Mountain Cowgirl
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2021
- Messages
- 1,212
Over the years I have been asked the question of why is ranching different than rodeo. Don't they both involve the same disciplines involving cattle and horses?
The answer is yes and no.
Some ranches have beef cattle and may or may not have horses. A horse isn't necessary on most of today's ranches. Some ranches are all sheep and dogs, no horses or cattle. Where I live, large wheat farms are called ranches. It isn't uncommon to hear someone say they were raised on a wheat ranch that may or may not have had any cattle or horses. It isn't uncommon for a barrel racer to be raised on a wheat ranch with NO CATTLE!
With all the modern equipment and technology, a girl will have more time for recreational horse riding on a wheat ranch than a working cattle ranch girl. The cattle ranch girl in practical use approaches roping from a different perspective than the recreational girl roper that seeks to become a pro and perform in rodeos. A working cattle ranch girl may also seek to be a rodeo roper, but when she practices for such, it differs like night and day.
If one visits a working ranch using the rope and drag method for branding, etc., as they did in the days of old, you won't find anyone leaving a chute like a Kodiak grizzly is on their tail. Let's pause for a moment. The essence of TIME is the difference.
A working ranch is concerned with getting branding, etc. done with the least excitement to the cattle. There are no buckles or cash prizes for time or even efficiency. The reward is pride in a way of life, community, family and getting the job done regardless of weather, or disability, and seeing your cattle, your investment, protected by brand and vaccination with bull calves converted to steers. It is a livelihood and a business.
My grandpa always said he could evaluate a "cowboy's" skills by driving down a gravel road after a cattle drive. If the road was covered in cow manure and it was evident that it was ejected with force, then those cowboys would be fired and they could go to rodeo school because that is where they belonged. Running cattle is a no-no on a working ranch. This is why many ranchers use dogs. A well-trained dog doesn't excite the cattle like a horse-mounted "cowboy" hell-bent on playing rodeo at the cattle ranchers' expense. Running cattle lose weight.
Cattle usually break away and stampede when pushed too hard. My dad always said this is why cowboys of old sang so they could keep themselves calm. No one could sing, "yippie tie ya yo, get along little doggie," if thundering after cattle like they were getting a bonus for making a 12-hour drive into a 4-hour one.
How do rodeo stock contractors differ from ranchers? First, their objective is to have horses that buck, bulls that twist and leap with great extension to push the "cowboy" backward and send them flying or maybe just get them so off balance they fall off or touch rendering them a no-time. A cattle rancher has no use for such a bull. Most stock contractors buy their stock from ranchers that raise stock purposely for the rodeo. That rancher is not the one that trains the animals to perform, just does the selective breeding. That rancher will buy the semen from a championship bull or stallion, that the stock contractor owns, but the work and disciplines of the stock contractor and the rodeo stock ranch breeder differ vastly.
To most working beef cattle ranchers, the stock contractor is not considered a cattle rancher anymore than a recreational horse breeder is. Cattle ranchers may jest with the sheep ranchers and they both may jest with the goat rancher which is the butt end of the jesting. Stock contractors are not included in the conversation. WHY?
Because the cattle, sheep, goat, and even wheat ranchers are providing a food source and a real product, and not a recreational product that if it disappeared would have no effect on feeding mankind.
That is the difference in a nutshell. One is essential the other is NOT.
With that said, the real cowboys, pokes, or hands of old developed rodeo for fun. No one rode a bull or a bronc on a cattle drive. No one was timed on how long it took them to rope a calf. Rodeo was a day off, not a ranch discipline. These old cowboys knew the difference between working cattle and rodeo. Sadly today with all the Hollywood stereotypes that started back in the days of silent movies, the real meaning of cowboy has been lost except for a few ranchers such as we have here on Ranchers. Net.
Any real deal rancher or ranch hand whether past or present can have fun taunting each other over their differences in ranching lifestyles and it is all in fun. Pro rodeo doesn't even enter into the same conversation.
The answer is yes and no.
Some ranches have beef cattle and may or may not have horses. A horse isn't necessary on most of today's ranches. Some ranches are all sheep and dogs, no horses or cattle. Where I live, large wheat farms are called ranches. It isn't uncommon to hear someone say they were raised on a wheat ranch that may or may not have had any cattle or horses. It isn't uncommon for a barrel racer to be raised on a wheat ranch with NO CATTLE!
With all the modern equipment and technology, a girl will have more time for recreational horse riding on a wheat ranch than a working cattle ranch girl. The cattle ranch girl in practical use approaches roping from a different perspective than the recreational girl roper that seeks to become a pro and perform in rodeos. A working cattle ranch girl may also seek to be a rodeo roper, but when she practices for such, it differs like night and day.
If one visits a working ranch using the rope and drag method for branding, etc., as they did in the days of old, you won't find anyone leaving a chute like a Kodiak grizzly is on their tail. Let's pause for a moment. The essence of TIME is the difference.
A working ranch is concerned with getting branding, etc. done with the least excitement to the cattle. There are no buckles or cash prizes for time or even efficiency. The reward is pride in a way of life, community, family and getting the job done regardless of weather, or disability, and seeing your cattle, your investment, protected by brand and vaccination with bull calves converted to steers. It is a livelihood and a business.
My grandpa always said he could evaluate a "cowboy's" skills by driving down a gravel road after a cattle drive. If the road was covered in cow manure and it was evident that it was ejected with force, then those cowboys would be fired and they could go to rodeo school because that is where they belonged. Running cattle is a no-no on a working ranch. This is why many ranchers use dogs. A well-trained dog doesn't excite the cattle like a horse-mounted "cowboy" hell-bent on playing rodeo at the cattle ranchers' expense. Running cattle lose weight.
Cattle usually break away and stampede when pushed too hard. My dad always said this is why cowboys of old sang so they could keep themselves calm. No one could sing, "yippie tie ya yo, get along little doggie," if thundering after cattle like they were getting a bonus for making a 12-hour drive into a 4-hour one.
How do rodeo stock contractors differ from ranchers? First, their objective is to have horses that buck, bulls that twist and leap with great extension to push the "cowboy" backward and send them flying or maybe just get them so off balance they fall off or touch rendering them a no-time. A cattle rancher has no use for such a bull. Most stock contractors buy their stock from ranchers that raise stock purposely for the rodeo. That rancher is not the one that trains the animals to perform, just does the selective breeding. That rancher will buy the semen from a championship bull or stallion, that the stock contractor owns, but the work and disciplines of the stock contractor and the rodeo stock ranch breeder differ vastly.
To most working beef cattle ranchers, the stock contractor is not considered a cattle rancher anymore than a recreational horse breeder is. Cattle ranchers may jest with the sheep ranchers and they both may jest with the goat rancher which is the butt end of the jesting. Stock contractors are not included in the conversation. WHY?
Because the cattle, sheep, goat, and even wheat ranchers are providing a food source and a real product, and not a recreational product that if it disappeared would have no effect on feeding mankind.
That is the difference in a nutshell. One is essential the other is NOT.
With that said, the real cowboys, pokes, or hands of old developed rodeo for fun. No one rode a bull or a bronc on a cattle drive. No one was timed on how long it took them to rope a calf. Rodeo was a day off, not a ranch discipline. These old cowboys knew the difference between working cattle and rodeo. Sadly today with all the Hollywood stereotypes that started back in the days of silent movies, the real meaning of cowboy has been lost except for a few ranchers such as we have here on Ranchers. Net.
Any real deal rancher or ranch hand whether past or present can have fun taunting each other over their differences in ranching lifestyles and it is all in fun. Pro rodeo doesn't even enter into the same conversation.
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