A little background info. I work with my Dad and Granddad on a commercial cow/calf operation. We were up to about 700 cows before the drought, but are back to 530 now. We will build back up when the ponds get full, some of our rented grass hasn't had good water. Our herd is currently Angus (all commercial) but we started buying some half blood Simmental/Angus bulls this year to try. We have been missing out on the hybrid vigor, but using Angus bulls with a lot of growth (1400lb+ yearling weight EPD's) and low birthweight has worked well for us up to this point. We own some of our grass but lease the majority. It's hard work, but a great life and I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to make a career out of it.
My favorite part of my job is riding a good horse and we keep a few around that are decent at least. I need to get back on our 4yr old I've had turned out since November in the next few days, get him ready for spring work. I had him rode down pretty good last fall so I kicked him out for the winter to have some time off. I like to ride one of the older ones when riding on the ice anyway, the colt has all summer to further his education. We have a nice chiseled corn field I plan to ride him in the first couple times, soft landings for me if things don't go as planned. He got lots of miles last year for a 3yr old, so I'm not expecting trouble but this is the wrong time of year to be hurt so it's best to be cautious. I'm not a good bronc rider, to short legged and top heavy. It's hard to crawl on the colt sometimes with the good finished horse standing in the pen, but the young ones don't get better without miles and the good ones get old to quick.
Got about 250 calves worked the last couple days roping and dragging them all. We had a great crew of neighbors that helped and everything went smoothly. Also ran all the cows through the alley and vaccinated them, so we are ready to start sorting pairs into smaller bunches for grass on May 1. We still have a couple bunches of calves to work, but are about half done.
I led the 4yr old while gathering the first bunch yesterday, about 2 miles at a good trot. It was a calm, sunny, warm day. Just right I figured for his first ride since November. It went great, he went back to work. I like the horse to have a job like that on his first ride in a long time, keep his mind off being upset I'm on his back. I used him sorting cows from calves, then dry from wet cows, and finally running the cows through the alley. I roped calves on my older horse, didn't figure I should do it on his first ride in that long. Today I didn't drag calves on him either but rode him gathering both bunches and running them back out. I roped a young calf on him that couldn't keep up on the drive back and he took it in stride. Next week we will start sorting pairs and I'll use him every day until he needs a break, get him lots of miles.
I helped work about 150 calves for a nearby ranch today, had a blast. It's so much fun to go help someone when you can just relax and work, not have to ramrod the whole deal. I gathered and sorted with my 4yr old colt, but stuck with my old one to drag for today. There was a boy about 6 or so who was wild as a march hare and in the middle of everything. Dragging calves on a colt may not have turned out great for at least one of us with him running and screaming underfoot. I've rode the colt every day since Friday so he is starting to remember what work is.
The colt isn't barn sour or trailer sour, but is acting buddy sour. We had a little disagreement today when he humped up and I grabbed the nightlatch and gave him some spur. I don't think his feet ever cleared the ground by 6", he didn't do much. I don't want him to get started though, that is better stopped early. He sorted great today and acted like a 12yr old broke horse until his buddies left and I held some pairs for 30 minutes or so while the other guys gathered another bunch. We fought over being alone and not winnying for most of that time. I just unsaddled him, so he should be a little tired tomorrow. Tomorrow everytime we head toward his buddies I will make it be uphill, and if he wants to hurry I will encourage him. Make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard.
Put some more miles on the colt today, he had a good attitude after yesterday. We moved 125 pairs we had worked in the first round to new grass today. Then we moved bulls from across the fence from where we took them to a new "isolation" area so we don't start calving early. The colt worked like a champ today, really doing a lot on his own and watching without me having to help him a whole lot. Also had to rope a calf that tried to go back to the pasture we started in, and he took that in stride. The calf went through my loop and I caught him by both heels, but not by much. I took my tail of my rope with me in case the colt tried to leave the country, so I could turn it loose and the dally would come off, but didn't take time to wrap a rein around the rope so he couldn't turn his head away from the calf. The colt waited on me and I got the calf tied and caught up with the bunch so we could come get him later and haul him back to his mother,
I call the colt Dually, because he is out of a Dual Pep son. The mare is a Zans Rawide daughter from a proven program in our state. I like the cross of the cutting blood on the big boned, good minded mares they have. His future is looking pretty bright right now. Everytime we headed back to his buddies I made sure it was by a steep route, and everytime he whinnied we made circles until he wanted to stand quiet and then started out again. It was nice to have a slow day so I could work on him instead of just the job at hand.
We have a lot of jagged rock and gravel roads in our area. Horses that get used hard around here are all shod. We have an excellent farrier who does our horses cheaper than many, because he knows he will get to shoe 4 horses that will stand quiet for him in one place. From November through March he puts borium on the bottom of the shoes for traction on ice or packed snow also and doesn't charge extra.
We worked another 100 pair yesterday, everything went smooth. I drug 10 on the 4yr old, he couldn't have worked better. I like to quit on a young horse while things are going good so it is a positive experience, builds his confidence. If things aren't going good we keep practicing longer, eventually they learn the easiest way to do things is right the first time. The calves are really growing, we need to get the last bunch worked soon before they get much bigger!
The buddy sour and whinnying issue is improving already on the colt. He was doing silent whinnys when we saw another horse come over the hill yesterday, I could feel the rumble of him doing it but he made no noise. He is getting tired of making a circle each time. That tactic has to be used with caution, I've had them hold in a whinny as long as they think they can, then go into a spin and let one loose which can catch a person off guard. Switching direction of the circle each time, or doing something other than a circle, backing up, anything that makes them work without going the direction they want to isn't a bad idea.
I like to get 30 days put on a colt at 2yrs old then trail cows home from grass on some easy rides with him that fall, turn him out for the winter. The next spring I get them back to my buddy who rides them for another 30-45 days, then I use them through the summer and fall on easier days. Their 4yr old year I start treating them like a horse, not a colt, and ask for more. At 5 I will introduce them to the roping arena after they have done quite a bit of outside roping. Some can be brought on much faster than I do, but I've never screwed one up by going to slow. I've been around lots screwed up by being pushed to fast and then you have to slow WAY down and start over. I grew up thinking wet saddle blankets were the only thing that made a horse, but since have figured out mixing some breaks in their keeps their mind more willing and doesn't diminish their try so much or so fast.
I figure if I can buy a well bred colt, use him for years, and sell him at 14-15yrs old to a roper or family for enough profit to buy another well bred colt and get him started right I figure I'm ok. I like to find a couple I like and see how good I can make them. I don't look at the horses as a source of profit on our operation, more as working partners and a source of enjoyment. Not much beats riding a good horse.
Some guys that day work for ranches, salebarns, and feedlots around here have taught me most of what I know and they ride outside horses. They do it every day and are way beyond me in horsemanship ability. They are horseback nearly every day, while I might ride one day and then be haying, fixing fence, other jobs for several before saddling up again. I keep trying to improve my horsemanship though, it's a passion of mine. The guy who started this colt I'm riding now is the best hand I've seen and we have spent a lot of time working together. He is really patient with a colt, but doesn't let them get away with anything. He has worked ranches and feedlots in South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, and now here so he has had lots of people to learn from over the years. He was dragging calves and sorting on a 6yr old mare yesterday that only had 30 rides, and she is already impressive. She is a little cutting bred mare (why she is getting started at 6) but has a big motor. Not a horse for big country, but she will work good for him in the feedlot.
I don't look for a real big horse for our country, although I would to make the big circles where you live. I view an athletic 15-15.2h horse that will weigh around 1250lbs as ideal for here. That is enough horse to rope a cow or bull on, but also built to be pretty quick for cow work. I like a real athletic horse that has a good mind and some cutting blood. I don't want to much cutting blood, I like a big black foot and heavy boned horse also. I kinda like bloodlines on one side that trace back to Zans Par Bar, Driftwood, or Blue Valentine for 1/2 to 2/3 of the pedigree and cutting blood for the rest. The last colt I bought (yearling now) is out of a Blue Valentine/Driftwood/Zans Rawhide stud and the mare has Peppy Sans, Docs Quixote, and Doc's Jack's Sprat all on her papers. He is growing out nice and stout, seems to have a good disposition. Time will tell what he turns out to be. I've never rode anything but bay or sorrel horses, I like the pretty ones but I'd rather be complimented on how my horse works than how pretty he is. Where I'm not selling them young I can buy the same quality horse in those colors cheaper. Usually by the time one of mine hits 10yrs old I have a waiting list of people wanting to buy him at 15 or so. Lots of weekend ropers or people with kids in JR rodeo that want a finished ranch and heading horse are at the little ropings and ranch rodeos I go to. They might be out of luck for a while, I have nieces and nephews that will likely end up with the ones I ride now.
Had the colt out again today but he wasn't as much fun to ride this time. The temp dropped 20 degrees, air was damp, and wind was howling. Every ditch and tree had monsters in it according to the colt. We got through it, and when we were on cattle in the open he worked alright. His buddy issues were much worse today "with all the monsters out" so we did lots of circles. He even did a few on his own after he whinnied without being cued, so we went to backing up when he whinnies now. It wasn't anything bad or unexpected, riding colts on days like this is seldom much fun. They need to see it though, part of the learning process. This colt reminds me of my 10yr old gelding when he was young. He doesn't shy often but you can't force him past something he is scared of. If you approach it slowly, never let him back up, but don't push him to much to move forward, he will eventually ease up to it and check it out. Then he is done worrying about it and it doesn't bother him a bit. Push to hard or spank him and it seems to reinforce his thinking that whatever he is scared of will hurt him. It builds trust to do it slow and easy, works out better in the long run. It was a little frustrating when I had to dig a cow out of a patch of thorny locust trees because we couldn't hurry past the landlord's trac hoe fast enough to keep her from getting in it, but I couldn't blame him to much. That thing does kinda look like a monster. I had to have Dad sneak up on the colt with a sorting stick to get him out of the trailer also today. I train my horses to walk to the back of the trailer and be led out, not back out like many people. I've seen shoes pulled off when horses back out of some of the beat-up old trailers in our country, and I never haul mine in anything they need to back out of anyway. Our trailers are often real messy from hauling cows and I don't want to walk in and get a horse, so having them meet me at the back seems to be most convenient for me. Anyway I stood at the back of the trailer and called the colt a couple times while he stood up front and ignored me. While doing that I had Dad get the sorting stick off the flatbed and sneak up behind the colt. I called him again, and Dad poked him in the ribs with the stick while hiding. The colt thought I did that and came right to me. I then scratched his head a little and let him out. He knew better from last year, just had to try me. Right thing easy, wrong thing hard theory at work again.
I almost got myself in trouble today also, I roped a sick calf that I'd doctored a couple times already. He was watching me pretty close so I had Dad circle around and get his attention while I snuck up on him using the cow for cover. He spotted me and took off, so I really threw a lot of rope but my lead was right and I got the head and a front leg when the rope came tight. I wasn't tied on, so I spurred the colt to go forward so I could get my dally, and he JUMPED forward with a big leap. He was braced to take the jerk I think and it surprised him when I asked him to follow the calf. I caught him by surprise, and he caught me by surprise, but I stayed on and got to the horn. I was very thankful for my high backed ranch saddle when he took the jump with me and my hands were full. Usually I'm on an older horse and tie on when sneaking up on calves to doctor them because its so hard to get my dally when I'm stopped and the calf bolts as the rope hits it. This time I didn't feel safe doing it on a colt on a day like this. In hind sight it would have probably been smarter.