Don’t Ya Just Love Silver…

Posted on by
2

Silver is my kinda metal from my geologist’s point of view, as well as, the buckarro’s.  It’s so shiny and sparkly in a smooth sort of way…  David was out and about on the town and came home with a new silver embellished headstall for his spade bit.  Here’s the first look/see of the spade bit itself…

David's silver spade bit needed a new headstall.

So…as you can see the bits so flashy it had to have a nice, nice headstall.  Even the spoon is engraved on this bit, and in copper no less, horses’ just love that…the bit came from Openshaw Saddlery in Fallon, NV.

Copper is good for horses' mouths and for the mining industry in Nevada (just thought I'd add that last little thought).

Ok, hope you are getting warmed up because next is a side shot of the new headstall’s silver buckle…David would say, “Purty ain’t it?”  The leather is well oiled and stiched and the leather inside the buckle is a long enough span that it won’t break easily or deform the leather over time and weaken it.

New headstall's silver buckle.

OK, are you still with me…?  Up next is a preview of the headstall’s main attractions, buckaroos can’t resist this kind of thing.

Big carved silver diamond spots...and some little ones too.

Hate to tease ya like this, so here’s a nice side shot of the beauty…

Headstall from the right side...

Note small spots on the split ear...

And, you should be forming a vision now or having one…

And from the front...

Ok, enough already, here it is for all to see…

Spade bit and headstall so very nice.

Another view…other side.

Headstall and bit other side.

Ok, next time you see this it will be on a horse.  David found this gem in Reno at a favorite haunt, D Bar M, and it has a bit of a history.  The leather work was done by Jack Bassett’s brother-in-law, so it’s all in the family.  Jack Bassett is the owner of D Bar M.

A unique piece for David and his horses to look ‘purdy’ in for years to come.  See ya on the ranch…

The Firstlings…of Spring!

Posted on by
2

Not a long post today, just wanted to shout-out a big Yahoo for joy that Spring is here and with it, all the promise of grand new beginnings.  On the Rawhide Ranch that means, in particular, new calves…  Below is a picture of what I want to call ‘The Firstlings’, a longhorn red-headed heifer with her first shiny-new, freshly minted, red calf.  David took this pic while he was at the Stinson Corral yesterday.  Amazing, as always, to me that on the Rawhdie Ranch we never see a calf born they just appear by their mother’s sides…that’s what longhorn cattle and big desert country can do for you.  This heifer will most likely produce another 20 calves or so in her lifetime and they will come every springtime.  Hooray for Spring.

Here they are The Firstlings…

Longhorn heifer with her first calf at Stinson Corral for a drink.

Armitas Chaps Nevada Style

Posted on by
Reply

Armitas Chaps are cowboy functional and buckaroo pretty…and these are some of the best looking chaps I have seen in awhile.  See pics below.  The leather is a thick, rich, earthy brown with a waxycalf-like satin finish, and the fringe…, eee, I could go on and on about that…definite buckaroo chic.  What more can I say?

However, on the dark side, David snuck down to Openshaw Saddlery in Fallon, Nevada, and begged, borrowed, bought or stole these without my knowledge.  Ty Openshaw, made them and I’m sure Cathy, his pretty and nice little mother sold them to David, for big bucks $$$ right over that old-time counter in their store on Main Street.  But to see them is to want them…so all is forgiven.  Here they are on someone who can make the most of them…

Conchos down the side with fringe...

The concho and belt buckle on the chaps were made by another friend of ours, a metalsmith and silversmith by the name of John Mincer, he is also a Great Basin buckaroo, and a true artist with metal and silver.  He lives and works in and out of Fallon, Nevada. Lucky us, to live right by (within 150 miles) friends who make such good Great Basin buckaroo gear.

David's Armitas Chaps and from the back side...real buckaroo's wear Levi's!

And some close-ups…

John Mincer's hand-made Conchos on Armitas made by Ty Openshaw/Openshaw Saddlery, Fallon, Nevada. Note the fine workmanship on these conchos.

Well, this morning, as David was heading out I just couldn’t resist taking these few pics and then asking for a little video…as the chaps were so darn pretty.  David relented and let me do one shorty, so if you want the live action version, here it is below.
Enjoy!  Adios until later…

Ropin’ on the Outfit

Posted on by
Reply

Well, my husband and a friend went out to get some cattle on the outfit a few days ago. They had a real good time by the looks of it.  David brought along another photographer besides me, a young lady who likes horses and cowboys, and she snapped some pics for us and she did a bang up job.  I thought this next pic was really nice…it is a view from inside the stock trailer, looking out of one of the vents.  Picnic, that’s his handle (real name Justin), is on the left and David is on the right.

David and Picnic. A view from inside our stock trailer through an air hole vent. Heading out to lasso some cattle on the big open. Photo taken by Terra.

It didn’t take long for them to find something that needed to be weaned and brought down to the Stinson Corral, most of you know where that is now.  David cut out a young unbranded longhorn bull from the bunch.  We are careful to always cut out cattle away from the bunch and then rope them, we don’t like to disturb the other cattle and chase them if possible.  If you do that, then your cattle get worried and won’t let you get close to them, they become spoiled and run away when they see you.  We have always tried to hold the bunch and not let them run for this reason and it has worked well for us.  Picnic has to learn this…

Ok, David has his trusty little roping mustang named, appropriately enough, Studly, to rope on today.  This little horse really can pull, he often puts bigger horses to shame.  I’m going to brag a little here…my husband can teach a horse to pull, to think he can pull anything, doesn’t matter how big.  It’s sort of a lost art in horsemanship these days.  But, out here in the big open (no fences) it’s very handy.

David and Studly already got one on the line and bringing him in to the trailer to load. Photo by Terra.

Doesn’t take David long, quiet, sooth and easy, and he is bringing the bull over to the trailer to load.  Just another beautiful day on Rawhide.

David and Studly taking five…

David and Studly what a pair, note the amount of coils in that rope...and Studly, a spade bit horse, is lookin' for one to catch already, he knows what's next... Photo by Terra.

 

 

Part 3: Ranch Chores and Finding Cattle

Posted on by
Reply

OK, geeeee, it seems to be taking us a while to get these chores done and start finding cattle!  And the truth is, sometimes it does take a long time, ranching can be a very full time job, but we try to run our ranch as much with nature as we can, and when you do that you actually have much, much more time and money to do what you want, when you want.

But, cattle still stray, and without fences for the most part it’s pretty easy for them decide to wander off onto the neighbors.  Water is the best fence we have but in this case we have a spring right on the line between the Yamba Indians and us, so it’s easy for our cattle or theirs to stray back and forth.  We generally work together to try and keep them on their respective ranches.

So, we turn off the main gravel and travel up an old wagon road to Stewart Spring, here there is water, not a lot, but enough…

Stewart Spring Trough

No cattle here, it’s late and they have gone out to graze.  So, we continue by Stewart Spring and head over towards what is known as Omco Wash, Indian Corral and the Warrior Mine.

There is a sign post for us…

An old sign post that says, "Mina" and "Warrior Mine", this sign is quite old and, as you can see, or not see, is almost unreadable now days.

Better have a close-up…

Now that's a bit better, if only the hawks and crows would stop using it for a perch that would help...

Now we take the road to the Indian Corral.  Still a long ways to it, we will be looking for cattle along this route.  We are seeing a few cows’ tracks, and the tire tracks of a cowboy who came to help us the other day.  Cowboys tend to know of these little wagon roads and will often take them, even pulling a stock trailer, but, generally they aren’t for the Sunday Drive.

Old Omco, Warrior Mine and Mina Wagon Road, note the cattle droppings in the road, there is also some tracks, so a little ways up this road it is a good place to jump out Jewels and take a circle/look see...

Not far from here we jump Jewels out.  Maybe we can find out where the cattle are so we can come back to this area and look for them.

Trailer door comes open, Jewels jumps out...

David & Jewels, David has just mounted him...

And then David rides off into the setting sun, well, it looks a lot darker in the camera than it is, complete dark is still an hour or so away…now here is some real action video of him and Jewel’s just before he trots off looking for our cattle…

And a while later here he comes back…

And, that is that, we are basically done with chores and looking for cattle.  Came up empty handed on the cattle.  Got the chores done except we have to go back to Car Frame Windmill and start the water to pumping again.  Had a great day, hope you enjoyed it.  Adios for now.  David & Jackie