Posts Tagged ‘American west’

Get Short

October 22, 2016
Jolyn Young

Say you’re out cowboyin’, just doin’ your thing, and you rope a big calf. You let some rope slide through your dallies to ease him to a stop, but then realize you’re a little long on your rope. What’s a person to do? You can either A) get short or B) turn your horse, drive […]

Hoof Cadence: Lope

October 13, 2016
Jolyn Young

In the last two installments of this series, we discussed the hoof cadence of the walk and trot. The lope is a different breed of cat altogether from the other two gaits; it’s a three-beat gait with two split-seconds when only one foot is on the ground, and another split-second when none of the horse’s […]

Hoof Cadence: Trot

October 6, 2016
Jolyn Young

Learning the cadence of each gait is a little thing that really isn’t a little thing at all. It’s a hugely important aspect of horsemanship, and it’s something all top riders know. Horses are born knowing it; the rest of us just have to catch up! In the last installment of this series, we learned […]

Hoof Cadence: Walk

September 28, 2016
Jolyn Young

All horse enthusiasts know there are separate and distinct patterns to each of a horse’s three main gaits (walk, trot and lope/canter), but not many know each pattern. Learning the cadence for each gait and studying it while riding until you know which foot is going to move next and where will unlock the next […]

Our First Sale Horse

September 7, 2016
Jolyn Young

We’re putting our first horse in a sale this month. At first I was apprehensive, then I was sad, and now I’m proud. So many emotions! We’re selling Bob, the first horse my husband bought as an adult. Jim rode Bob through a divorce, across numerous Great Basin ranches, to Texas and back home to […]

These South Dakota Skies

September 2, 2016
Jenn Zeller

The weather here has been gorgeous for August. We’ve had daytime temps in the 60s! Yes, I said 60s.  And the skies, the South Dakota Skies have been amazing. As I write this, it’s currently 50 degrees. Yes, I said Fifty. Now that I’m back from nearly 5 weeks on the road, I’m catching up […]

Waiting For The Feet

August 31, 2016
Jolyn Young

Most colt-starting theories and clinicians urge people to get their horse’s feet moving freely at all three gaits as soon as possible. If you’re not trotting and loping in the round pen on the first ride, you better be movin’ by the second. It’s a great theory that works on all horses except for the […]

The Positive in Roping Gone Wrong

July 13, 2016
Jolyn Young

I started swinging my rope in the box just like my husband advised me, then nodded for the steer and squeezed my horse with my legs. Shorty had me in throwing position in just a few strides, so I opened my hand and…watched my loop whack the steer on his back. What the heck. Who […]

Cavvy Behavior

June 29, 2016
Jolyn Young

I’m about to tell a “back when I was a kid…” story. Because I’m turning 30 later this summer, and that makes me old. Depending on where you are in your life’s journey, you may or may not agree with that statement. Either way, back when I was a kid, my mom took my older […]

The Kid’s Horse

April 30, 2016
Jolyn Young

“Jim, grab her off the horse. He’s going to spook. He doesn’t look like he’s okay with the situation. He looks nervous.” “I think you’re the one who’s nervous. Just lead her around, she’ll be fine.” I handed my husband the lead rope that was attached to the horse our three-year-old daughter was sitting atop, […]