Springtime

With springtime in the air, ranching fever is starting to set in. It's time to starting thinking about cattle. With Holy Week taking me up into the Hulett area, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and bring home a load of hay.

Good thing we got up there early, the frost is starting to come out and it is getting greasy. 

This time I called ahead. But Jim thought he better still come scope things out. Any man who can wear a 10gal hat like that deserves respect. 

When we got home, we stacked some for the horses.

And the rest for potential cows.

I also need to call Grandma and have her write down today's date in her Bible. Saturday, April 8, 2023, Fr. Bryce took off his longjohns, wore a short sleeve shirt, and put on his straw hat for the first time in Wyoming since last October. 

Were You There

Yes, I am there.

           https://youtu.be/iwN5q-Fp2eo         

Holy Thursday

Receive. 

           https://youtu.be/eJxUB0YhWmo         

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. 

Reasonable

God may not be practical, but He is reasonable.

           https://youtu.be/InbZY787iu0         

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. 

Palm Sunday

Our Lord shares in our passion as much as we share in His.

           https://youtu.be/IZEi9XTo4Y0         

Land and Nation

Our true nation is the Kingdom of God.

           https://youtu.be/JJBjZ0IbjIs         

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. 

Deposit of Faith

Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium.  

           https://youtu.be/H-dVvXbPchQ         

Advocate

God is our advocate not our accuser.

           https://youtu.be/0fH3wpQFmlg         

Heart Healing

Be not afraid to roll back the stone!

           https://youtu.be/X2MXizBvJZ4