[upbeat folk music]
[bright country music]
- Inga: I'm here in Hillsboro, Wisconsin
to visit some of my cowboy friends.
I'm planning on doing some ridin' and some ropin',
and now it's time for me to get saddled up.
Hi, guys, nice to see you.
- Matthew Davison: How's it going?
- Good; I am so excited to ride horses
and work with cows.
Are you guys ready to go?
- Yeah, it's gonna be a great day for it.
- Okay, well, let's get goin'. - Yeah, let's hit the trails.
[midtempo country music]
- The cowboys took me on a ride over the ridge
to show me how they work with horses and dogs
to manage their herd of cattle.
- Here, here, here. - Bingo!
- Here, lie down, Bingo! Lie down.
- This is the perfect day for me;
I'm having such a good time.
So this is what you guys get to do every day.
- Yeah, we got horses to ride and we've got cattle to check,
so we like to get out here and ride in the hills and,
and get all that done, dogs to work.
- Inga: What came first, the cows or the horses?
- Matthew: Well, I grew up on a dairy farm,
but then I started training horses after that,
so I've been training horses,
and as I learned about different events,
I became focused on the cattle events,
so training horses went to needing cows
to train the horses with.
- And that's where the beef cows came in.
- And that's where the beef cows came in, yeah.
- So what kinds of things do you have to think about
when you're training those horses?
- Well, we need to get 'em to understand
what the cow's gonna do next, and think like the cow,
so that they can read the cow,
because by the time that we see what the cow's gonna do
and tell the horse about what to do, it's too late.
So we try to develop that "cow sense" in our horses,
so they do the job.
- There is a certain way of working with cows that I found,
growing up on a farm and farming now,
there are certain angles that I want to be,
when I'm herding my cows behind 'em
or on different things
'cause the way the cows can see; is it the same with horses,
is that what you're teaching them as well?
- Yup, those cows all have a bubble,
and our horses learn how to use that to their advantage.
- Do many people out in Wisconsin farm with horses now?
- You know, it would surprise you how many do.
I do day work for different places,
so I'll get a wage to come that day and do a task,
like I do day work for a cow-calf operation.
I may get hired to come on a day that they're pregnancy checking
or if they have to check a lot of pastures
and they need an extra hand, so not full-time
because I have my own full-time horse training,
but we'll saddle up and go, and we'll help out for the day.
And that creates a great opportunity for us
to get our horses broke
and see new country, and it's awesome.
- So what are, what's the benefits then,
of working with a horse?
For me, I would love to have horses on my dairy farm,
just because I would love to ride around
and herd my cows around, but what are the benefits
for some of those ranchers out there?
- Well, for one thing, where we live,
it's not safe to take a four-wheeler
or the terrain is too tough,
and we teach our cows to accept the horses being around 'em.
And it's really a lot easier for us to do herd health.
We're up high, we can see 'em better,
and that's just a couple of advantages,
not to mention the peacefulness is awesome.
- Well, the cows seem to be so at ease around you guys too.
I see beef herds a lot,
and I always think the difference
between beef herds and dairy herds, are dairy herds,
they get worked with twice a day when they're coming in,
being milked and everything like that,
where I always think of beef herds
as being a little bit more skittish,
but these guys seem to be better behaved than my cows.
- Even though they're a cow,
they do think a little different than a dairy cow,
but they get used to us, and we'll put 'em in situations
where we'll hold 'em and be quiet with 'em
and just ride through 'em,
and they learn to accept us not as a predator.
- How long does it take you to train a horse
to be a cattle horse?
- Well, it really takes two years to get well going,
but it's a lifetime learning for you and the horse.
It takes time.
[gentle country music]
- Inga: Did you always know you wanted to be a cowboy
when you grew up?
- Well, I always said I wasn't gonna do it
because I didn't want to lose the fun,
but here we are doing it for a living and still having fun.
- This is so much fun. [laughing]
I know what you mean, though.
I mean, I still love milking cows after all these years,
but it takes me longer to complain
about going out to milk cows
than it does for me to actually milk cows,
but I still enjoy it nonetheless.
But this is really, it's so quiet out here,
it's so beautiful, just coming over the hillside,
we got to see just so much and hear the birds
and see the insects going, and this just seems like,
why would you ever want to get a four-wheeler
when you've got something like this?
Tell me about the beef cows here.
So do you raise 'em?
You're just raising steers, you're raising some heifers too?
- So what I do, is when it gets to be, grass times comin',
I buy some, I go to the sales and buy 'em,
and then I keep 'em close at home, you know,
and get 'em their shots and make sure they're settled in good,
and then when grass comes, then I turn 'em out.
So what we have left is just a few of what I ran,
you know, I've sold most of them,
but I kept a handful to work my horses.
Show season's coming up for these young horses,
so I need to have a few cows yet.
- So tell me about show season.
What do you show?
- Well, I show in the ring cow horse,
so we'll do a three event, like this is a three-year-old,
his first show's coming up this weekend.
He'll show out of the herd,
which will be herd work similar to cutting,
but we get to guide our horses.
Then we'll do a reining pattern another day,
and then we'll go down the fence another day,
which we will box a cow, turn it on the fence,
and circle, and that will be a very fast, high-action sport.
- Did you grow up with horses,
or is this something you just started to do on your own?
- When I grew up milking cows,
we always had a couple horses around,
but I bought my first horse when I was in sixth grade.
- So you've been committed for a while.
- Yeah.
- Now I want to become a horse girl. [laughing]
But I don't know that I'm there yet.
I like to be able to come and visit folks like you
and have them saddled up and waiting for me.
- That's perfect.
[slow country music]
- Matthew, what does it mean to you to be able
to be out here working with these animals and be outside?
- You know, I'm just fortunate that when morning comes,
I can head outside and get to work,
and when lunch comes, I can go inside and see my family.
You know, that opportunity is really gone by the wayside.
- It really has; well, it's been fun working with the cows,
and I know you gotta bring 'em home
so we can take a look at 'em, and I'm interested to get back
'cause I want to see what you do at the horse shows.
- Yeah, well, that sounds great; let's gather these cows up
and head over the hill and get in the outdoor arena.
[midtempo country music]
- Inga: All this skilled riding doesn't come without practice.
That's why Matt has set up a rodeo arena,
where they train horses
and practice their skills roping and herding cattle.
This has been a super fun day getting back in the saddle.
I'm a little saddle sore.
- They say if your knees hurt, your stirrups are too short.
If your butt hurts, your stirrups are too long.
If everything hurts, it's just right.
[Inga laughing]
- Well, now that we're back in the arena,
what are you guys gonna show me up here?
- We were in the pasture, now we're in the outdoor arena,
so here we just kind of refine the little things
we want to work on,
and then if we need to fix our horse
and let the cow go wherever the cow needs to,
we have four walls around us,
so the cow can't get away versus in the pasture,
where we might be trying to get a job done
and we gotta keep our cows under control,
so we'll just refine some little things
and work on refining ourselves and our horse
to get our job done just right.
- And so these competitions that happen in rodeo or in showing,
they are happening because this is what cowboys do
and this is a way to go to town,
to kind of show off your experience, right?
- Yes ma'am; back in the West,
the hands used to get together in town or something
and everyone would bring a few stock from their house,
and then they'd just kind of show off
who was the best in that area
at the day-to-day tasks that they needed to get done.
- Well, if there was a hand-milking competition,
I'd probably be up for a blue ribbon in that competition.
- I wouldn't compete against you.
- Not horse riding, though. [laughing]
Well, I'm gonna see these guys
doing a little bit more ropin' and ridin',
and then I'll see you cowpokes back at the fire.
[upbeat country music]
- That was perfect.
I needed a fall starter too.
[upbeat folk music]