Summer Vacation on the Ranch

I had survived my first year of college and was on the way home for a wonderful long summer with my family and real work.  I would spend most of the time on the ranch, but would get into town to see Mom and do repairs for her.  Mom had a job at the Veterans Hospital and she worked most week days.  When she came to the ranch on week ends we would do family things as usual like picnics, fishing or hunting agates.

It took a couple days to shake off college thinking and become immersed in things at the ranch.  I noticed many things weren’t done, such as planting all the fields.  Grandpa couldn’t get all of the work completed without help.  He would turn 77 this Christmas day.  Grandma seemed to be the same energetic person, but the years were catching up with her too.  It made me sad, and again I felt guilty about leaving the ranch to go to college.  I tried to develop a scenario in my mind that might correct the situation.  One thought was, I would find a teaching job in Miles City and spend my free time at the ranch.  I wasn’t sure how much free time an Industrial Arts instructor would have, or if a job opening would be available when I was ready.  There were many questions that couldn’t be answered now.  I would have to keep progressing with my current plan, with an eye out for opportunities that might help my family.

The years had passed since we took the mares down to Bob Martin’s Jack.  The two mule colts had grown and developed into handsome animals.  It was time to break them to work.  The male was named Jack and the female Judy.  Not the most original names, but it worked and Grandpa was proud of his mules.  The first step was to get them used to the harness and then the wagon.  The big round coral was used while they were harnessed.  That seemed to go alright.  Grandpa had been working with then quite a bit already. 

It was best to put one mule and one of our older calm workhorses together for the first wagon ride.  Grandpa chained one of the back wheels, so it would drag and give a load for the team to pull.  When the team was hooked to the wagon, Grandpa would get aboard with the lines and I would let go of the mules bridle.  Grandpa would head them out into the prairie away from obstacles and give them their head.  The mule would kick up and run off sideways while the old work horse just plodded along in disgust.  Finally the mule would straighten out and start pulling the load.  All the dancing caused the mule to sweat profusely and by the end of a long trip the animal was totally exhausted.  Over the next couple days, both mules had multiple turns with the wagon which was eventually unchained to run freely.  Next was the big test to work both mules together.  Many wagon trips followed on all types of errands and sometimes just for the trip.  Grandpa now had a working mule team.

That wasn’t enough however.  Grandpa wanted to break Judy to ride. He thought this would be convenient in many cases, so we started the riding lessons with me as the rider.  Grandpa on Darkie held Judy’s head while I held the rains to her bridle.  We started without incident and took a long ride.  I think because we worked Judy in the team she wasn’t too alarmed by her new role.  No doubt, she wondered what I was going to do on her back, but as we continued with the ride she acted as if this was old stuff.

 *Taken from "Which Road Should I Follow?, Volume 1, Growing up in the country", an autobiography by Edwin K. Hill.