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.