The use of horses on the ranch is a tool that continues to be essential on many ranches today. Though it is a time-honored tradition for many, it is also how large ranches with diverse terrain manage daily cattle operations.
Horses are used in a variety of ways depending on the location and size of the ranch. At K4 Ranch, located 35 miles north of Prescott, Ariz., horses are used daily on their nearly 1 million acres where they manage cattle. In business since 1941, horses have been a staple to their functionality resulting in the addition of raising quarter horses.
“We raise a large number of horses to be used primarily for ranch work and secondly our production sale, The Legacy Ranch Horse Sale,” says Sarah Kieckhefer of K4 Ranches. “It is very important to us to raise performance horses that we use first and foremost as ranch horses for a solid foundation before we go into the arena or for breeding.”
Using horses to check and gather cattle is typically their only option with the rugged terrain.
“We use horses for everything involving cattle,” Kieckhefer says. “Our country in Arizona and California is rough terrain with mountains and ravines so motorized vehicles just don’t work.”
Their Diamond A Ranch, a division of K4 Ranch is the largest ranch in Arizona, running their largest number of cows and employs a large crew with seasonal cowboys and eight camps with full-time cowboys. They also have ranches in California and Oklahoma that they run cows and stocker cattle on.
“On our large ranches with rough or brushy terrain, a good horse can go where a pickup, ATV or side-by-side can’t,” Kieckhefer explains. “Horses can cover long distances, cross canyons and handle steep or rocky country, and a horse allows you to move quietly, ease cattle along and reduce stress, which leads to fewer wrecks and better weight retention.”
Gathering and Sorting
Poss Angus, a registered Angus operation in Scotia, Neb., uses horses to gather, sort and pull heats during the breeding season. In the summer months they doctor and gather cattle on grass.
“Most of our pastures are rough clay hills with ponds and trees, so having a horse to get to where the cows are is definitely necessary,” says Nathan Poss, head cowboy. “Ninety percent of the time, if there is cattle work being done of any kind, there is a horse or two being saddled.”
Poss Angus manages roughly 800 head with a bull sale every February and occasionally a female sale in the fall.
“I don’t typically use a horse in the picture pen but always to video bulls,” Poss adds. “By using a horse in the video pen, it is easier to move the bulls back and forth across the pen. Videoing can also turn into a long couple days, so it’s nice to have a young horse putting in the steps instead of me.”
Poss’ main responsibilities are the health and care of the cattle, including feeding, doctoring, calving and processing.
“I enjoy taking the ranch work and utilizing it to make young horses better through the work. Another great benefit in my mind is when working cattle horseback, the cattle gain respect for you and your horse, over time I feel like those cattle work and handle much easier,” Poss explains. “In my opinion, if it comes down to catching a single animal, a horse must be used. By using a horse instead of a four-wheeler, it keeps the environment quiet, and you can always go the same pace as the animal to help steer them in the direction you need to go. Four wheelers and rangers are also used very heavily on our ranch. Quickly moving a group to another pasture, tagging, putting out salt and mineral, those are all equivalent times to use a four-wheeler or ranger.”
Branding and Moving
The Pitchfork Ranch in Meeteetse, Wyo., uses horses heavily during branding seasons and moving cattle on and off mountain pasture. Primarily a commercial cow-calf operation focused on pounds of beef produced per acre, they also retain some cattle every year for their beef program that sells directly to consumers.
Their cattle have to thrive at elevation and harsh winters, then range calve in the spring. The Pitchfork Ranch also hosts an annual ranch horse sale in the spring.
“We use horses in all of our cattle work. In the spring we calve in an 8,000-acre pasture where we then pair cattle out into our branding groups,” says Lindsey Anson, who manages The Pitchfork Ranch. “We head and heel calves at branding and then start working our way up country where cattle summer at 10,000' elevation in the Absaroka range. In the fall as cattle come off the mountain, they are then paired out again horseback into contemporary sex groups until we ship in the first half of November.”
Similar to K4 Ranch and Poss Angus, using horses is often because of the terrain.
“Our terrain also doesn’t allow for the use of motorized vehicles very often so the work has to be done on a horse. Part of our summer range is also in a wilderness area where we still have to pack in salt and mineral horseback,” Anson explains. “Our cattle seem to handle better horseback. In the subtleties of reading cattle, you can make minor adjustments on horseback that you aren’t able to do with something motorized.”
