Writing for the Brand

Hello all, and happy rainy Wednesday! The February issue of Western Horseman is now in subscriber mailboxes and out on newsstands. In the issue, Shawn Hays offers insight on how to “Position Yourself for Success” in cattle classes.

Shawn is a cow horse trainer from Nocona, Texas. I originally met Shawn while at trainer Don Murphy’s in Oklahoma. Shawn and his wife, Tammy, had come up to work cattle. I again saw Shawn when I traveled to their place in Nocona to interview he and Tammy for an Arena All-Star on Tammy’s amazing mare, Shine Smartly. Shawn’s quiet manner both on and off the horse impressed me, as did his win in senior working cow horse on Shine Smartly at the 2010 AQHA world show.

Photo by Darrell Dodds

An avid student of both cattle and horsemanship, Shawn’s approach to training and showing in cattle events is methodical. He always tries to set up a run where the horse will be able to work to the best of its ability. In the February article on page 25, Shawn’s four tips for success include how to read the cow and get into position when boxing, and the best position and manner in which to take a cow down the fence in the fencework.

In addition to our online article, we filmed a brief training tip for westernhorseman.com. You can view the tip by clicking below.

Line of Sight

The video lays out a simple but precise exercise designed to engage your horse by keeping the cow in it’s line of sight. If a horse can’t see the cow, how can it react? Give it a try next time you work a pushy cow.  Be sure to pick up the February issue for the complete article with Shawn!

If you are a Stock Horse of Texas member, watch the video before the February 24th clinic in Abilene, where Shawn will conduct the cow horse clinic.

In California there is a road, the El Camino Real, which translates to the Royal Road. The road was established for travel between the missions, but I feel it is a beacon for my travels to California. Along this road, I have experienced some of the most interesting visits with buckeroos, vaqueros, artists, horsemen and other travelers. It’s been a royal blessing for me! Recently, I followed the El Camino Real to San Luis Obispo and Santa Margarita to add to my list of friends out West.

The Twisselman family was introduced to Western Horseman readers last October, in the article “True to All-Around.” I visited the family again to learn about a new event that they, along with horsemen Martin Black and Chris Cox, are putting together. The Horsemen’s Re-Union is a truly once-in-a-lifetime event. There is an abundance of horsemen, and those claiming to be horsemen, floating around the industry.

Differing methods, training programs or gimmicks draw in portions of profit from around the globe. Instead of another expo or competition pitting one horseman against another, the Horsemen’s Re-Union will bring more than 20 horsemen from the United States, Canada, Australia and Switzerland together in Paso Robles, California, to start more than 40 horses over one week. The horses belong to the Twisselman family, and are of the famous “Pick and Shovel” bloodlines I wrote about last October. From Playgun to Doc Bar, these 2- and 3-year-old horse are the product of careful breeding for specific ranch and all-around genes. In April, at the event, the horses will be started by some of the best horsemen around. Here’s the kicker–the horses will be sold after the event in sale! How would you like to own a horse that Martin Black, or Pat Parelli, or Ty Van Norman, or Craig Cameron started? Here’s your chance.

Chris Cox, left, Cathie Twisselman and Martin Black all aboard Madonna Inn Quarter Horses in California.

My April “Hands-On Horseman” section will feature an article outlining how this event came about and the particulars. I know that after spending four days with Martin, Chris, Cathie and Rowly I am incredibly excited to get back out there in April for this amazing display of horsemen.

But, I didn’t spend all my time gazing at beautiful horses–I also met with renowned artist and Vaquero historian Ernest Morris at his home in Templeton. The 83-year-old continues to stretch his creative boundaries with different art mediums. The few hours I spent barely scratched the surface on his amazing life, but I was able to learn quite a bit about both him and some incredible traditions.

Vaquero historian and artist Ernest Morris.

In Santa Margarita, I had the honor of meeting and photographing Alie McKee. Alie and her husband, Jeff, manage the historic Santa Margarita Ranch that is home to the original mission. Parts of the mission walls still stand in the barn that is the centerpiece of this beautiful ranch. A perfect stopping place between Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo on the El Camino Real, the Santa Margarita Ranch is steeped in history–right down to the wagon wheel ruts that are still visible from hundreds of years past. Senior Editor Jennifer Denison will put Alie’s story into a “Women of the West” to appear later in the year.

Alie McKee and her husband, Jeff, manage the historic Santa Margarita Ranch.

My last day in California was spent in Carissa Plains, just east of Santa Margarita with Martin Black and the Twisselman family. I felt like I had my own Martin Black clinic to attend. He helped work with some of the 4- and 5-year-old horses and even gave me a tip or two while I rode around on Cathie’s older mare, Ziva. (You can see Ziva in the photo below with Chris Cox in the saddle). It was another fabulous learning experience for a life-long horse(wo)man life myself.

Chris Cox and Ziva trail in some of the Madonna Inn Quarter Horse herd in San Luis Obispo.

The January issue of Western Horseman features a very special “Women of the West,” Mary Bell Cooksley. I visited Mary Bell on her family’s Shorthorn cattle farm outside of Berwyn, Nebraska, last June. She was a wonderful interview, lively and full of wisdom. Sadly, at 91, Mary Bell passed away in October. We had planned to run the article and did so as tribute to a truly Western woman. At her first words, I knew I was speaking to a special woman who enjoyed finding the challenges in life.

“When I was in high school, I started out to write a thesis on the origin of the Palomino color in the horse,” she said. “I did it because I wanted to know. Of course, with a thesis, you had to have a bibliography. I could only find two sources at that time of possible places to find that information–a short paragraph in the Encyclopedia Britannica and an article in a 1936 Western Horseman.“

Born in 1920, Mary Bell was very influential in Nebraska, not only in cattle but in politics. She was  on of the first women ever elected president of an Elks Lodge, and was a member of several associations, including Nebraska Association of Fair Managers, Nebraska Thoroughbred Breeders Association and American Shorthorn Association.

Sitting with her for a few hours, I learned much about her past and enjoyed hearing her life’s work. Though today the farm is Cooksley Clear Creek Farm, for many years her father reigned cattle king over Haumont Shorthorns. It was impressive to see the lineage of the Haumont/Cooksley cattle that can be traced back 10 generations. She explained how her father selected cattle, and why their herd was in such demand. However, Mary Bell truly lit up speaking about her husband, Leo Cooksley. They met at an ice skating party and Leo convinced Mary Bell to reject a scholarship to Nebraska Weslayan and attend Nebraska University, where he was in school.

“It was a mutual attraction with Leo,” she remembered. “He graduated in 1941 and got assigned to his first year of active service at Fort Robinson in northwest Nebraska. It was one of four remount stations in the U.S. I was teaching home economics when he called me on the phone, said he had two weeks leave at Christmas, and what did I think of getting married? His parents and his father’s parents had all been married Christmas Day, so we got married on Christmas Day in 1942.”

Mary Bell followed Leo and his Army contracts through many states, until they settled in Nebraska. The two began raising cattle and horses. Though initially wanting to bring a Quarter Horse to their area, Leo instead applied for an Army remount Thoroughbred stallion. Thus began their Thoroughbred business.

“We decided the remount Thoroughbred was the most versatile for us,” she said. “And, if you had one good enough on the track, it was Christmas in July. We did get quite a few racing percentages. At one time we had 7 Thoroughbred stallions and 75 broodmares. We have sold them to be polo ponies and jumpers, but mainly, they went to work on ranches.”

Mary Bell was tough, and a few of her adventures are noted in the “Women of the West” article. Her family, six children, 14 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren, were very important to her. It was a privilege to spend time with someone who has seen momentous change in our society and to hear her reflections on those changes.

“There is a mindset in this country that agriculture is an inexhaustible wealth, and we can keep mining it,” she said. “But, it is not. As the old Indians said, white man crazy turn land grass-side down. When you do that to too many acres, you’re going to be hungry. You can’t raise potatoes on concrete. There are entities that want to do away with livestock production because they think it takes up too much of our land.  Maybe two legged livestock take up too much of our land.

“Mankind is not the wisest husbandman in the world. He is given to excess and bad decision, and does not allow for government’s intelligences in most cases. I say this because I’ve been on this Earth so long that I’ve seen this happen.”

Though Mary Bell is no longer with us, her thoughts on agriculture and the changes that have been made, and those that are coming, weigh on my mind. It was an honor to meet her, see her beautiful, beloved cattle and truly experience a Western woman.