Hell's a Roarin-Gardiner Parade/Rodeo/Ranch

[kevshell]

We could not make the horse drive this year however because of working on the purchase of our home in Montana we were able to participate in a parade through Gardiner. It was fun and the streets were lined with residents and tourists. The ride from the ranch to the staging area, through the parade and back was 17 miles. A few folks were sore. I reminded them the ranch hands do that AND work. The parade was done before the rodeo on day 2. Some pictures from that are coming up in the next post.

[kevshell]

A few shots of the ride back to the ranch. My horse (not mine but the one I claim every time we hunt or trail ride) is not a pack animal so we're always out front.

The rancher told a joke which probably has some truth to it several years ago. Indians used to ride Appaloosas to battle because by the time they got there the warriors were plenty mean after riding the Appaloosas into battle. I can see some truth to that.

[kevshell]

I've not seen a better place for a rodeo. The stands may not hold what some of the other arenas will accommodate but I doubt another rodeo grounds has a better backdrop. The background is Electric Peak in Yellowstone.

The riders put on a great show.

[gnappi]

What a cool town. I lived in a place with half the population (Phoenicia New York) and everyone knew everyone. I miss that.

[kevshell]

I just don't get tired of the landscape and scenery. Forrest said something about a box of chocolates....

[kevshell]

And that which is mine.

My compact and capable bear spray. A Reeder Redhawk stocked with Buffalo Bore 44 mag copper solids. Don't leave home without it around here. Grizzlies and wolves are regulars. Wolves killed one of their dogs this past winter.

And the blue roan Colt will be my hunting and trail horse once he's broke and old enough. I believe he'll be a good one.

[bigbrowndog]

I don’t get the Appaloosa joke???……..some of the best riding horses we had were Apps. We had Palominos, Bays, Buckskins, etc. Great looking terrain and a nice looking shooter

Trapr

[kevshell]

Jun 22, 2023 20:41:05 GMT -5 bigbrowndog said:

I don’t get the Appaloosa joke???……..some of the best riding horses we had were Apps. We had Palominos, Bays, Buckskins, etc. Great looking terrain and a nice looking shooter

Trapr

It's an old joke. I dated a girl who had fat Appaloosas. They were docile. But I've heard that joke before. I think some have a tendency to be "spirited". Cody (the one I ride is great if you want to put the pedal down. Otherwise he can be obnoxious to control. Keep him moving or fight him. But I'd rather have him than a horse you have to constantly kick up to keep it moving.

[northerngos]

Gorgeous country. See any Sheep?

[Fowler]

Were they packing anything real or just boxes to look cool?

Looks like fun, I miss packing horses and mules, lots of work but I enjoyed the work for sure. But we typically looked more like the Beverly Hillbillies than a bunch of tidy nest pack loads.

[bula]

I always enjoy your pics, Kevshell. Went thru that gate at Gardiner in the early '80's.

[kevshell]

Jun 23, 2023 7:32:22 GMT -5 northerngos said:

Gorgeous country. See any Sheep?

I did not however a few of my friends that spent more time in the park did see a few. My wife got some fantastic video of a black bear.

[kevshell]

Jun 23, 2023 7:41:05 GMT -5 Fowler said:

Were they packing anything real or just boxes to look cool?

Looks like fun, I miss packing horses and mules, lots of work but I enjoyed the work for sure. But we typically looked more like the Beverly Hillbillies than a bunch of tidy nest pack loads.

This was a parade purely for show. And probably a little advertising. That said, they are taking the backcountry camp in this coming week. Those mules are going to get a workout. The video below is the mules taking all the hunters gear and supplies back when I hunted there in 2020. When I shot this video they were just taking our stuff back, the camp had already been set up. They also use the mules to pack the client's animals back out and get it to the ranch. In fact, they are putting on a packing clinic in August which I might be attending.


youtu.be/DdMltmIr9nc

[Fowler]

That was a seriously impressive string of mules. Heck just packing that many mules is a hell of an undertaking. A lot of packs to strap onto mules after sorting packs and gear out for each animal. Packing loads, strapping them into the animals, no matter how experienced you are as a wrangler that many head is a hell of a big job. The most I have even packed at once was 4 and that was enough.

[kevshell]

Jun 23, 2023 20:08:41 GMT -5 Fowler said:

That was a seriously impressive string of mules. Heck just packing that many mules is a hell of an undertaking. A lot of packs to strap onto mules after sorting packs and gear out for each animal. Packing loads, strapping them into the animals, no matter how experienced you are as a wrangler that many head is a hell of a big job. The most I have even packed at once was 4 and that was enough.

Although they were not packing any gear for the parade they did run 16 mules I believe. They were ran in tandem, so there were eight meals long and side by side for a total of 16. Even for the parade it took work from several people to avoid having a mule wreck.