What makes a ranch horse

We have a couple of good horses right now. Some would consider them ranch horses. Both have been trained to rope and have a solid foundation of reining skills. My young cousin has asked me about my experience with ranch horses. I grew up with horses - we had quite a few over the years. After my dad quit rodeos, our horses were trail horses (saddle and pack), pleasure horses, breeding stock, and we had a few mules. We never kept cows, so the ranch horses i have been around are these two. But i think that the qualities of a good ranch horse are found in many aspects of the horse world. Working on a ranch may be the qualifying component in my cousin's conceptualization, but let me tell you about the qualities of a few of the horses with which i grew up.

My dad was not a "horse trainer", by today's way of thinking. He trained his own horses to do the things that were necessary for him and he had his own standards. If he had a horse that required more time or more expertise than he had, he would use a more experienced trainer. What was important to him was that the horse or colt was "gentled" - not "broke". He trained a colt for my mom, who was a novice rider, and that colt became the horse that anybody could ride. Gentle, dependable, safe. He was not trained to lope a figure-eight, run barrels, or chase a cow, but he was a horse that would give you his best, day in and day out. Because he did his own shoeing for many years, Dad insisted that each of us kids work with our colts to be sure that they were good about us handling their feet. He believed in "sacking out", brushing, and swinging ropes over the heads of our colts to de-sensitize them and prepare them for the saddle. As we did these things with our colts, we got a real sense of where their minds were and if they were going to have the kind of attitude that we could work with. In breeding and raising our own appaloosas, we could see what part bloodlines play in producing the kind of horses that Dad wanted to keep in his string. What we saw was that the personality and attitude of the dam and sire has a great deal to do with the kind of colt that was produced. We had an appy stud that was out of our first appy mare and we raised him in our backyard, so to speak. There was no meanness or unpredictability about him. When he was born with an appy blanket and great conformation, my folks determined that he would be the heart of our breeding - if his mind was good. We all worked with him on the basics and we could see that he would make a great sire for the kind of horses we wanted. His name was Concho and he had a big heart. We found a couple of good mares of our own to breed to him and took in a few outside mares as well. We hit on a good combination with our mares and Concho's colts and fillies displayed that heart and that mind. They were easy to train and turned out to be the kind of horses that other people were looking for, as well.
The point i want to make is that a ranch horse is a horse of versatility and ability. But the heart and mind of the ranch horse, or any horse, will be the determining factor of how you will enjoy and remember the horse.

Like I said, the two horses we own presently have been roping horses. The palomino horse, Skyler, is the kind of horse my dad would keep in his string - a good mind, lots of "try", a horse anybody can ride.















The chestnut, Okie, is a horse my dad would have wanted for his rope horse - quick on his feet, cowy, also a horse that will give you a good day's work.
A ranch horse needs to be versatile and needs a good mind because of the variety of the work required on a ranch. The big colt that i traded to get Okie was Doc. Doc was sent by the trainer to work on a huge cattle operation in Oregon. Doc needed a lot of riding and needed to see the purpose for his training. On a typical day at the ranch, Doc would be saddled and ready to go by 8 AM. He would go into the pens where the cattle were and move them into another section of pens. He opened gates, he walked through throngs of cattle, he was aware that the cowboy's rope could be thrown at any minute. Doc was required to be able to stop, pivot, scoot, and sidepass for this work. In the afternoons, he was ridden out into the huge pasture (400 acres). There the cowboy would look for cattle who were sick or in need of some kind of attention. The cowboy might have to circle a group of cows or chase one of them down. The terrain varied and created challenges for the big, clumsy colt, but the cowboys who rode him, liked him and three of them offered to buy him. (Unfortunately for them, they didnt have enough money.)
There are lots of horses out there that have never been around cows, but could make good ranch horses.

Rory is Sleepy

Rory is sleepy and wants me to hold her. She comes up bedside my chair and puts the cutest of her paws on my knee and looks at me with her large, brown, spaniel-like eyes. Rory looks deep, deep, deeper into my eyes and, then, she opens her mouth, rolls out her tongue, and yawns
- a long meaningful yawn. She has my attention. It is too hard not to pay attention to such a sweet cock-a-poo face. She looks much like a cocker spaniel and very little like a poodle, except that she is small. Actually she weighs less than 10 pounds. She is like the eternal puppy - always small - doing puppy antics - being a puppy. When she looks at you, it's like you are the only person that she loves - no one else- just you. But, truly, she does that look to everyone. My daughter says that it is because Rory really does love everyone. She greets every person with the hope that they will pick her up and hug her. Invariably, people do pick her up and when she is in their arms, she throws her head up against them and snuggles in more deeply into their arms. She gets lots of hugs that way.
So, i pick her up. She immediately snuggles in and yawns. It is really not fair that she has such long, beautiful eyelashes. It's a feature that can turn heads and melt hearts. Another big yawn and this one comes with a sigh. Rory has had a busy day and she is trying her best to get me to cuddle her. I am a sucker for that - i have no defense for the ways of this puppy.
Rory started her busy day by making sure that i did not sleep in. She makes her way to my side of the bed and stretches her body across my stomach. Did i mention that i have never slept in the same bed with a dog before Rory? Well, to be frank, she doesnt take up much room. So Rory pretends to be too sleepy to open her eyes while stretching and yawning and rolling around on my stomach. Too hard to resist, so i play "rassle" with her for a few minutes. Then up i come to try to get my feet into my slippers. Only Rory has decided that one of the slippers is hers to lie on and rassle with, so it is not an easy job for me to convince her that i should have it.
Rory begins by greeting her best friend and "sister," Stella, who is a Yorky-poo of similar age and size as Rory. They are very glad to see one another and now must get excited about what will happen next. Rory and Stella must now check out what's going on outside. As they get to the utility room, the puppies get more excited. Apparently, the closer we get to the back door, the more exciting life is, and we must bark in our excitement. That bark, of course, warns the husky in the back yard that he must bark as well, and he runs off to warn the horses, that the barking yorky-poo and her sister are on their way out the door and all horses had better be "heads up." The horses are much too occupied by the last scraps of alfalfa leaf in their mangers and they do not take their heads out of the mangers to acknowledge the husky's warning. So, the door is opened and Stella and Rory burst into the yard as though shot from cannons, cannons of small caliber, to be sure. The horses are still not impressed by their presence, and Stella dashes off to scare away smaller members of the animal kingdom, but Rory sits by the fence to look at the horses, as though she might convince them, by her stares, to notice her. Rory's attention is soon directed to a dandelion and then to a patch of grass near it.

After a good 15 minutes of renewing her acquaintance with the yard, Rory is ready to come into the house to see what the cat is up to. Fabio, the beneficent dictator of the home we live in, is a beautiful sealpoint male, with turquoise eyes. He knows he is handsome, but loves to hear it repeated in his presence. We are grateful that he allows us to live with him and we are his "staff". Rory once had a kitten as a playmate and spent many hours rolling in play with her. Rory does not understand why Fabio will not play with her, but Fabio prefers to believe that Rory does not exist. Fabio acts as if it is beneath him to acknowledge her in any way. It aggravates him to have to run away from her, but she is just too forward. Fabio much prefers to pick on the husky, often batting him on the head with one of his clawless paws, so hard that we can hear the "pop" sound that it makes. The husky tries to stay away from Fabio. Rory knows that she is not supposed to chase the cat, so, instead, she follows him. This is extremely aggravating for Fabio and he finally heads for his high perch on the loft. Rory is fine with that, because now she gets to see what Fabio had for breakfast.

The next activity is the one we call "let's get out all of the toys that Mommy put away last night and then we will place them around the family room where Mommy can step on them." Much time is taken to do this task properly, so that all toys are spread in a huge pattern around the room. Aw, then it is off to see which bedroom doors are left open so that we can plan our afternoon activities. More about that later.
Next it is time to do cute things at Mommy's feet so that we can get treats and more attention. There is time for a quick nap while Mommy is reading a couple chapters of her book and, before you know it, it is time to watch Clinton Anderson on "Downunder Horsemanship" on the RFDTV. This is where Rory gets to wear Mommy's lead rope and pretend that she is a horse. Rory thinks that is much more fun to rassle with the lead rope. Being a horse isnt fun for very long and it would be much more fun to go stare at one in real life. So Rory gets to go outside again with Stella to see if the husky will get yelled at for barking at the horses. He does bark; he does get yelled at, but Rory has been distracted by the large robin-like bird (it is actually a towhee) that is sitting on the back of the lawn chair. Rory wants to greet it, but just as she is getting close, the towhee notices her and takes off. At first Rory seems a little surprised that the bird didnt stick around to be greeted, but she just cant dwell on that for very long because the husky has discovered something very important in the grass under the apricot tree. It must be investigated immediately. More things are discovered and investigated until Mom says it is time to go in the house.
After a quick nap, Rory is ready for her afternoon adventure. On an earlier trip down the hall, Rory has determined that Sissie's door has been left open (again) so that she (Rory) will have access to the treasures within. All is quiet as Rory slips into the room. Rory has always had a fascination with Sissie's underwear. The underwear is bright and colorful and Rory thinks that it is a shame to hide it away in the basket in Sissie's room. Rory decides that it is time to decorate the house and what better decorations than Sissie's underwear! One piece at a time is hauled out of the basket and out of the bedroom and placed, none too delicately,. in strategic places about the home. The green bra really looks good on the blue bath rug. And the red and pink panties really belong by the patio door. These pretty colored panties are a must for Fabio's bed - maybe Fabio will lighten up if he has a little color in his life. The bra with the lace looks great in Daddy's shoe and Rory takes a little break from her labors, her head resting upon Sissie's orange bra. Then Mommy discovers why her little angel has been so quiet. Quick thinking on Rory's part saves her from a scolding, as she, with the bra strap in her mouth, rolls over on her back and puts her cute paws into the air.
So the day continues in this fashion. The yard is visited a couple more times; there is more play with Stella; the husky gets yelled at for barking at the horses; Fabio ignores Rory; toys are moved about the room; Mommy's every footstep up and down the hall must be followed; must be reminded to stay out of the kitchen several times; and then, it is time to welcome Daddy home from work! This is very exciting: there is to be much dancing, some barking, and a lot of tail-wagging. After Daddy is properly greeted, it is time to follow him outside, up the hall, down the hall, into the utility room for treats, and finally the whole pack gets to sit down with Daddy in his chair. But there is still work to do with Mommy and Daddy as dinner is gotten and there are feet to get under and hurried steps to slow up. Finally the dishes are done and the pet dishes are emptied and everyone settles down for a few minutes. Rory must choose her lap and stake out her claim, for there are others who would have the same territory. A couple hours go by and it is time for one more trip outside. It is just as exciting as the first trip this morning only now it is dark! The husky and Stella find a lot of things to bark at and it seems that there are a few things for Rory to bark at now. Finally, everything has been barked and re-barked and Mommy corrals all of the barkers and the bark-ees, separates said barkers and bark-ees, and gets everyone into the house.
The work is not yet done, as my posse follows me to the computer room: my posse being Rory, Fabio, Stella, and the husky. There is an occasional disruption of quiet when Fabio insists on getting his attention by lying down on the computer keyboard, or when Stella gets annoyed by the husky chewing on the squeaky ball and takes it away from him.

But as all that settles down, Rory comes up to my side, puts her cutest paws on my knee, and looks deep, deep, deeper into my eyes....