September, 2008
Dear friends,We are finally back from Wyoming where we hid out for seven weeks "cowboying" with our good friends at the Grindstone Land & Cattle Co. of Daniel, Wyoming.
Our ten days of fall classes just wrapped up with our Return Rider Extravaganza. Now, our time is open for our horse clients to come for private sessions.
There is lots more about our time in Wyoming, along with the Arizona 2009 class schedule information, horses for sale, and the Grapevine, so get comfortable and read on!
SUMMER IN WYOMING... THE COWBOY WAY & MAKING SOME GOOD HORSES Those of you who were at our Arizona Schools last winter will remember Kent Snidecor, who worked with us. He is the head cow-boss on this outfit, and has cowboyed in that area for some 40 years. It was a great time for us and our five head we took with us. We had been planning this since last year, to be able to spend some intense and quality time on our horses and use them in a working situation where long days & wet saddle blankets really makes a lasting impression. We rode the ranch's 40,000 acres and tended to 3,000 head of cattle with the ranch crew. Many days were twenty-mile days that started early. We moved mother cows & calves and rotated the yearlings and replacement heifers, helping mainly with the cow work, handling all the separating & sorting--our favorite team work--and occasional doctoring, which is done strictly by roping them in the field at this outfit. No squeeze chutes here!
The hours in the saddle moving cattle from pasture to pasture were spent in beautiful expansive allotments of sub-irrigated pastureland flanked by rolling sagebrush hills painted with Quaking Aspen groves. The upper country was like riding through a sea of wildflowers amongst the firs, pines and spruce. . .timber country with elk trails as wide & worn as a mountain horse trail. Creeks carve the lush valley's pastures, bringing snow melt down from the Wyoming Range to west of us. Miles of these meandering creek beds were lined by willow thickets and beaver dams, making perfect hiding places for stubborn bulls to hang out in during the annual 75-head bull gather. This is where a good horse earns his keep.
The ranch was laden with wildlife rearing their young during the summer months; most prevalent were daily encounters with herds of antelope, badgers and their holes. Sage hens, sand hill cranes, blue herons, hawks and bald eagles were also attracted to the water there, as was moose, elk and deer. As the weeks went by, the bucks' racks grew as did the ranch's 1200 calves and our love of the area, the work, and the people. For Wil, it was like coming home, as it was Wyoming where he first started cowboying some 40 years ago.
This is big country--truly God's country--and, unfortunately, a changing country. It is a place where the last of the west's cattlemen and cowboys are trying to hang on to their way of life and their heritage. As the United States grows in its energy needs, so do the oil and gas well fields of western Wyoming, making it a state destined to be consumed for the good of us all. One wonders.
The economic & environmental impact of the oil & natural gas boom is incredible in that neck of the woods. The mesa sagebrush ground is increasing its production from one well on forty acres to one well per five acres! And before long, they'll be starting to drill on Forest Service ground in the mountains. It is unbelievable that the nation hasn't a clue of what is going on in western Wyoming. It is scary to watch an avalanche coming, knowing you can't outrun it. These are our changing times. We want to be part of the real Wyoming before it is gone forever.
So . . . it looks like we'll be heading for the high country again next year. We'll escape the sweltering mid-summer heat of our Hells Canyon Country and commit our summers to our bridle horses by punching cows & riding the Wyoming back country without any distractions. Then we'll return in the fall and be ready to offer our premier string of personal WHR geldings that have truly "been there & done that". It seems just the natural thing to do.
2009 ARIZONA WINTER CLASS SCHEDULE
Once again, we'll be heading south to Arizona in December to fight the tumbleweeds and prepare the Outpost for a full winter school schedule, starting February 4-10 with the From Foundation to Finished Course, followed by the Reined Cow Working four-day course February 12-15. Beverly will offer her "Cowgirl Up" Ladies Only Practical Horsemanship March 1-7. This is always a hit, and the women go wild over what Beverly has to offer. Later in March, we'll offer our Extreme Trail Training Course from the 25th to the 31st, which really allows folks and their horses a chance to excel with tactics training and gain confidence in all situations. We have added another Return Rider Round-Up Extravaganza April 2-5 directly following the Trail Class. It's four days of tune-ups, trail riding, and cattle work, and has become an annual Mecca for many folks who unite with old friends and take their training to the next level. Be there!!!
As always, there will be "hands on" coaching at the outpost and out on the trail in the high desert foothills and Dragoon Mountains out our back gate. Be assured, we never cease bringing new and innovative techniques to the table and sharing the most practical and common sense approach to safety and refined horsemanship training.
For further information on the Arizona and Oregon 2009 schedule,
contact Beverly at 541-893-6535
FALL HORSE UPDATES ONLINE
Check out our fall string of horses online and Wil's first-string gelding, "Zorro", this season's Wyoming mount, now offered in Cowboys & Indianswestern lifestyle magazine. He's big, black, & beautiful--truly a cowboy's dream horse! Click here for more pictures & Info. New Horse Notice!!! "Officer Scotty" is back and for sale!
In 2003 we bought an outstanding individual, a stout, well put-together little bay gelding named Scotty. Peppy San & Doc O Dynamite bred. He was exceptionally good-minded and a very tolerant, willing and athletic horse. After several months of finishing training and our extensive "acid test", we knew this was our pick for a client who was looking a new Mounted Police Patrol Unit horse. It proved so, and this horse has been a champion of Mounties for crowd control for the past four years. When not being used for Police work, Scotty was a weekend warrior--cow sorting, penning or trail riding--and the love of his owner. The ideal, all-around "bomb proof" anybody's dream horse! Quiet & cowy. He is smooth as silk and handy as can be. We are proud to have him back and offered for sale. For details and more pics on Scotty, Click Here!
WIL HOWE RANCH GRAPEVINE NEWS!
Alexi Child Wins 2008 AQHA Youth World Championship Working Cow Horse in Oklahoma City
Way to go Alexi! Another great performance and milestone from a youth with lots of talent. After we sparked her interest in cow horses back when she was 8 years old, Alexi has steadily been aiming for this goal ever since. Working her way up from Foundation AQHA shows to team penning & sorting to Cutting competition, qualifying for the 2006 AQHA World Youth Show in Cutting, finishing in the top ten on her Wil Howe gelding, she continued to train in pursuit of her reining and working cow horse goals. Showing the last two years in regional National Reined Cow Horse Shows with her new horses, she has earned herself commanding respect in the show pen, often winning the Open classes while merely warming up for her youth competitions. And she just turned sixteen this month! We congratulate her spectacular Oklahoma run. Job well done, Alexi! How sweet it is!!
Geronimo Swims in the Atlantic
Over Memorial Day weekend last spring, Linda Johnson of Maryland took her new Paint WHR gelding "Geronimo" out to Martha's Vineyard and introduced the big boy to the Atlantic Ocean. After a of bit of snorting and conditioning, by day's end she had him in the water and enjoyed the beach exposure training. She learned the importance of exposure training while at Beverly's Ladies Only Class last March in Arizona. He's seeing trails and lots of arena work with Linda, who is dedicated to riding at least 4 days a week. You go, girl!
Snoopy & Carol Celebrate One Year Anniversary
Carol Ferrari from California is head over heels for her cute bay WHR gelding she bought a year ago. They have worked very hard to become a successful team; she rides four to five days a week and trail rides on weekends in the California coastal mountains and beaches. She couldn't resist, and shared a carrot cake with her equine partner to celebrate their anniversary! What a gal will do for her horse!
Please share with us your stories and successes with your horse ventures and path to refined horsemanship accomplishments.
Remember, we are stewards, guardians, leaders and companions to these wonderful creatures. Respect the responsibility of this relationship, and pursue a path of knowledge to enhance and broaden your horsemanship horizons . . . we are here anytime to lend a hand in your quest . . .it is all about priorities.
Have a blessed and fruitful Indian Summer this September. Fall is the perfect time to get out in hills for trail riding! Be safe, watch for hunters, wear red, and have fun.
We look forward to hearing from you; plan now on joining us in Arizona. Don't be left out, sign up now!!!
Happy, Safe Trails & Turn- Arounds,
Beverly & Wil
and the WHR Crew--
Dary at Huckleberry's Line Shack, Pauline at the Ranch, and Bonnie in Bookkeeping
Comments