Yes, I am there.
Friday, April 7, 2023
Thursday, April 6, 2023
Spring Cleaning
With the sun finally coming out to shine, it was time to get Paddy Wagon dusted off. She's always ready for work, but a little sprucing up before the spring fun was in order.
First up was to clean out the manure and hay from last year.
Muy bien.
The tack room was in decent shape but she needed tidied up. The foam pad with a sleeping bag set up was accomplishing the cool factor, but it wasn't allowing me to get much sleep.
So we replaced it with an actual mattress that we can put sheets on and not have such a hard time climbing into. Solid.
Ranch ready.
Catholic Cowboys don't get ready, they stay ready. With spring springing, it is necessary that we be ready for whatever circumstances come our way: hauling hay, picking up cows, over night brandings... You name it, we're ready for it.
Monday, April 3, 2023
Sunday, April 2, 2023
Ropin' the Wind
Lately, John and I have had the roping bug. It comes every spring as brandings begin to loom in the air. Well, Palm Sunday seemed like a good day to get together and loosen up our shoulders.
Ropes come in every shape and size. My favorite is ole blue in the lower right. It is a 3/8" extra soft 30'er.
Doesn't matter to John, though. He'll use whatever he can find.
And nail it!
I wasn't used to this Texas Longhorn dummy.
But we seemed to manage.
Fun stuff. Roping is like dancing. I'm not worth a darn at either, but it's sure fun to watch those who are. The only way to get good, however, is through practice. That I can do. Brandings are coming up and I need to be ready. You never know when you're gonna get the call to enter the pen. When it comes, you don't want to disappoint. On to the next one.
Saturday, April 1, 2023
Oats
Either one of my horses would gladly leave me in the deepest part of the wilderness if I lost a rein. However, they would both sell their birthright for a bucket of oats.
So funny. If I show up without a bucket in hand they run to the other end of the corral. But anymore, when they see Whitehorse and hear a honk of the horn, they come running.
CHS grain combo with molasses is the candy of choice.
It's got a little bit of everything. Growing up, we just used straight oats. They seem to like this better.
Some folks oat their horses everyday with just a cup full or so. But I'm only around a couple times a week so I give them a pretty good dose.
Patience is a virtue.
I always feed them in the catch pen so when its time to go to work, I close the gate and they are easy pickings. Oating them also gets them out of my hair while I throw them some hay.
Happy campers.
The trick to good horsemanship is to make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard. I don't press my luck anymore. If I have a bucket of oats or their lead rope in my hand, these horses are my friends. If not, they're wild mustangs. I set us both up for success by oating them every time I can. Then when it's time to go to work, no problems.
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Monday, March 27, 2023
Sunday, March 26, 2023
Hauling Hay
With this extra long winter, the horses are almost out of hay. Remembering that about 3:30 this morning, I decided we better head to Hulett early to get some. Thankfully, Maverik had just finished making their first batch of Bonfire Burritos when White Horse and I hit the trail at 4:30.
Ole Reliable
Beings I wasn't able to call ahead of time, I was a bit worried that Jim might meet me with a shotgun. Fortunately, he told me that he always fires a warning shot.
Might as well make the trip worth while.
After celebrating Mass in Hulett and Moorcroft, we arrived home safe and sound. Only had to stop three times to adjust the load.
Happy campers.
I honestly love ranching. Being responsible for critters and having to fight to keep them fed is invigorating. Such wholesome activity fuels my priesthood. Homilies come easy because I'm operating out of the human nature God blessed me with. On to the next one.
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