Moving Cows

 This last week we helped our friend move his cows down from his summer range.  On the first day we had to gather the cows off his ground.  Gathering is a lot of fun if it is done right. Wen you gather the easy way all the riders spread out in a wide arc and cover all of the ground.  After we gathered we had to drive the 130 pair 15 miles to that nights stopping point.  By the time we got there that night everything was tired: man and beast alike.  It was along day. 

There were five riders, including my brother, Monson, and me.   We all had a lot of fun even though it was 5 degrees above zero when we started that morning.  That's all for now folks.

The Dave Stamey Concert Was Great

Howdy Folks.  

This last weekend we got to go to a Dave Stamey concert in Marsh Valley, Idaho.

It was incredible. It was just him and his guitar and he sounded really good .

he is a top notch entertainer and I highly recommend watching him perform if you get the opportunity.

The concert went like this:  We pre- ordered tickets so we found our seats and sat down when it was time for the program to start.  He had a cowboy poet start things off for him. he was really great. Then he came out and started to talk and sing. he pretty much had a funny story for every song.  It was great .

During the intermission when every one else was talking, my mom and I went and found Dave and said hi to him from Kent Frecker, a local saddle maker who is a mutual friend.  Then we had him sign a cd and got a picture and then went and enjoyed the rest of the concert . 

He did sing, Buckaroo Man, and a bunch of other good songs.
 Well see ya next time.  Happy trails.

Frecker's Saddlery

This last week we went up to Frecker's Saddlery's grand opening.  Frecker's used to be located in Ririe, Idaho just a few minutes down the road from us.  Now it's in Dillon, Montana.

Kent Frecker is one of the nicest people i know. He will stop working to talk to anyone. Maybe someday I will be able to afford one of his saddles.  As far as I'm concerned he is the best saddle maker in the business. Their new shop is in the historic downtown of Dillon. The new shop has a lot more room then the old one. In the picture above, the left side of the building is the show floor where they sell tack.  On the right side is where they build the saddles.  

Blocking Wood

One of the ways Monson and I make money is we saw wood from limbed trees into logs that can be split for fire wood.  We have to thank Ricky Quinn for teaching us how to use a chain saw.

 The way we do it is we get an order for an amount of cords (4ft-4ft-8ft) of wood. Then we cut it in 14in lengths.  Then we load it on a trailer and deliver it.

It is a long and labor intensive process.  But it can be fun.  Especially when you get paid. This season we did 15 cord which is a semi- lode of trees.  Well thats all.

Book Review: Endurance, by Alfred Lansing

Well, unfortunately, Marshall and I don't have enough horse flesh to keep us busy 100% of the time outside.  So when we're not doing that we have do do inside work, like the dreaded school work.

If you're ever feeling too happy for your own good, read Endurance, by Alfred Lansing.  And if you're wishing for adventures, do not go to the Antarctic....  it sounds pretty dang bad.




Here are some of the reasons you should be glad that you didn't go with Sir Ernest Shackleton on his famous expedition - I'll count down from Ten:

10:  You don't have to be frozen and wet day and night for months.
9:  When you get blisters, they don't freeze and turn into hard lumps on your skin.
8:  You don't have to sleep in rotting sleeping bags on top of melting snow and bird guano.
7:  You don't have to live on an iceberg, or worry about it splitting in the middle of the night, and dropping you into the sea.
6.  You don't have to be attacked by leopard seals.
5.  You don't have to row for 3-4 hours, without gloves, and save your hands from freezing when you get back to camp by thrusting them into a freshly killed seal.
4.  Your food is not all meat and blubber, with some seal brains thrown in for variety.
3.  You don't have to heat, cook, and stay warm by burning blubber, which coats you in inky black soot.
2.  You don't have to spend hours in boats with freezing water up to your knees, eventually freezing your feet, and then have one turn gangrenous and have to be cut off.
1.  If you're in charge of a dog team, you don't have to shoot them one by one and then eat them for a change in diet.

Shackleton was really a hero even though he made some mistakes throughout the adventure. But almost everybody came home in one piece.  I'm just glad I wasn't with him.  So this winter when I'm riding my horse and think I'm cold, I'll remind myself, I'm really not.

Update on Starting Max

Well the latest on Max is he is in a snaffle bit.  He is doing great.  We have been in the arena for about 4 rides now.  He has a total of 7 rides.  At this point the rider is expanding the foundation the colt already has.  So I'm trying to introduce new things to him all the time, without overexposing him and frightening him.  One of the end goals is to have your horse trust you implicitly, so you try never to misuse that trust.  Everything I've learned is from Buck Brannaman/Ricky Quinn.  I'm just trying to apply what I've heard them say to this new experience of starting a colt.  

Right now I'm trying to get Max to pay attention to me. One of the hard parts is getting the horse to go where you want him to without making him mad or upset.  If you do your home work on the ground it is a lot easier.  A good rule to live by with horses is if you control the hindquarters you control the horse.    Well that's all. Happy trails.  

Words and Guitar Chords to Buckaroo Man by Dave Stamey

Dave Stamey is a cowboy song writer and singer.  DaveStamey.com

He is a blast to listen to.  If you haven't ever heard him sing I really recommend looking him up on youtube or your song site of choice.
But anyway, the reason I am writing about him is he is performing in Arimo, Idaho, only a short distance away from us and we have tickets to see him next Saturday. I am hoping for a great time. I hope he sings this song:

BUCKAROO MAN

Am        G              Am  

Sleep in a bed roll of canvas.  

Am                   C                  E      

No seeums they feed on your ears.

Am                      G                   Am

Wind blows the dust just like buckshot.

Am                             C                   E

 I ain't never seen it rain much out here.

Am                    G                Am

Smell your own sweat in the evening. 

Am                   C                E

Wash up at the galvanized tank.

F                              G                       C                         Am

Nearest town is forty miles, and the cook here he don't smile 

F                          E                Am

and all these young horses are rank.

Chorus: 

F                               G               C              Am

But come a ti yi yippie i o on the back of my caballo

F                  G                E

I wupy ti one on when I can 

F                                 G                     C               Am

My spurs they don't ring much and I never did sing much,

              F             E                 Am                         

but I'm sure enough a buckaroo man.

    

Cold fingers stiff in the morning. By noon its a hundred an three. Five year old slicks in the canyon, and never a hint of a breeze. Jug headed hollow back ponies, provide all with hours of grief.

Well there's snakes in the shade and cholla on the grade and a half a ton of grit between my teeth.

Chorus

That's a great song. It's also really fun to play on the guitar. The chords are just ones my mom and I worked out one night.  They're probably not the real ones.  And I don't know if all the words are exactly right.  Well, see ya next time. Happy trails.

MONSON

   

My Paint Horse, Pepper

My Paint Horse, Pepper

"PEPPER"

Pepper is my saddle horse.  Pepper was the first horse I ever bought.  I've had him for just over a year.  A good rule when buying a horse is make sure the horse is everything it's owner says it is.  I learned that after I bought him.  I fell in love with him before I knew everything.  I made the mistake of just riding Pepper in an arena.  When I got him home I found that I had a big project ahead of me. The good part is he has turned out to be a rock solid saddle horse.  He is very calm and good to be around.  Right now my littlest brother is learning to ride and Pepper is being the perfect kids horse while still being my number one saddle horse.  He is a pretty cool horse.

How We Named the Blog - "The Scoop Loop"

How We Named the Blog - "The Scoop Loop"

All right this blog took a little while to put together and there were some funny stories that  took place when we were naming it and creating it.  So I decided to tell you folks a few of these stories.

First off, Marshall failed to mention that this blog is a school assignment gone wild.  But, so far, so good.

When naming the blog we started by brain storming about names like Buckaroo Blog or something revolving around the word vaquero.  Then we googled them to find out if they were already taken.
It was funny some of the things that we found.  For instance all the vaquero things were like Pedro's   macho vaquero - we are not vaqueros yet, but we do try to be macho...  There was also Buckaroo Barbies.  With a name like that, we went right to their site.  They were two sisters, and definitely attractive, but a little old for us.  Plus, the post we read said one of them was getting married.

Then we started thinking about some phrases we've heard Buck Brannaman say, or something we've read in a Ray Hunt book.  All we could think of at first was, "Engage the Hindquarters" - and as a title that just didn't seem right. we thought about ''think'' or ''soft feel'' but neither sounded right .

So we thought about brands like M bar M or 2M lazy M but we decided that if we want to register a brand we don't want to have to rename the blog.

Finally we thought  about roping as we some times tend to do and that led to roping shots like ''johnny blocker'' or the ''SCOOP LOOP''! we all liked it so that's what it became and the name will push me and Marshall to get better at a shot nether of us throws very well.

Starting my Colt, Max

Starting my Colt, Max

"MAX"

Howdy.   The last couple of weeks, Monson and I have been working on starting my 4 year old colt, Max.  Max is a line back dun.  He is short, small, and not that good looking. The good side about him is he is one of the most laid back easy going colts of all time. This is the first colt I have ever started so this is a big plus.
When you are riding any horse the goal is for horse and rider to work as a team. This is easier said then done. During the first couple of rides on a colt you are laying the foundation for this.
 Here are some pictures of the third ride on Max.

In this shot I'm not sure what made me clench my jaw.   Max was doing great.

Asking a colt to lope is a little bit scary because things can go bad fast. But they didn't.

   That's the latest update from the Scoop Loop.

Happy Trails.