There are many aspects of rural life depicted in John Wayne western movies that have gone the way of the dinosaur. One aspect that hasn’t is the use of horses. While we leverage a lot of technology at the Bogle ranches, many of the hardest workers on our land are our trusted horses.
As you’ll read on our website, horses are the best way to work cattle on the Bogle ranches. Trucks and four-wheelers are great, but our complex terrain makes it too rough for any kind of motorized device to operate. And, the large amount of land we cover doesn’t make the situation any easier, either. However, we don’t think we’re at any kind of disadvantage because of this “traditional” practice. Western Horseman promotes the idea that “using horses...is still the best method for gathering or working cattle.”
The Western Horseman article also goes on to state the benefits for using horses to work cattle on a ranch, many of which we agree with. Cattle can remain calmer and less stressed when being worked by horses, allowing easier medical treatment. And horses add a level of intelligence, precision and awareness to working your cattle.
Fun fact - our first quarter horse stallion shared our name: Bogle! He was foaled in 1939, cementing the beginning of a long history of horses on the Bogle ranch.