It Takes A Team

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Wagonteamster

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6/29/10 - 7/2/10

6/29/10, Dyke, CO - The team put in a long day, driving 22 miles to reach the home of my good friend Chuck Baley.  For most of the day’s journey, traffic was heavy, and I frequently pulled over to let cars and truck go by.

During the morning, we climbed Yellowjacket hill, so I had the lads pulling in the Unicorn.  We made good time and stopped to chat with several people along the way.

After reaching the top of the hill, I pulled Doc off the front of the hitch and put him behind the trailer.  The weather was great and we had an easy pull to the restaurant at the base of Chimney Rock Hill. The Amigos were getting a little tired, so I put Doc back out front again. Doc was so full of energy, that most of the remainder of the day he pulled the wagon all by himself. Bob and Bill just hung back in their traces and let him ‘go to town’. The “Dock-ster” was in his ‘Seven Dwarfs’ working mode and was going to town (probably humming “Hi-Ho, Hi Ho” the whole time.

We pulled into Chuck’s place, and he immediately had a set up like kings.  While I was taking care of the lads, Chuck did some leather mending for me. He fixed Bob’s Halter, put a rivet on one of my spare collars, and sewed leather straps to hold the rings on my Cross Lines (I run with metal rings positioned just ahead of the cross lines to prevent the lines from pulling through the hames rings if one horse pulls to far ahead of the other - If you don’t do this, a line can hang up and you can lose control of the team).

LuAnn, doing what she likes best - driving a team of horses.

6/30/10, Pagosa Junction, CO - After Chuck cooked us a great breakfast, I harnessed the lads and got everything ready to go. My friend LuAnn Baker stopped over Chuck’s to make the 17 mile run south to her ranch. I hitched up Doc and Bill, and they were both feeling their oats, so I knew it would be a fun ride. They frequently broke into a trot, so the miles passed quite quickly.  Finally when nearing  the bottom of a hill, they really wanted to go so I gave them their head. For the next mile, we were zooming along at a full gallop. If there was anybody that took notice, they would have thought that the stage coach was racing for Dodge, with a full warparty of Comanche in hot pursuit (yee haw). After lunch under a Ponderosa Pine, we trotted most of the remaining distance to LuAnn’s ranch.

The lads have the run of the place and are having a good time splashing in and out of Cat Creek on their way to graze. B.O.B. took things one step further and went for a roll in the creek. B.O.B. is really into exotic rolling.  He’s the only horse I know that will go for a roll while he’s tied to the side of a wagon, and he likes rolling in the creek.