Cowboy ountry C Publication of
Valencia County News-Bulletin El Defensor Chieftain Mountain View Telegraph Corrales MainStreet News Kirtland AFB Nucleus
2014
Summer 2014 - Cowboy Country - 3
Team Roping
Mountain View Telegraph file photo
Team roping is a sport that requires perfect form and perfect timing. The best practice for hours to get good enough to earn money during events.
Team roping veteran By Jim Goodman
Mountain View Telegraph
Roping is one of those rodeo sports that originated from a skill used on the ranch. It has grown into a wildly popular event, second only to bull riding in popularity when it comes to individual rodeo events. Teams from New Mexico travel throughout the Southwest in a quest for a little glory and sometimes a large pot. But Jett Sharp of Lucy, between Willard and Encino, has found a way to not only rope but announce at roping events and even produce his own events in Moriarty and Truth or Consequences. Sharp said he grew up roping on the family ranch east of Estancia for branding or doctoring and, after going to nationals showing cutting horses in high school, started competitive team roping. At 24, Sharp is a seasoned veteran who announces for the World Series of Team Roping, a production company started in Albuquerque. He also competes at some of their rodeos and announces for other producers as well as his own rodeos. “If I’m not putting one on, I’m taking a load of steers home with me,” Sharp
said. “I’m trying to raise (steers) myself and only have about 60 head.” Sharp said that’s enough for his own events but “hopefully I’ll be able to grow and get more steers.” He said the Mexican-bred corriente steers are the preferred cattle for roping but many people have switched to longhorns. “With the drought in Mexico, there’s not as many (corriente) steers coming up and they’re expensive — $700-$750,” Sharp said. “You could ask for a truckload and get outbid by $5 each then lose it.” Sharp said he doesn’t “rope a whole bunch,” but usually it’s at WSTR events which have large cash payouts. He has qualified to enter the finals in Las Vegas, Nev., which happens the same time as National Finals Rodeo. There, a roper can win $120,000, and the total cash payouts have passed the NFR payouts. “Winning there can be life-changing and a lot of the pros don’t rope together because their classification is too high,” Sharp said. “You have to win $2,500 a man to qualify to go to Vegas and I have three spots.”
Mountain View Telegraph file photo
Team roping participants can be young or old, male or female, small or large. What is important is skills with a slinging a rope from atop a horse.
He also said you don’t have to rope with the same partner you qualified with. So he partnered up with his father, Cyle Sharp, last year. That’s the thing about roping — people can compete from their early teens into their 70s. With different ropes coming out, the older ropers still use the traditional four strand while younger ones use the three or five strand. Saddle fit has also changed a lot, according to the roping announcer. Mainly, he said, they got heavier so they don’t slide around so much. “There’s also more protective gear for the horses,” Sharp said. “And there
are supplements so that when you haul them, they can handle the strain.” Sharp said he’s relatively used to most of the vernacular of roping, but in East Texas it threw him off the first time he heard them call a steer a cow. Even if it’s just a heifer, he said they call it a cow. Sharp works side-by-side with his wife, Season Sharp. She said that her husband sometimes jumps out of the announcer’s booth to rope and then climbs back up into the crow’s nest. “I try not to sound out of breath,” Jett Sharp said. “I always try to sound professional — you never know who’s listening.”
4 - Cowboy Country - Summer 2014
Mutton Busters Riding for the fun, the thrill and the experience By Deborah Fox
Valencia County News-Bulletin
The white livestock chute is scraped up but firmly holds a wild and woolly creature, and a young buckaroo is absolutely focused. Except for an occasional clang of metal, it is quiet as he tightens the rope that will help him ride to six-second glory. Part of the rope is tattered, but a portion is wrapped with extra hide. The rope is the stronghold, the best chance he has of staying astride the wily beast for those few fleeting moments. It’s rodeo and as the gate clangs open, the young rider, one hand held high above his head, jerks with each jump of the animal. The biggest rodeo attraction is riding the massive, muscled bulls, but for the youngest bronco busters under 6, it’s all about mutton busting. “You don’t know how it feels to ride yet, but once you start riding, it actually feels pretty fun,” says sheep rider, Noah Gonzalez. Ears curl under the wide brim of his straw hat and his eyes dart around the arena with adrenaline. The thrill of the ride is exhilarating. It makes the young rider eager to ride
again and again, the mutton buster said. Most rodeo events kick off with sheep riding. Generally, kids from the audience take a chance at it, but Gonzalez and his friends are dedicated to the sport and take the ride very seriously. Zaylon Zamora and Pryce Henry, of Tomé; Isaiah Loera, of Rio Rancho; and Noah Gonzalez, of Moriarty, are friends who met at local rodeos. “These guys take it seriously to the next level,” said Gonzalez’s father, Adam. “They ride one-handed with a rope, with chaps, with the helmet, the (protective) vest, spurs. It’s a serious level because when you go to calves, you can’t ride two handed.” These boys always ride one-handed, while the amateurs hang on with two. “One hand should always get the higher score, at least 10 points above,” says Zaylon Zamora’s father, Marcos. All four boys recently qualified for the Youth Bull Riders World Finals and will compete for the world title on July 30 in Abilene, Texas. Only winning rides at rodeos affiliated with a rodeo association can qualify a rider for finals. The boys and their families often drive hun-
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Deborah Fox-News-Bulletin photo
Professional mutton busters, pictured front to back, are Noah Gonzalez, of Moriarty, Pryce Henry and Zaylon Zamora, both of Tomé; and Isaiah Loera, of Rio Rancho.
dreds of miles to rodeos all over the “It’s so fun because you win buckles state as well as Texas, Arizona and and everybody cheers you on,” said Colorado. All the boys have won firstContinued on page 5 place trophy buckles and cash prizes.
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Mutton Busters: Using better protective gear from page 4
Noah Gonzalez. “And then you make friends.” Next year, these small rough stock riders will graduate to calves. By 10, they’ll be riding steers, and after age 13 it’s all about the bulls. Bulls are actually easier to ride because they have a smoother rhythm than calves, said the fathers, and some rodeos have small breed bulls. “Mini bulls buck more honest than a calf,” said Adam Gonzalez. “If you go to some of these rodeos and see a calf buck, it’s like somebody popped a balloon under them; they’re just all over.” “Calves go crazy, and steers don’t,” added his son. Protective gear is required during finals rodeos, and Texas has a state law requiring every rodeo rider under 18 to wear a helmet, but the parents say stock riding is no more dangerous than any other sport. “I think they can get hurt in any sport,” said Zaylon’s mother, Victoria. “If this is what they like
to do, then we’re going to support them.” Pryce Henry’s mother, Chelsee Henry, a former barrel racer, said, “You hope that you teach them the right fundamentals to ride right, but everybody in the arena cares about your kid. There’s bull fighters even during the sheep riding.” Bull fighters are the clowns who put themselves between the rider and animal when the rider comes off. It’s furnace hot at the rodeo, and the sun beats down relentlessly. Behind the chutes, cowboys and cowgirls attend to their gear, checking their ropes and pocketing something for luck. It’s the same atmosphere as any sport locker room. Animals and riders are lined up for their turn as the gate bangs open and the next up is sent plunging across the soft arena sand. “It’s fun because I like to ride the sheep and they’re fun to play with,” says Zaylon Zamora, pushing his hat back revealing a sheepish smile.
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6 - Cowboy Country - Summer 2014
Bull Rider
Michael Gaffney made his mark By Gary Herron
Rio Rancho Observer It doesn’t seem that long ago that Corrales resident Michael Gaffney was one of the best bull riders around. Now 45 and retired for nine years, he has a firm handshake, is a bit bowlegged and appears young enough to get carded if he tries to buy beer. Fortunately for Gaffney, or “G” as some call him, he manages to stay fairly healthy in a dangerous sport that put him near the million-dollar mark in career earnings when he hung his chaps up for good. Such wasn’t the case for Lane Frost, depicted in the movie about the sport, “8 Seconds,” nor for one of Gaffney’s traveling partners, Brent Thurman, who was stepped on by one of the beasts in the 10th round of the National Finals in Las Vegas in 1994. “That’s a wake-up call,” Gaffney said, remembering a conversation with co-founding Professional Bull Riders executive Cody Lambert (who really didn’t write poetry, as he was shown doing in “8 Seconds,” Gaffney noted). “That’s the first time I didn’t want to ride bulls, when I lost my buddy,” he said. “You’ve got to be about halfcrazy — but I never considered myself crazy.” He had his doubts when he chipped in $1,000 with 19 other cowboys in 1991 to form the PBR. The sport of bull riding has a way of weeding out the cowboys who aren’t very good; they need to win or place to earn money and it gets expensive traveling the country from event to event. “It’s way too dangerous; it’s not a hobby,” he said. It’s nice, now, to have a body nearly healed from all the abuse an 1,800-pound bull can wreak on you. “You can imagine the pain tolerance bull riders have,” he said. “They all have injuries.” Gaffney wasn’t exempt: He’s had a cracked sternum, “snapped jaws” and a bruised heart; both shoulders have been repaired after rotator cuff injuries. Of course, the successes outweighed the agony: Gaffney was the Rookie of the Year in 1990, the PBR world champ in 1997, and knew when it was time to
quit. Today, he compares that decision to hitting a home run in a final at-bat, or catching a touchdown pass in a Super Bowl before calling it quits. Gaffney retired after scoring 96.5 on a bull named “Little Yellow Jacket,” which tied a PBR record for the highest score. Although Gaffney enjoyed most of the pursuits his buddies enjoyed while growing up in Cloudcroft (Class of 1987) where he played football and basketball and ran track, once he was put atop a steer at the age of 4 he was hooked. “Your competition is the bull; at the end of the day, there’s nobody to blame but yourself,” he said, sounding like he’s writing a country song. As he got older and stronger and more successful during his high school days, he was offered a scholarship to Western Texas College in Snyder. Although he never obtained his bachelor’s degree, choosing to turn pro, he went on to have a 15-year career and left college with an associate degree. He showed just how smart he was when he helped found the PBR; he’s now on the board of directors. “It’s the only stand-alone event in rodeo,” he said, explaining how the multi-event rodeos always saved the bull riding for last — and how PBR has become successful by offering only bull riding, building up the purses, plus the national attention via TV. He and his wife, Robyn, reside in Corrales, in a new home he did most of the construction on. Robyn, his childhood sweetheart and originally from Grants, is a pathologist at Rust Medical Center in Rio Rancho. The couple have a daughter, Destyn, soon to turn 12, and a son, Marek, who will be 6 in August, to keep them busy when they’re home. “I’m playing Mr. Mom half the time, a construction ‘hack’ and traveling with the PBR the rest of the time,” he said. Bull riding provided a good living for Gaffney, who said he can now look back and say, “As a whole, you generally need to enjoy what you do to be productive.”
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Gary Herron-Rio Rancho Observer photo
Michael Gaffney, one of the founders of the Professional Bull Riders, holds up a bobble head of himself honoring his professional bull riding days.
After retirement, he had been doing some on-air work for the PBR events on the Versus cable network through 2010 but hasn’t missed all the traveling. “It let me stay home a lot more,” Gaffney said. “I stepped away for a few years. In 2013, I got a contract as a liaison between the PBR and the sponsors.” And, he added, retired PBR star, Adriano Moraes, a friend for 20 years, and myself became involved with Apex Brasil (a Brazilian trade and investment promotion agency). … I’ve known those sponsors, like Jack Daniels, for so many years.” He’s been impressed, as have many PBR followers, by the success of Brazilian riders. “They’re hungry, getting a check for $30,000, $40,000,” Gaffney said. “(Brazilian) Robson Palermo didn’t have a pair of shoes till he was 12. So they’re hungry, they ride out of necessity, and they’re a close-knit bunch.” No, Gaffney says, he doesn’t get calls for advice on how to stay aboard a bull for eight seconds. “It’s been 10 years since I’ve been on a bull — I’m almost like a relic,” he joked.
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8 - Cowboy Country - Summer 2014
Homesteading Living life one day at a time By John Larson
El Defensor Chieftain Like many other parts of the state, west-central New Mexico saw a steady influx of people following the passing by Congress of the Federal Homestead Act of 1862. From the sea of grass on the San Agustin Plains to the mountainous region of the Gila, homesteaders looking for good land on which to raise cattle and sheep began settling on the wide open spaces. In an effort to preserve the memories of those early families who came to start their ranches in Catron and Socorro counties, the Bureau of Land Management’s Socorro Field Office authorized BLM archaeologist Brenda Wilkinson to collect oral histories representing three of those families. Wilkinson spent several hours interviewing H.B. Birmingham, Dave Farr and Evelyn Fite on separate occasions. Theirs are stories not of the well-known ranchers or cattle barons but of the hundreds of everyday, hardworking ranch families who have kept cowboying alive for well more than 100 years. H.B. Birmingham was interviewed in Reserve in 2010. He had witnessed much of the history of Catron County since his birth in 1915 in Reserve. Birmingham died in 2013 at 97 years old. H.B. said his father, Bela Birmingham, came to New Mexico in 1910 “in a wagon and team from Canadian, Texas. They crossed the Rio Grande down there close to Las Cruces or somewhere. Then they rented pack animals to a come out in the woods,” and decided to stay. Water was always in demand in the high plains, and cowboys learned — sometimes the hard way — that one doesn’t use another’s water without permission, especially after an incident at Patterson Lake, south of Highway 12 on Bursum Road. “There was about six inches in it, and a lot of these fellas used it for free, thinking it was a spring,” Birmingham said. “Well anyway, this old fella’s gettin’ water off this spring. The fella that owned it didn’t like it. They got into a fight, and one of them killed the other. And the sheriff went up there — Frank Balke. He was the second sheriff in Catron County. And he
pulled up to the gate, and took his gun off, hung it up on the gate, walked up to this old boy, and he says ‘I need to come and talk to ya’.’ Well, the old boy says ‘If you’re associated with those state police out there, there’s no talkin’.’ Frank says ‘No, I don’t know what your fighting was about, or anything about it. But you’re gonna have to go to Socorro and turn yourself in.’ “And he says ‘If you don’t, when I leave here, them cops, they’ll set this house afire. They’ll get you out.’ “So the old boy said he’d go. So he got in, and Frank Balke went to Socorro. But he got three years for killin’ that old boy. But being that they was fightin’ over water, and that old boy owned the water — it wasn’t a spring like they thought it was.” In those days, most cowboys armed themselves but not for the reason TV westerns would have one believe. “I always carried a damn pistol. I have killed as many as 65 rattlesnakes by myself one summer,” Birmingham said. “My land is on the Agustín Plains, in the middle of it is sawgrass. You don’t find any snakes down in that sawgrass; they’re all back in the grama grass. And a lot of time you couldn’t find a rock to kill one of ‘em. So I carried a .22 pistol, just to shoot rattlesnakes.” Gun play wasn’t uncommon in those years, and Birmingham wasn’t the only one who carried a pistol, not into a saloon at least. Dave Farr, 82, of Horse Springs, told of how his mother’s family owned the Aragon Hotel in Magdalena, where she worked there at one time as a waitress. “We’d go to Magdalena and rent a room and my mother would be there, demanding ‘no rooms over the saloon’,” he said. “This was because she’d seen too many pistol shots through the roof of their saloon.” Farr’s grandfather began homesteading in 1904 at Patterson Cutoff. His father homesteaded on the Plains of San Agustín, east of Horse Springs, where Dave and Karen Farr still live. The ranching family tradition continues with Roy Farr, Dave and Karen’s son, who also lives on the ranch with his family, and daughter, Amy, who lives on another company ranch near Crownpoint. In the interview with Wilkinson, Farr
Photo courtesy of Dave Farr and BLM, Socorro Field Office
Dave Farr, center, loading cattle on the train at the Magdalena stockyards around 1955.
talked about the never-ending work required year-round. “Well, you ride fences and fix ‘em all year round. This was after the ranch was fenced in 1957 or ’58. And you fix windmills, year round,” he said. “And then of course, you had the spring roundup and brand, move the cattle to the mountains. And you have the fall round up and ship cattle. Winter you’d throw a lotta ice out of the water troughs.” Farr said that sometimes cattle buying and selling was much simpler and involved trust. “I know one time my father took a bunch of cattle to Magdalena — big calves — and they were worth a nickel a pound and they were in the stockyards in Magdalena,” he said. “He met Joe Swartzman, and Joe said, ‘Well, I’ll give ya’ six cents for the calves that are worth a nickel, but I can’t pay ya. You let me take ‘em and, feed ‘em and butcher ‘em and sell the meat, and then I’ll pay ya.’ “So they shook hands, and away the calves went. After all this time … he finally got paid, with just a handshake deal, and that’s the way it used to be,” Farr said. “Now you gotta get advanced wired deposits before the cattle leave or you’re liable not to get any money. That’s not with all the buyers, but some of ‘em.” H.B. Birmingham confirmed that simple policy of trust, telling how his grandfather ended up inadvertently selling the ranch.
“Well, he went to drink. He was in town and Hubbell offered him $50,000 for his holdings. Well they talked there a little bit, and Hubbell laid a silver dollar on the bar. And my grandfather picked that up. He was pretty drunk,” Birmingham said. “Hubbell said Mr. Mayberry, that’s a down payment on your ranch. There was three fellas with him, and they just got up and left. Well, when he sobered up, the bartender said, ‘By God, you sold that ranch.’ And he said, ‘No, I couldn’t … no.’ [The bartender said] you picked up that silver dollar and that was a down payment. So, he stood by what he had agreed.” Socorro County’s Evelyn Fite, now 98, was interviewed by Wilkinson in 2009. After years of struggle, a homestead claim eventually resulted in the development of a large ranch for Dean and Evelyn Fite. A 640-acre homestead claim under the Enlarged Stock Raising Homestead Act enabled them to develop a large ranch by establishing a basewater and gaining leasing preference on adjacent public lands after the passage of the Taylor Grazing Act. They did without a lot in the early years, saving up to buy more private land as it became available. Early on, Evelyn wanted to build a house, but Dean told her “you can’t make any money with a house.” So they bought more cattle and
Continued on page 9
Homesteading: Before the Trinity Site from page 8
eventually more land. The Fites established their ranch in Socorro County in 1937, adjacent to the area, which four years later would become site of the first atomic explosion, the Trinity Site. “We took those cattle across that bombing range, and it was top secret, and we crossed the highway twice and nobody saw us,” Fite said. “And you can tell when cattle cross a road, you know they drag weeds and make tracks, and pee and potty. They never saw us.” Since the Fite ranch was near Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range, now White Sands Missile Range, the locals were naturally curious about the blast the morning of Aug. 6, 1945, and Evelyn has her own story surrounding the Trinity Site. “All the kids, all the boys around the ranch that rode horseback went over there to see what went on, and those kids all gathered that green glass you know, that melted, and had it in their pockets and took it home, put it on the mantle. Now this supposed to’ve been radioactive and kill you and make you sterile; they all managed to raise families. “People homesteaded that country in the ’30s. And they homesteaded that
country around Bingham at the same time,” Fite said. “They came West where they drouthed out and everything — starved out. Moved, came there and tried to make it — there was no water you know. The story of those homesteaders is pretty grim.” But there were happier moments, especially on Saturday nights. “They had an old dance hall/dairy up by Magdalena, and they would clear the barn out and have dances on Saturday nights,” Fite said. “That’s the only place we could come to dance, and people from all around, and that’s where I met my first cowboys. That’s where I first met Dean.” “We called it the Cow Chip Ballroom. It’s all just ruins now,” she said. “Oh it was wild. This one lady had a whorehouse out on the hillside and the cowboys would go out there, and Dean’s dad was — it would make him so mad when the cowboys would go out there, he just thought that was terrible. I never even really knew where it was. It wasn’t my time.” The complete oral histories, with photographs, are on file at the BLM Socorro Filed Office, 901 S. Highway 85 in Socorro.
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10 - Cowboy Country - Summer 2014
Cowgirl Cain Planning life of teaching By Lee Ross
Born in Omaha, Neb., Cain grew up in rural Iowa. She didn’t Capt. Tegwin Cain is looking for- go “horse crazy” until her family ward to retiring from the Air Force moved to Sioux City, Iowa, where she and her sister roamed the area in September, but after that she by horseback. expects to be busier than ever. Cain said it was there that her parShe is taking retirement as an ents encouraged her to ride. opportunity to pursue a life-long She remembers her first mount passion for riding horses and barrel was a mixed-breed pony, “Little Pit racing. Stop,” which was given to her by her Taking a break from training her horses, which she keeps in her back- sister, who taught her to ride, Cain yard in Moriarty, she said she plans said. “Our parents didn’t know about to start a business teaching kids to horses, but they supported us,” Cain ride horses from her home. Cain sat on a stack of wooden pal- said. At age 15, she bought her first real lets, using the shadow of her barn to escape the heat. Her property looks barrel racing horse. She and a friend would drive for hundreds of miles to out over the expansive Estancia compete in rodeos, hauling a horse Basin. It’s a patch of rugged, dry land west of the Sandia Mountains. trailer behind an old Chrysler New Yorker. They’d sleep in the car while Cain, now nearly 50, looked other competitors slept in motor through pictures of herself riding homes or hotels, Cain said. horses as a young woman. “We did it because we loved it,” Her 15-year-old son, Andrew she said. “Horse riding gets in your Teague, was nearby, practicing blood and you can’t get it out.” throwing a lasso at a plastic bull When she went to college and had while Cain’s daughter, Zaraya Martin, age 3, played with a smaller, kids of her own, Cain had to get rid blue lariat. Zaraya quickly lost inter- of her horses and put away her sadest, though, and began chasing the dles, she said. But even when those family cat. other obligations pulled her away, Kirtland Nucleus
Lee Ross-KAFB Nucleus photo
Air Force Capt. Tegwin Cain trains with one of her horses at her Moriarty home. After she retires from the Air Force, she’d like start a business teaching children to ride.
she never lost her passion for horses and barrel racing, she said. She finally came back to the sport
after she got her commission with Continued on page 11
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the Air Force in 1994 and then moved to Texas, she said. Cain is trained as a chemist. She spent the majority of her five years at Kirtland Air Force Base working in the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center. Cain has entered innumerable competitions since then, but her biggest wins came in 2000, when she won at the Texas state finals for National Barrel Horse Association. Cain won 3D, which means her time she was just a second slower than the fastest run. She’s particularly proud of that win because the competition in Texas is fierce, she said. “That was the first saddle I’d ever won,” she said. “And you’re running against a lot of tough people there.” That year she also won first prize, $560, at a dash-for-cash event. That was a short, one-turn race in a single-elimination, bracket-style competition. For the final race, she and her Appaloosa went up against a man with a quarter horse, which are bred for their ability to get up to speed quickly. “My Appaloosa was quick on the turn, though,” she said. “That was an exciting race.” Putting away the old photographs, Cain said she still plans to compete in barrel racing and she still dreams of winning the National Barrel Horse Association World Championship, if she finds the right horse. A married couple that Cain introduced to barrel racing are in their 60s and are still competing, she said. She added that she knows she won’t get rich teaching kids to ride in the area — a sprawling bedroom community of Albuquerque — and it won’t be easy. “I really like helping kids,” Cain said. “And coaching kids to do it the right way is important.”
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12 - Cowboy Country - Summer 2014
Fighting for a cause Walking N Circles Ranch making a difference By Elise Kaplan
Mountain View Telegraph A drought doesn’t care about state boundaries. A drought doesn’t care about worthy causes or animals in need. A drought can be disastrous for everyone, as Charles Graham, executive director of Walking N Circles Ranch in Edgewood, is finding out. “When I first got here we were buying a 105-pound bale of hay for $11, now it’s continuing to go up and is at $13.75 a bale,” Graham said. “As they quit growing hay in the San Joaquin Valley, costs are going to go up exponentially. We can’t wait for that to happen. The drought in New Mexico has already caused prices to almost double.” New Mexico has had its longest dry spell since 1889 and California received less rain last year than it had since it became a state in 1850. To cope with disappearing resources, federal officials recently announced California’s Central Valley farmers will not receive any water from the state’s largest water delivery system. Urban areas will receive 50 percent of the contracted amount. “Once cities take water from agriculture it never comes back to them,” Graham said. “We have to become selfsufficient and produce our own feed, and the only way to do that is through hydroponics.” Coupled with the rising prices of feed is a drop in donations to the ranch — meaning fewer resources for rescuing and rehabilitating the abandoned or neglected
Rory McClannahan-Mountain View Telegraph photo
Debbie Poston talks to Wild Angel at the annual Hug-A-Horse event at Walkin N Circles rescue ranch in 2013. horses it serves. Graham said similar operations around the state experienced a 60 percent drop in donations this year, but so far Walking N Circles has been
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candy company to install a hydroponic system to grow barley seed fodder on the grounds. Despite multiple points of communication between the ranch and granting company, he said, they were passed over for the grant but were able to cobble together enough money to begin construction. “We were really, really counting on the grant,” Graham said. Tom Mead and his son, Brendan, spent several months designing and building a barn to hold the hydroponic system, but ran into some delays when Brendan was injured while hiking in the spring. Construction is finished and now about 15 of the ranch’s 86 horses are fed through the system. Hydroponic growing systems involve trays of seeds set in a climate-controlled area and watered frequently. Graham said two pounds of seed could produce up to 20 pounds of fodder in just one week. “It’s no longer experimental,” he said. “Cattle ranches, dairy farms, horse operations, lots of places are using it. It’s better nutrition and much cheaper to produce.” Prior to implementing the project, Graham said ranch-hands conducted an
experiment in which one group of yearlings was fed hydroponic feed and the other remained on the standard diet. The group receiving hydroponic feed did as well or better than the other group. “We know we can produce it and know how to produce it and that the horses we had on it did very well,” he said. “We hope to start feeding 35 horses right away and be up to 60 in September. Hopefully by the end of the year all the horses can be eating from it.” The ranch goes through between 10 and 12 bales of hay per day and supplements meals with alfalfa pellets. With hydroponic feed the horses should be able to get enough nutrition to forgo the supplements, Graham said. Barley feed would cost only $1.45 a head, rather than the current feed cost of $4.42 a head. Despite the new system, Walkin N Circles is always in need of help. For more information on the ranch and how to donate, go online to www.wncr. org.
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14 - Cowboy Country - Summer 2014
Riding Rodeo State champion riders By Kenn Rodriguez
Valencia County News-Bulletin
You could say the rodeo bug bit Lyndsey Orris and Roberto Galaz early on. Orris, 13, who was born in Albuquerque and now lives in the southern Valencia County town of Bosque, started at age 3. Galaz, 12, was born and raised in Los Lunas and began at age 5. “My parents have always loved to rodeo and they have always had horses so I was introduced to rodeo at a very young age,” said Orris recently. “At 3 years old, I was riding a horse by myself.” Galaz has a similar story. “I was on a ranch half the time and we would have to rope the calves in order to brand them, so I started to like roping them,” Galaz said, “so then I fell into rodeo where I can rope the calves and compete to win.” The two are also state champions, having captured state titles at the 2014 New Mexico Junior High Finals Rodeo in Lovintgon in May. Galaz and Orris were among five junior high rodeo participants from the county who traveled to the National Junior High Finals Rodeo in Des Moines, Iowa, at the end of June. Galaz, a seventh-grader at Valencia Middle School is the junior high state titlist in shooting and also qualified in breakaway.
“My favorite event to participate in is shooting because my dad taught me how to do it since I was very young, and I like to shoot and go hunting,” Galaz said, adding that he finished the season with 16 top 10 finishes as well as eight finishes in the top three. Orris, who recently graduated from St. Mary’s School in Belen and will enter Belen High School next year as a freshman, is the junior high reserve state champion after riding in tough conditions at state. She also participates in breakaway, team roping and ribbon roping events, finishing several times in the top three at rodeos in the state in the 2013-14 season. “I had a pretty good season,” she said. “My goal was to be in the top five at every rodeo.” Both teenagers said they felt they succeeded at the state finals. “I had a good weekend and had a topthree finish both days,” Orris said. “The rain and the mud made it pretty interesting. I knew I had to have a great weekend to make it to nationals and I did.” Galaz said the state finals were a great finish to a great year. “I think I did very well leading up to the Junior High State Finals,” he said, adding that he was looking forward to the national competition. “It is an honor to be able to go to Iowa. I have done very well in my events and I hope I can do the same at the national level.” Both said that they hope to do well
Submitted photo
Roberto Galaz, left, and Lyndsey Orris, right, became state champions at the New Mexico Junior High Finals Rodeo recently. The duo are among five area rodeo participants who traveled to the National Junior High Final Rodeo in Iowa at the end of June.
in Iowa, represent the state well, and to have a good time doing so. “My expectations for the national competition are to be able to come in first place in both of my events and be able to make new friends and have fun,” Galaz said Orris said she did better than she
expected at the state rodeo finals. “I was so happy and excited,” she said. “This is my first trip to nationals and can’t wait. I am so proud to represent New Mexico in Iowa. I hope to tie
Continued on page 15
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Roberto Galaz placed in the top four in breakaway riding in this year’s state junior high competition to earn a spot at the National Junior High Finals Rodeo in Iowa.
Rodeo: Hopes continue through high school from page 14
my goats fast and make sure they don’t get up. I will make it to the short go, and hopefully, come back a national champion.” Both Galaz and Orris said they hope to continue riding rodeo through high
school and into college — and perhaps even into the professional rodeo circuit. “I want to be able to get to the level to where I am a national champion and can win gold buckles and new saddles,” Galaz said.
16 - Cowboy Country - Summer 2014
Learning about livestock Galloping Grace Youth Ranch holds summer camps By Argen Duncan
Rio Rancho Observer
By her own admission, 17-year-old Teresa Ramirez didn’t know anything about livestock when she first stepped onto the grounds of Galloping Grace Youth Ranch in Rio Rancho. That was rapidly changing by her third day as a volunteer junior leader at the ranch’s summer camp. “I love it here,” Ramirez said. “I love the interaction with the children and animals.” The veteran babysitter was learning about and making friends with the livestock as well as building relationships with younger campers and enjoying seeing them smile. “This is kind of cool, bringing joy to children, because that’s what I want to do when I get older,” said Ramirez, a recent high school graduate and a sophomore at Central New Mexico Community College. The nonprofit ranch started in 2006 as a youth horseback riding program, but changed to focus on agriculture education in 2013 because of the expense of caring for 25 horses. GGYR now has only four horses — two miniatures and two of their full-size brethren — but 13 pigs, a steer, two llamas, three ducks, two dozen goats, about 220 chickens, some rabbits and a couple of dogs round out the population. “Kids lead kids while learning how to grow crops, raise animals, explore the
Argen Duncan-Rio Rancho Observer photo
Summer campers interact with young chickens at Galloping Grace Youth Ranch.
outdoors and enrich the community,” dren.” said ranch board of directors President Toles said organizers learned that to Tamara Toles. “And throughout all that bring joy to children, they must meet the is our purpose to bring pure joy to chil- youngsters’ needs.
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Livestock: Donations are always welcome from page 16
of food insecurity, she said, the food children help raise at the ranch goes to Roadrunner Food Bank to support families in need. Now that means meat and eggs, but co-owner Max Wade plans to start growing produce as well. Volunteer Robin Chamberlain said the ranch partners with a local grocery store to reclaim produce past the sell-by date so it’s used instead of going into a landfill. Fruits and vegetables still good for human consumption go to local schools, and ranch animals eat what’s too old for people. Produce not for animal consumption becomes compost. Toles said sponsorships of $10 per month mean 30 dozen eggs donated, 540 pounds of produce diverted from the landfill and hundreds of children educated. “All of that is paramount to our vision to harvest healthy children today so they can cultivate a healthy society tomorrow,” Toles said. The ranch brings agriculture education to schools and offers a summer camp, as well as holding an annual Harvest Festival and Christmas Corral. Admission is always free, although people can choose to support fundraisers. “We don’t ever want to create a barrier for a child to participate,” Toles said. The 2014 summer camp runs with donations from the Rio Rancho Rotary Club and Presbyterian Community Health. Within the camp, she said, 12- to
18-year-olds can make two-week commitments as Junior Leaders. They spend Monday through Thursday helping with activities for younger children and their families, and participate in leadership development on Fridays. “We’re actually looking to get them more involved in the organization leadership,” Toles said. Younger children of all ages can sign up to be junior ranchers on a day-to-day basis at the summer camp. Parents are welcome to participate. The days include a few structured activities. However, Toles said children learn better when they can explore what interests them, so they have unstructured time to hold chickens, play in the mud pie kitchen, watch a llama being sheared and more. This summer, Chamberlain said, an aquaponics greenhouse is planned to start operating. Aquaponics is a lowwater-use, sustainable farming method in which water is pumped from a fish pond through shelves of growing plants and back to the fish pond. “Once we get the greenhouse going, we’ll be growing anything and everything in conjunction with the fish,” Wade said. Expansion plans include more greenhouses, a multi-purpose barn, an expanded playground of repurposed materials such as tire swings and a nature trail. For more information, visit www. ggyr.org
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18 - Cowboy Country - Summer 2014
Old Timers Reunion
Back and better than ever By John Larson
El Defensor Chieftain No matter what the weather — come rain or come shine — nothing puts a damper on the fun locals and visitors can have at this year’s Old Timers Reunion weekend, July 11-13. This is especially true this year since the event was canceled in 2013 after the village’s only well went dry. But Mayor Diego Montoya says nothing will stop the celebration this year. “This year, we are back bigger and better than ever,” Montoya said. “We have all the popular events returning, with the added attraction of a Dutch oven cook-off and, for the first ever, rodeo under the lights.” In the very beginning, the Old Timers Reunion was a small event. It was 1971 when a small group decided to create an event to celebrate Magdalena’s people and history. Juan Gutierrez, who was Magdalena’s mayor in 1972, said no one expected it to grow larger over the years. “It was just a few people who started it,” Gutierrez said. “Cecil and Vera Owsley, I remember, were part of it. But just about all the actual old timers are gone. We’re the old timers now.” Gutierrez was owner of the West Bar
until he closed it in 1994, and he has seen many changes in the town since the first Old Timers Reunion. Gutierrez is now a Socorro County Commissioner, but his involvement in local government goes back to the late 1960s, when he was on the Magdalena Village Board of Trustees. From 1970 to 1974, he was the county clerk for Socorro. He was also county road superintendent from 1966 to 1970. Former Old Timers Queen, Lorraine Trujillo, remembers the first few years. “The street dance used to be on South Main and there would be a big crowd between (First and Second) streets. People would fill Main Street in front of the Paris Tavern around to the Golden Spur,” she remembers. Trujillo was active with Old Timers since the beginning and helped the event grow through the 1970s. She said in those first few years, she got a lot of help from Cleo Latasa, Barbara Bowden, Mac and Mary Lou Trujillo and Tony Trujillo. “There was bingo and children’s activities. A watermelon contest and pie eating contest, too,” Lorraine said. “Of course, the fiddle contest and the two dances.” From the rodeo arena to the Indian
Continued on page 19
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Possibly dreaming of the day he can compete with the grownups, a young cowboy at the Magdalena Rodeo Arena is already suited up in chaps.
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Summer 2014 - Cowboy Country - 19
from page 18
Village to the Spanish Village to Magdalena Schools’ Fine Arts Building, visitors will find something to entertain them throughout the weekend. This year, things get underway Friday, July 11, when vendors will be open for business at the rodeo grounds with cuisine to please every palate. Indian Village, located south of the rodeo arena, will be providing the Old Timers crowd with a wide variety of Native American dancers and food. From fry bread to mutton, visitors will be well fed with mouth-watering fare from popular Alamo vendors. Activities at the rodeo arena start at 8 a.m. on Friday with the Kids Rodeo when the area’s youth, ages 6-18, get the chance to ride and rope for the spectators in the grandstand. The Stick Horse Rodeo will show toddlers and Kindergarten age kids riding their wooden steeds in a variety of contests that simulate traditional rodeo events. A new event, Kid’s Goat Roping follows the Kid’s Rodeo. The popular group Suavecito provides the entertainment for the Street Dance beginning at 9 p.m. on Friday near the Magdalena Public Library on North Main Street. No alcoholic beverages are permitted, and families are invited to join in the fun. The most attended event during the Old Timers Reunion weekend is the Saturday parade down First Street (Highway 60). The parade beings at 10 a.m., and Highway 60 traffic will be diverted on the east side of town at Chestnut and on the west side at Highway 107. The late Valentin D. Trujillo was chosen Grand Marshal in 2013 and will be remembered this year by a riderless
John Larson-El Defensor Chieftain photo
The Old Timers parade gives everyone a chance to show off, such as the Magdalena Trail Drivers Cowboy Action Shooting Club, affiliated with the Single Action Shooting Society of New Mexico. horse in the parade. Trujillo passed away in August 2013. Immediately after the parade the annual barbecue lunch begins serving, generally at about 11 a.m. The beef is cooked in a pit starting Friday afternoon. The price of the complete meal is $7 for adults and $4 per child and includes one drink. The Century Rodeo and Roping gets underway immediately following the crowning of Kate Saulsberry,
who has the honor of being this year’s Old Timers Queen, in front of the grandstand at noon. For those wanting to learn what the old days in Magdalena were like, Old Timers story-telling will be held on the old railroad loading dock outside the public library at 1 p.m. At 4 p.m., the public will be able to sample authentic ranch cooking at the old time chuckwagon-type dinner prepared in Dutch ovens. Each cook will prepare meals, which will then be sold to the public for $7 a plate, with all proceeds going to support Magdalena FFA. Organizers are pleased to announce the first-time ever After Dark Rough Stock Rodeo, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tigner said the lights for the arena were donated by Volvo Rents of Bosque Farms. The Old Timers Reunion Saturday night dance commences at 8 p.m. at Magdalena Schools’ Fine Arts Building. This is a no-alcohol dance, but refreshments will be available at a concession booth manned by the Yucca 4-H club. Bright and early Sunday morning the air around the rodeo grounds will be filled with the cooking of sausage, bacon, and pancakes on the grill. The pancake breakfast starts at 7 a.m., and the $5 price goes to helping Magdalena’s volunteer fire department. At 6:30 a.m., eager runners will sign up at the new Village Hall to participate in the Magdalena to Kelly 7K Run/Walk and hopefully make it back to town before the pancakes run out. Entry fee is $10. The final event in the rodeo arena starts at 9 a.m., Sunday, when Jackpot Roping begins.
20 - Cowboy Country - Number Summer Nine 2014 Media, Inc. - July 9, 2014
Hooting and Hollering
Photo courtesy of Cathy Brunson
Riders of all ages compete in divisions depending on ability. While some riders can only sit on the horse with an assistant, others are able to bring theirs to a run.
Special Olympics equestrian competition brings smiles By Elise Kaplan
Mountain View Telegraph
Steve Brunson and his family always had horses, but he hadn’t considered letting his daughter, Vanessa, ride until an acquaintance suggested it. “The horseshoer asked Vanessa (then 3 years old) if she wanted to ride a horse,” he said. “She got on a pony and rode that pony for 2 1/2 hours. She wouldn’t get off. The guy said you might as well load that horse up and take it with you, she’s not getting off of it.” Vanessa, who has intellectual disabilities, has been riding ever since, although she upgraded from Dandy the Shetland Pony to a full-size horse named Lauvenda. “She’s wild on that horse,” Brunson said. “She’ll go full blast running ahead. She used to put her cat on it and ride around, and her rabbit. She’d jump up on a flat bed trailer. Then we found out the Special Olympics had that equestrian program. She’s had a blast.” For several years the Brunsons drove their daughter, now 27,145 miles round
“They become a whole different person when they ride. All you see is big smiles. They’ll cheer for one another, even for a rider that rides against them. If another team wins, they give them a big high five.” Steve Brunson
Special Olympics coordinator trip to equestrian practice. Brunson said Vanessa no longer competes but the family has remained avid supporters of the Special Olympics New Mexico Equestrian Competition. About five years ago, Brunson stepped into the role of event coordinator for Area 5 — covering Torrance, Bernalillo and Valencia counties. The area qualifiers, which will be held on Aug. 9 this year, take place at the Rockin Horse Ranch in Stanley. The ranch is the only indoor rodeo facility in Central New Mexico’s Estancia Valley and East Mountains, and holds numerous rodeos throughout the year.
“All the kids here are special needs kids, they have to have a mental disability to ride,” Brunson said. “It’s to get the kids to ride horses. Most kids practice year round.” The SONM State Equestrian competition gives riders of all ages and all abilities the chance to compete in a number of events, including halter showmanship, equitation, trail and various speed events. The riders are divided into four divisions depending on ability and compete supported or unsupported. Some riders can only sit on the horse while walking with a horse handler and side walker, while other riders use a crop
and run the horse. The biggest challenge with the kids competing in the event is there is “a lot of confusion with patterns, going left or right,” Brunson said. “It’s hard to get that concept and they can lose focus pretty easily. But as far as the event goes we have so much help, it’s a blast.” Although he stresses the event is a competition not pleasure or therapy riding, Brunson said those with special needs get a lot of benefit from learning how to move with the motion of the horse. “They become a whole different person when they ride,” he said. “All you see is big smiles. They’ll cheer for one another, even for a rider that rides against them. If another team wins, they give them a big high five.” This is a stark contrast from many of the other events, said Lonnie Wright, who owns the Rockin Horse Ranch with his wife, Patty. “Other events are more of a competitive thing,” he said. “The Special
Continued on page 21
Give Dad an experience he won’t forget
Photo courtesy of Cathy Brunson
The Rockin Horse Ranch in Stanley has held the Special Olympics New Mexico Equestrian Competition for several years.
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Olympics is competitive, too, of course, but it’s for a different cause. The other events we have, the people competing for money and prizes, the kids are competing for ribbons but it seems different.” Sometimes the Special Olympics pulls a larger audience than other events, Wright said. “To see their faces when they win a
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22 - Cowboy Country - Summer 2014
Square Dancing
Having fund with the Rio Ramblers Square Dancing Club By Mike Hartranft Rio Rancho Observer
Going on 45 years old, the Rio Ramblers Square Dancing Club has been around for nearly as long as the community that evolved into the City of Vision. And members still do what they’ve always done: joining their partners at the caller’s behest and cutting loose on the dance floor one night a week — albeit with a few less participants than back in what one might consider its heyday but with no less enthusiasm. “We’ve belonged to this club, probably for at least 10 years — such nice people, such good clean fun,” said club member Sue Smith at a recent gathering. “Where else can you go and dance and have a really good time and really enjoy yourself?” Today’s Ramblers range in age from 16 to 70-something and consist of two squares, in trade parlance, 16 people, a square equaling four couples. “Gosh, we used to have five or six squares back in the ’90s when we came out here,” said Lynne Martel, who has been co-president of the Rio Rancho-based group with her husband, Jim, since 1992. “And I’m sure it was larger before that even. Before computers and video games, square dancing was a lot more popular. People were more willing to come out.” Declared the national folk dance of the United States in the early 1980s by President Reagan, square dancing, historians says, is rooted in Europe, arriving in this country with the first settlers and immigrant groups, then spreading across the nation with variants. “It used to be called barn dancing way back when,” said Lynne, who’s been square dancing with a passion since she was 8 or 9. While square dancing is hardly unique to the West, dancers often identify with the Western culture. “A lot of guys, they don’t dance in them, but they wear the cowboy hats and boots and the girls used to wear fiesta dresses,” she said. “Now they’ve calmed down … nowadays, girls wear more of the jeans and stuff.” The club got its start in December 1969, just as Rio Rancho Estates started to grow. It would take nearly a dozen more years before residents voted to incorporate and create the city of Rio Rancho. Rio Rancho’s housing affordability helped draw the Martels to Rio Rancho in 1991 and they almost immediately hooked up with the local club. “We used Sabana Grande (recreation center) when we first came out here,” Lynne said. “It got to where different things were happening and we couldn’t afford to be at Sabana Grande, so we moved on and got approached to dance at the VFW. We’ve been there ever since.” That would be the Veteran of Foreign Wars Post 5890 at 76 Unser Boulevard. And that’s where you’ll find the Ramblers every Tuesday night from 7 to 9 p.m. To Lynne, square dancing is a snap. But apparently
Mike Hartranft-Rio Rancho Observer photo
Rio Ramblers members meet every Tuesday night at the VFW Post 5890 in Rio Rancho. Pictured, from left, are Tom Cruz, caller Greg Tillery, Abigail Pratt, Bernadette Cruz, Lorraine Pratt, Sue Smith, Maria Cruz, Samuel Cruz and Randy Pratt.
it took a little coaxing in the beginning to get her husband out on the floor. “Actually, I was the most ‘there-ain’t-no-way-I’mgoing to do that’ kind of guy,” Jim said. “I guess when we got married (in 1976)… well, here I am — put it that way.” The club, to be sure, is more than happy to teach newbies. “You don’t have to know rhythm. We say you don’t have to know your left hand from your right — but you kind of do — but you know, people help,” Lynne said. Modern square dancing, she said, has different levels. “When I started, it was just square dancing. Now you have basic, you have mainstream, you have plus, you have challenge, you have challenge 1. “We dance mainstream and plus,” she said, explaining the latter involves a “little bit harder movements.” She said it’s easier to learn if a dancer brings a partner, but it’s not necessary. The learning process, however, does go a little quicker for people who show
up each week, she said. The club is always looking to expand. Prospective members can come for free the first three nights to see if square dancing’s for them. “If it’s not, you’re not out of anything,” she said, adding, “Usually, we get you hooked right away.” Dues are $20 a quarter per person. The group doesn’t limit its activities to Tuesday nights. It hosts a Sweetheart Dance in February, which is open to all area dance clubs and held in Albuquerque where there’s a hall large enough to accommodate the crowds. The club is fond of potlucks and has performed at places such as at the mall and zoo, and even in some of the city of Rio Rancho’s parades. In July, it holds a Christmas in July and collects teddy bears to give to the public safety department. “We’ve met some of the best people square dancing,” Lynne said. For more information, visit www.xoweb.com/ RioRamblers.html.
Summer 2014 - Cowboy Country - 23
Greg Tillery, left, calls out instructions to Rio Ramblers square dancers. Rio Ramblers dancers, above, catch their breath after a dance. Pictured from left, are Abigail Pratt, Rita Metcalf, Maria Cruz, Tom Cruz, Sue Smith and Mike Holly.
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Summer 2014 - Cowboy Country - 25
A Legend Remembered The life of Buddy Major By Susann Mikkelson El Defensor Chieftain
Walk into any livestock sale barn or race track in the lower western states and you will find at least a handful of people who knew Buddy Major. Most will have a story about him, and often it will involve some humanity — a good deed he did for the industry or a kind act toward a practical stranger. Malcolm “Buddy” Major was a legend in his own time all across New Mexico, Colorado and throughout other western states as a cattle rancher, a cattle buyer and a race horse owner and enthusiast. He was called everything from a cattle baron to a cow trader, to a champion roper and a race horse expert, depending on the circle. Buddy spent more than seven decades in these industries, but that is not unusual. It was the mark he seemed to make everywhere he went that made him a legend. Born in Socorro on Nov. 9, 1921, to Malcolm S. and Lily Field Major, of Magdalena, Buddy wasn’t the first generation in his family to be “famous” in these parts. In his father’s obituary, it was written, “At the time of his death, Major was a member of the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association and of St. Mary Magdalene Parish Church. A colorful figure, Major was famous in New Mexico and in his adopted Colorado as a story-teller.” The Major family roots in New Mexico date back to 1910, when Buddy’s father, Malcolm, moved from Connecticut at the age of 23. Buddy’s mother, Lily Field Major, had been a member of a pioneering ranching family already in the country northwest of Magdalena. Buddy grew up on a ranch on Putney Mesa between Pie Town and Grants, with seven siblings — four sisters and two brothers. He was a born roper and a natural trader. According to family
accounts, he loved chasing wild mustangs and loved to rope. He was told to have roped everything in sight as a kid, including his mother’s Rhode Island hens and the hound dogs. His roping career later demonstrated the prowess of this early effort. It was told that his trading career began when he traded a Navajo boy a pair of gloves for a horse, somehow breaking the language barrier between them. The horse was so locoed (crazy from eating “loco” weed), that he fell over and died the next day. Buddy received an eighth-grade education, which was commonly considered sufficient in his generation in the West. In a recount of Buddy’s life, his sister, Helen Graham, wrote “During Buddy’s growing up years, a common concept among ranchers was that a grade-school education was all that a ranch boy needed. And so it was with Buddy.” Helen added that Buddy built an empire with that education, and became one of the best known cattle men in his time. Buddy entered the U.S. Army in 1946. He was stationed at Fort Bliss and then deployed to the Philippines. According to family accounts, Buddy didn’t like the water, and was so seasick on deployment that when he was released, he didn’t want to come back by boat. There was a plane coming back to the United States, but it was reportedly full. It is told that Buddy handed over a $100 bill and a spot suddenly opened up, but not a great seat. The turbulence was so bad and the flight so long, that he wished he had taken the ship. According to his son, Randell, “he was so glad when he finally got home that he kissed the ground.” In the late 1940s, Buddy married Helen Hobbs, a beautiful, hard-working country girl from Ancho, N.M. They
Photo courtesy of the Mayor family
Buddy Major as a boy growing up on the ranch on Putney Mesa, between Pie Town and Grants. Buddy was known at a young age as a roper and a trader.
bought the Salt Ranch west of Los Lunas, where they started their life together and their first child, Linda, was born. In 1950, they bought a ranch outside of Miles City, Mont., where their children, Stuart, Gail and Mike, were born. They started the ranch with 100 head of cattle shipped by rail from New Mexico. The cattle were then driven 35 miles to the Pine Hills, crossing the Powder River on the way. Times were tough — summers hot and winters cold. They put up their own hay and fed it out in the winter. Buddy would see geese flying south in the fall and get home sick for New Mexico. Eventually, he sold the ranch and moved home. Buddy bought out his grandfather in 1956, moving his family back to the Field Ranch, where he really developed himself as a cattle buyer/trader. He became well known in the region, being considered one of the largest cattle buyers at the packer and stock yards in Denver, now the National Western
Stock Show. He bought and sold cattle all over New Mexico and Arizona, brokering deals between local ranchers and buyers from as far away as the east coast, and livened up the stock yards in Magdalena every fall. It was said that after the rail cars were loaded, time was spent at the Golden Spur, where, undoubtedly, more deals were done over a napkin and a handshake. While Buddy thrived through the 1960s and ’70s in the cattle business, buying ranches and trading cattle, he also developed an interest in horse racing. It was also during these years that his youngest children, Beverly and Randell, were born. Buddy continued to be an avid roper and was involved in helping establish or re-establish local rodeos around the region, including in Magdalena and Datil. He helped wherever he could, always a leader and a friend to the industry and the people.
Continued on page 26
26 - Cowboy Country - Summer 2014
Buddy: He was known for his words from page 25
As his sister, Helen, wrote, “His reputation was good and he was really known for his words. He was generous to a fault with money and material things.” At one time, it is thought that Buddy owned 20-30 head of race horses. He was appointed to the New Mexico Racing Commission in 1975 and to the New Mexico State Fair Commission in
1984. He was later re-appointed to the racing commission for a period of time. Buddy also served on many other boards and commissions, including the Magdalena Board of Education at one time. Buddy passed away on April 22, 2014, at the age of 92. Even in his final years, Buddy could be seen riding a four-wheeler or jeep around the ranch.
Photo courtesy of the Mayor family
Given the chance, Buddy Major could still be found out on the range in the latter part of his life, often with his companions in his old jeep, or on the four-wheeler.
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Leading the pack
Back Country Horsemen working the wilderness By Rory McClannahan Mountain View Telegraph
Anyone who has spent any amount of time in New Mexico knows that spending time outdoors can be special. And keeping it special is something the Pecos Chapter of the Back Country Horsemen of New Mexico is committed to doing. The 65 members of the chapter — most of who live in the Estancia Valley and East Mountains — spend two weekends most months clearing trails and doing work in the Pecos Wilderness and Manzano Mountains, as well as other areas of the state. “It’s a great opportunity to get out and do some good,” said Richard Kingsbury, president of the chapter. The way they do it, though, is what makes it interesting. Since they go into the heart of the Pecos Wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, there aren’t in any motorized vehicles. Instead, they ride horses that are leading pack animals — horses, donkeys and mules. Once there, they begin work using only hand tools. Have you ever cut a 24-inch log using only a two-person saw? Kingsbury said it isn’t as difficult as it sounds. “There’s no chain saws allowed in the wilderness so we do everything by hand,” he said. “Working steadily, we can get through a log in 10 minutes or so.” The national organization traces its roots back to 1973 in Montana, when a group of back country hunting friends decided that they wanted a seat at the table when it came to the management by the U.S. Forest Service of newly declared wilderness areas. It also gave them the opportunity to be in the forest with their horses. Kingsbury said the idea was not to be adversarial toward the Forest Service, but to help preserve the forest. As such, the organization has five principles: • “To perpetuate the common sense use and enjoyment of horses in America’s back country and wilderness.” • “To work to ensure that public
Photo courtesy of Back Country Horsemen of New Mexico
The Back Country Horsemen of New Mexico has eight chapters in the state. Members of the organization take to the wilderness on equines to help clear trails.
Rory McClannahan- Telegraph photo
Richard Kingsbury and Chuck Eggers show one of the saws they use to clear logs from trails. The pair are officers in the Back Country Horsemen of New Mexico, Pecos Chapter.
lands remain open to recreational stock use.” • “To assist the various government and private agencies in their maintenance and management of said resource.”
• “To educate, encourage and solicit active participation in the wise use of the back country resource by horsemen and the general public commensurate with our heritage.”
• “To foster and encourage the formation of new state Back Country Horsemen’s organizations.” Kingsbury said the Pecos Chapter was started in 1992 and it quickly became a certified Forest Service volunteer organization. There are eight chapters in New Mexico. If there is one big issue the chapter faces, though, it’s that it needs new, young members, he said. “We’ve got great people, but it would be nice to get some younger folks involved,” Kingsbury said. Of course, anyone is invited to come out, but Kingsbury said people who are interested in learning to trail ride will find a lot of value in joining. “If you haven’t had any experience in the back country, this is the perfect way to learn and enjoy it with your animals,” he said. The Pecos Chapter is one of eight chapters throughout the state. Usually, all the chapters will gather once a year, which in 2014 will be in August at the Valles Caldera. For more information about the Back Country Horsemen of New Mexico, visit www.bchnm.org.
Summer 2014 - Cowboy Country - 29
Bringing community together Sandoval County Sheriff’s Posse history of helping By Argen Duncan
Rio Rancho Observer
More than 50 years ago, a group of farmers and ranchers created an organization to support the community and socialize among themselves. Now, with some of the same members, they put on an annual rodeo and are still finding ways to help. Meet the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Posse. The only membership requirements are owning and paying taxes on property in Sandoval County. The posse has 45 members, including those in the auxiliary. Hosting a youth rodeo is a longstanding tradition of the group. The 45th annual Sandoval County Sheriff’s Posse Rodeo is set for Aug. 15 and 16. The weekend includes a parade to which horse-related organizations from around New Mexico and El Paso are invited. Posse Secretary Ricky Poolaw said admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children under 12 and free for very small children. “We’re not here to be making money; we’re here so people can bring their family and enjoy the rodeo,” Poolaw said. The rodeo’s theme for years, Poolaw said, has been supporting the military, and that theme will stay until the current conflicts are over. President Randy Benavidez said the posse has held a free community Easter dinner and egg hunt for more than 45 years, and provides food baskets for
Photo courtesy of Fred Sanchez
Fred Sanchez, longtime member of the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Posse, submitted this photo of the organization’s members at the Bernalillo New Mexico Junior Rodeo Association Rodeo in 1963, the year he joined.
families in need at Thanksgiving. Last “We do a lot for the community,” and “any family, community event,” year, the posse worked with other orga- Benavidez said. Poolaw said. County residents holding nizations to help 100 families. The posse rents out its building, funeral receptions can use it for free. Members hold a Christmas toy run which includes a small bar and banquet Continued on page 30 as well. hall, for weddings, graduation parties
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30 - Cowboy Country - Summer 2014
Posse: Recruiting new youth members from page 29
The arena is also available to rent. The facilities are at 1043 Rodeo Lane in Bernalillo. Posse members once worked closely with the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office, even carrying weapons, and they still provide search-and-rescue parties on horseback when requested. “That’s what the sheriff’s posse is all about,” Benavidez said of the mounted searches. Their last search was in 2012, helping look for missing Bernalillo woman Brenda Salas on the mesa west of Rio Rancho. The multi-agency effort was unsuccessful at the time, but Salas’ remains were found earlier this year. The posse has a youth wing, the Junior Posse, with members ranging in age from 5 to 12. The Junior Posse hosts many of its own events and fundraisers. The youngsters organize a community Halloween carnival with pony rides and gifts, for instance. They have their own float in parades and take occasional excursions to Cliff’s Amusement Park in Albuquerque. The sheriff’s posse formed in 1961,
due largely to the efforts of Nash Zamora, for whom their arena is named. Members initially met in livestock corrals. In 1963, the posse obtained its first building and really took root. Two of the oldest members, Rudy Tenorio and Fred Sanchez, joined that year, as older relatives had already done. “We followed their footsteps,” Tenorio said. The first building burned to the ground in the winter of 1972, Sanchez said. Not to be deterred, the group bought more land, bringing the total to seven acres and built another facility. Poolaw, who joined in 1984 after Tenorio and Sanchez recruited him, recalls barbecuing meat and cooking huge pots of beans in underground pits where the bar is now. Over the years, members have been proud to see their children and grandchildren join the posse. “This is from generation to generation,” Benavidez said. For more information, call 867-8433.
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Sandoval County Sheriff’s Posse members, pictured from left, President Randy Benavidez, founding members Rudy Tenorio and Fred Sanchez, and Secretary Ricky Poolaw pose at the entrance to the group’s rodeo arena. The posse has dozens of members, and the junior posse involves about 20 children and teenagers.
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