo.”  I prefer the term “stockman” for myself, because it pertains to not only the handling of, but care of the animal as well.

The cowboy really came from the southwest (Texas and surrounding states).  This is harsh country, and after the Civil War times were tough. If you had the skills, it was possible to capture wild cattle and make a living from those skills.  These were wild dangerous cattle, in wild dangerous country, and it took wild dangerous men and women to do it.  The cattle did not belong to anyone, so you had no ownership to tell you how to do things, and if you could not capture them quickly, and get control of them they would be someone else’s to capture.

This created a cowboy that had the skills to get ‘er done and get it done now with no room for error.  They were not concerned too much with style, just getting the animal in their control before someone else did, or the beef learned how to escape them. This created gear that was tough, horses that were tough, and cowboys that were double tough.

The buckaroo name derived from the Spanish word “vaquero.”  It meant a cattle driver.  This style was developed from the “Californio” region where the Catholic Missions controlled much of the livestock grazing areas.  This was paradise for raising and caring for cattle. The vaquero did not have to concern himself with anything other than the skills of horsemanship and handling cattle. The Missions had peons and slaves to do other work.  This created real style and finesse in the horsemanship, roping skills, and cattle handling.  They were able to take time to create gear that was not only useful, but showed pride in craftsmanship. They had highly trained horses and cattle that were easy to handle because of the owners’ requirements, as well the time to teach them to handle.

This was the two main styles of cattle workers in west.  As time went on and cattle ranching expanded the style went with the expansion.  My home state of Montana is a perfect example of this.  In western Montana the Californio style was more prevalent. Across the continental divide on the eastern side you saw a strong Texas influence, because of the trail herds coming from the south.

This is a modern look at ranching with a great song that I feel shows the “feel” the Texas drovers had for the cattle they were in care of.

We have seen a huge change in the ranch or stock horse in the past decades.  This is mainly because of the work of Ray Hunt.  He traveled the country showing people how to work with their horses.  The so called “old way” of horsemanship has changed so much in the past years and now it is becoming the norm to work with the horse rather than forcing the horse to do what we need of it.  I don’t believe this is something new, and I don’t believe only the people doing clinics were or are doing it.  I also don’t believe every one who did things the “old way” did things that were abusive to horses.

Ray Hunt was the first and most mentioned person I am aware of to do clinics in this style (Monty Forman also did clinics, but it was more on performance horses).  Ray was the pioneer and many have since followed.  Next we had video, then television made it possible to get information without actually being with the teacher, and the Internet has been great for getting information.  This has been great, and some have even called it the horsemanship “revolution.”

I would say that much of this style of horsemanship came from the Californio tradition, as well as some of the methods of the Calvary.

This goes back to the environments and lifestyles of the time and traditions in California and Texas.  The Texans had no choice but to get ‘er done to survive, and survive and thrive they did.

They were the best at what was required of them and really fit the time they were in.  I’m not saying the Californian style was all easy, but I do think they had it easier, as far a survival, than the Texas and southwest waddies .

I remember how people used to question, and even criticize Ray Hunt when he would come to town. Many people did not even know what he was doing but still criticized it.  As time went on it became more of the norm, as more and more people started doing it. Now it is accepted by most, not all as a good thing.

Horses for most people are a source of pride and pleasure, even if they use them for their livelihood.  This type of horsemanship is popular all over, even in Texas.  Times have changed. The way we do things can change for the better.

I want you to know I was not friends with Ray Hunt (he really made me nervous and afraid I would do the wrong thing) but I was fascinated by his skills in working with a horse.  Ray Hunt dressed like a cowboy or buckaroo, had all the skills it took to be a top hand.  He seemed to be in perfect balance with a horse no matter if it was standing still, bucking, or any thing in between, and was an excellent roper. He could get a horse to perform at the top of its athletic ability, had a wealth of experience, and could read livestock well.  He had the skills to be just as tough and rough on horses as anyone going.  He could have roped and choked, tied horses down and thrown a tarp over them, tied their heads around for hours, or many other things that have been done to horses in the name of western training methods.  But he did not do these things.  Instead, he worked with what he spoke of as “feel, timing, and balance.”  Other horseman had the same style of gear, same clothes, the same physical skills, but not the same feel, timing, and balance.  This makes the difference.

When we talk about cattle handling in the western tradition,  it is much the same as western-style horse handling.  You must have skills.  You can not read a book or watch a video, and simply walk out of the house and start a colt or rope a bull, and you would probably have a hard time even moving cattle if you had no previous experience. It is a learning process.  The more you work at improving the skill the better you should get at it. The physical skills must be there, but how you use them is the important part.  I think this is where feel, timing and balance become important.

The main motivation for livestock to do anything is pressure.

Feel is applying the proper pressure to get the animal to do what you would like it to do.

Timing is applying pressure when the animal has the ability to respond first with the mind, then with the body, and reducing or taking pressure off after the animal responds to pressure.

Balance is combining feel and timing of pressure to keep the animal in a thinking state, rather than in a survival state.  This creates trust and acceptance of the pressure, and allows the animal to learn or think its way out of the pressure.

The reason I think the type of horsemanship Ray Hunt brought us has become so popular is because first of all it is real.  If you develop skill and use feel, timing and balance to use those skills, you will get better results in a much better way, for the animal and the human. The other thing that has been so great, is that when people start using feel, timing and balance with the horsemanship, they learn to use it in their human relationships as well, and that is when quality of life really goes up.

If you are a horseman and you have not experienced the feeling of working with the horse to get what you want, I feel you are missing out on great personal satisfaction. To me there is an added satisfaction in taking responsibility to not expose the horse to unnecessary pressure simply for human pleasure, or what seems to be pleasure, but for many turns to frustration.

In the cattle business we must handle cattle.  No matter what type of operation at some point we must control the movement and placement of the cattle. This handling will cause some amount of stress to the animal. If it is excessive it can cause problems that effect production and therefore profit, quality of life for animals and humans, and could create a negative desire for the consumer of beef.

Much of the cattle handling that is done in modern age is done in the horseback traditions. If we really want to improve cattle handling, this is the most important and most difficult place to make change.  The reason are similar to the reasons Ray Hunt created some animosity at first.

Let me list some reasons I think cowboys and buckaroos are skeptical.

  • To force and fight animals takes talent and skill that is exclusive to a certain group, and if you make it so everyone can do it cowboys and buckaroos loose some status.
  • It is exciting and fun to do the high pressure types of cattle handling.
  • There is much honor in being a good cow fighter.  It is easy to see the skills it takes to rope a wild cow, or cut a animal out of a bunch with a athletic cutting horse, or make a hard run to turn a steer.  We show case these skills in cutting horse contests, team penning, ranch roping, ranch horse competition, and ranch rodeo.
  • The majority of the cowboys and buckaroos are young with a need to live on the edge and be wild and free.
  • You must have control of you emotions.

I know these reasons are true because I have lived it.  I am so thankful I have had the opportunity to work around some great hands.  I developed my cow fighting skills and feel I was very good at it.  The lucky thing for me is that I got to experience how real and effective horsemanship can be with skill and feel, timing, and balance and was able to see this would also improve the way I worked with cattle.

I feel the late Ray Hunt did so much to help horses and people have a better deal.  In the cattle business we can benefit greatly from this style.

No matter if you are of the “Texas” or “California” tradition or a mix of both, if you add feel, timing, and balance to the tradition of cattle handling you will add to and improve the tradition, as well as improve quality of life for every one involved.

I have spent many years working on this and hope with my sharing of ideas through print and live demonstrations, it will help you on the journey to become better at working with animals.  I take it very seriously and hope you do as well.  It is important to improve.

I feel it is very hard to teach someone better cattle handling skills, but it is very easy to learn better cattle handling skills.  All you need is the desire and the time and you will get better. Learn as much as you can, figure out what will work for you, put effort into it and you will be on your way to improvement.

As a tribute to Ray Hunt and all the other great livestock handlers before us lets not forget.

FEEL. TIMING. BALANCE.

~ Curt Pate

Mother Nature and stress

Everyone is talking about stress these days. Lots of things are being researched and discussed. I find it interesting that people are wanting to know the financial impact or the effect on the quality of beef.

To me as a person with the responsibility of caring for livestock it is my duty to learn and implement the very best management practices possible to care for the animal.

By observing nature we should be able to see the things it provides that are good for animals and replicate these in our care. We also have the advantage of technology and infrastructure to help us decrease stress and improve our ability to raise animals.

It is my observation that we often try to fight Mother Nature. People seem to take great pride in this. We all have heard or told stories about how tough the calving season was, how we forced the cattle to do this, or how much money we spent on a facility to get the cattle to go where we want them to go. This shows how smart and how tough we are, but it may not always be the best.

The two things we do to animals that make the most impact are fences that restrict movement and control the breeding season.

When a fence is around an animal we control what it eats, and control the animals freedom of movement. If we look back to the time of the bison herds nutritious feed and season of year dictated the location of the herd. The time they calved was in sync with the best weather and the highest level of nutrition. The further we get away from nature the more cost we have to overcome. That is something each operation must figure out what is best for them.

Time of calving is a very important subject.

Instead of looking at a pure financial point of view, let’s look at it from the amount of stress put on the animal. I attended a talk given by the late Dick Diven at a conference in Dillon, Montana several years ago. I don’t remember the exact facts he presented but really remember the main message.

He talked about after conception a calf developed with exponential growth. The doubling of cells is happening for the development of the calf in the cow’s womb. The immune system is developed in the latter part of the last trimester, plus about three weeks after birth. This is why colostrum is so important in the first hours of birth. The more stress on the calf, the less chance the immune system has to develop for future use. This is because the energy that was to be used for development was used for survival. Weather has a big effect. A calf is developed in around a 100 degree environment. When it is born it must adjust to its new environment while still wet. The colder it is the more energy It takes to stay alive, taking energy away from the immune system development. It is important to remember a calf is not born with a winter hair coat, no matter when or what part of the world it is born in.

The mother’s licking of the calf to dry it off stimulates the calf’s will to live and gives it the try to get up and suck. They are not gentle about this, and from what I have observed, I think this is a very important part in stimulating the body and brain to wake up and get to living. To me this is a crucial period in a new calf’s life. I try not to disrupt anything the cow is doing in those first hours. The cow becomes super aware of any type of predator at this time. Humans, dogs, other cattle in close proximity, and even strange vehicles can cause the new mother to want to protect her newborn and cause her to try to move the calf or remove the threat. Either way this takes her away from imprinting the life into the calf and it’s ability to get up and suck.

If the immune system is developing in the first three weeks or so, I think we should always keep this in mind when making management decisions. Castration, branding, tagging, vaccination, and moving (hauling or trailing) could have an effect on young calves and serious consideration should be given in how and when these practices are done. The things that happen in this very important time could affect the health and therefore the performance of a calf for the rest of its life.

I feel much more research needs to be done on this. It seems to me many of the health problems we have after the calf leaves its mother and gets into higher stress situations could be from the lack of immune system development in the early stage of life.

I have spent most of my life in the northern part of the United States. If you are selling your calf crop, the frozen eared calves are usually sorted off. The reason they don’t go with the other calves is because if the ears have been frozen, the calves will not perform and have a higher chance of getting sick. To my way of thinking, this is proof to Dick Diven’s way of thinking.

What I say next is honest. It may make you mad, but know I am saying it from my own personal opinion, and I have the right to it just as you have the right to yours.

I think we should look at time of calving from an animal cruelty point of view. If we control the time of calving, and that time can cause an animal to freeze to death or suffer from frozen body parts, or to spend time when it has no way to get warm in freezing temperatures it is really not any different from going out and cutting a calf’s ears off or putting it in a freezer and trying to raise it.

I also think it is important to make sure the breed of cattle are adapted to the environment they are in. Thin-hided short-haired cattle have a tough time handling the cold weather in the north and cattle that do well in the north have a hard time handling the heat and humidity of the south.

There are many operations that calve in cold weather and have cattle in environment that don’t fit the breed. Some step up the management with facility’s and manpower that reduces nature’s harshness. There are some that don’t. They either don’t care, or don’t know. If you don’t care you will be the one that is mad; if you don’t know, you have something to think about!

I am the kind of person that really cares about animals and feel if an animal is in my control, my first responsibility is to learn the best ways to care for the animal. If I can learn things to improve that care or the training of the animal to have a better quality of life, while serving its purpose on this earth, that is my duty. If I learn something new and it shows me a better way to care for or train the animal I should be open to it. It is very important that what we do is fact and not just what we feel like or want to be. Always try to learn a better way. Be proud of what you are doing, but try to improve upon it. Small improvements often create excellence over time.

We can fight Mother Nature, but she never quits fighting back. She has more power and resources and most of the time ends up getting her way anyways. I choose to work with her and I am proud of that.

~ Curt Pate

Two Stockmanship Events Coming Up in Colorado, July 1-2

18-DSC_0394Two upcoming Stockmanship and Stewardship events on July 1st (8am to 2pm MST) at the Cargill-Yuma Feedyard in Yuma, CO and on July 2nd (10am to 4pm MST) at the Magnum Feedyard in Wiggins, CO will give livestock producers in Colorado how low stress livestock handling can enhance cattle operation profitability and improve animal welfare.

Topics will include management of receiving and shipping cattle, pen riding, general cattle handling, (lunch provided) and an afternoon chute-side management of processing cattle.

Curt Pate will share his ideas and knowledge with interested people by helping them to hone their skills as cattlemen and women to improve their stockmanship and stewardship.

To RSVP, Contact Travis Hoffman, Colorado BQA Coordinator by June 24.
Phone: 970-491-2333 / Email: Travis.Hoffman@colostate.edu

CLICK HERE to look at the event flyer.