Cowboys North and South | The WRCA Blog

The 10 days between June 22 and July 1 proved a hectic and highly stimulating time for me. So much so that I figured it was worth sharing with y’all.

On June 22 and 23, our ranch rodeo team was entered in the Colorado Championship Ranch Rodeo in Hugo, Colorado. In addition to the rodeo, the weekend featured a Ranch Horse Association of America show that my wife and I entered. She showed well and I was able to expose a young horse to town, so it was a success. What wasn’t a success was our performance at the ranch rodeo. It’s funny how sometimes you’ve got it and sometimes you don’t. Nonetheless, we all had a good time and the producers (Daryl and Tina Waite) did a great job as usual.

The very next day, I hopped on an airplane to Alabama to spend a few days with cutting horse trainer Austin Shepard for another project I’m working on. (Going from the scorched plains of Colorado to the muggy Gulf Shores of Baldwin County was nothing less than a culture shock.) Shepard is one of the most successful cutting trainers going down the road at the moment. Last year, he won the NCHA Futurity and the Open World Championship. That hasn’t been done in almost 50 years.

Watching his horses work was an amazing experience. The best were fast, responsive, controlled the cow, and did it all with flair and beauty.  Shepard is a gifted horseman and he’s got some of the best horses in the world tucked away in this little corner of Alabama where tourism (beaches and fishing) is the main attraction. From what I saw, he’s not a “jerk and spur” trainer. He corrects his horses as needed, but his gift seems to come in the form of making his horses responsible. They have to hold the cow. He teaches them how and maybe why, but they must want to the hold the cow for the thing to work.

From there, I flew home for a day then loaded up and headed to Busby, Montana, to brand calves. The ranch our friend runs on the Crow Indian Reservation is one of the most beautiful pieces of real estate I’ve had the opportunity to ride through. And it’s full of history. Custer, Reno, and Benteen came right through the heart of his place on their ill-fated journey to engage the Sioux and Cheyenne on the Little Big Horn. Over three days, we made a lot of horse tracks of our own, gathered cattle, and branded calves. My entire family was on hand and we truly enjoyed being in a lush environment. This particular part of Montana has been awash in rain and snow and the grass was stirrup high.

As we drove home after a successful branding, I was struck by just how far and wide the cowboy culture is flung. Sometimes, as ranchers, we get stuck in our own little communities—which we should pour into—but I found it extremely invigorating to expand a bit. The stretches in geography almost force you to stretch your way of thinking, consider new possibilities, and try to understand why different folks operate different ways. Mostly, though, I just think it’s fun to find “the cowboy way” in whatever corner of the world you happen to be in.

photo: stock photo (top photo) courtesy Pixabay/HorsebackRidingVests