A while back I was asked who has had the greatest influence on my life. I hadn’t ever given it much thought, like most folks, I guess. After considerin’ for a while, I came up with five people that I could say actually affected the direction of my thinkin’. My dad, Doc Brimhall, John Basabe,…
“Have I got a deal for you! Got this horse on a trade.
Imagine you were a livestock man in medieval England a thousand years ago. It’s early spring. Snow on the ground, mud in the cow lot. You walk the small pasture where the heavy heifers are kept. It’s hard to see much with just the moonlight. But you spot one that’s down in a swale. She’s on …
He’s the tumbleweed chef and rides with the wagon
This is a quiz to determine your calving sanity (or help you pass time in the calving barn). Match the columns.
“A fine lookin’ horse you’ve got there (if yer into modern art)
Dr. Fosse, once of Pretori, told me about Martha and Arthur, two star crossed rare white rhinos. In a governmental gesture of goodwill, South Africa agreed to ship Arthur to Tanzania to mate with Martha. Brilliant veterinarians, competent game management officials, long winded reproductive s…
“As long as you’ve got good elimination, you’ve got it made.” Uncle Leonard
Lee Trevino has a street named after him in El Paso. Abraham Lincoln has a town named after him in Nebraska. Monty Montana has his namesake state and I’ve even got some hills named in my honor in South Dakota. But there is one feller who left his mark all over these United States. He’s got m…
It is the best of times.
1. New baler twine to tie up last year’s five-buckle overshoes.
He was the last burro left in the dusty corral.
Embarrassing moments. Nobody likes to talk about them. Oh, they’ll talk about slipping on the ice on their first date or getting bucked off a gentle horse. Other folks empathize and usually they laugh. But it makes people uneasy when it’s really embarrassing. They might titter nervously but …
Grandpa Tommy’s dad used to say “A cowful is a substantial quantity.” According to my research, the rumen on a mature cow can hold up to 300 pounds. And by anybody’s standards that is quite a bit.
Do you believe in ghosts? How ‘bout angels? Miracles? Taro cards? I grew up believin’ in Heaven and all its assorted angelic inhabitants and their counterparts in the singed black hats. Reincarnation wasn’t taught in Sunday School but we were encouraged to believe that souls existed. So, wit…
Yeah, he wished he was a cowboy but just at times like this
I’m takin’ you back to the summer of 2003. Out of the blue I got a call from Patrick Gottsch, a member of the well-known Nebraska ag family. He told me he was building a TV channel dedicated solely to agriculture and the rural community. I asked if he had any programs lined up? He said, “Yes…
How do you explain Thanksgiving to a 3-year-old?
In hunting camp, an outfitter reached down and stirred the fire.
They stood in the back of the room lookin’ like two Las Vegas Raiders linebackers at a preppie quiche-tasting party. They had on unblocked hats with flat brims, and each man wore a neck scarf and new Wrangler’s. Steve ambled over and asked where they were from. “Nevada,” they said, “We ranch.”
Ol’ Wayne was real particular about his steers. He figgered if he spent his hard-earned pennies tryin’ to get a few extra pounds, he dang sure wasn’t gonna sweat it off ‘em durin’ the gather.
He rose in the class, hand over his heart
I was sittin’ in the back row of a beautiful little church in a mountain town in the Rockies. I was there for the wedding of the daughter of good friends.
It struck in late October like a plague of mustard gas.
Mr. Moses remarked the other day he’d received a catalog in the mail from a western clothing outfit. He wasn’t sure who the outfit catered to, but the name ‘Long Island’ seemed to stick in his mind.
Catching avocado rustlers is sort of a cross between the Covid virus, wildfires, exchange students bearing addictive goodies and coon hunting.
When the crew came toward the cookhouse Hazel shut and locked the door.
I played in a celebrity golf tournament in Oklahoma City a while back. Now, I’ve been to a few celebrity team ropings, a couple celebrity stock dog trials, a million brandings and one celebrity rock pickin’ — but this was my first celebrity golf tournament. Generous people paid a lot of mone…
The other day on the internet, I saw an old commercial of a semi truck that had these words painted on the side: JONNY KAT, KITTY LITTER. For some reason that had a profound affect on me. Imagine a semi full of kitty litter! 40,000 pounds of scented, colored, and packaged cat box contents!
Another white horse just rode by. I guess I saw him comin’
It could only happen to a cowboy.
This is one of those stories that sound so unbelievable that you’ll know I didn’t make it up!
When our opinions get as immovable as a granite outhouse, God has a way of shaking the foundation.
It arched across the cloudless sky like someone throwin’ chum
Years ago the movie “Babe” was nominated for several Academy Awards, including best picture. It was very popular and made a lot of money. It stars a pig named Babe.
“Hey buddy, maybe you’ll rope better after your horse foals. Haha.”
The sport (passion, or affliction) of team roping experienced a terrific boom in popularity years ago with the creation of an association called United States Team Roping Championships. It established a classification system based on the roper’s skill. It is comparable to the handicapping sy…
Behind those eyes there shines a light
“Here we are friends, on the Serengeti Plains in the wilds of Serengeti.” As the crowd leans in closer to the television we see the swaying Boab trees... an endless sea of grass waving off into the horizon. We hear the quiet buzz of Tsetse flies humming strains of ‘Baby Elephant Walk.’ Just …
Over the years I have gotten to know, or meet or hang out with, what I call “famous people.” From movie stars, politicians, world champions, athletes, writers and moguls. Often it was just circumstance. Other times it was an intentional connection. Like being invited to be on ABC’s first “Do…
“So, how’d yer dad git that big dent on the door?” I asked Dave. Truth is, it was quite an accomplishment for one single dent to stand out from all the other wear and tear, deterioration and assorted damage that covered his 1983 Ford Ranger diesel pickup truck like elephant tracks on a styro…
A scream from the kitchen. The thud of a faint.
Butch has a theory about hardcore born-to-rope ropers; as soon as they build a loop and take one swing, it kicks their brain out of gear.
“Boys will be boys,” reflected Jack, as he told me a story from his youth.
Equal Opportunity Cowboy
I consider myself among other things, a former horse mechanic. The horses I did veterinary work on were ranch and feedlot beasts of burden. Workin’ animals from man’s point of view.
The cow went down in the pasture. I took it as a sign.
"Just count me out,” said Wilford as he lay there in the dirt,
A collection of testimonials for Duct Tape in agriculture…
Carol’s story is just another glamorous tale of a city girl who married a romantic Nebraska Sandhills rancher years ago and became a ‘vocational COW assistant’ for life.
That they would find each other would have been as unlikely to predict as the fall of communism or the good sheep market. She was old and a lifelong Southern Baptist. They were young and on a mission for the Mormon Church.
The rancher told his foreman, “Looks like things are gettin’ tough
No doubt most of you in the livestock business have a certain “family affection” for the fast food chains. Particularly those restaurants whose main attraction is the often disguised but still All American hamburger. It also is true that each of us has his own particular favorite.
When beef gets short, a lot of cowboys are forced to do without. The cook must come up with meatless meals. The following recipes are from the Cowboy Vegetarian Cookbook.
He got his first horse at Christmas this year from good ol’ Uncle Stephen.
