September 15, 2021
Jan Swan Wood
When I was a little runt of a kid, probably around five years old, I rode a pony that I loved in spite of his tendency to run off with me. His name was Skipper. I spent hours every day just hanging out with him and riding him around in the corrals with no bridle […]
September 10, 2021
Ruth Nicolaus
There’s a hole a special horse used to fill, at the Gunderson ranch in western North Dakota. H46 Spider, a bucking horse in the Bailey Pro Rodeo string, has passed on to greener pastures. He was originally owned by Montanan Jack Hinland, who sold him to Shane Vaira. The 26-year-old gelding died of colic on […]
September 5, 2021
Jolyn Young
Most horses thrive on a fairly standard diet of hay and water. Grass, alfalfa, oat, or a combination of those types usually provides adequate nutrition and keeps the average horse at a healthy weight. But senior horses can benefit from adding beet pulp to their diet in addition to providing plenty of high quality hay. […]
September 3, 2021
Jan Swan Wood
It had been a very long, hot summer riding on contract cattle. The yearling steers and spayed heifers had pinkeye running rampant, the replacement heifers had footrot going strong, and the cow/calf pairs had the usual bull problems. So, after three months, my string and I were weary. Especially me, as there was only one […]
September 1, 2021
Ruth Nicolaus
A very special horse changed the course of Nikki Steffes Hansen’s life. Because of Sky High Guy, the South Dakota barrel racer is training horses and competing on them instead of being a dentist. This year, she’s decided to retire the seventeen-year-old palomino from professional competition. She and Sky’s paths crossed when he was a […]
August 28, 2021
Jolyn Young
Gastric ulcers in horses are a common condition for performance or using horses. While not as commonly discussed as colic, they cause similar symptoms but require a different treatment plan. Gastric ulcers are sores that occur in the stomach lining and cause great discomfort. Left untreated, they can lead to undesirable behavioral changes and poor […]
August 24, 2021
Jan Swan Wood
When my son was three, my husband and I took on a cattle contract. We had charge of about 4000 yearling steers and 750 mother cows. The yearlings were about evenly split between two summer leases 25 miles apart, and the cows were on the lease closest to our headquarters. We started early and quit […]
August 6, 2021
Jan Swan Wood
It was late afternoon when I headed out to gather a single cow out of a pasture. The pasture had deep creek beds lined with willows and brush in many spots. The creek was nearly dry so the cow could very well be down in the channel out of sight. It was late summer, so […]
August 4, 2021
Jolyn Young
Electrolytes. They’ve been a mainstay buzzword for years in the performance horse world. Professional competitors smile at us from the pages of glossy magazines and attest to how much such-and-such brand has drastically improved their performance. Online ads tell us we need to give them to our equine partners in order for them to stay […]
July 26, 2021
Jan Swan Wood
We’ve all done it. After a graphic illustration of why not to many years ago, though, I stopped doing it. Doing what? Tying a horse up with your back to it. Let me explain further. I see it often. Someone leads a horse up to a fence, trailer or a barn wall tie, with the […]