Horses, more than Arabians

Over the past couple of years, Marty has been visiting the Crooked Creek Ranch near Lovell, Wyoming to participate in horse activities centering around Dressage and Eventing. Clint discovered that within a few miles of the Crooked Creek Ranch is the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range. So, he drops off Marty and the horses and heads to find some "wild horses". Memorial Day weekend was no exception. Marty, Wendy, and Johanna were involved with the horse events while Clint was hoping to find new places to see the wild horses. Although Clint took several hundred photos of the girls and other participants, the first 3 are of the Circle B Bar T gang.

This is Grover with Wendy Bleacher riding and Johanna Kern observing. The last time you saw Grover he was jumping over a log in one of the Crooked Creek pastures with Marty aboard. This was taken in the enclosed arena where they were obviously jumping.

You may have seen some photographs of Quasar in the past. The big boy is now 17 hands was hopping over this pile of logs with no problems. Johanna is on board and everyone was pleased with their performance. Johanna and Quasar participated in the more advanced competition and they won. Wendy and Grover were third.

Marty has started to train with Majestic Dancer, better know around the ranch as "Doc". Since the 2 of them are just getting started, they were in the "grasshopper" class (beginners) and they did very well, winning the competition.

So the girls and their horses headed home not only proud of their rides but of their winnings as well. So what did Clint do.

He stopped at the visitors center in Lovell to get maps and an update as to where the bulk of the 100 plus wild horses were. The staff at the center gave Clint several ideas but told him he needed a high profile vehicle and 4 wheel drive if he wanted to go where the bulk of the wild horses were. Clint thought, no problem with his Dodge pick up truck.

Clint headed down a number of dirt roads with the maps he had been furnished. Each of the roads ultimately headed into the mountains along very narrow dirt roads and one by one Clint turned around before he got near the horses.

So. . . . . back to the area that he had been visiting on prior trips. After the first 2.5 hours he had seen no horses but did meet a couple from Colorado who have visited the wild horse range frequently. Clint decided to make one more tour of the range before he returned to Crooked Creek to photograph the activites there. Almost 12 miles into the range, the second time,  he spotted the couple from Colorado and it looked like they had found a horse.

A beautiful gray stallion. Clint's new friends added something special. They were frequent enough visitors that they knew the horse by his name. It was Fiero. To prove this, when Clint got home he keyed in Fiero on the internet and found a very similar picture.  Clint's new friends, then asked if he had seen the welcoming committee at the south entrance. Clint said, you mean the Big Horn sheep. They said no, there are 2 stallions, Hickok and Jesse James and their girl friends that are always hanging around near the lake and the clump of trees as you enter.

After Clint had taken enough photos of Fiero, he headed back to Crooked Creek to catch up with those activities. But, guess what, as he neared the south entrance, who was standing near the road.

It was Jesse James. Yes, Clint found Jesse James on the internet as well.

Stay tuned as we visit the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range in the future and introduce you to more of the horses. Marty wants to be part of the next visit as well.

Local girl, friendly neighbor, Kenya

2004 was "the year" for a local girl to hit it big. Just before Christmas, there was a picture on the lumber company wall introducing a litter of Great Dane puppies in Absarokee, Montana. Marty told me to put a deposit on the brindle female and soon thereafter Barlo had a playdate.
The lady was asking Barlo if she could become his pal, obviously the answer was yes. What should her name be? Our prior dogs had a name related to our veterinarian. The vet of choice at this time was Dr. Brown. But we couldn't name her "brownie", but his first name was Ken and we had just returned from Africa. How about Kenya?

In the winter months, our dogs can be found with a blanket (size - medium foal) on when they are outside. They grow so fast that there are make shift blankets or vests used. Although this one would more than keep Kenya warm, she didn't appear to pleased with this hand-me-down from Marty.

Being outside, going on walks with Marty and Clint, snooping around the ranch was always

considered a treat. On this day, there had been a carcass near the Grove Creek and since Kenya was the first to spot it, she got first pick of the pile of bones. She was so proud of this she carried it to the house and would not permit anyone to take it from her mouth. A few hours went by before we could take it and put it in the garbage can.

When Marty rested on the couch in the family room, or was watching television, the favorite place for Kenya and Barlo was sharing the couch with Marty. They were obviously content and enjoyed the companionship and the comfort.

Kenya enjoyed having her picture taken. This is one of many, but there were two that were enjoying the walk around the ranch on this January day. They were dressed well and happy that the sun was shining. There are similar pictures that were taken on trips to Yellowstone National Park, Chico Hot Springs, Paws Up, Woodbine, and many other places in Montana.

Shortly after Barlo's passing, Kenya jumped out of the Suburban and injured her front leg. A few days later, it was not getting better so we took her to Dr. Barlau. The fractured front leg was also infected with cancer. Dr. Barlau removed her front leg to avoid further spreading of the infection. It was a matter of days until Kenya was out running in the snow as if nothing had happened. Her sense of balance was great as well as you can see in this picture. 1 leg gone, 2 legs in the air, and 1 leg on the ground.

If you are familar with our dogs, you knew that when Barlo had difficulty laying down and getting up, we purchased a couch for him. Kenya's biggest challenge was getting in the back of the Suburban to go with us. We learned that the older Subaru Legacy was much closer to the ground so it was appropriate that we purchase this 1999 automobile for Kenya. Please note that she got her own license as well. Traveling with Clint and Marty was again a joy plus is was much easier to see out the windows while laying down.

Nothing seemed to be slowing her down. Her best friend, Rhia, would come to visit. She and Kenya would play together as if nothing had happened. This picture, taken by Rhia's owner, Heather Farmstead, shows the joy the 2 girls had when they got together.

In spite of valiant efforts on the part of Dr. Barlau, Dr. Miller, the staff at Colorado State University Veterinary College, Kenya has now joined Barlo. She will be missed by all. There are many fond memories of her held by Clint, Marty, our family and friends. We'll miss you Kenya.

Thanks for being a part of the Circle B Bar T.

Individuals in Montana, not the way you expect it. . .

For the last several weeks as we have driven down the Grove Creek Road toward Fishtail, I have noticed a calf in the same pasture as the neighbors sheep. Each time I passed, my curiosity caused me to look for the mother cow, which I never saw. Yesterday, I asked the nieghbors if they knew there was a calf in with the sheep, and if they did, where was it's mother. What I was told, is not what I expected. This was a "bum" calf, it had no mother. In addition to bottle feeding the calf, they decided to put it in with the sheep. They were hoping it would bond with the sheep and ultimately be the protector of the sheep, very similar to the role of a llama. The picture shows the competitors, the llama and the calf.
Come spring we will have to return to the pasture and check out the role of the calf as well as it's relationship with the llama. Sort of strange seeing a calf with no other cattle in a pasture with several hundred head of sheep and a llama.

As I have been working around the barn for the last several weeks, I have noticed a little bunny. Yes, it is quite small and very young. As I watched and observed it's actions, I believe it has found a home under the hay that we are storing for the horses. Recently, it has started to pose for me, I couldn't wait any longer, ran to the house and got my camera and zoom lens, not knowing how close it would allow me to get. This is hunting season, but this critter is too small for the hunter, but it is staying close to the barn to hide from something. and what would you expect to see in another one of the pastures as you drive toward Absarokee. You are probably guessing, sheep or cattle, wildlife could be deer, or perhaps some horses. Wrong. There is a pasture that has been full of sheep, every year for the last 19 years. There are no sheep in it today. This is one of 3 small burrows that is in control of the acreage. No signs of sheep. This guy and his buddies are about the size of the calf and definitely smaller than the llama.

As we all know, Thanksgiving is just 2 weeks away. I'm sure that you are already thinking about where you'll be enjoying the feast and what you'll be eating. Just as we are about to prepare for the big occassion, guess what reappears on the Circle B Bar T ranch? Answer, the turkeys. The flock is not as large in numbers as last year. I counted 15 in total, but they look very healthy. For those of you who like dark meat, no white meat, not even the breast, you should come to Stillwater County and take one of these beauties home for Thanksgiving. If you prefer white meat, ie: the breast, then continue your plan to purchase or grow locally.

The latest arrivals at the Circle B Bar T

It was just 8 weeks ago that a Great Dane gave birth to a beautiful liter of brindle puppies in the state of Washington. Marty and Clint located their owner, Dawn Houston, and purchased not one but two of the new puppies. A young man named Baxter and a pretty female named Emma. After flying from Washington and then by auto from Billings, Baxter and Emma soon discovered the front lawn at the Circle B Bar T. They have already brought joy into Marty and Clint's life healing their broken hearts. They two will grow quickly as they are already over 20 pounds each. Unless you will be visiting soon, they may be full size by the time you come to visit.

The first morning on the ranch they were invited to the barn to help with morning chores. The horses walking down the aisle were more initimidated by the puppies than the puppies were of the horses, almost 50 times their size. The temperature was cool and the puppies soon discovered the tack room and the bed that Ruthie the cat typically occupies. The caption of this photo is, "there is no room for Ruthie"

Kenya has missed her pal for the last 6 years, Mr. Barlo. But it didn't take long for Baxter to invite himself to the space most often occupied by Barlo. Within a very short time, Baxter was snuggled up close to Kenya, filling the void left by Mr. B. As you may or may not know, Kenya had to have one of her front legs removed after a diagnosis of cancer and is recovering from the operation of less than a week ago. She has welcomed Baxter and Emma and has accepted them as part of the family. There will be more about Barlo and Kenya in postings to follow.

Look what we saw . . . . . . .

As we finish the summer season, we have spotted some interesting sites on the Circle B Bar T. Over the past few years we have had a huge penetration of grasshoppers as the summer temperatures arrive and the enviroment for the grasshopper optimizes. The next question is how do you get rid of grasshoppers. The best answer we have come up with is let mother nature take its course. The best way is for the cooler weather of the fall to arrive, perhaps even earlier than planned. That gets rid of them. Another way is shown in the next photograph. These healthy birds are feasting on grasshoppers. At the moment they are resting before their next penetration of our pastures.
At this time of the year, we have already harvested the hay and in fact after filling our barn with hay for the winter our neighbors were able to bale as much hay as we did for their own use. There is ample hay still in the pasture for the horses and the neighbors brought some of their sheep to graze on the pasture across the Grove Creek. In recent years, coyotes have visited their sheep in our pasture for a good lamb dinner. This year, they delivered a protector as you can see in this photograph. Mr. Larry the LLama is in charge of the sheep. He is their leader and their protector.

While it may be a long time before the signs of winter arrive at your home, we looked at the Beartooth Mountains the first day of September and guess what we saw. It was still warm at the 4500 feet elevation of the Circle B Bar T Ranch, but it was cool enough for the precipitation to take a different form in the mountains. In fact, there was enough of the white stuff that the Beartooth Pass, the road from Red Lodge to Cooke City was closed until the road crews could remove the snow.

Finally, the same view that we had, looking west from our home to see the birds, came later in the day. Marty came running into the house and announced a beautiful sunset. Not only was it beautiful but we were quite pleased to shout, "Red sky at nite, sailor's delight". This meant that we would enjoy another day in Montana, plenty of sunshine, a great view of the mountains, and fall would have to wait. What Marty didn't see was the deer who were passing across the ridge in full view of the sunset. What a great photograph.

Hope your sights have been as rewarding as ours.

See you in Montana

Kenya had a great day, look what she found

We spotted Kenya running down the lane toward the house after our morning walk. She seemed in a happy mood and was moving at quite a rapid pace. We noticed something strange, take a look closely and see if you see what we saw. I agree, you probably can't see what's unique, in fact, I had to look several times after Marty told me what she had seen. The real question will be not what it is or where she got it but how it became hooked on her dog blanket under her neck.


If you still haven't figured it out, it is a bone from most likely a deer carcass, most likely a front leg and from the joint there are 2 bones that have created a hook that is lapped over the top of the dog blanket under her neck. Whether she was rolling on the carcass or the bone, it was most likely the way it got bound on the blanket.

This may be the best angle to see the bone. Barlo was either not interested or had been told by Kenya to stay away from her bone. Ultimately, when Marty took off the blanket the bone was deposited in the trash barrell. But that was just the morning scenario. We took them for an afternoon walk towards the mountains, turned around at the gate at the Johnson place and as we started back towards the house, guess what. Kenya had found another prize.

It was obvious what she had found this time. It was the remains of the head, neck, and some of the pelt of a deer. Whether the morning find was related to this part, we will never know. The close up will give you a better perspective of this prize.

Kenya was ultimately asked to drop her prize. With much chagrin, she relented, Marty grabbed her collar and I tossed her token into a field with a good fence so that she could not return to the scene of the capture. Whether it's old age or a predator, these carcasses are not rare and a dog on the loose is always attracted to the parts that remain.

Vern, the ranch manager

People have asked over the years, who manages the Circle B Bar T ranch. For those of you who don't know, it's a quiet kind of creature that is normally in the "great room" when we have company. He looks like a Montana rancher with his plaid shirt, his alligator boots, a bandana around his neck, a nice vest, and of course his cowboy hat. If you look carefully, you'll find his only vice is his corn cob pipe which most often is in the left pocket of his vest. He found out that his eye sight is deteriorating about 2 year later than Clint's and usually wears Clint's used trifocals.

He came from Texas about the time that Marty and Clint moved to Montana. Good friends of theirs, Dick Kane and Gretchen McBeath located him and arranged for his trip to Montana. There are a couple of poses of Vern that were taken recently. The first one was on Barlo's new couch. Vern insisted that he check it out and in fact spent a night sleeping with Barlo. Vern gave Marty and Clint a thumbs up and the couch stayed.
Marty helped Vern write a note to his mother, shortly after his arrival. The response which was received from Texas is filed in our archives. We got it out to share with you.

Dear Vern;
Since your brothers seldom write, you can image how thrilled I was to hear from you. I always knew you could do anything you put your mind to. Just remember, always be honest and hard working and don't let your job go to your head.
Your family sounds like my kind of people. I would love to get to the Big Sky country some day to meet them in person.
I'm putting together a family album for you but it will take awhile. Your Uncle Larry and I have been busy volunteering at the Therapuctic Assisted Riding Center. It is very exciting for me to work around horses again (Uncle Larry spends his time cleaning tack)
Well son, as your Dad used to say, "Keep Sweet", write when you can.
Much love, MOM

You now know why Vern is such a special character at the Circle B Bar T. He is shown in the next picture getting prepared for the day ahead of him. He has Clint post updates on the digital picture so that he can view what is happening and doesn't have to leave the warmth of the house, at least in the winter. His favorite prop for his left arm, is a pillow that Marty had made with a picture of Clint riding his goat when he was a youngster at the Brookfield Farm in Ashville , Ohio. The picture on the screen is a look at the south pasture next to the Grove Creek. Based on this image, Vern has told Marty and Clint to be sure the horses get an extra bale of hay today and they should have access to the indoor arena tonight.
Be sure and say Hi to Vern on your next visit to the Circle B Bar T. He asked that I remind Dick and Gretchen that it has been several years since they visited and when they were last in Fishtail, they promised to return with one of their lady friends. Vern does get along with Barlo and Kenya but has looked forward to that special visit from Dick and Gretchen and their friend who they promised Vern would be alot of fun.