Maybe It Really Is God’s Country!
- October 9, 2014
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- Bailee Murnion
Posted in: Ranch Life
“There’s nothing better than riding a fine horse in a new country.” – Gus McRae in Lonesome Dove
The end of September we went back to my husband’s hometown of Jordan, Montana to help some neighbors trail their yearling heifers out of the rough Missouri River breaks back to their winter pasture. Most people think of eastern Montana as being a flat, desolate piece of earth, but tucked away north of Jordan is some breathtaking scenery! Parker has always referred to Jordan as God’s country and I usually laugh at him since Jordan can be one of the harshest winter climates in Montana, however, trailing yearlings on this day and experiencing the rough country that I hadn’t seen before, might have changed my mind!
We trailered our horses down to the bottom of the rough pasture, un loaded and started gathering. It’s roughly 30 miles from their summer pasture back to their home pasture and the first 15 miles is mostly all up hill. It was a beautiful day – almost 80 degrees and no mosquitoes! The fall colors were starting to change in the rough terrain. We stopped and watered the heifers and our horses periodically throughout the day and we got to the home pasture at roughly 8pm. It was the longest ride I had ever been on – I had never trailed cows 30 miles in my life – yet it was an absolute beautiful, enjoyable ride, we even saw some elk! We had trailers meet us in a pasture after we had rode about 20 miles and we switched horses. If your horse was snorty when you got on him early that morning, he wasn’t by the time we switched horses after 20 miles! I snapped a few pictures on my phone while we were riding – I hope you enjoy them!
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Posted in: Ranch Life
About Bailee Murnion
I was raised on the back of a horse on my families ranch in rural northwestern South Dakota. I grew up roping, tying goats and traning barrel horses, which I still enjoy doing today. I have a deep appreciation for a good horse, a cup...