By now, you’re probably familiar with Jazzy, my gray mare. She’s my first horse ever, which is simultaneously terrifying and amazing. It’s also why I talk about her so much. (Can you blame me?) However, she’s technically the only horse Dan or I own; the others are owned by the ranchers Dan works for.
Walter, B.C., and Roo are owned by one ranch. Dan picked them out when he got his range riding job in 2019. Bandit (and Steve, but Steve doesn’t stay with us very often) is owned by another, and Dan did not pick them out. In fact, rancher Camden bought Bandit for a cool $1,000. He even came with a saddle. Trust me, that’s exactly what he’s worth (but he’s still a good boy).
For convenience’s sake, the horses live on our property in Gunnison during the grazing season. They winter in Crawford, about an hour and a half away, where temperatures are milder. Jazzy gets to spend her winter vacation in Crawford with them this year, too.
Our neighbor recently hayed our north pasture, so it’s officially open for grazing. The first time the horses get to go in the north pasture each summer is one of my absolute favorite things to watch because horse zoomies. Here’s a video:
We might not get to see them very often from January through April. But their location change means I don’t have the responsibility of keeping water in liquid form during sub-zero temps for months on end. Which, let me tell you, is a huge bitch.
It’s hard to put in words just exactly how happy having these horses out my front door makes me. Maybe my horse joy will come through more tangibly as I tell you about each one.
Walter
Ol’ Wally. There is so much to say about him, but I’ll be brief.
Walter is our champion. He’s smart, experienced, rock-solid, dead broke, and incredibly handsome. In a past life, Walter was a dude horse. Dan actually ran into someone who worked for the same outfit as Walter a few years back.
“I think I know that horse!” The guy told Dan. Dan elaborated on his history a bit, and the stranger recognized the name of the outfitter who used to own him.
“That is the same horse,” he said, “but we called him Bandit back then because of how sneaky he was.”
Walter may be a little too old—or perhaps wise—to be super sneaky these days. But his sure-footedness, kind demeanor, and extreme patience allow Walter to be trusted in any terrain with any rider. He also goes into “dude horse mode” if you ride him without spurs.
My dad visited us last August. I asked him what his Gunnison bucket list was, and he said, “I want to shoot a gun, shoot a bow, go fly fishing, and ride a horse.” Keep in mind he’s a finance executive from California. While his outdoorsiness has grown significantly in the last 10 years, he’s brand new to all four activities.
After we shot guns and bows and caught trout with flies, it was time to herd some cows. He hadn’t been on a horse since that one ride he went on as a teenager 40 years ago. But we saddled up Walter, got my dad in the saddle (sans spurs), and they rode seven miles together that afternoon. Seven!
Now, that is nothing short of amazing.
Roo
Roo is a very sweet, very tall gelding. Dan found him for sale at a ranch in New Mexico; he’d been on pasture for the last four years. To me, it shows.
He’s an athletic-looking horse, but he lacks the training to have decent levels of body awareness. He stumbles a lot because he struggles to pay attention; he’s always swiveling his head or ears, more curious about the tree blowing in the wind 100 yards to the left than the task at hand. I wouldn’t call him cowy, either. This may just be the way he is, or it may be the effects of aging. Our farrier guesstimated he’s our oldest horse and around 20 years old.
When Dan first got him, he named him Roo because he tended to buck. He hasn’t bucked once in the last three years, though, so I affectionately call him Rooster because of his golden color.
That said, Roo does have a lot of stamina and has no problem (slowly) covering a dozen miles in a day. He’s kind and affectionate and always greets me with a nicker. Honestly, he checks a lot of boxes: he’s extremely easy to catch, kind to other horses, and has no issues trailering, being ponied, or getting shod. Roo’s also ridiculously good-looking (Dan admitted that’s why he bought him). I mean, just look at that handsome face!
We’re planning on selling Roo next spring. If you or anyone you know is looking for a gentle, easy-to-look-at, easy-going trail riding horse, you know who to DM.
Big Country, AKA B.C.
Big Country is exceptional in one realm: covering big country. This dude can walk.
B.C. is an absolute tank of a horse. He’s our fastest horse, too, and it doesn’t matter if he’s walking, trotting, or loping. He may not have much going on personality-wise, but he has everything going for him from a backcountry cattle herding perspective. These qualities make him Dan’s favorite horse.
What can’t B.C. do, you might ask? Only one thing, and that’s being close-up with cows. We think he’s been hooked, or hit head-on by a cow or a bull, before. As a result, he’s terrified of being up close and personal with cows. As B.C. has proven time and time again, he will flip over backward to get away from cows. We may not be able to use him to trailer cows or work cows in a corral unless we want to risk death or severe bodily harm, but he can do literally everything else.
The only other drawback to B.C. is that he’s extremely high-withered. It’s been hard to find well-fitting saddles and pads for him, which has led to a lot of wear and tear on his back. B.C. is too awesome for his withers to be a dealbreaker, but I told Dan it’s probably in our best interest not to get horses with such high withers again in the future.
Bandit (and Steve)
Bandit is a special horse. Before rancher Camden bought him, he was an 11-year-old girl’s horse. You can probably assume a lot about him based on this statement.
He’s pushy. He disrespects boundaries. He doesn’t respond well to cues under saddle. He’s even a little taller than Roo. And he’s an asshole to other horses. However, as we like to say, “he is a vehicle,” so yes, he’ll get you to the cows. There are certainly worse horses out there.
If you haven’t heard (which is pretty local news; I don’t expect you to know this), two Highway 50 bridges crossing Blue Mesa Reservoir are under repair. The management of these repairs and its detour have been atrocious.
Horse/stock trailers have not been allowed to use the one-way, pilot car-led traffic over the bridges while they’re under repair (even though RVs, campers, and bumper-pull trailers can). I won’t go into my rant here, but in short, it’s been an absolute pain to get large animals from Crawford to Gunnison and back because gooseneck stock trailers must use a dirt road detour. The detour is only open during specific windows and adds over an hour to the drive.
As a result, Camden’s been keeping a horse at our house this year so he can just drive his truck over the bridges to 1) get here faster and 2) not be so restricted time-wise. He swapped Steve out for Bandit just a few days ago, but Bandit was here for three months.
It’s kinda nice to be hanging out with Steve. I don’t have any photos of him, but he’s a sorrel gelding with a white blaze. I don’t know him very well, either, but Steve’s quiet and laid back. In other words, he’s not a loud personality like Bandit. I’ve only ridden Steve once, and honestly, it was terrible. But he works great for Camden, and that’s what matters.
Jazzy Bell Bonsai, AKA Jazzy
If you’ve been following along with this Substack, you already know I’m obsessed with Jazzy. She’s a part of every ride I’ve been on this year, and getting to know her has been such an adventure. Here are a few facts about her.
Jazzy, or Jazzy Bell Bonsai, is a papered gray American Quarter Horse mare born on April 8, 2017, in Oklahoma (my birthday’s April 12, so we almost have the same birthday!). She’s the great-granddaughter of Dual Pep, who won $302,053 in the National Cutting Horse Association and produced earners of over $24 million. She’s the granddaughter of Dual Jazz, who apparently was a big deal in the cutting horse world in the 90s. Her dad is Dualin Freckles. He’s pretty cute.
Pedigrees and competitions are areas where I have zero knowledge; I won’t claim to have any expertise in these realms whatsoever. What this information means to me is that Jazzy comes from good bloodlines, has a good head on her shoulders, and has inherent athleticism.
She’s definitely proven her athleticism to me several times. This horse can jump straight up, I swear.
Jazzy is pretty dang solid despite taking last year off to raise her foal, Scotch. Lonny, the rancher I got her from, still has Scotch, which is cool. He says she’s a heck of a lot like Jazzy: smart, strong, sassy, and opinionated.
I’d argue Jazzercise is our most well-trained horse. She responds quickly to light cues, doesn’t take any convincing when crossing tough terrain, and is the most willing to let her rider control her feet. She’s naturally cowy and even alerts her rider when she sees or hears cows. She’s indifferent about gunfire, highway traffic, and barking dogs. The only thing she truly hates is ducklings.
Yes, seriously. Baby ducks. Ask me how I know.
Despite our few rodeos earlier this summer, I feel very safe on Jazzy because I know she can carry me anywhere. She’ll take care of me even if she doesn’t really want to. To me, that’s a good partner to have in the backcountry.
Which horse is your favorite? Have you experienced the Highway 50 bridge closure? Are you afraid of ducklings? Tell me in the comments!
I’ll introduce you to our eight (yes, eight) dogs soon!
My good boy Walter! He's the best!
Can't wait to read about the dogs!
WALTER!! Can’t wait to meet you🤪💙