How to become a cowboy?

[MissouriToMontana]

Nah, its not a joke.

I come from a huge city in Missouri. I hate it. I moved out to montana for obvious reasons...its beautiful, plenty of open land, ranches and horses.

I recently got work on a small farm mucking pens and doing pretty much anything the owner asks me to do.

I want to go further down the rabbit hole though. I want to be able to ride horses for a living (at least occasionally)...I've ridden before and want to ride again, and I want to learn, I just don't know how.

So, how do I go about doing this?

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

What part of Montana?

Maybe have to try and make some friends that ranch or at least ride.

 

[jodywy]

good hand can put his hand around a post hole shovel, irrigation shovel, a pitchfork, and a tractor steering wheel... then there might be some saddle time...

 

[Brad S]

good hand can put his hand around a post hole shovel, irrigation shovel, a pitchfork, and a tractor steering wheel... then there might be some saddle time...

My oh my you sound like my Dad - you're in good company btw.

 

[Soapweed]

Being a cowboy has been my lifelong addiction that I am trying hard to overcome. The present cattle market is almost better than any other form of cure.

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

Being a cowboy has been my lifelong addiction that I am trying hard to overcome. The present cattle market is almost better than any other form of cure.

I hear ya on that point Soap
I got beat up by a cow yesterday that takes a bit of fun out of being a cowboy as well. :cowboy:

 

[Soapweed]

Being a cowboy has been my lifelong addiction that I am trying hard to overcome. The present cattle market is almost better than any other form of cure.

I hear ya on that point Soap
I got beat up by a cow yesterday that takes a bit of fun out of being a cowboy as well. :cowboy:

What happened? Enquiring minds would like to know. Hope you recover soon.

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

We had a couple cows that wintered in a pasture north of us and stayed there all summer until they had a big gather last week, so I had them in a pen and I had another couple we brought in to get quills out of one calf so I left them in as we gather tomorrow. Well Britt and I wanted to put them up the alley to try our sorting panel. The dogs were out with us and the cows got a tad upset so the dogs were sent out of the pen but one cow came at me, hit me in the ribs and brought her head up and gave me a bloody nose and I bit the inside on my lip pretty hard. Then she was on top of me worked me over and tromped on my legs. The left one didn't hurt much but my shin looked like it had half an apple on it and the right leg was/is sore on the top of the calf. No ribs broke but still sore.
I had blood dripping but am stubborn so we still took them up to try the sorting panel. Had the pipe at about 40 inches and that wasn't low enough to stop a Angus cow but the calves ducked under just fine. We lowered it about 4 inches and tried the cow that went under and her calf again. Darn cow still went under. It would probably work fine for any other breed of cow but not Angus.

 

[Soapweed]

We had a couple cows that wintered in a pasture north of us and stayed there all summer until they had a big gather last week, so I had them in a pen and I had another couple we brought in to get quills out of one calf so I left them in as we gather tomorrow. Well Britt and I wanted to put them up the alley to try our sorting panel. The dogs were out with us and the cows got a tad upset so the dogs were sent out of the pen but one cow came at me, hit me in the ribs and brought her head up and gave me a bloody nose and I bit the inside on my lip pretty hard. Then she was on top of me worked me over and tromped on my legs. The left one didn't hurt much but my shin looked like it had half an apple on it and the right leg was/is sore on the top of the calf. No ribs broke but still sore.
I had blood dripping but am stubborn so we still took them up to try the sorting panel. Had the pipe at about 40 inches and that wasn't low enough to stop a Angus cow but the calves ducked under just fine. We lowered it about 4 inches and tried the cow that went under and her calf again. Darn cow still went under. It would probably work fine for any other breed of cow but not Angus.

Sorry about your tough luck. You might have to devise a "Plan B" for weaning those Angus cattle. Hope you recover painlessly from all the bumps and bruises you received as souvenirs from that nasty ol' cow.

I poked myself with a Dectomax needle today, and bled a bit. This should take care of some of my internal parasites. If Trump could win the election, some of the outward parasites could possibly be eliminated, too. :cboy:

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

We live a dangerous life, guess that's why the women are so attracted to us. :wink: :cowboy: :nod: :lol2: :lol2:

 

[gcreekrch]

You two old pharts had best start staying at the house....................

 

[mrj]

We live a dangerous life, guess that's why the women are so attracted to us. :wink: :cowboy: :nod: :lol2: :lol2:

I believe you may mis-understand. It's because we know 'your kind' will get yourselves killed if you don't have a good woman looking out for you! And if you live past 80, some of you do figure things out a bit and back off when you should.

mrj

 

[Faster horses]

We live a dangerous life, guess that's why the women are so attracted to us. :wink: :cowboy: :nod: :lol2: :lol2:

I believe you may mis-understand. It's because we know 'your kind' will get yourselves killed if you don't have a good woman looking out for you! And if you live past 80, some of you do figure things out a bit and back off when you should.

mrj

:lol: Well said, mrj. :lol:

 

[4Diamond]

You're from Missouri throw on a hat and boots, half the state thinks that's all it takes.

 

[Faster horses]

You're from Missouri throw on a hat and boots, half the state thinks that's all it takes.

Not just Missouri....half (AND I THINK MORE THAN HALF) thinks that's all it takes.

 

[J.Johnson]

Being a cowboy has been my lifelong addiction that I am trying hard to overcome. The present cattle market is almost better than any other form of cure.

I hear ya on that point Soap
I got beat up by a cow yesterday that takes a bit of fun out of being a cowboy as well. :cowboy:

I almost had a similar experience on Saturday as well. If I haven't mentioned before, I am a veterinarian. I was preg checking cows on Saturday and as things often are, we were short on help, so I was helping load cows into the alleyway up to the chute.

Well this one cow(lets just say she is a little "rangey") must have took offense to my plans, because she came after me and it was clearly no bluff. I cleared a five foot corral fence in one jump and vault off the top rail.

The rancher said, "Hey that was pretty good. Did you high jump in high school?" I replied, "Nope, but it's amazing what you can do with a little motivation!"

I'm just glad I'm still young and agile!

 

[leanin' H]

Sorry to hear ya got scuffed up BMR. Cows will put a dent or two in a fella from time to time.

Missouri to Montana, I wish ya well in your endeavor. Most of us have grown up on ranches. We got to learn on the job training as kids who probably didn't draw any wages. And most of us here were dumb enough to love the lifestyle and the livestock. I was vaccinated against being a cowboy but it didn't take. Without experience, riding horse for a living will be a tough pull. There are so many things that make a great hand. And like Jody said, a lot of them require good old sweat from a shovel and stacking hay. A good hand on a horse knows where to be and when. They can think like a bovine and have had the opportunity to learn from older folks who spent their life in ranching. I am not saying you will never be successful. Having enough try and being willing to work goes a long ways these days. But there is no substitute for experience. I learn stuff every time I help a neighbor or day work, and not all of it is good. I suggest you take every chance ya can to learn, regardless of the task given. Use your ears more than ya do your mouth. Ya may find work at a salebarn, a feedlot, or day work at branding time and roundup in the fall. Read and do research on ranching. Don't expect to get rich. Expect to put in long days, freeze a little and bake a little depending on weather, have everything from afterbirth to scours from head to toe and know you will have to pay your dues with the hands who have been doing it longer and better. Now that I think about it, I maybe shoulda tried law school like my momma wanted. But you can also expect to watch calves bucking and kicking, feel the pleasure of a fine horse seeing new country, watch supreme sunrises and spectacular sunsets, be tired but satisfied at days end and know that you are doing something that very few folks can ever do. Law school be damned :wink:

Good Luck!

 

[jodywy]

Hey H , I know a lot of Lawyers that have nice ranches........ Now stich that prolapse up...