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Moving yearling replacement heifers to fresh pasture

S

Soapweed

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
16,264
Location
northern Nebraska Sandhills
TheKosmopolitanKidbeforeleavingforL.jpg

The Kosmopolitan Kid before leaving to go to Louisville to the National FFA Convention
Congregatingbeforethemove.jpg

Congregating before the move
PhantomLakeonthenortheastcorner.jpg

Phantom Lake on the northeast corner of our ranch
Siftingthroughthesandandsoapweeds.jpg

Sifting through the sand and soapweeds
Asplashofcolorinadrabscene.jpg

A splash of color in a drab scene
Allstrungout.jpg

All strung out
Pushingthestring.jpg

Pushing the string
Traipsingthroughthehills.jpg

Traipsing through the hills
Twoparallellinesthatmightmeet.jpg

Two parallel lines that might meet
Niceheifersandpoorcountry.jpg

Nice heifers in poor country
Younghorsegettingagoodhardride.jpg

Young horse getting a good hard ride
SaddletrampandWyatt.jpg

Saddletramp and Wyatt
 
Soapweed-thanks so much for taking time to share your pictures with us! I was thinking about how much riding you and your crew had done the past month and wondering how often you have to to switch horses? Hope all goes well for you and crew!
 
The saddle that I ride is a Ralph Shimon. It is the third one I've had, and I really like them. Ralph's workmanship is scoffed at by some, but his saddles sure fit a horse.

The first saddle I got from him was when he was at Brush, Colorado, in early 1974. It was on a modified association tree, and the complete saddle with stirrups and cinches was $400. I paid an extra $35 to get all silver conchos, instead of the nickel ones that were standard. This saddle was showing a lot of wear by 1986, so I bought another one from him when he was at Torrington. It seems like it was just under a thousand dollars at the time, with stirrups, cinches, and a breast collar. I never did like the breast collar too well, so used a different one with the saddle.

About five or six years ago, I was in Harry Adams' saddle shop in Valentine. He had a practically brand new Ralph Shimon saddle there that had been traded in on a new Harry Adams saddle. I bought it for a thousand dollars, after Harry had put on all new brass conchos. This is the saddle that I ride today, and is the one that you can see the top of in the picture.

Several years ago, I quit using a breast collar. Most of the time it just isn't that necessary, and is just more weight for the horse to pack and more buckles for me to mess with every time I saddle up. The older I get, the more simple I try to make Life in general. :wink: :-)

Anyway, I'd put in a good word for Ralph Shimon saddles. They feel good to both the cowboy and the horse, and that is what it is all about.
 
I concur with you about the Ralph Shimon saddles. They feel good.

A friend of Faster horses told me a cute story about FFA. He went out to this place and this over worked looking fellow was doing some mechanical work on a tractor.Tthe man was working by himself and asked if he knew what FFA meant? He said he thought so but any ways the man said "Father Farms Alone" as the kid was always gone to some FFA Meeting or convention.
 
Soap, your Shimon saddle looks good and you can see that you ride it, and aren't just talking off the top of your head. And of course, all of us here KNOW that you are horseback quite a lot and know of what you speak.

However, we had a woman friend that ordered a Ralph Shimon saddle 15 years ago, and it was the biggest piece of crap we ever saw. We did help her persist in convincing him to take it back, which he finally did. I think the problem was that he had hired some help and wasn't at the shop much during this particular time.

I have heard, before and since, that Shimon saddles are good ones. You sure couldn't prove it by the one she got. I wouldn't fit a horse. Stuck way up in the back. always looked like the horse had a hump in his back and was very uncomfortable to ride. We tried it on several horses with the same result.

She did get her money back.
 
You know what, I had a Buck Steiner saddle when I was a kid. I had forgotten all about it. Nice workmanship, hand tooled, but it had some kind of different swells. Made it look funny. Can't remember what those swells were called. They weren't 'form fit' but on that order. They kinda came out to a point.

It had a nice seat and was a good saddle, but those swells made it look different...and when you're a kid, ya don't wanta be different...

Funny story about that saddle. I sold it when I got married. One day the sheriff of Sheridan County called and asked if I had a Buck Steiner saddle. I said, "yes I had one, but I sold it." He said, "Okay. We found it on a stolen horse." YIKES!

I had had that saddle registered at the courthouse with a number stamped into the gullet (don't know if they do that anymore) but that is how they traced the saddle. Never did hear the rest of the story...

So, Lily, what can you tell us about Buck Steiner or Buck Steiner saddles?
 
Well what got me interested in Buck Steiner saddles is sorta a funny story, we were over at a cousins house that had made a trip to Austin and visited Capitol Saddlery. The great grandson that works the saddle shop now had commented to my cousin that he'd sure like to get his hands on some of his great grandfathers original saddles. (offered 1200.00 site unseen, or more, depending on the condition)My aunt still has two of them, grandad rode nothin but Buck Steiners. Anyway he was tellin us about it, and said his mom wasn't gonna let him sell em. Which he really didn't want to do anyway since they belonged to grandad. Well that night I came home and got on ebay, found one, ended up winnin the bid on it and gave 260.00 for it with 30.00 shippin. I fully intended to turn a quick deal and make some money. But after I got it, and sat in it, Oh my goodness it fit me perfect!!!! So I still have it. Yes it has different swells, I'm fairly sure they are called bear trap swells. They aren't the swept back one's but more strait upright, and stick out (if ya needed to you could grip with yer legs and stay in the saddle)

http://www.capitolsaddlery.com/heritage.html

http://www.countryworldnews.com/Editorial/SCTX/2005/sc0804cowboy.htm

Also they own and operate Steiner Ranch

http://www.steinerranches.com/
 
Lily, that was just downright interesting! I would have never put Buck Steiner together with Sid Steiner!!! NEVER EVER!

I can't imagine Sid Steiner coming from a ranching background with all his hair, clothes, and jewelry. I'm definitely NOT a Sid Steiner fan. I am so thankful his 'style' didn't catch on and we would be forced to watch a whole wad just like him if we like to watch rodeo.

Back to the saddles. Take a picture of yours and post it, would ya, Lily?
I don't know if those are called 'bear trap' swells or not. Doesn't seem quite right to me, but I haven't come up with a proper name yet.
And yes, mine weren't swept back either. Just came stright out to a point. The leather was so nice and the tooling was good. Nice ground seat and nice cantle. They were pretty saddles, except I just never did care for the swells.

I had been lookin for a certain bit that I had seen off and on for years. I ran into a guy who had one and asked where he got it. He said Keith Welling in Nebraska makes 'em. I came home and called Nebraska information and couldn't find Keith Welling. I had just gotten my computer and someone told me I could look on there. Nope, no Keith Welling. One day I decided to visit e-bay. I took a look around at some stuff and I thought, "I'm gonna see if there is a Keith Welling bit on e-bay." I hit the search button and up popped ~1~. One bit by Keith Welling. I went in to take a look and could NOT believe my eyes. There was the exact bit I had been looking YEARS for. Of course, I kept bidding til I got it. We used that bit today!! Made me so happy! And that was my FIRST visit to e-bay!!! That was one lucky deal.
 
Rowdy Ranch said:
Soapweed-thanks so much for taking time to share your pictures with us! I was thinking about how much riding you and your crew had done the past month and wondering how often you have to to switch horses? Hope all goes well for you and crew!
Click to expand...

We have enough horses that we switch fairly regularly. We almost never ride the same horse two days in a row, and then only if it is for short rides to just get cattle in the corrals when we will be afoot most of the rest of the day. On long hard horseback days, often we switch horses at noon. There is no use overdoing it on any of them, and risk soring them or tuckering them plumb out.

Saddletramp and I each have four horses in our strings, and Mrs. Soapweed has three. The Kosmo Kid has his favorite, but he switches also if he's ever home two days in a row. :wink: With his football and FFA activities, I tend to agree with the gent who says FFA stands for "father farms alone." :) We have sixteen broke saddle geldings on the place, so have some spares besides our regular horses.
 
funny you looked for keith welling bit for years and i picked up one the other day at a western trades day in paris tx
there were two a snaffle mouthpiece and one with a dog bone snaffle with copper rings
got it in trade for a braidied rawhide head stall that i did not use as i thought i would
while there it was an excellent chance to pass out anti-NAIS flyers
so many people still do not know what NAIS is and why it is made to benefit corporate ag while putting the screws to the rest of us
 
Thanks for the pics Soapweed, I enjoyed you virtual tour. definetly worth the wait, which wasn't too long because of their size.
Looks like Saddletramp is pretty well mounted, that's a good looking horse.
 
Theses pictures are from an old post, dated October 25, 2005. Not sure how they bounced back to the top again, but they did. The horse Saddletramp was riding now belongs to a neighbor. I didn't get to Pitzer's horse sale, but would like to sometime.
 
Faster horses said:
You know what, I had a Buck Steiner saddle when I was a kid. I had forgotten all about it. Nice workmanship, hand tooled, but it had some kind of different swells. Made it look funny. Can't remember what those swells were called. They weren't 'form fit' but on that order. They kinda came out to a point.

It had a nice seat and was a good saddle, but those swells made it look different...and when you're a kid, ya don't wanta be different...

Funny story about that saddle. I sold it when I got married. One day the sheriff of Sheridan County called and asked if I had a Buck Steiner saddle. I said, "yes I had one, but I sold it." He said, "Okay. We found it on a stolen horse." YIKES!
?
Click to expand...
Isn't that just what the bad guy says to the police who implicate someone's car or gun in a robbery? "Why officer, that WAS mine but it was stolen last year!" :wink: Faster Horses, we never pictured you quite as a thief but ya never know on this internet thang...!
 

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