Cowboys, Cold, and Character



"Headin' Home" Trailing last of the remuda home from summer country. They made the 30 mile trip in 3.5 hours. (available only as s/n limited edition print)

I've learned over the years that my cowboy photos with the most impact are directly related to the amount of pain inflicted on the subject. My husband calls them "cowboy suffering" photos.

Usually they are in winter. It's either 25 below zero with the wind blowing, or 25 above zero with a big wet snow that soaks in and chills you to the bone. There's just a certain character about them that sets them apart from the average.

Now that we've got a nice indoor barn (it's not heated, but at least it stops the wind) we actually spend more time developing young horses during the deepest part of winter. Half of our first-calf heifers also get to have their babies there.

It's not the same though.

We had a 2 day horse clinic this week with Mike Bridges. Dave Stewart from Queensland, Australia was with him.The temperature hovered around 0 both days, and though he never complained, Dave was probably making mental notes that this was NOT the time of year to visit Montana.

I never even took my camera.

First of all, there's nothing like cold to zap the life out of your batteries (yeah, my camera's too)! And second, both my hands were full and I needed to be paying attention. But mostly, the drama of cowboy suffering just appears different in the shelter of a barn than the great outdoors.

I think that's probably why God in His great wisdom put so much beauty in such a harsh environment. It just makes it a little easier to "cowboy up" and wait for the sun.



"Spring Blizzard" A ranch cowboy moves a couple of brand new baby calves and their mothers to better shelter.

2-year old Braxton and his daddy, Clayton braving the cold barn a couple evenings before the clinic.