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A Working
ranch
in the
shadows of
Montana's
Beartooth
Mountains.

We have a saying at the Lonesome Spur . . . “all activities are dictated by the cows, weather and Lonnie”. Certainly the cows and weather have far more to do with what we are doing and where we are going, but the plan can change quickly.

April – Spring is arriving and we are starting to prepare the ranch for the year’s activities. The  weeks in April and May will be getting our mares ready for foaling and working our home-bred young stock. Most of the areas activities have not opened into full swing yet, so we stay pretty close to home.

May – Spring has sprung and we now start the ranching duties in full swing. Starting May 10th we’ll be branding and working with the cows and calves at the Pryor Mountains. Following this will be the same activities at 30-Mile Ranch and Grove Creek Ranch. Anyone wanting to take part in real cowboy activities, long days and hard work, May is the month to look at. The biggest highlight for the month is the one week horse training conducted by Marc Dixon STARTING ON 17TH MAY. Marc and his family come to the ranch twice a year to work with our young stock and demonstrate the newest version of humanely working withthe young horses and getting them prepared for their lives as ranch horses. This is an experience all horse lovers should not miss.

June – We’ll be finishing most of branding and preparation for the year at the various ranches by mid- June. After this we fall back into maintenance mode at the various ranches. This will include checking the cattle regularly for the need for doctoring and moving the cattle from range to range. The moving of the cattle is a vital part of the rancher’s year to ensure the ranges are grazed on evenly. This affords more relaxed riding days but a lot of fun working and pushing the cattle from one location to another. Rodeos and all of the area activities are in full swing throughout June with the highlight being the Custer Re-enactment. Lonesome Spur has made special arrangements with the Realbird Family (Crow Reservation) to ride the Custer battle area. Covering over 15 miles, this ride coupled with the camping, dinner and stories from the Realbird Clan is well worth planning your trip around.

July – Summer’s in Montana are hot in the daytime and cool in the evenings. Much of our ranching time involves checking, doctoring or moving the cattle from one range to another. Due to the hot daytime temperatures we start early in the morning and try to finish our day shortly after lunch. This allows us the opportunity for other afternoon activities and the possibility of some shorter pleasure rides in the evening. Again, all of the summer activities are in full gear highlighted by the 4th of July celebrations in Red Lodge.  

August – The hot summer days continue and we maintain the early schedule for riding and working the cattle. The late sunsets allow us to take some short pleasure rides on some evenings. The highlight of off-ranch activities for the month is the Crow Agency Pow Wow near Hardin. This is the single largest collection of teepees (1,400) with crafts, dancing, local customs and three days of great rodeo at the Crow Rodeo Grounds. If you want to get a great flavor of the Native Indian customs, this is the time to look at. Pow-Wow Indian ride starts on 10-11 August

September – At the ranch we are all looking forward to the cooler temperatures arriving and with it the change in our standard weekly duties. Slowly as the month goes on we start gathering the cattle from the high country and slowly push them down to the lower ranges. As the month progresses we get them closer and closer to the corrals. Due to much of these activities taking more time in the saddle, we are very busy all month on the gathering and preparations. However, we do take the time to host Marc Dixon back for the second of his two weeks of horse training STARTING ON 6TH September. If you couldn’t make the spring date, plan to make this second date. We’ve had local folks attend the training that have been breaking and training horses the “old way” all their lives that leave Marc’s session with notebooks full of pointers and itching to try this new gentler way.

October – The months are clicking off but the work is longer and harder as the months go by. October is the main gathering month. We now bring most of the cattle in and start the process of sorting and weaning the cows and calves. After the sorting the cows have to be doctored and “preg tested” (pregnancy testing) to determine when they will be delivering the calves in either the spring or summer. If you’ve never taken part in the sorting and preg testing, this is an experience well worth planning for. This past year we had a flash snowstorm dropping 40” of snow on the level in Red Lodge and 24” to 30” in the Pryor Mountains. Lonnie got an emergency call after the snowstorm that the cows on the Pryor Mountains had their feed buried and were eating pine needles. What this means to a rancher is if you don’t get them out of their immediately, the cows will abort their calves and you have no replacements for the next year. We reorganized our day and with a dozen riders rode six miles back into the mountains to blaze a trail through the snow and then push the cattle back to the lower areas. All the guests at the ranch assisted and this was a highlight in all of their trips. We can’t guarantee snow every year, but when it hits we ride anyway and sometimes have these extraordinary experiences. From an off ranch activity we have the annual NILE Rodeo and horse sale in Billings. We usually go two nights and with all of the other activities in the month, the NILE offers us a nice break to kick back and relax.

November – The end is definitely in sight. November is spent with some finishing off of gathering and the sorting for preg testing of the cows and moving some cows to their winter homes. Many of these are sent to feedlots to winter and then brought back in the spring to be pushed back up onto the various ranges. The weather generally is dry and colder than the summer months, and most of the activities center around the ranch itself.

December – Generally we have no guests for the month and with Lonnie’s close association to rodeo we try and make arrangements to head to Las Vegas for a few days of the NFR (National Finals Rodeo). When we get back it’s immediately back to fine tuning the ranch activities and start making plans for 2010.

We have tried to pass along a general overview of the ranch activities and when they take place. If you have specific questions about certain months or activities, please click HERE to contact us. Some weeks are almost fully booked now, but we would very much like to accommodate your needs. The earlier you make plans the better we can service your specific accommodation and riding needs. Don’t be concerned about riding experience. Certainly the gathering of cattle in September and October can require “some” more experienced riders, but we accommodate all folks and have plenty of chores for riders of all levels.

Many of the folks we see during the year are returning guests from previous years. If you are new to Lonesome Spur and ranch life, we would very much like to host your vacation and break in the “tenderfoots”.

We hope to hear from you soon.