Cutting Cattle and Shooting Horses

Author: Canoncowgirl // Category: , ,
My family has no idea what I'm talking about most of the time. Between being a horse person and a photographer my everyday conversations may as well be another language. Take for example just this weekend.

I had a photo session with a lovely woman who's husband trains cutting horses. She told me I should forget about the rodeo boys and check out cutters cause they know how to ride in style. I'm a big fan of riding and style so I was very interested in the idea. This conversation soon followed:

Me: I'm going to get hooked up with a cutter!

Cousin (thinking I'm now into emo kids with low self esteem and access to razor blades): Why would you want any part of that kind of violence?

Me: WTF is wrong with cutting cattle?

Cousin: They cut COWS too?? What kind of sick freaks do you hang out with?

and at this point I'm like: You can take your Animal Rights bullshit and shove it up your ass!!

We're still not talking to each other and neither of us is positive why.

Then there's the issue of photo babel. I'll go off on technical spiel and not even realize it until I look up and see the glazed expression on my family members face. The worst was recently when they overheard a conversation I was having with another photographer:

Other Photographer: So what do you like to shoot?

Me: Horses mostly. I'll shoot cats and dogs just for fun, but mostly I'm shooting horses. You?

Other Photographer: I'm all about shooting kids.

Family: <::::FEAR::::>

So when I say "my family has no idea what I'm talking about" I really mean "my family thinks I'm violently insane". And to add insult to missunderstanding they've taken away all sharp objects or anthing they think I could use as a weapon. I have to cut things with those damn plastic donkey scizzors. Thats the last time I talk to them about my interests.



PS Is "emo kids with low self esteem" redundant?

PPS Just to show them, I'm whittling the donkey scizzors into a shank.
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Tips for A Properly Accessorized Goat

Author: Canoncowgirl // Category: , , ,

While trying to find an old blog entry I wrote called "How Not to Get Arrested At A PBR Event" (yes based on actual experience) I ran into a blog I had started many moons ago when I was first venturing into rodeo photography ('05 ish?). Rodeo was a vast new territory and there was a lot I didn't know. Although my knowledge has grown, my insanity level has stayed about the same which led to articles such as this. So! For your reading pleasure:

Tips for A Properly Accessorized Goat

So I (hopefully) will be headed out to shoot the NJRA event in Port Angeles when it comes. For those of you who don’t know the NJRA is the Northwest Jr Rodeo Association. I’ll be there just for practice trying to stay out of the way of the official photographer while at the same time taking note on how he’s shooting the event. This will be a great learning opportunity for me and in fact they’ve already taught me plenty.

Embarrassingly enough I looked at their line up and realized I didn’t know half of the events that they were talking about. Chute dogging, steer daubing, goat tail tying? I knew for sure these weren’t included in the Kitsap Stampede, and was pretty sure OLN wasn’t having primetime specials on goat tail tying. It’s a small hole that I live in so research was necessary.

Here’s what I found out:

Chute dogging and steer daubing have their roots in bulldogging (steer wrestling). For chute dogging the idea is to wrestle the steer just as with bulldogging, except you start in a chute like one would use for the rough stock events, instead of on horseback. For steer daubing you are on horseback and start in the same manor as steer wrestling, only instead of leaping off your horse to the steer, you mark it with a special stick (usually a stick with a chalk covered tennis ball, it looks like)

Goat tail tying is the far back starting point to calf roping, just as mutton busting is the starting point for bull riding (mutton busting is kids riding on sheep if you didn’t know). Its for the littlest of the little ones who may eventually go on to goat tying and on from there. For this event the goat is tied to a stake, they run up, grab it and tie a bow on its tail. It has got to be the worlds most adorable rodeo event (which isn’t all that hard of a title to come by come to think of it, I don’t hear anyone referring to bull riding as “adorable”)

All of these are awesome starting points to the big time, although I have to say (mostly in jest) that they kind of lack some of their originating events … well, point. Calf roping originated from the need to catch calves and immobilize them for branding, medical care ect. In fact, most rodeo events started with some sort of ranch chore nesessity. All except, I think, for bull riding which came from guys needs to do things that are stupid. (flashback to the old west) “Hey Eddie, betcha couldn’t get on that bull and live to tell about it.”…… “I’ll bet I could!!”

Lets share a moment of silence for Eddie the first bull rider.

Alright that’s enough of that

So as I was saying, these starter events don’t seem to have any practical ranch life uses…but lets pretend they did.

Chute Dogging: On a cattle drive, a cocky steer tries to steal your sandwich. You wrestle him a few feet out and drop his ass in front of all his cow friends. Its like prison, if you take down the big ones every now and then, it keeps the rest in line - less hassling, more sandwich.

Goat Tail Tying: Your goat is leaving for a date when you realize it doesn’t have the proper accessories to match its outfit! You make a mad dash, ribbon in hand, and make the tie. That dumb goat would never get any if it weren’t for you.

Steer Daubing: Honestly I’ve got nothing for this one. Although it kind of reminds me of the kid I saw poking a dead opossum with a stick yesterday, only at high speeds.

All in all, despite being a great way to advance into the big-time events, I think I’m glad that the jr rodeo events haven’t made their way into the PRCA, tying ribbons on goats just isn’t as cute when a full grown man is doing it…especially when he’s wearing the pigtails….never mind.

Anyway, it looks like I’m going to have my work cut out for me. I’ve only been at this whole rodeo photographer thing a couple weeks and suddenly there’s a dozen more events than I originally thought. Poor ignorant me. It’s a great big rodeo world out there….this is gonna be fun ;)

Liz

Oh and PS: for a real kick Google “goat dressing”. It involves two guys, a goat and a pair of panties… the “practical ranch life” use of that one I’m leaving well enough alone.

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Horses and Their Supernatural Powers

Author: Canoncowgirl // Category: , ,
I believe my landlords horses are capable of teleportation.

Its true!

Not too long ago I was cleaning stalls when I thought I saw something move in the dark. Looking hard, I didn't see anything so I continued to muck. As I was leaving the barn I saw "something" move again and realized that it was Sadie, the 16 hand 1500 lb black Percheron, grazing on my front lawn. Needless to say I was slightly surprised and spent the next few minutes trying to herd her back into the barn.

To this day though I'm confused as to how she got OUT of the barn, since the ONLY way out would have been for her to silently and stealthily sneak past the stall I was cleaning without me seeing her. Now in my experiance 16hh 1500lb Percherons are not really known for their skills in stealth movement so the only other option is....

TELEPORTATION!! Its only logical :nod:

Then today they did it again! I was filling water buckets and so was peering in the stall to see how full they were. I observed Rusty, a chestnut morgan, munching on his hay. I took two steps to turn off the water faucet and pick up his scoop of grain. I entered Rusty's stall and not really looking at the horse said "Rusty you've made a total mess of your-" I was going to say grain bucket, but at that point I had looked up and realized that the horse I was staring at wasn't Rusty, but Khaiber (a bay arab)! We just stared at each other for a moment or two, Khaiber blinking with doe like innocence. I walked back out of the stall to see Rusty, in Khaibers stall! WTF?

The paddock gates were open, but still, they would have had to left the stalls, gone out of their fairly large paddocks and back through the others, and back into each others stalls in a matter of a few seconds. So they either completed the fastest equine Chinese fire drill in history, I'm out of my mind and cant tell the difference between a chestnut morgan and a dark bay arabian, OR....(you guessed it)

TELEPORTATION!!


Alternate theory...they're unicorns in disguise. I'm gonna think on that one.
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About Me

About Me
Cowgirl/photographer. Crazy. Currently living in a mcmansion (with no furniture) and working at a Pet Food Store. Chasing my real dreams and cowboys when I get a chance. These are stories from my life.

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