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Welcome to the Rough String, and thanks for stoppin' by!! Grab a hot cup of coffee and sit a spell!
10/22/18 You will see a name change on the blog. Lots of things have changed in my life in the past few years, and I feel compelled to share my story.

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Thursday, July 9, 2009

Our 4th of July Celebration



The day started early...up at 4 AM. Horses had to be fed, lunches made, breakfast eaten, extra coffee made, and then an hour and a half drive to Roaring Springs Ranch in the Catlow Valley for the High Desert Cutters 4th cutting of the season.

My Man and I volunteered to be the "directors" for the three cuttings we have at Roaring Spring Ranch this year. We make sure the arena is watered, worked, the cattle are there, and keep the judge happy with food and drink.

We were the first ones there and the arena was sort of done, but there wasn't a cow in sight! Laura our president arrived along with Wendy the vice president and we all wondered if there would be a cutting!

But, the ranch manager, Stacy, and his crew came along and things got rolling...


Jose brings the water truck.
BTW, Jose is a fantastic vaquero style horseman.
I love to watch him work his horses.



Another crewman finishes working the arena.




One side of the arena is just wire fence
so we place a couple of rigs along the side to
keep the cows from trying to jump the fence.
Our's is the one on the right.




Then we see the herd of cows coming from the south.
My Man and Whiskey along with Bruce
are there to help get them into the pens.



Riders are getting their horses warmed up.




Our secretary, Andi, is busy signing up the riders.






Stacy and his hand are sorting out the bulls and
cows that are too big.






The first set of cows are brought into the arena.
Yep, there's Cindy Sue!! She stays on the bed
of the truck when we get started.





Our pregnant president Laura is busy making
sure everything is ready and in order.





My Man along with other riders watching and
cheering on other riders.
Everyone is friendly and supportive of each other.






The judge, Debbie Otley, is contemplating someone's score.



I rode in two classes; the 150 and the 125. My actual class is the 125, but we can show up another class if we want to enter more than once. The numbers of the classes don't mean monies won or anything like that. They just identify the ability level of the horse. Horses are classified at the beginning of the year to determine which class they should be in.

This is a clip of Colt and me on my second cow in the 150. We scored a 68. In the 125 class, we scored a 67.








I was very happy with both of our runs.
As you can see from the video, we have
a lot of improvement to make. But, this club
is designed to get us out there and cutting...no
matter what level you are at.
Fun...is the name of the game.






Ah, yes, lunch.




Lunch for the boys too.
You can't ask for better scenery than
the Catlow Valley.





All too soon, the day has finished. We send the cows back
down the road to find their way to their pasture.





And, just in time...see the rain sprinkles on
Colt's neck?

A perfect 4th of July in Harney County.


Photobucket

9 comments:

  1. Oh that looks like a wonderful day; good company, great scenery, a good horse to ride and cows to cut.....nice to see the video of you and the Coltster in action! I really wish I could get into cutting, but no one around here is doing it ... yet!

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  2. Thanks for the lovely photos and video! It's fun to see you and Colt in action - nice that you've got such a supportive environment to work in.

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  3. Looks like a lot of fun, you are so lucky to live in an area where cattle are available to use! Its really hard to find anyone who has cattle up here, if they do, they are used to death and sour.

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  4. What fun for you AND Colt! So glad you still have him ;)

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  5. You and Colt look great out there! You've come so far with him, so fast. Well done.

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  6. I think you two looked great. Colt is watching the cow just fine.

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  7. That looks like a great way to spend the 4th! You guys look pretty darn good!
    You do have very pretty scenery, love it!

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  8. Looks like a wonderful day! Thanks for sharing the pics and video. :-)

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  9. Sounds like a great day! I loved the video. I thought you and Colt looked pretty darn good, myself! :) Oh too funny, I just looked up and read that my sister wrote the same thing, LOL! We must be related... ;)

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