Dear Friends We were hiking high up in the wilds of the remote North Fork of Hat Creek. It was Sam and Jess, the two summer range riders, and I. We were on a quest to inspect some of the farthest reaches of barbed wire boundary fence on our grazing ranges. It was a beautiful blue sky day …
When Horse Runs Rogue (It’s Usually Our Fault)
Dear Friends The horses have run ranch-rampant. But they're on vacation at this time of year. They've put their time in on the range over the summer season. There, they worked off fat and built muscle mass from carry rider and camp gear over nearly a 1000 miles during the grazing tour. But that's …
Continue Reading about When Horse Runs Rogue (It’s Usually Our Fault)
When Flint Meets Steel
There's some sort of mystical bond between young girls and horses. It's rare to see this in boys, but it often happens early in a girl's life. They're drawn to horses, even before they set their hand or hearts to one. On the outside, especially from the viewpoint of a male it looks like girls can go …
Bringing Them All Back Home
It was a cryptic message, but I knew what it meant immediately. When I read the text, the two-week open window that had been a pesky nuisance in my mind finally slammed shut. I reread the satellite phone message from daughter Linnaea: "Got them loaded and about to drive out." That's it. Out of …
Sutter’s Mill and Salmon River Sediments
The Salmon River is running chocolate milk, and I think it saved us. I had been clattering on the rough cobble of the rocky shore, threading my way through downfall and impenetrable willow brush with my mare, Sunny, tracking a couple of steers in the early morning light as more rainclouds scudded …
Continue Reading about Sutter’s Mill and Salmon River Sediments
We Are Not Alone
They stealthed upon us suddenly in the silent black of night when we least expected it, as they often do. Ironically, we were just 5 minutes earlier taking about them. And it had been a while. We were all exhausted from a long day astride saddle horses in rough country. For icing on a fatigue …