I’ve had some real good learning and enjoyable experiences in the last few days.  

In Mossleigh, Alberta I was working with Shawn Wilson and Zoetis again and we went to a feedlot that had been closed down for a few years and the Schooten’s have purchased and are  putting it back in production.  They were redoing the important things and doing it right.  Very hands on management that really want things to work and to do it right.  Lots of cattle, lots of new people, lots of experienced people, and lots of money invested to try and capture a profit from the resources they have the opportunity to use. 

I really felt exited to be a little part of the rebuilding of something so valuable to our industry and to the consumer.  If the Schooten family didn’t have the guts to step up and take some risk, the feedyard might have never gotten back in operation and shut down for good. It is very important to the whole beef industry to to keep all the spokes of the wheel in good operating condition to keep us rolling forward.  We need to use all the tools and niches available to make it profitable and sustainable for the future, and create employees and management to use them.  They are getting after it.

Next I headed south to Ardmore, Oklahoma.  Heather Buckmaster of Oklahoma Beef Council partnered up with the Noble Foundation and we had a Stockmanship and Stewardship event.  I’ve done lots of demonstrations for Heather and have followed and learned from the Noble foundation for years so I was real glad to do a demo for them, but to add to it my daughter Mesa lives in Ardmore.

It was one of those days. I flew into DFW the night before and headed north to Ardmore early the next morning.  I have driven the route lots of times and have a favorite little place to get breakfast and I stoped and had tacos.  That is one of the real joys of my traveling is good food and most of it is Mexican.  Then I went to Mesa’s and hung out with all the grandkids (4 dogs) while she got ready.

We met the folks from Noble at the arena and made sure everything was ready to go and then off to a good lunch and conversation.

Mesa and I then went out and got horses and headed back to town.  It was fun to think back to when Mesa was first riding.  We had an old horse Willard that I would lead her on checking cattle.  When we would get back to the barn she would hold onto the saddle horn and not let go when I tried to get her off so I would pull the  saddle and her off and set em on the rack and turn the horses out and after a bit she would show up at the house.  

 

She is all grown up now and is still all cowgirl.  The tables turned and I got to ride her horse and she helped me with the demo.  I can’t remember a set of cattle that were any better to work in a demo.  They had lots of “feel” and did just about anything we asked of them.  They weren’t wild, but they weren’t gentle either.  When you asked they responded, just like the horse I rode.  It put me right where I needed to be when I needed to be there.  Mesa and I were really on as far as working together and we made a good team.  

 

The crowd was great with lots of people real interested.  We worked horseback out in the open first, then put them in and out of the pens a few times.  Then we broke for a steak supper.

After supper we headed back and I worked afoot in the pens and demonstrated sorting, counting loading and putting cattle through a Bud Box.  They worked real well in the corral on foot too.

Just a real good day of good livestock and good people, that are a part of our good business.  I won’t soon forget it.

I didn’t have to fly out until this morning (Friday) so I got to spend some time with the crew at D and H Cattle.  They have lots of bucking Bulls and know how to get the most out of them.  I had not been there for quite awhile so it was nice to see all the improvements they have made.  They win lots of money and buck lots of bulls, but like the Schooten’s they keep putting it back into the operation.

HD is all about stockmanship as it applies to getting bulls to buck and I really learn so much listening to he and Mesa on what they think needs to happen to get em to bucking and keep em bucking.  The same things are important as with feedlot cattle, but they are applied differently to create what they need for an out come.  Genetics and Nutrition are the base in both.  Next is facility to be able to capitalize on the genetics and Nutrition.  In a feedlot you need a comfortable place and easy access to feed and water.  In the bucking bull world you need that plus the facilities to buck and train and keep the animals and human from getting hurt with some very aggressive and active animals.  I think there are less injury’s to people handling bucking bulls than feedlot cattle because you are always watching and thinking ahead with them.  In a feedlot you get complacent and make mistakes.

We sorted and exercised bulls.  I helped HD trim some feet.  They put them in chute, tie em in and tip on their side and go to working on them with a grinder.  They pay attention to every detail and are so good at what they do.

Sweet Pros Bruiser is the big star around there.  He has a fresh sand pen, fans to keep the heat down, and they go and pick manure out of his pen.  When you walk by he sides up to the fence to get scratched.  They exercise him every day. 

HD was out in the pen with him talking to someone and took his pocket knife out and scratched the dry manure off his butt.  I guess when you have a bull that has won the PBR bull of the Year Twice as well as PRCA bull of the year you can spoil him just a little.

Watch this video!

I’ve had some real good learning and enjoyable experiences in the last few days.  

In Mossleigh, Alberta I was working with Shawn Wilson and Zoetis again and we went to a feedlot that had been closed down for a few years and the Schooten’s have purchased and are  putting it back in production.  They were redoing the important things and doing it right.  Very hands on management that really want things to work and to do it right.  Lots of cattle, lots of new people, lots of experienced people, and lots of money invested to try and capture a profit from the resources they have the opportunity to use. 

I really felt exited to be a little part of the rebuilding of something so valuable to our industry and to the consumer.  If the Schooten family didn’t have the guts to step up and take some risk, the feedyard might have never gotten back in operation and shut down for good. It is very important to the whole beef industry to to keep all the spokes of the wheel in good operating condition to keep us rolling forward.  We need to use all the tools and niches available to make it profitable and sustainable for the future, and create employees and management to use them.  They are getting after it.

Next I headed south to Ardmore, Oklahoma.  Heather Buckmaster of Oklahoma Beef Council partnered up with the Noble Foundation and we had a Stockmanship and Stewardship event.  I’ve done lots of demonstrations for Heather and have followed and learned from the Noble foundation for years so I was real glad to do a demo for them, but to add to it my daughter Mesa lives in Ardmore.

It was one of those days. I flew into DFW the night before and headed north to Ardmore early the next morning.  I have driven the route lots of times and have a favorite little place to get breakfast and I stoped and had tacos.  That is one of the real joys of my traveling is good food and most of it is Mexican.  Then I went to Mesa’s and hung out with all the grandkids (4 dogs) while she got ready.

We met the folks from Noble at the arena and made sure everything was ready to go and then off to a good lunch and conversation.

Mesa and I then went out and got horses and headed back to town.  It was fun to think back to when Mesa was first riding.  We had an old horse Willard that I would lead her on checking cattle.  When we would get back to the barn she would hold onto the saddle horn and not let go when I tried to get her off so I would pull the  saddle and her off and set em on the rack and turn the horses out and after a bit she would show up at the house.  

She is all grown up now and is still all cowgirl.  The tables turned and I got to ride her horse and she helped me with the demo.  I can’t remember a set of cattle that were any better to work in a demo.  They had lots of “feel” and did just about anything we asked of them.  They weren’t wild, but they weren’t gentle either.  When you asked they responded, just like the horse I rode.  It put me right where I needed to be when I needed to be there.  Mesa and I were really on as far as working together and we made a good team.  

The crowd was great with lots of people real interested.  We worked horseback out in the open first, then put them in and out of the pens a few times.  Then we broke for a steak supper.

After supper we headed back and I worked afoot in the pens and demonstrated sorting, counting loading and putting cattle through a Bud Box.  They worked real well in the corral on foot too.

Just a real good day of good livestock and good people, that are a part of our good business.  I won’t soon forget it.

I didn’t have to fly out until this morning (Friday) so I got to spend some time with the crew at D and H Cattle.  They have lots of bucking Bulls and know how to get the most out of them.  I had not been there for quite awhile so it was nice to see all the improvements they have made.  They win lots of money and buck lots of bulls, but like the Schooten’s they keep putting it back into the operation.

HD is all about stockmanship as it applies to getting bulls to buck and I really learn so much listening to he and Mesa on what they think needs to happen to get em to bucking and keep em bucking.  The same things are important as with feedlot cattle, but they are applied differently to create what they need for an out come.  Genetics and Nutrition are the base in both.  Next is facility to be able to capitalize on the genetics and Nutrition.  In a feedlot you need a comfortable place and easy access to feed and water.  In the bucking bull world you need that plus the facilities to buck and train and keep the animals and human from getting hurt with some very aggressive and active animals.  I think there are less injury’s to people handling bucking bulls than feedlot cattle because you are always watching and thinking ahead with them.  In a feedlot you get complacent and make mistakes.

We sorted and exercised bulls.  I helped HD trim some feet.  They put them in chute, tie em in and tip on their side and go to working on them with a grinder.  They pay attention to every detail and are so good at what they do.

Sweet Pros Bruiser is the big star around there.  He has a fresh sand pen, fans to keep the heat down, and they go and pick manure out of his pen.  When you walk by he sides up to the fence to get scratched.  They exercise him every day. 

HD was out in the pen with him talking to someone and took his pocket knife out and scratched the dry manure off his butt.  I guess when you have a bull that has won the PBR bull of the Year Twice as well as PRCA bull of the year you can spoil him just a little.

We finally finished about 4 in the afternoon and headed to town for lunch(Mexican of course).  Another great day of learning and sharing, but even better when you get to do it with people that are family.

As I drove back down to DFW I reflected on things and really the feedlot up in Canada and the bucking bull operation in Texas are both doing the same thing.

Using resources from the sky and soil, then using human labor and knowledge to turn those resources into cash flow.  They are both farming operations that sell the feed through bovines.  One operation high quality protein and one high quality athletes.

I’ve had some real good learning and enjoyable experiences in the last few days.  

 

 

Just spent four great days at the “Home Ranch” in Clark, Colorado.  Great meals, great people(staff and guests) and great scenery and accommodations make for a very enjoyable time.

I have never missed the morning wrangle of getting the horses in in all the years I have been going there.  It is just a great way to start the day to get horseback and trot out and bring a bunch of horses in.  It is the best thing in the world for a young horse to get them moving out and forward with their mind.

I like to long trot.  When you trot it is real easy to to keep your horse with you mentally and physically.  You can swing them up to a real extended long trot and them shorten it up to slow down and the horse stays with you mentally because of the way his body moves in the diagonal of the trot. It’s easy to keep a horse soft in the trot and not get stiff in the face and through his body. In the trot, the balance point of the horse is right with you or under you, and it is easy to speed up or slow down.

The lope is a gate that three feet are going together.  The horse must push much more from behind and has lots of momentum up and this sends the mind out forward and puts the balance point ahead of the horse and rider.  With a young horse or one that wants to run off, it hard sometimes to bring the balance point back with the reins because it is way out in front.  With a horse that might want to go quite a bit, I feel it is important to take them from the long trot up to the lope and then bring them back to the trot before they get scared and the balance point is so far out there you can’t bring it back.  This is what is so great about jingling horses in.  They draw the horse your on forward and you can bring them back.  If you can do it strait and not circle or bend the horse, it really helps to get the the mind and the feet much better and the horse understands much quicker.  

Most of the guest want to lope.  It is very exiting for them.  They all take off and most of them are behind the action and out of control and that is a big thrill.  When they take off they want to be in the lope as fast as possible, and if they weren’t on good horses, they would be way behind the balance point and the more they bounce and flop the more they would be sending their horse forward.

If they were riding a colt or less experienced horse they would have a huge wreck.  This is the challenge of having a dude horse.  You need something safe but responsive enough for the guest to enjoy themselves.  Tough to find a horse that fits the bill and harder to keep em good.

I rode two nice young horses while at the Home Ranch, and halter broke a baby.  I really enjoy that part of my time at the ranch.  I get to ride and make changes on horses for the better.  It’s such a great feeling I get working with these horses.  To make positive changes without using excessive or the wrong kind of pressure is what I really am working on and enjoy so much.

Sitting on the plane headed to Calgary I was thinking things over.  I think lots of people are loping through life, on the edge of a runaway.  We try to do to much to fast sometimes and our horse runs off, or we don’t do enough and our horse(life) gets dull and we don’t get very far.  When you are in a long trot you can still see what you need to see, and if you need to lope it’s an easy transition, just as slowing down and enjoying things is. 

This is a pretty good way to think about it.  I want to be at a long trot most of the time when I’m horseback, but able to move up to a lope or run if I need to, or slow down to a walk and enjoy the ride.  I think I will try to live my life the same way.