Tie Rail Talk

Don’t Squat With Your Spurs On

Drink Upstream of the Herd

Always Leave a Gate the Way You Found It

You can hear the talk coming from the group before you’re even over there. The general musings of the ranchers, farmers and rural folks might be some of the wisest and funniest things I have ever heard. It doesn’t matter if we are in the corral, the coffee shop or the sale barn, the chats are always worth while. The way I have shaped my life I realize now had a lot to do with these simple phrases and even in the humor the message is always there. Why don’t we have some fun today and list our favorites in one place!

Trust Your Neighbors but Brand Your Cattle

“Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway!”

– John Wayne

If You’ve Never Fallen Off a Horse then You Don’t Know What You’re Doing

My grandfather used to love to tell me the quote about falling off a horse, mind you I had usually just hit the dirt and not only did my behind hurt but so did my pride. It is a little known fact that the only time you really hit the ground off of a four legged creature is when you have an audience, talk about humbling. It used to make me so mad when he’d smile, take a chew off of his cigar and laugh all while making that simple statement. He never meant it in a malicious way but don’t tell my former red headed hot tempered self that, I would be spitting mad and had to drag myself back up and get back on. Many times this scene played out in front of all of the corral and once they knew you were okay you were the butt of all the jokes until the next wreck took center stage. Now that I’m older (I wouldn’t really say wiser) and my grandfather is gone I find myself saying that quote ALL THE TIME. I realize now that he was telling me that if you ever want to succeed at anything then you have to make some mistakes and fall along the way. Man do I miss that grin that I used to think was making fun of the little girl on the ground.

The Slower You Work Cattle the Faster Your Day Will Go

“Don’t Look Back – You Aren’t Going That Way”

Don’t Fry Bacon Naked

So in true fashion of any tie rail conversation let me leave you with a little piece of advice – free of charge and only slightly sentimental, “Don’t look back – you aren’t going that way.” Reminiscing and remembering the good old days are fun pastimes, remembering mistakes and lessons learned are important growth traits but far too many times we get caught in things behind us that we cannot change. One of the hardest things to do as humans is to realize that the only way to change the result is to keep pushing forward and change the outcome in the future. The cattle industry is facing some major growing pains going forward but if we focus on the outcome and keep moving forward with open minds we should come out on top. It is scary and exciting at the same time but a future I can’t wait to be a part of.

Don’t Approach a Bull from the Front, a Horse from the Back or a Fool from Any Direction

What is your favorite ranch advice? I’d love to hear some more and use them around here!

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