Big Muddy rancher
Well-known member
the real jake said:Back on the topic of rodeo, last week I was at a rope and drag branding of fall calves. The help included a current top ranked saddle bronc rider who has moved here recently, a local rancher who I think was a college bareback champion rider in his day, and a few of us other local guys who tried to stay out of the way. :wink: :lol: No one ever got in a hurry or tense about a thing, and we took time for the two guys to drag calves on 4 3yr. old colts for the first time. Considering that we used Nord Forks, the colts worked very well. It was a fun day to get together and do something we all enjoyed doing.
One reason I myself have shied away from participating in rodeo is that the pace of the events isn't always the best for a ranch horse to keep his mind in. Take team penning for example. It may be fun (don't know I've never done it), but it is exactly the wrong way to handle horses and cattle. If someone rode like that on this ranch it would raise the hair up on the back of my neck. :!: Only as a last resort would it be ok. Maybe I am a prude, but I like it that way. :wink:
I hear you Jake about handleing cattle on the ranch like they do team penning but then Do you put a flank strap on a colt when you try to break it, Do you ride your herd bulls and at a branding do you run your calves and rope them around the neck? We used a buch of dry cows for team penning the first summer of BSE when we had no markets open. We had fun and didn't hurt any cows. had some kids thatlive close to town and had horse came in and they had a blast and we did work the and tried some cutting. Sure team pemming isn't how a "RANCHER" would work his cows BUT.