RANCH WEEKS
[ schedule 2008 ]
Ranch weeks, what is that?
Our wranglers will take you with them (if you want to go) to bring in the horse rumuda on one of these peaceful mornings. If you want to ride, then ask Mike to put your name on the list early. This is one of the first most memorable experiences we share with our guest during their stay at the Dryhead. A ranch week may include: branding, vaccinating, roping, mini-veterinary needs, wrangling the cavvy, holding herd, salting, fencing, rotating pastures, bull gathering, weaning calves, pregnancy testing cows, weaning colts, working mare bands, occasional horse drives and rounding up strays. Each activity depends on the time of year you decide to join us. Generally, ranch weeks include several of the activities listed above. You can be sure that you will be able to push a lot of cattle! Roping instruction and riding hints are part of our Cowboy School on Monday mornings. We want everyone to try their hand at roping and improve their riding skills. Ranch Week Schedule During the winter Mike has stayed at the ranch and cared for our mare band in the spring creek pasture and our guest horse cavvy and older colts in the south pasture. The creek has been frozen so he has had to pump water everyday as well as keep the ice out of the tanks. Riding in below zero temperatures creates special challenges for keeping horses on their feet and our riders safe also. Winter also brings time to research stud and mare bloodlines so that we can put together our mare bands in the spring and create the kind of horses bloodlines that are most popular for ranch raised horses.
The summer is the best time to graze the higher parts of the ranch where the water is good, grass is high and green. The snow has recently left the high meadows making it the better places to graze in the summer. Cows love the high country and raise good healthy calves in that mountain air. We will set up an overnight camp during the summer months (July and August and possibly September). This camp will have an authentic cook tent and teepees for the guests to stay in at the back side of Little Mountain. We will be near a grove of trees, fresh spring water and a great place to enjoy a summers evening around the camp fire. Everyone loves roasting marshmallows for smores and sleeping under the stars, perfect for a cowboy vacation. This puts us close to our work so that we can ride out into the neighboring pastures to bring back stray cows and also ride our mountain pastures to keep an eye on calves, bulls, fences and water sources. In 2008 we are planning some hands on horse clinics to help get our young horses more gentle. We have weanlings and yearlings that need your special attention to get them halter broke and leading well. We will be getting the 2 year olds ready to put a saddle on them and all the handling they can get will make this process easier. So come and join us during our summer month for several hours every day will be devoted to working with these great horses. We feel each of our guests can learn some horse skills to take home with them by working with these colts. Through the years it is the horses that bring us together, guests and cowboys. There is nothing like the outside of a horse for the inside of a man. Late May is the season we make up our mare bands and take them out to the pastures they will spend the summer in. This is always an interesting part of nature to see the studs discipline and organize a new group of mares. In June, July, and August we will have mini Horse Drives. These drives will include an overnight campout. Moving the mares and their babies in and out of summer pastures will be the focus behind these drives. Quite often during the summer we will bring these mare bands back into the ranch so we can imprint and work with the mares as well as their colts. All of the weanlings and yearling colts will need to be branded and all of the worming and shoeing and special needs will be scheduled into our work plans. Dryhead Ranch is unique in that we share all of these skills with our guests to help them feel more confident in handling their horses at the ranch or at home. Our goal is to give them the feeling and achievement of a hands on horse experience.
After the calves are weaned and hauled to Wyoming we pregnancy test our cows and hope for a 100% pregnancy rate for the next year. These large gathers are a thrill few get to experience. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dryhead Ranch offers you this opportunity to ride in big country somewhat alone gathering 800 or better head of cattle and moving them 6 - 8 miles back to the ranch to be worked in a large set of correls. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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The last week in May is not only branding calves but we will also be gathering all the mares and bring them into the corrals to make seven mare bands. When this process is completed we add the stud and our cowboys and guests get on horseback and carefully move the band of mares and one stud out to the pasture, in a secluded corner of the ranch. What will you get to help us with? Mares stay in each corner of the ranch and riding out to get them and bringing them into the ranch is always a wonder to see and you will have to pinch yourself to make sure you are alive when you feel first hand the thrill of moving horses. In September when we bring them in again --- the colts have all been born and are healthy and frisky. Many of these colts will be for sale after they are weaned from their mothers in November. | ||||
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RANCH WEEKS 2008
Summer Special: Little Buckaroos Family Vacation! [between middle of July and end of August] | ||||
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