When we talk about Western heritage, what we mean is
something that is handed down from the past as a tradition.
And while many professions have wonderful traditions and
heritage, the Western or cowboy heritage stands tall among them.
From the perspective of a broader view, agriculture could be
considered among the ...
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As everything we do, think, or say is centered around COVID-19, I’m increasingly thankful for my work as a beef producer.
I look around and see people extremely scared of this unseen
enemy. And I understand and share, to varying degrees, that fear. But the one
thing I can do that so many in the urban centers of this ...
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The Working Ranch Cowboys
Association mission is to promote ranching and to preserve the lifestyle of the
working ranch cowboy. For 25 years, WRCA
has sanctioned up to 24 ranch rodeos annually, with winning ranches receiving
an invitation to compete at the World Championship Ranch Rodeo.
As part of ...
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When the ranges were first being fenced up, and big ranches
divvied into smaller ones, the second-biggest indignity a cowboy could endure
was to be placed on a tractor. The biggest indignity? Being killed on one. And
really, that possibility was no joke the early days of farm machinery.
Today, machine operation is a ...
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Despite the COVID-19 lockdown, the cowboy countdown continues. People are realizing that life must go on in some form or fashion. For cowboys, the social distancing and shelter-in-place orders are probably somewhat moot. By definition, cowboys are isolationists and homebodies—not often crossing the cattleguard.
...
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Originally, the 24th best reason to be a cowboy was slated as: a short commute. In light of the COVID-19 health scare, I feel it’s only appropriate to spin it a bit to this new (temporary?) reality.
For 15 years, I endured a two-hour-each-way commute. In full disclosure, it was just one day per week, so I had six ...
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There are two songs rolling around in
my head as I think about the COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent reactions:
Hank Williams Jr’s A Country Boy Can Survive, and Alabama’s Song of
the South.
In Williams’ song, he croons, “The interest is up and the
stock market's down” and later, despite all the ills of ...
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In honor of the 25th anniversary of the Working Ranch Cowboys Association World Championship Ranch Rodeo in November, the next 25 blog entries will count down the top 25 reasons to be a cowboy. Of course, this is not an exhaustive list, nor will everyone agree on the items chosen and the placement given. Nonetheless, with ...
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Living in the population boom of Colorado’s Front Range, most of the people I interact with know little to nothing about the ranching lifestyle. They might have had a grandfather who had a small farm, or an uncle who rode a couple bulls, but no real understanding about what agriculturalists do.
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Photo: Gary Bellenfant sorting dries at a Colorado branding on one of his ranch horses.
Perhaps the biggest reason that the ranch rodeo movement began (25 years ago with the WRCA, in fact), and has grown in the subsequent quarter century, is because many of the other performance horse and cowboy contests drifted so far ...
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