It could only happen to a cowboy.

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

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.

Christmas is the most joyful of seasons for Believers…when publicly we are closest to God…birth of Christ.

I confess to not owning a tractor. I have plenty of friends nearby with tractors. But in a lapse of good judgment I borrowed one to brush hog a patch of weeds. Experienced farmers, even an 8-year-old farm kid knows that you always drive a tractor thumbs up. I didn’t remember.

Everybody has a Christmas that stands out in their memory like dandruff on Superman’s cape. Mine was several years ago. Bah Humbug Bill, the cow buyer, made a deal on a set of cows down below Snowville.

Diana, goddess of the hunt, stands as a Roman heroine to a long line of female hunters. Even today there are many who have followed in her spoor that deserves to have their name written in mythology.

For some reason this Thanksgiving, I’m thinking of sheep. The sheep industry is havin’ a fair year. One factor is lamb being included and advertised in specialty dog food. The sheepman’s equivalent market to fast food burgers.

We all have great memories of “the best party.”

One of the most important traits of a good feedlot manager is the ability to assign blame. That is the reason they often employ consulting vets and nutritionists. It keeps them from having to fire regular employees.

The sea level is rising. We are in an interglacial period within the Pleistocene ice age, according to the learned. It has been melting ice for the last 10,000 years. So, we minuscule Earthlings are fighting an uphill battle.

Mankind from prehistory to space exploration has always depended on animals for help in their quest for advancing civilization. Granted, often as bait or as guinea pigs but we have depended on them, nonetheless.

I was just about to cull the cow when the boss sees me swingin’ the gate.

To: Residents of Mt. Ararat School District

It’s not easy being a missionary distributing religious pamphlets door to door. Home-owners will go to extremes to avoid listening to you.

Some people are just flat good at handlin’ horses. They’ve got that good “horse savvy.” Matter of fact, there are people actually makin’ a livin’ trainin’ horses. I admire these folks’ ability and special talent. It’s always a pleasure to see a good horse workin’ right. But horses look at ve…

If wheat gets up to seven bucks

Buffalo Bob took the call on his cellular phone. I caught the last of the conversation, “and if that don’t work, try a shot. No ... not a tranquilizer, a 30-30. At least you’ll be able to eat the meat.”

Do you have any friends named James Roberto, Barnard or Elizabeth who don’t go by Jim Bob, Barney or Liz? If you do, they are no doubt a hangover from parents who insisted that their children be addressed by their legal name.

Lynne parked her car in the little lot behind Cookies Du Moi. It was an odd little corner of Salt Lake City, mixing pawn shops, liquor stores with barred windows and an invasion of upscale pastel-colored urban grazing and knick-knack shops. Small stores with cute names offered yogurt, dried …

Life is just a bowl of cherries to a first-rate feedlot hand,

Many years ago, Dr. Erfan called to tell me his story. He’d spent 17 years inventing and testing a device to help people quit smoking. It involved a small, battery-operated unit that clips in your ear like a hearing aid. Whenever the smoker felt the urge to smoke, he pushed a button on the u…

In this column, I have often mentioned scours, abscesses, big tits, bad bags, cancer eyes, foot rot, slurry pits, afterbirth, retained placenta, castration, heat cycles, sheep pellets and snotty noses.

When one of my cowboy friends tells me he’s getting married, my first question is, “Does she have a job?” This particular wedding took place in the pines of Arizona. I thought that I would never again see such a group of ill-prepared misfits as these groomsmen. Then came the 2020 lineup runn…

Every genuine or would be cowboy’s pride and joy is his “good dawg.” One of the highlights at a Stock Show is the stock dog trials.

Old dogs. They write songs about’em and watermelon wine. They have sayings about ‘em learning new tricks. They even name feet after them, i.e., “My ol’ dogs are shore tired!”

This year we recognized the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the beginning of the end of the Second World War. Europe had been completely conquered except for England, an island about the size of Wyoming. President Roosevelt made the decision to go all in.

We try to be faithful recyclers around the house. I make regular runs to town with the pickup full of newspapers, bottles, aluminum cans, cardboard boxes and tin.

Once upon a time at the start of all creation

You gotta hand it to cowboys. They can turn a birthday cake into a four-alarm fire.

In rural America, farmers and “rural lifestylers” are often neighbors. Seeking a place to better raise their children, to retire in peace or to escape the continuing anxiety of the city, they move to the country and build a house on a 2-acre plot.

A medical doctor friend of mine was recounting his experiences in Africa as a volunteer for a church missionary program.

A cowboy is the way he is because he works with stock.

I’ve always sorta figgered the reason there is more cowboy poetry than there is farmer poetry has to do with horses.

The latest statistics show that less then 2% of the population is directly involved in production agriculture.