Cow Country

[BigAl52]

Badger thinks so to hes fillin up on some of that nice new spring grass

[SAGA22]

Your photo's are great. Please keep them coming. To be honest I had no idea this was still going on. What a great life.

Thanks. But I should clarify one thing. After reading some comments it occurred to me that people might think I cowboy as my only job. I don't. I have done lots of real cowboy day work over the years and collected wages for it but I also have a full time job working for a large equipment company supplying the coal mines in southeast British Columbia. Cowboy wages haven't changed much since the 1880's. I know lots of full time working cowboys, and some other day workers too. Some real top hands. I'm very fortunate to be able to do it, but also have a retirement plan. Most of those guys won't ever have that. But then again, nobody cowboys for the money. It's a life. Just thought I'd better clear that up.

I started reading your post and brought it back memories.....

I had a good friend; Drun Hadley. He had a ranch in southern New Mexico. To be more exact the boot heel of New Mexico. the border to the west was Arizona the southern border was Mexico and east and northern borders were New Mexico. It was about 20,000 acres in 1972 when he got the ranch and you couldn't run a hand full of cattle on the whole spread but that would change. He and his family had a place in Santa Fe NM and I met him about that time. We were close friends until 1978 when I got a boat and sailed for about 10 years on the west coast on North America from Alaska to Cabo San Lucas Mexico.
When I cane back to Santa Fe Drum said, " build me a motor home just like your boat, I want to use it as a rolling office to buy some more land down south". I started the project and it took about a year and a half. The motor home was very nice. 32 feet on a Gilig truck chassis with a 3176 cat diesel engine, 14.5 KW Kohler diesel generator, mesquite floors, cheery paneling, 14 pony hides from Stewart boots in Tuscon for seats and couch, and lot's lot's more. Finished it in 1991 summer and licensed in Arizona where Drum had another house in Tuscon.
He drove the wheels of that motor home accumulating more land and writing cowboy poetry. Drum published a quite few books and if you can get your hands on one of them ....DO! Drum was “a very curious man who was as comfortable being among the major American poets of his generation as he was with the American and Mexican cowboys he worked with in the borderlands and he really captures the feel of the border cowboy.
Here are some of his books;  The Webbing (published by Donald Allen, Four Seasons Foundation, 1967), was followed by Spirit by the Deep Well Tank (Goliard, 1972), Strands of Rawhide (Goliard, 1972), Voice of the Borderlands (Rio Nuevo Press, 2005) and Light Before Dawn (Chax Press, 2010).

More to come......Doc

[RanchRoper]

Sounds like an interesting guy.

[SAGA22]

Sounds like an interesting guy.

Oh, that he was!

Doc

[SAGA22]

Sounds like an interesting guy.

Oh, that he was!

Doc

In around 1994 Drum and Seth his son, and a cousin started the dealings on the old Grey Ranch; which is now called the Diamond A, to the Animas foundation from the Nature Conservancy. The Grey Ranch had about 500 square miles......See link.    scroll to bottom of second photo...... Drum shows up. 
https://www.nature.org/en-us/magazine/m ... -badlands/  

https://geochange.er.usgs.gov/sw/responses/malpai/       more explanation of Malpis and Animas Foundation.

As you can see drum was a very busy cowpoke and through the years we spent less and less time together but we stayed in touch.Then a very sad day!
Drummond Hadley, cowboy, poet, conservationist, dies at 77
 https://tucson.com/news/science/environ ... 53fa0.html  
He had a hell of a ride!

Doc 
 

[RanchRoper]

Well, all I can say is I count my blessings every day. Have to. Like they said in Monte Walsh, nobody gets to be a cowboy forever.

[RanchRoper]

Before and after, same place in the yard, what a difference a month makes....

IMG_9099.JPG

IMG_9392-001.JPG

[markiver54]

Wow, what a difference!! Enjoy that beautiful weather!

[RanchRoper]

Have to cuz we usually get a good dump of snow in June!

[dave77]

Had a friend who grew up in Northern Montana and she said Spring, Summer and Fall each only lasted a couple of months while Winter lasted six.

[RanchRoper]

Yup. Welcome to the northern plains and foothills.

[Cofisher]

RR, you know you make many of us jealous. Keep on, brother.

[RanchRoper]

I will keep on keeping on as long as I can keep on.

[RanchRoper]

Some say "Don't let 'em eat when you're riding him, show him who's boss!"...I never worry too much about any of that. I don't spend time with my horses to fight with them. Once in awhile we take a little break and just chill. Life's short, for all creatures great and small. Enjoy the ride.

IMG_9382-001b.JPG

[RanchRoper]

Cow country.

[RanchRoper]

Took a short ride in the hills. Windy but nice day once the rain quit.

[JEBar]

spring has definitely sprung .. .. no hint of the snow that was there not long ago

[RanchRoper]

There is still lots of snow in way up high, this is looking east through the foothills. The snowpack high up this year was way above average, so lots of water to come down yet.

[RanchRoper]

Badger got a pretty good report at the vet today. Will try to work him up to grass pasture slowly with the plan of the horses staying out all night by mid July. Have to watch the June grass as it is high in sugar content during the daylight hours. Native grasses are best for his condition which is what we have. No grazing the lawns but we don't do that anyway. Did some blood work to compare to last year as well.

If you are reading this and have no idea what I am talking about he has Cushings disease which is like diabetes in people. Brain does not release the proper chemicals to process the sugar in the grass. Have to watch for founder ie laminitis (lameness that can be permanent). It's a senior horse thing that can happen. But he's good to go as long as we manage it with careful diet and exercise. There is a drug for it to help as well, but it has possible side effects I'm not crazy about, so will manage drug free as long as possible.

[BigAl52]

Thanks for the Badger report RR. We care alot about Badger. Im sure no where near what you do but he is famous here. Drug free is a good thing. Mom use to say for every action there is a reaction. I think he needs a carrot.