Saddled Up

The time we've all been waiting for has arrived! Red is saddled and ready to ride. We definitely took our time, but it has all payed off. A guy's main objective is always to get in the saddle. But there is so much work to be done before you get to that point. If you do your ground work well, swinging in the saddle is a walk in the park. 

Giddy up. 

For the first saddling it is good to choose light and simple rigging. I like this saddle because it has a Cheyenne Roll on the back of the cantle that you can grab on to if things get western. 

Like everything, we first introduced the blanket to him. 

Once he saw that it wasn't a bobcat, we rubbed all over him. 

Even walked him over it to show that it doesn't have to be scary. 

This was the first object we put on his back. Walking him around with it was important, but it's best not to just line out. Breaking him in the hind quarters gets his mind on something other than what's on his back. 

Then you can line out and let him get a feel of it moving around. Doing it this way is taking the chance that it could fall off. Not that we want it to, but if it does it becomes a teaching experience that it's not something to be afraid of. 

Next is the saddle. Again, let him sniff and taste it. 

We like to put ourselves between the scary object and the horse. Builds trust. 

Eventually you just have to bite the bullet and set it on him. Make sure he is standing still and is pretty indifferent to the saddle or anything on his back. Red was great. Other horses may take more time and effort. 

Petting him is key as well as shaking the saddle around. Throughout this whole process we have resisted the urge to be soft with him. Of course, be respectful. But there is no need to walk around quiet and shy like. We need a ranch horse not a puppy. 

Bending him is always a return to something that is familiar. It also gives him a chance to see what's going on. 

It is important to make cinching up a pleasant experience. We've all been around horses that dance when you tighten the cinch. I own one of them. A little pressure and a pet goes a long ways. There is also no need to go real tight right a way. Just enough to keep the saddle in place will do. 

Again, walk him around to get a feel for it. 

Nice work, Pops. Looks like it was meant to be there. This was definitely enough for one day. Letting a horse rest on what all he has just leaned is super important. 

Next time we saddled him we took it a step further. After a good warm up, we walked him to the fence and started to put pressure in the stirrups. Though the normal mounting side is on his left, everything we do we do from both sides. 

Then it was time to sit in the saddle. It does take a leap of faith to swing that first leg around. But a guy has a pretty good idea when the horse is ready or not. After up and down on each side and bending over and petting him good on the opposing side, swinging in was simple. 

I also didn't take the reins at this time. For about two more sessions, Paul would drive Red around the pen with his whip. I was basically cargo. At this point we didn't want to give him mixed signals. Paul was the one in control. If things got western, I was prepared to reach down low on the lead rope and pull the e-brake. This is why bending him every time is very important. It becomes so natural for him to give his head back to your thigh, that even in a bucking spell he would bend back to you. When it comes to working horses, I am all about safety first. 

You just can't do enough sacking out. Tapping a blue tarp all around him on a windy day is about as scary of an object as one can come up with. If you do it in a controlled environment, he becomes desensitized to it. Then when something comes flying up out of nowhere at your girlfriend's round up, you won't get dumped for not being cowboy enough. 

After wearing the darn thing and walking around the pen, you've pretty much done all you can do. 

Breaking a horse to stand and not pull back while being tied up is a super important step. Paul's got a good system. He takes a half of a snaffle bit and runs a long lead rope through it. This gives the rope tension, but allows it to slide through when a horse really gets to pulling. 

We want to sack him out and get him used to standing there no matter what the circumstances. But before we could do that we wanted to intentional spook him. 

We've all seen a horse loose his mind when tied up. It can actually be a very terrifying experience for all involved, especially the horse. With Paul's set up and a long lead rope, we let Red blow up and pull back all he wanted. 

Once he new he could get away, he simply calmed down. However, if we would have had him tired hard, he would never have quit pulling until he broke the halter. That's teaching him a bad habit at best. It's actually best to never tie a colt up hard. He needs to learn, through experience, what to do when tied up and trouble arises. 

In the meantime, we do our best to teach him to move forward to release the pressure, verses keep pulling back until something breaks. Sacking out in this safe space is a beautiful way to desensitize him to crazy things while being tied up. 

Here's our first full ride on his own. As is evident, all the work of bending, sending, sensitizing and desensitizing, that we have done leading up to this point has paid off. Not only is he a gentle horse, but all the commands we did on the ground are now translated into the saddle. 

Compadres 

Mission accomplished. Special thanks to my good buddy Paul Casey. I have basically been given the equivalency of one-on-one clinics from Buck Brannaman. Who's a better horse trainer, doesn't matter. What I do know, is Paul's way works. We not only get the results we are looking for, but we also come to understand the horse in the process. There's now a relationship between Red and rider. 

There is still plenty of work to be done. We now have a started horse. From here we can do more on the job training, while continuing to revert back to the tactics that we have already implored. Red is cool, and he'll make my brother a good horse. Before I send him back though, I better put on a few miles in the saddle. Let's ride!

Fr. Brian

Fr. Brian Hess and I go way back to seminary. Being two years ahead of me in school and about eight years behind me in life, we've spent a lot of time encouraging each other along our priestly paths. Five years ago we both arrived in the northeast corner of Wyoming to serve the mission fields as Catholic priests. What a fun ride it's been. 

June 20th marks the 10th anniversary of Fr. Brian’s ordination to the priesthood. To honor this special day, we celebrated Mass at Corpus Christ in Newcastle where he is the pastor, which includes the two mission Churches in Sundance and Upton. For the past two years he has also served as Vocation Director for the Diocese of Cheyenne. 

Over the years, we've had a lot of good adventures together. Like our annual fraternal hangout in the Horns. 

The mountains are where Brian’s soul finds solace, and he's always happy to share that joy with the rest of us. 

What I've always admired about Fr. Brian is his balance in life. He knows how to work hard and play hard. But he's also not afraid to kick his feet up and rest awhile. 

He's always game too. Whether it's hunting cows or riding horses, Brian's not afraid to jump in the truck with me. 

But all his adventures are ordered to his one vocation as a priest. Celebrating Mass is the source and summit of Fr. Brian's life. Here, he not only receives God's love, but is also able to share that love with the people he loves.

Like his family and friends.

Well done good and faithful servant. Your job is far from finished, but you have served well thus far. Keep up the Good work! Thanks for being a good brother priest. Your friendship has both challenged and affirmed me as a son of the Church and a priest for God. Stay in the middle, brother. The world could use a few more Catholic priests like Fr. Brian Hess. 

Our Father

Jesus came to lead us back to Our Father.

           https://youtu.be/LZXyxRk_WjU         

Father in Secret

Go contemplative.

           https://youtu.be/yEQOG0XKOA0         

Sending, Bending, Backing Up

We've made some great gains with Red in the past month or so. But we don't want to overlook important details, like sending, bending, and backing up. These can seem superfluous at times, but pay big dividends in the long run. 

Here Paul is sending Red. The main point of this is to be able to drive him from behind, like from where his whip is positioned. 

It took a while to get him to this point, but we want him to keep going until he hits the end of the line and then bends back to us. 

Then send him back the other way. There are many times that this is handy, walking through a gate or loading in the trailer. It also shows him that we can be in control even from a distance. 

Backing up is probably the most unnatural movement to a horse. Red took to it real well. Just continue to put him in a collection position and the only pressure release direction is to back up. 

Once he had that down we began to back him further and further away from us. Skills like this are handy if you are off your horse doctoring a calf or something. 

We then started walking over objects in the round pen. 

And then backing back over them. Good experience and training in coordination. 

This all translated into loading him in the trailer. Here we were able to drive him from behind to jump in. 

And then teach him to back out. With today's wide trailers horses can turn around and come out front first. But there is still a need for a horse to back out. If you don't train them to do so, and find your self in a situation that have to, you could be in a bind. Best to do it now. 

Giddy up. 

It all pays off in the long run. We could probably be riding Red in no time, but we don't want to rush through important details that we'll regret later. Good horsemanship is as much out of the saddle as in the saddle. All of us have been around horses that won't load or unload. That's when trouble happens. None of that comes natural to a horse. They have to be trained do so. Now is the acceptable time. 

Rebuttal

Is a dish best served cold.

           https://youtu.be/-3Z5s0XaIpg         

Flourishing

Grace makes us bloom into who we are created to be.

           https://youtu.be/_QoZJRUdGMo         

St. Anthony

 Pray for us!

           https://youtu.be/hmTfEfOPeQI         

Working Facility

With the weather turning warmer and cattle on their way to summer pasture, we took some time to regroup around the ranch. Our holding pen worked great for the few head we had to feed over the winter. But it was destined to be more.

This 30' x 80' corral is designed to be the cattle working facility of our new corral system. We just got it closed in when we had a surprise cow and calf that needed feeding. In order to take it to the next level, we had some clean up to do. 

Once we got the feed wagon pulled out, Dad and his 4010 got to work.

While I cleaned the edges and stalls with the ole pitchfork. I'm more of a manual labor guy. 

We piled up the manure and straw so they could cook down over the summer. Next time we work the field we'll scatter it about. 

A tub and alley system, along with a squeeze chute, are the main pieces of equipment needed to work cattle effectively. I've threatened to build one, but it would take so much time and design. I've looked for used ones, but they are usually worse for wear. Then one day at the Co-op I saw this set up that had been setting around for years. I asked Skip about it and he said he'd make us a heck of a deal, which he did. 

Part of that required us loading it and hauling it away. For a job of this magnitude I called in reinforcements. My nephew Carter came to the rescue. With a good attitude and a love for work, we got the whole system bucked on the trailer. 

There were plenty of parts and pieces, and we really weren't sure how it would size up in our little corral. 

I had it all designed in my mind. The tub and alley leading to the chute would divide the corral in two, making two separate pens that would help with sorting. When not in use the shed and water could still be used to house various critters for a short term. Getting the proper placement with the tub before we connected the alley was crucial. 

Once we had that determined and set, we started to piece together the alley. It was necessary that it be dead center of the rest of the corral so that we can get an even workings with rest of the equipment down the line. Three of these segments gives us nearly a 30' run. 

What makes a manufactured alley system almost essential is their engineering to be adjustable. Making the width of the runway as close to the diameter of a cow as possible is necessary for them to flow with ease. Too wide and they constantly try to turn around. Too narrow and they get wedged. This set up, made by Blattner Livestock Equipment in Cimarron KS, adjusts from both sides. Why it is going to work good for us is because at times there will be livestock on both sides of the alley. Most adjustable alleys have big arms and handles that stick off to the side to make them adjust. That is just asking for something to get bent or a critter to get hurt. This unit is smooth on each exterior wall. The adjustment is run by ropes and pins that are hidden behind the bigger frame work. 

This palpation cage will be a nice feature for a whole hosts of scenarios that require a guy to get behind a cow.  

Once a cow is in the chute, throw the door open to the back, which then closes off the rest of the alley. Then palpate in peace. Fr. Zane would find this handy. 

The whole network pretty much lined up without any troubles. Because of a few alterations we made with the tub, we had a bit of welding to do on one side wall. 

Once it was all lined up and pinned together, we moved our old squeeze chute into place. It'll take more work to bolt up more securely, but enough to hold a cow for the time being.

So we went and grabbed a couple critters to see if this dog would hunt. Mom and Andi have been living over at my brother's for the spring. With my move to Buffalo, I don't plan to run cattle the way I have been. So I brought them over to put Dad's brand on them and run them with Luke's bunch for the summer. A Charolais/Red Angus cross makes for one big calf. Andi's still as spry as ever. 

Here's the beauty of a tub. Once they were kicked in the 13' alleyway, with the tub gate already open and the chute ready to catch, then I just walked behind them with the crowding gate and pushed them along so they had no choice but to go down the alley. Makes for more peaceful cows and ranchers. 

This is a bit of an old rickety chute, but it has a self-catching head catch, which allows this whole operation to be a one-man-band (with the exception of Mom to take pictures). To make it even more convenient we used Dad's electric iron. 

Looks good. She's now an official trader cow with three brands all on one side. 

They had already branded Andi earlier this spring, so all she needed was an ear tag. 

Where they are going for the summer, on the southern end of the Big Horns, lends itself to cattle mixups with the neighbors. The more identification markers the better. Reverse L Drawknife in two places should give everybody the hint of whose they are. 

Giddy up. 

It was necessary that we get this tub and alley in place so that we can complete other parts of this corral project. There will be another fence and gate that will nose right into the front of this chute to allow for separate pens when not using the alley and chute, and to help direct traffic when we are using it. Once this working facility has its final touches we can move on to finishing the rest of the corral. Catholic Cowboys don't get ready. They stay ready. On to the next one. 

Fire

God's fulfillment continues.

           https://youtu.be/v10zGDAtt4s