Monthly Archives: January 2017

Starting Colts Under Saddle

Training Horses

I’ve probably put more first saddles on horses than most horsemen. But, then that’s only because one of my chosen professions, since my adolescence, has been colt starting. It’s an adrenaline producing activity, with a lot of risk. And in an age of infernal combustion engines, one has to question its reasoning. Nevertheless, I’m addicted, so I do it. A friend asked the other day “So how do you start colts, saddle’em up and buck’em out? ”

Some do. And those who chose that method have got even more of an “organ recital” than I have, with broken bones, concussions, etc. I have been fortunate to learn from a lot of people who really did know what they were doing. We actually spend a lot of time working in a small area, at liberty, developing trust and bonding. By the time I put the first saddle on a colt, I usually do it without a halter or any form of restraint. But, then when I fasten the cinch, I don’t do it halfway. I make sure it’s buttoned on to stay. The reason is that the next few minutes can be pretty hairy! This week’s colt really put on a show! It reminded me of how I behaved at age five, when the nurse was going to give me a shot in the butt! When ol’ pony finally came out of his blind panic mode and accepted the saddle, we worked for a while and then it took off. Tomorrow we’ll do it again. The old vaqueros used to say “A colt ain’t got no work in him if he don’t buck with the first saddle. But he ain’t got no sense if he does buck with the second saddle! “He bucks the first time to get rid of the puma on his back. When he learns he can’t get rid of it, and he’s not harmed by it, the second day, he knows it’s no use. The first day was driven by instinct, the second by learning! if only I could learn so well and so fast!

New Year’s Revolution

Philosophy

What was your New Year’s resolution last year? You can’t remember, can you. Or if you do you are one in a million, or else you have an eidetic memory, like Sheldon on Big Bang Theory. I remember one year, long ago, I resolved to give up cussing. My wife told a family friend about it, who commented, “What a shame! He had so much promise! ”

Well, with this new year, another chance is offered, to kind of start over. I guess I’ll have to come up with something. I heard one wit say he’d resolved to quit throwing phonograph records at whales. Must’ve been a while back, since CDs have near about replaced vinyl. To say nothing of the short supply of whales. I asked him why, and he said, “Well, I have systematically failed at everything else, so I thought I would set up for success! ”

I considered doing less, and doing it better. But, I am married with children and grandchildren and three jobs, so you know how that’s going to end. What I am probably going to have to do, is to resolve to live in the moment. I’ll drive when I’m driving, so I don’t have a wreck, and I’ll cook when I’m cooking, so I don’t burn the biscuits, and I’ll ride when I’m riding, so I don’t get bucked off… Oh my God what’s that smell… Damn, the biscuits are burning!

Respect for the Pickup Man

Philosophy

I always wanted to be a pick up man. You know, those guys at the rodeo who help the rough stock riders escape from the bucking horses and bulls. The ones, that is, who didn’t fly off and face plant in the arena dirt! Those men are the ones who never have a name but who ride athletic talented horses, and deftly go in next to flailing hooves, and flapping stirrups, or hooking horns, to rescue cowboys, and strip off bucking straps. Then they usher the broncs and bulls out of the arena. Yeah, them. When I was trying to become a teenage calf roper, I admired the professional, cool skill of those guys. I guess I still want to be a pick up man when I grow up. If I grow up. (Growing old is unavoidable, growing up is optional!) I guess being a doctor and operating a ranch will have to do. I still help people and animals, and get to ride horses. Not long ago Western Horseman magazine ran an article about rodeo pick up men. I was fascinated by their connection with their horses, and the number of skills they have mastered. But mostly I was impressed by their motivation. All of them expressed a similar desire to help. They felt the connection with people, the ones they helped, the ones they met and got to know, and the ones they worked with and mentored. they considered that connection the most important part of their job. It was mostly about something called brotherly love. Seems we all could use a helping of that! 

Sour Dough…Mmmm!

Chuck Wagon Cooking

It has been said that a cook that didn’t have skill with sourdough bread and biscuits wasn’t worth having in a cow camp. If you have the addiction, you’ll understand, or at least sympathize. Anyway, here are my observations based on years of failures, and even a few (very few) successes with sourdough baking.

There is one major difference between baking bread and baking biscuits. Bread is made slowly, lovingly, hands-on and warm. Biscuits are made fast and cold.To make a pan of biscuits, put a cup of flour in a cold bowl, add 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 tablespoon sugar and, at my altitude, sea level, a healthy tablespoon of baking powder. Mix thoroughly, then cut in 1 tablespoon of shortening, I use leaf lard. When it looks coarse like cornmeal, pour in a cup of sourdough starter. Mix it with a fork until it comes away from the sides of the bowl, then dump it onto a lightly floured surface flip it over, and using your knuckles flatten it to slightly more than 1/2 inch thick. Cut out the biscuits, put them in the lightly oiled Dutch oven or skillet, crowd them together, and let them sit someplace warm for 10 to 15 minutes. When they’ve had a little rising time, put them in an oven at 400° or put the lid on the Dutch oven and a good shovel full of hot coals on top with not too many on bottom. Takes 15 to 20 minutes to bake golden brown.

Bread, on the other hand, may take a day or more. The night before you bake, make a “sponge” by mixing a cup of flour with a cup of starter, a cup of lukewarm water, and a tablespoon of sugar, and place out of the way, lightly covered with a damp cloth. In the morning add in 2 1/2 teaspoons salt, and begin mixing as you add around 4 cups of flour. When you get a sort of sticky ball, dump it out on a floured surface. Now, flour your hands and begin to knead. You need to knead it for about 20 minutes. You can stop to rest a time or two. But you knead until you can stretch the dough and see light through it. Knead it with a pushing, rolling motion to activate the gluten and make the dough elastic. It’s meditation time. If you want to speed up the process it’s legal nowadays to add a packet of rabbit rise yeast while mixing. ( rapid rise, tee hee)

Put the dough in a crock, lightly oiled, and drape a warm damp dish towel over it. Set it somewhere warm to rise. This can take hours, until the dough doubles in size. Some cooks even punch it down for a second rise (more hours) but now it’s developing its sour flavor. When it’s “proofed” or risen, put it on a cookie sheet or in a bread pan, cut slits in the top to let out gasses and put it in the oven at 400°F. In 30 to 45 minutes it will be deep golden brown, so take it out and let it cool on a rack so air can get around it. When you finally get it right, it won’t last long, particularly in my family!