You’ve probably seen those ads for kits to find out what kind of blood you have in percentages. For instance 30 percent Native American, 20 percent European and so on. I’d like to have that test. It might help me figure out if any of […]
A cattle drive story
The first real daywork check I ever earned was from Ratcliff Ranch. I worked there quite a bit when it was a yearling operation. Jimmy Lowery was a full-timer living at the Blue Ribbon then and my buddy Curtis Capps was a full-time dayworker. Jimmy’s […]
One real good horse
There’s an old cowboy saying that you will be lucky if you own one real good horse. I’ve been richly blessed. I’ve had two. When I got to Oklahoma and started learning to daywork, I figured out real quick I needed an actual ranch horse. […]
The pause that refreshes
My cousin Sandy commented she likes my stories even though she knows nothing about horses. So I’ll tell a story about her and my brother. When we were small, too young to work in the summer, we had the great fortune to stay with our […]
Wagon wrecks
“We had a little wagon wreck,” my friend Ron Lowery wrote. Seems he and Julie were rolling the wagon through the yard by hand to wash the mud off. I guess the septic tank cover was just worn out, because the wagon fell in… “Julie […]
Lost in translation
We worked for Charley Chambers this week on the Osage. Even though it rained a lot the day and night before, it stayed dry for us to drag. It was a little chilly and the branding iron heater felt good when I was on the […]
A bedroll controversy
My friend Tim Zibell spent his birthday at cow camp dragging his own calves. That’s about as good as it gets. Here’s a cow camp story about Tim. We were camped with the wagon dragging for the Chambers. One morning when I got to the […]
Memories are made of this
“Isn’t that beautiful?” “Yes, it is,” my brother Keith said. We were looking across the bottoms at Crossroads near my hometown. It was just coming on daylight. The pasture kelly green with mist hanging over the treetops. Black cows grazing with little calves by side. […]
The brokest unbroke horse we’ll ever own
Mike has a horse he calls Whoabay. That’s because when he was breaking him he ran off…a lot. Saw boogers everywhere. Mike was riding in the feedyard when he bought him. “I rode him and nothing else for I don’t know how long,” Mike told […]
The best time of year
It’s calf dragging time. Every working cowboy’s favorite. Area ranches share their cowboys to brand the calves. So it’s a big get together that lasts for weeks. Good food at the wagon, good company and work we enjoy. Memories are made dragging calves. Mike and […]