When I was a little kid, we had one big old tractor on the ranch that had big steel wheels. It was used to pull the plow and to power the thrasher machine. All the other tasks were accomplished with horses. We had about 20 head of horses on the ranch most of the time. That was just the mature horses we relied on for work, not including the mares and colts.Every year we had from 2-4 colts. Our stud was a big draft horse. Back then, we didn’t put emphasis on specific breeds of the horses. The heavier or draft breeds were primarily work horses, and the lighter breeds primarily for riding. I’ve told you about our mare, Nellie, before (see link). She’s the one the four of us boys learned to ride on, and who I first rode to school on. Over the years, she had probably six colts.
I’ve also told you a little bit about Ginger (see link), the first horse that was really mine. I got Ginger when I was 8. He was about 14 hands, a pretty little sorrel gelding with light mane and tail. I thought he was the best looking horse I ever saw. I could entertain the visiting relatives from back east because Ginger would rear up and walk on his hind feet. That was sure to impress them.
At any given time, we had about 5or 6 saddle horses. Dad’s horse was a big sorrel with a star on his forehead called Tony. Dad used him during the summer to irrigate off of. He would ride the horse out into the meadows, which would be all flooded. Dad would step off Tony, drop the reins, take a board out of the head gate or use his shovel to fix a ditch, and Tony would stand there grazing until Dad was done and ready to move on. I would go with him, riding Nellie. Most of what I recall was that the mosquitoes would just about eat us alive.
Now, my Uncle Bill had a horse called Skeeter, and she was a big black mare that also was a very good cow horse and had one very good trait, one very special talent. When we was out checking the cattle, if a calf got across the fence and there wasn’t a gait close by to ride through, that Skeeter would jump the fence, bring the calf back in, and jump back to my Uncle Bill. Pretty amazing. I saw it myself at least two or three times. Uncle Bill would get off the horse; she’d jump that fence, chase the calf back through a hole in the fence, then jump back over and wait for Uncle Bill. You see, he bought that horse from a guy he met at the Stampede fair who was performing a trick act where that Skeeter would jump over convertibles. Well, my folks invited the guy out to the ranch after the show. The guy probably had a hard luck story, but I never heard it all. All I remember was that he was going to quit the circuit for some reason, and told us he was going to come back for his horse, but never came back, so Uncle Bill ended up with her. Well, that Skeeter didn’t have to do any more convertible jumping, but her talents sure came in handy on the ranch
As for the work horses, they’d have their hands full throughout the year, and we relied on them for a variety of jobs. When we were putting up hay, there would be about 14 teams in the field. Besides our own teams, my folks rented horses. Usually the driver and the team would come together; many of them local folks.
So, the full crew during haying involved about 14 teams. The big, heavy work horses were on the mowing machines. There were 5 horse drawn mowers. This was the hardest job on the horses because the sickle is driven by power off the wheels, but the sickle bar was off to the side. The side pull created by the sickle bar would wear on the horse’s neck with the side dragging all the time.
The next hardest job, for which we usually had four teams on, was the buck rakes. These gathered the hay and moved it into the stacker. The stacker team, whose job it was to pile the hay on the stack, had to be a really good team. Not only was the load of hay heavy but the team had to stop at exactly the right time to stack the pile just so. A good team and driver could place the hay either in front or back of the stack, and make the job of the men on the stack that much easier. Each pile would be kept nice and square with a rounded top.
Then, there were five teams on the sulky or dump rakes. These were usually lighter weight or smaller horses because it didn’t require the power to pull that many of the other jobs did. One team I particularly remember were a set of big bay mares we called Mini and Mandy. They were the stacker team during haying, the feed team during the winter, and when they were feeding cattle, why they would pull in beside the hay stacks, while the hay was forked onto the wagons, then pull out into the herd of cattle. The driver could tie the reins around the post on the wagon as the team would drive out, make a circle, and be back when the hay was unloaded. Early auto pilot.
We had two hay wagons, one that fed the cattle, one that fed the sheep. All winter long. 300 head cows would be fed. That required 3 loads of hay. The same was needed also for the sheep. So, both wagons would leave out soon after sun up, and wouldn’t be done until 2. On Saturday, they fed double, so it was an all day ordeal. But then Sunday was a day of rest.
The same horses were used for the farming operation, for disking and harrowing, planting and pulling the binder (a machine which cut the hay and put it in into bundles), then pulled the bundle wagons that hauled grain to the thrashing machine. The thrasher made a big straw pile as it threw straw out the back end, and grain out the side to a little box wagon.
When we were haying, you were expected to have your team harnessed and ready to head to the field at 7 am. Everyone took one hour off for lunch, during which time the women folk brought a hot meal out the hay field. The teams were unhooked and tied to the fence or the equipment, and given a fork full of hay for their own lunch while the people ate. At 1 o’clock, the teams were hitched back up, and the whole crew worked on the field to 6. After that, those of us who drove rakes still had to unhook the rake and ride the horse back to the barn. The mowers were the only ones who rode the equipment back in, as they had to change the sickles and grease the moving parts regularly.
When it was time to break the work colts, we took the big stud horse, and teamed him up with a new horse. We’d then hook the two of them up to the breaking sled, which was just a wooden sled with a tongue. On top of the sled, we’d pile sacks of sand for added weight. Well, no doubt that stud knew what he was doing, and he let the new horse run away and pull the whole weight of it. As you can guess, it wasn’t long before the new horse learned to let the stud take on his half of the work. And if they wouldn’t pull their half, he’d pull the sled right up into their heels to keep them going.
We’d drive them up the lane, turn around as the stud would push the young horse around, and drive them back. And do it again two days later. That’s about all it took with these horses. That stud was the teacher really.
There was a lot of work for the horses, and a lot of work for us all. Three meals a day were served for the crew. The crew included our family of 7, then my grandparents, Uncle Bill, the two maiden aunts, Clara and Amelia, and somewhere between 6 and 12 helpers. There were three men that were our regular help, who lived with their families nearby but would join for the noon meal. But throughout the year, for sheep shearing in the spring, haying in summer and thrashing in the fall, there would be more hired hands to help, and to feed. For most of the crew, there was a bunk house over the shop. They’d bring their own bedrolls, and sleep on an old army cot. Before meals, they washed up in the basement in my grandpa’s house.
Providing regular meals for all these people was a lot of work for the women folks, but that’s another story…
Story by Floyd Getz, Photos from the Getz family archives.
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