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         

Native Grass

In the badlands of Wyoming, its not so much about the amount of moisture you get, but the timing of it. This has not been an exceptionally wet spring around our home place near Worland, but the native grasses are exquisite. 

This hill top is part of my great-great grandpa Bernard Neiber's homestead. Most everything here you see is native. Some sage brush, cactus in bloom, Yucca plants, which my grandma always liked, and other native grasses in the background. 

This tall blooming bunch grass is what has really caught Dad’s and my attention. 

So I called my buddy horticulturalist, John Flocchini, to get the species on some of these plants. This is what is locally called Needle and Thread. More formally, Hesperostipa comata. We don't recall seeing it this tall and fully bloomed before. Looks great. 

This form of crested wheatgrass also stands tall this year. Big and bunchy. 

Unfortunately, intermingled with some of this native grass is cheat grass. In typical badland country, you have different bunch grass with about 18" of dirt and rocks between the next native plant. Now different noxious weeds have crept in. And in some cases, choked out the native grass. Cheat grass is a fall germinating winter annual grass, which means in gets jump on the perennial grass by robbing the spring moisture. Then it dies out in mid-June spreading it's seed heads all across the country perpetuating the problem. 

I like to focus on the grass though. The thing with prairie grass is that it packs a protein punch. It may be sparse, but there is a lot of nutritional value to what is to be found. Cows and sheep can do real well out here. 

This is the hill I hope to be laid to rest on. My homesteading grandparents, Bernard and Mary Neiber are buried up here, along with other relatives and neighbors. The hillside is so Wyoming, sagebrush, sporadic bunch grass, and a lot of dirt and rocks. I love it. 

Good stuff. Not every spring stands out like this one. But when it does, you better stop and take some pictures. Native grass gives me hope. There's always weeds in the world, our Lord said there would be. But He also says, be of good cheer. I have overcome the world (John 1633). Let's ranch. 

Thy Will Be Done

Tips on how to know God's will. 

           https://youtu.be/LPxmrLlcbdM         

SJV

June 8th marks the calendar anniversary of my priestly ordination back in 2018. I'm forever grateful for my seminary experience. I did four years of college seminary at Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon and four years of Theology at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver. On my way home from retreat in Colorado, I swung in to reminisce a bit. 

Beautiful. The colors around here both lift your mind to God as well as draw your heart into the reality that He became man. 

St. John Vianney is the patron saint of parish priests. Thanks for the help, pal. Keep the graces coming. 

The chapel is the heart of it all. Here we daily encountered the Lord in the Eucharist, which is the source and summit of the Christian life. The main reason we are ordained a priests is to celebrate the Mass. This is probably the manliest chapel I’ve come across. 

The statues and side altars are dynamic, which lead you into the mystery our our Lord's incarnate love for us. 

On this the feast our the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the day I celebrated my first Mass, I totally entrust my priesthood to you, Mary!

St. Joe played a big roll in my personal priestly formation. It was through his spiritual encouragement that I took up wood working again. 

As a parting gift, our class of 2016 made two votive candle stands, one for St. Joe and one for our Blessed Mother. 

They were a fun project, which about three of us embarked on.

The original seminary was named St. Thomas and run by the Vincentians, the religious order founded after St. Vincent de Paul. After their doors closed in the 1990's the Archdiocese of Denver reopened the seminary as St. John Vianney and has been in operation since 1999. 

Along with the chapel, we spent a lot of time laughing and dining in the refectory. 

Over the years, Archbishop commissioned me to build a couple projects. 

The first were these benches to be placed outside the Holy Trinity Center. 

The next were the pews for the chapel inside his residence. 

These guys definitely tested my wood working skills. 

I built them, but another guy stained and finished them. 

What joy it brings me to walk down the hall and see that my buddy Frankie and I finally made the wall of fame. 

I couldn't have done any of it without my formation director Fr. Jason Wallace. Good man and good priest. He could see that I was cut from a different cloth so he made sure I had plenty of projects to keep my hands active. Fr. Jason knows what it means to be a son and a father. Thanks brother for helping bring out the best in me. 

I sincerely love being a priest. It is what I am made for and is my mission in life. This vocation builds on my baptismal identity of being a beloved son of God. I am forever grateful for this proper ordering of formation that I received at SJV. It helped me to learn that the priest God wants me to be is the man he created me to be. Let's ranch!