Better late than never, we’ve been a little busy through Christmas with our lovely -40 degree winter weather and snow we’ve had. Plus everyone went home for the holidays except a couple of us holding down the fort. Now for a continuation of the story so far. The last 5 months have been the most challenging. I brought my two most quirky horses as the testing ground of, if I can get through to these boys in this program, I know I’ll have achieved what I’ve set my sights on. The best laid plans…well you know how that goes sometimes. The boys were both acclimating well and were only going out together and not with any other horses. Now it was time to introduce them to the smaller herd of 15 or so horses.

Rock’s during the October guest week.

Well Cat never went out with more than one friend at home because he never could figure out how to be in a herd and not run into the fence. Rocks had been out with a few buddies, and generally in the herd was always pretty sure of himself. The day came to turn them out and I can tell you I was slightly terrified for Cat’s well being because as I’ve said before, red headed high anxiety child. I went out the next morning to bring them in to feed and Cat of course managed to mangle his front leg in the fence. Praise Jesus the vet was already going to be here that day for dental work, because Cat managed to do a special number on his front right cannon bone. Then there is Rocks, with not one mark on him and perfectly content. Cat got 15 or so stitches in his leg and was put on stall rest for essentially 6-8 weeks. The one advantage to this, is now Rock’s needed to step up to the plate and ride like a big boy with guests. For him, that did not blow over well initially. I had very few rides on him prior to coming, and he had some baggage that I didn’t know about yet. I found out very quickly that he didn’t like horses in volume riding at him or coming up behind him. He would scoot off or spin. He especially disliked anyone riding with a flag near his general space, then he was just going to leave town. These struggles proved to be difficult for him to get past. Over the September and October guest stays, gradually his problems with traffic in the arena got much better with the guidance of Des and Shayne. His concerns about the flag were later addressed once we wrapped up the guest stays for the season. Then Des had time to help him and help me to get him more comfortable with the flag. Rocks was very much the flighty and offended type with the flag. We got there, and it still a work in progress, but now someone can ride by with one and he’s ok with it. We are no longer looking to exit the arena.

Cat on one of his first days of turnout with Cahill.

Round two came with Cat going in the herd at the end of October, and he made it a whole two weeks before finding the fence a second time, and of course it was within 24hrs of me being gone to Georgia for the celebration of life for my trainer Sunny. We landed on stall rest for most of November, but once again it gave me time with Rocks. His riding and ground work has come much further. Once Cat came off rest in December I finally was able to get him going on his groundwork and help get him more caught up to where Rock’s was at with the flag. At this point, Cat hadn’t seen a flag or been touched with one since July. Initially the groundwork was ok, and he was tolerant. Then Des was kind enough to work with him and then we found the spot. You couldn’t touch his legs with the flag. He was ready to stomp and strike at it like a snake. Cat was very defensive over the flag being anywhere on his body that he did not want it. Des was very patient and consistent with him until he accepted that the flag was there and not going to cause trouble for him. Since that first day, Cat came quite far, he now accepts the flag on the ground and from the fence. Rocks has become much more comfortable with the flag from the ground and the fence as well. Rock’s still has a few moments with the flag being above his head when I’m on the fence, but that funny spot is getting better. The hope here is that in the next couple weeks the boys will be riding with the flag as well as being able to introduce them to swinging a rope. As long as the weather fairs well and everything here goes smoothly we’ll be picking up more time in the arena again, hopefully have some good updates on the boys! In the meantime I’m waiting on Cat’s custom saddle to arrive, because my high maintenance child needs a tree that is an exact fit for him. He’s one of those kids. I went through it with his jumping saddle, and I had him measured before I left so I could get a tree ordered for him and my saddle maker on schedule to build for me. I must really love him, but at least only one is high maintenance. Bless Rocks for being an easy keeping, low maintenance kinda guy. He helps balance out Cat’s menagerie of bills and drama. Till next time…

-Sami

Cat’s preferred arrangements…

Rock’s preferred living space vs

Chipotle an OTTB at his first AA show at Brownland in the 1m

Hi Everyone!

The perspective and topic will be a little different this week, primarily through the lens of me, Sami. I’ve been here since August and come from a very different background. Currently I manage the office, help shoe horses, and am a wrangler here at McGinnis Meadows. My profession has been in the hunter/jumper/equitation industry and show world as a rider and trainer in the southeast. Primarily I’ve focused on re-training a lot of off the track thoroughbreds for my lesson program and show program. I’ve specialized in the fixer uppers of the horse world, many times being given show ring failures to fix or thoroughbreds who needed a new job. Beyond that, I was teaching and running a full time lesson and show program in the local Atlanta area. I loved it! I’ve been in the industry for 14 years as a pro and have enjoyed the majority of the journey.

Katie one of my first OTTBs in the 1.10m

In 2021 I came across Buck Brannaman’s clinic schedule and rode with him on my personal horse, Cat. Cat is one of those high anxiety, hot, red headed thoroughbreds, and was a stallion until he was 7. If you know, you know. Cat was always the crux of my training program, I could never unlock his full potential like I had so many others. There were many moments of beautiful dancing, but it never translated to his jumping. Riding with Buck opened my eyes to another way, and I was hooked. I took everything home that I had learned Horsemanship 1 & 1.5, over a period of months I saw major change. In the next 6 months or so I came upon two more horses that I couldn’t get past a certain point mentally or physically in their riding. I had a trainer friend of mine give me a lovely 1.40m horse, Rocks, who was a show horse flunk out. I really wanted to produce him to his potential. I just knew I needed more, there was more to learn and understand. I didn’t know how I would do that with a full time business and program that was consuming my life, in a good way. The desire to engage in learning Buck’s horsemanship so my horses could move with ease like his horses in the dance, never left me.

Cat at the 2018 Thoroughbred Makeover in KY

Here comes summer of 2022. I found myself burnt out on my own riding discipline & teaching; shockingly without a job on my own farm and now a free agent. With the encouragement of a long time friend and mentor Sunny Stevens, I applied to McGinnis Meadows as an intern. Sunny was top top in our industry, and even she knew, there’s always more to learn, even if it wasn’t conventional. With her encouragement to jump way outside the box, I did it. After one phone call, for some reason, Des hired me on as a wrangler instead. If only I knew exactly what I had just signed up for! After driving Cat and Rocks 2500 miles from Atlanta, GA to Libby, MT we made it. Little did I know, I was in for a serious learning curve. Within my first three weeks I had worked under the ranch farrier and helped shoe 80 horses, I was decently versed in shoeing…but not like this. Second week was spent learning the ins and outs of the office to where I could independently run it by the time Janice left after teaching me. Bless her, she was patient. My third week I was broken in on my first guest week, I thought horse showing was exhausting with long hours and clients galore. Nothing compared to a 10 day guest week, but I survived and so did Cat and Rocks.

Rocks and Cat

They went from stalled horses with 12hr turnout to permanent outdoorsmen. That did not blow over well with Cat, but shockingly Rocks the ‘boujiee’ European import decided he was game for the outdoor life. Cat made it to the top of Pier Mountain on his first time out with guests and Rocks got to hang out. All three of us stepped into a whole new world, and it came with a curve. Especially for me, every facet of my horsemanship was challenged as well as an entire lifetime of riding & teaching skills. Even now, 5 months later, the challenge is still present but the pursuit of higher horsemanship never leaves. The love of the horses and the gift of riding God has blessed me with never fails, just keep pressing on. In the midst of life’s lemons and adversity, the pursuit of honoring Him with my life and my horses remains the same. In this, I can honor the people around me and do my best for this ranch, Shayne, and Des. For a continuation of the journey, read next week!

Cat on Pier Mountain

In the last week we’ve gotten to have two big celebrations here at the ranch. We celebrated Des’ birthday on the 21st with a fun birthday ride together. Des requested that we all ride together for her birthday which of course was a great time had by all. Especially since we have been busy with winter projects, we were all thankful to get back in the saddle after a few weeks. We even talked about our goals for 2023 as a team and what that looks like for us as a group. For each of us our goals were a little different. For Jenna, she’s hoping to get accurate enough with her roping to participate in branding in the spring. Brenda’s hope is to be able to ride her personal horse, Magoo, with more quality and precision to improve his general expression and see him truly enjoy his job. For me, I am hoping to have both of my personal horses handy enough to ride in and out of the arena for guest season. Shayne chimed in stating our primary goal should be for each of us to ride each the guest horses effectively enough that we are able to help do their pre-rides during guest weeks. We were all in agreement that this is something we are all striving for, that we’re able to help maintain, and better the herd for the program. Each of us are still very much learning how to ride with quality on any horse we get on, but nonetheless Shane’s challenge to us is a tangible one, which we plan on accepting.

Our second celebration was Thanksgiving, Shane’s favorite holiday, especially because of the delicious foods always offered! Thanksgiving was celebrated with a beautiful sunrise, feeding horses, relatively warm weather, and delicious food cooked by Holly! We are so blessed here with beautiful views, incredible horses, delicious food, and the camaraderie of friends/co-workers who love the horses. What’s not to be thankful for! While the ranch may be quiet this time of year, the space gives us all time to be thankful for the present and plan for the future. We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and much to be thankful for.

-Sami

Hi Everyone!

The last few weeks have been noted with colder temperatures, filling up our 2023 guest dates, shipping our cattle out and winter projects here at the ranch. We are in full swing with winter weather as our mornings have dropped in to the negative temperatures, horses have been moved to the winter pasture, the elk herds are a daily sighting, and the snow is here to stay! Our days have been filled with indoor projects like deep cleaning & conditioning our beautiful Frecker’s guest saddles, winterizing the cabins, tidying up the lodge, and sorting through the collection of things we accumulate through the season.

Originally, we planned to ship our cattle out on November 8th, but due to the snowfall we received a few nights prior and the colder temperatures, the cattle trucks were not able to make it up the mountain until a few days later. The temperature that morning was just above 0 degrees. Normally we do not ship the cattle out so late in the season, but with the icy ground, we chose to sort and load on foot for the safety of our horses. Working on foot put our stockmanship to the test since we had to keep the steers quiet to prevent them from slipping on the ice. Randy, who oversees the cattle operation, had stressed the importance of pushing our cattle through the chute at different points within the season so there was no fuss in getting everyone loaded. Shipping day is always a bittersweet moment as we have put our heart and soul into caring for them over the summer, but seeing such healthy steers loaded in a gentle manner always puts a smile on our faces.

With the snowfall we are now putting hay out for the horses daily and the elk have volunteered to join in on the hay as well. Apparently we have traded feeding cattle for elk! We have a large herd of Elk who have come down the mountain with the dropping temperatures and the snow covered forage. They are a smart crew who await the feed truck’s arrival and join the horses as soon as the hay has been dropped! They manage to casually jump the fence or sometimes crash through it for fun to jump in and eat. Because of our frequent feeding of the horses and wildlife, all of us as staff are learning how to load the feed truck and fix fence so that we are never short handed if someone is off for the day.

We’ve been out checking on the horses every day making sure everyone is doing well in these colder temperatures as well as making sure the automatic waterers don’t freeze up. We’ve only seen a few freezing waterers, but we have see many cute icy whiskers out there. The horses are always up for some good pets and attention. Everyone has been settling into the winter reallywell with plenty of wooly coats as evidence. The guest horses get a nice break for the winter while the guests aren’t here while we book for next year!  We are rapidly filling up for 2023 and already have some of our dates full or almost filled. We will be working hard this winter to make sure next season is a great one! It will be quiet here at the ranch without the hussle and bustle of guests, but there is a nice peace too of our smaller winter crew which gives us time to rest as well!

We are officially heading into the winter season around here. The mornings have become quite crisp and frosty that even the grass is frosted from top to bottom. The horses coats are getting nice and fuzzy as the days shorten and are becoming more like wooly creatures than horses. We are weighing cattle, working on horsemanship, and getting started on our winter projects!

The cattle are coming into get weighed periodically and they are making great gains before they ship out in the next week or so. They are all shiny, carrying good weight and we have zero sick cows. We are always happy with that! We’ve worked on getting all of our guest equipment cleaned up and put away for next season which means our saddle pads get a good deep clean, the outdoor tack room gets cleaned and cleared out, and anything we aren’t using gets organized and put away until guest season! We’ve also been picking up all things around the ranch that need to be readied for winter weather, that way nothing is buried in the snow. No one wants equipment run over by the snow blower. That would be a bad day for everyone, which would result in broken equipment and us hand shoveling snow, and no one wants that!

Jenna, Sami, & Alex did a deep clean and reorganize of all of our medical supplies, supplements, grain, cattle supplies and other horse supplies over the last couple of days so we could take an eyeball inventory of all that we have and whatever we may need. Now you can find just about anything you could be looking for when it comes to meds, supplements and horse supplies. We found out that there were some things that may never need to be ordered again because we have so much of it, woops!

In anticipation of our incoming winter weather, we actually witnessed our first snow of the season today. It was only maybe an inch at best and lasted until lunchtime, but it was beautiful for the time that it lasted. I’m sure a couple months in we may not be saying that and we will be ready for Spring weather, but for now it is to be enjoyed.

Until next time.

-Sami

Hi Everyone!

We just finished up our final guest stay of the year at the ranch. We ended with a fabulous group of guests and had a great time! All of us appreciated finishing out the season with such a great group of people who were hungry to learn and have a good time at the end of the day. They even got Shane and Des laughing on a daily basis, keeping all of us on our toes. We had some good laughs including breakfast for dinner with a pajama party and some dancing! Everyone got the opportunity to work cows, ride to the top of Pier, cut the flag, ride scenic views on the ranch, choreographed rides to music, and plenty of horsemanship time in the arena.

Much was learned by everyone as they gained skills in backing, cow turns, managing rate, riding with just legs, and fun educated rides with the cattle! Everyone got to sort cattle in the final stretch of the stay. We sorted cattle on the range using a rodear for each group. This is where we build a circle with the horses around a group of cattle to keep them in one area. One group had all 25 of the cattle we gathered and the other group started with none! The goal was for the group holding the cattle to sort off one at a time and push that cow to the other rodear 25′ away. They had to sort their cows until they were down to one and hold that single cow for three minutes before releasing it to the other group. It was a lot of fun! Lots of handy riding and plenty of escaping cattle, but by the end everyone successfully sorted their cattle from one group to the other.

Everyone learned many skills, saw beautiful scenery and had a great time. We will miss our guests and there were many good byes and see you laters. This group had so much fun they even said they want to try and all come back together next year. Now that would be a treat for all of us. We are officially winding down for the season. Our interns and seasonal staff only have a couple weeks left with us before we say goodbye. We are doing a deep clean of the ranch, getting final weight on the cattle before they ship, and getting a much needed break after a busy year of teaching, herding cats (aka our amazing guests), and extra early mornings. We will miss everyone, but theres a sigh of relief knowing everything is slowing down a little.

-Sami

It’s funny–the way our 10-day schedules go now, I’m not sure anyone really ever knows what day it is! Weekdays and weekends are all a mashed-up blur. Luckily, Sami has the Highline on a calendar alert so at least we can keep track of this!

This week our 10-day ended mid-week. We had a fantastic group of riders who we can now call our friends. Each and every one of them was tenacious, good-spirited and up for whatever each day brought for them. This group helped us to get nearly clean out at graze. All but the final 3 head of steers are left out on the Davis grazing allotment. Since their departure, our interns have been heading out with either Brenda or Dori to hunt for the 3 but have come up short each day. Today offered some fresh tracks (we are thankful for some rain a day ago!) so at least we have a better idea of where to look tomorrow. When you are hunting over 40 square miles for 3 steers, it’s nice to be able to narrow it down a bit!

Right now, Tommy is back in town and Sami, Caleb and Jenna are hard at work getting the horse herd shod. This will be their last full shoeing for the year. When Tommy comes back in November, it’s pull and trim time. It’s pretty nice that ourhorses’ feet get to rest unshod for 4-5 months of the year.

With changing seasons and temperatures, I’m getting the last couple of colts of ours set up for a few rides in the roundpen and then outside while we still have good weather. The way things go out here, it could be sunny one day and then raining the next and once the rain comes—if the temps never come back up…we’ll there goes the roundpen for the season. For now though, the weather is absolutely gorgeous…this is the weather that someone would want to be in Montana for—crisp mornings and mild days—sunny….cool enough for a light sweater but too warm for a coat. No bugs. Just right.

Well, I’d better get back to it!

Till next time,

Des

Hi Everyone!

We’ve had a relaxing but busy week here since concluding our August guest stay. We have been all over the map catching up on things here at the ranch. We’ve gathered cattle off the mountain, weighed cattle, training rides, washing equipment, cleaning rooms/cabins, vet visit, truck repairs, and so much more! We also had the pleasure of hosting four riders from the Seattle Mounted Police Department for a couple of days as well! After the 10 day we had a few slower paced days and for all of us we had some much needed days off. We then jumped right back in prepping for guests, enjoying the company of the police, and catching up on things here around the ranch.

Erin has been hard at work turning over all of our cabins and rooms so they are beautiful for our guests who arrived today. She even boasted that she got all of the bedding done in a day. That girl was moving! Holly has made two Costco runs, multiple Sysco orders and every other grocery run you can imagine. That woman brings us enough food for a large army, and every time it arrives, somehow it all fits in the refrigerators. It’s like a small miracle every time we unload it. She’s pretty incredible that way. She feeds us well while threatening us with our lives if we leave a mess. SO far we’ve all survived lol.

Des and Jenna led the teaching of the mounted police for a couple of days. They worked on their foundations in groundwork and built upon it using balls, tarps, and ropes to help get their horses more gentle. The riders then got to work their horses under saddle in the arena making sure they had good control and that the horses operated within their rectangle. There were ropes, and lots of commotion working each horse to get them confident with multiple activities happening at once. The second day Jenna put together a fun and challenging trail course to complete their stay. Every horse and rider had some great success putting all that they learned to the test. Although a short stay, much was packed in and we enjoyed every minute!

Brenda and Sami had a day with the vet going over a group of our horses to make sure they were in tip top shape. Everyone was able to get their regular joint maintenance and work through lameness exams so we could make sure everyone was getting what they needed to be at their best!

Des, Sami, Joy, and Jenna went out to gather cattle over by the Davis house. We brought all 23 over to the scales by the lodge. We were able to sort everyone in the corrals into two primary groups and worked them onto scales to see what our gains were so far. Minimal fuss from the cows, other than wanting to stop every 30 seconds to eat grass along the way.

Brenda, Sami and Caleb went out to graze at Davis to check mineral and water. While they were out there, they spotted a young black bear! He ran straight up a tree and was playing peek a boo with us. He was quite a curious little fellow and would poke his head out to see us and then hide again. He was pretty cute, safely a pet size you wanna stash in your truck and take home. We opted not to, momma bear probably would have been mad. We enjoyed the cute guy long enough for a photo op.

Much else is happening and has happened, but it’s time for bed! We have a 5am morning tomorrow for our first full day of the September 10 day. Can’t wait to see what happens this week, should be a good adventure.

-Sami

Hey folks, Lily here!

I’m the cuter of our cats here at the ranch, but my pesty brother TROUBLE gets alllll the attention just because he’s always IN trouble.  We wrapped up our second annual Women’s Week here at the ranch and wow what a dynamic and fun group!  I got petted by so many friends both new and old and I’m still purring just thinking about it.  The humans did a really neat “cavalry exercise” in the meadow that was really a sight to see. I’ve been practicing my own kitty version in front of the Bunkhouse all week.  They also had a super fun all day ride up Pier and had a picnic lunch. That sounds SO much nicer than the mouse I had for lunch. I didn’t even have a picnic blanket!  There was a lake trip that I had zero interest in, cats and water don’t mix and all that jazz.  I spent all morning waiting for them to get back so I had laps to sit in again. Hopefully only dry laps if i’m being particular! Meanwhile, my brother TROUBLE was up to his old shenanigans of trying to stealth bomb the lodge doors and sneak into the game room.  I swear that cat is such an embarrassment

to good cats everywhere.  We were so sad to see everyone go, its very quiet around here and there’s a lot less laps with naps.  We’ve been hanging out on porches waiting, but no laps have appeared. SO I’ve been busy with housekeeping, assisting Erin at all of the cabins, making sure everything is just right! I spy through the front door usually while keeping a close watch. Those cabins need to be perfect so the guests stay longer for me to have a napping spot. I’ve now heard from a trusted source that we’re having new guests (and laps!!!) show up on the 10th so I guess we can hang in that long. In the meantime I can be found sitting in the flower pots which are almost as cozy as someone’s lap. in the meantime I’ll try to keep Trouble out of the lodge, ugh, he’s such a menace. He leaves cat hair everywhere, so embarrassing. I have things to do so….

Until next time!

-Lily & Trouble