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The Pryor Mountains Ranch is an authentic working
cattle and quarter horse ranch located in the Dryhead Canyon on the east
slopes of the Pryor Mountains, south of Billings, Montana. We invite you
to join us and experience a lifestyle you’ve only seen in the movies….
here you can experience your first real horse drive, cattle drive or
brand your own calf and ride a trained cow horse.
Joe Bassett has raised his horses in this country for most of his
lifetime. He has always been able to winter them at the ranch, however,
with the introduction of wolves into the area, and also with sightings
of lions during the last few years, we started to experience killings of
our colts over the winter. Therefore, it has become necessary to change
the schedule by starting to trail these horses out of Montana and into
Wyoming for the winter, and back into the ranch in Montana in the
spring. We will trail the horses out of the ranch in the fall after all
of the fall cattle drives, and we will trail the horses back into the
ranch in the spring before the spring cattle drives.
We have planned a fall horse drive that will begin after the cattle drives.
We will trail these registered Quarter Horse brood mares and young
horses after we finish our fall cattle drives. We have weaned the colts
away from these mares in October and we will be returning to Wyoming
with just the mares.
Rates
included: horse drive, meals from
dinner on day one to lunch on last day, 5 riding days
HDMT01
7 days/ 6 nights $ 1,675
2008
Dates:
04/06-04/12 Sold
Out
04/13-04/19
Sold Out
04/20-04/26
11/09-11/15
11/17-11/23
make reservation
Taxes: 9%
Gratuities: 10% recommended
Meeting: Lovell
Airport: Billings
Transfer: at 4 PM
$75-pay locally
Tack:
Western
Pace: all paces with canters
Level: Strong intermediate
Min/Max: 4 to 12 riders
Notes: Only suitable for strong riders.
Also
available are
Cattle Drives
Working Ranch Weeks
Itinerary
Each Horse drive take three
days and will cover 50 miles as we trail horses
up Horse Thief Canyon through the Caroline
Lockhart ranch into Deadman Creek and onto the
Crow Indian Reservation where the Dryhead
Country lays.
We will pick you up in the afternoon on day one at the Billings, Montana, airport.
We will then travel to the ranch. We will bunk each night at the ranch
and eat breakfast and supper meals there while we drive to our horse
cavy each day. We will trail these horses over the 45/50 miles back to our
Wyoming winter pastures (reverse in the spring). We will return you to the Billings, Montana
airport in the afternoon of the last day.
Type of riding: Adults only. All levels
of riding will be experienced during each ride.
Some riding experience is suggested. Trailing
horses gives everyone a fast pace as well as
time to walk. The days can be long and the
weather will be variable. We will be riding in
all types of terrain. Barren badlands, sage
brush and rocks, mountains and canyons,
grassland meadows and wide open spaces. All
types of horses will be part of the herd we
move: mares and colts, young stock, studs and
fillies, guest cavvy horses and studs and mares.
Each will have its own challenges and
adventures.
Accommodations: We will stay in the ranch
bunkhouse. Breakfast and supper will be served in the cook house, and
lunch will be brought to you on the trail.
Activities: Gathering
& trailing over 100 head of brood mares and
young horses. This drive will cover many miles a
day and you’ll be riding between the Pryor
Mountains and the Big Horn Mountains, along the
Big Horn River. Along with moving whatever herd
of horses we need to move that week we always
stop and share the historic sites with our
guests. There will be time to watch our cowboys
work some of our young colts or sharpen their
roping skills while we enjoy our evenings around
the campfire. You are always welcome to
participate and learn. Getting to know each
other around a campfire is always a special
treat.
November drives
(sample)
Our winter pasture for all of our horses is
located to the west of the Dryhead, in an area
between Belfry and Red Lodge, Montana. We will
be moving the horses from the summer range to
the winter range, a trail of 60 to 70 miles.
Monday we will saddle up and ride over much of
the ranch to gather the herd. Tuesday
morning the drive begins. We’ll start at the
ranch on the eastern slope of the Pryor
Mountains and continue West up over the Prior
Mountain Pass to about 7,000 feet. From there
you’ll drive the horses off the Custer National
Forest side. The last day we’ll trail on into
the winter range. It will take at least 4 big
days. An opportunity of trailing horses like
this doesn’t come along very often.. We will be
creating new trails. The ride will be
challenging and all of our skills will be
needed. It will be November and the weather
totally unpredictable which adds to the
intrigue. You will carry memories and stories
away from this drive to last the rest of your
life. Don’t miss it. It will be like a super
“City Slickers” experience.
We have
obtained permission to keep the horses overnight
at various ranches on the west slope of the
Pryor We apologize, but you won’t get to sleep
on the ground as we’ll be inside each night.
We will split our horses into two herds and have
two drives. You
can sign up for either one or both. This
trail will require real cowboys to get
the job accomplished. It will be a magnificent
experience.
Your job will be to hold these horses to a
reasonable pace and each rider will have
specific assignments to make it all happen.
Reasonable riding skills are needed, but you
wouldn’t have to be expert either. |
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Itinerary April
Horse Drive (sample)
SUNDAY: 4:00
PM Arrival. Meet everyone in the luggage area of
the Billings, Montana airport. Drive to the ranch (takes three hours).
Will eat supper at the ranch and get settled in your rooms. After
supper we will have an orientation meeting so we can discuss the
schedule for the week.
MONDAY: 7:00 Breakfast. 8:00 leave for Lovell. 9:00 rope out
horses and saddle at the Lovell ranch. Go to wherever the mares have
been on pasture (Copenhagen). Gather mares. Eat lunch. Head out the
gate and through the Bentonite hills to Crooked Creek corrals where the
mares will stay in the Brand Inspection corrals until Tuesday morning.
Unsaddle horses and leave them in the corrals, put saddles in the
truck. Feed hay and water horses. Visit the Devils Canyon Overlook on
the way back to the ranch to eat supper.
TUESDAY: 7:00 Breakfast. 8:00 leave for Crooked Creek. 9:00
rope out horses and saddle. Brand Inspector will check all brands on
mares. Leave the corrals by l0:00. Meet for lunch at the Devil’s
Canyon Overlook area. Arrive at Hough Creek. Let horses drink at
creek. Feed hay. Unsaddle horses and load saddles on truck. Visit the
Carolyn Lockhart Ranch on the way back to the ranch to eat supper.
WEDNESDAY: 7:00 Breakfast. 8:00 leave for Hough Creek corrals.
8:30 rope out horses and saddle. Gather mares and head out the gate.
Lunch at end of Lockhart Lane. Ranch by 4:00. Settle horses in
pasture. Unsaddle horses. Free time if schedule allows. We have a
great Buffalo Jump just down the Dryhead canyon within walking distance
of the ranch. It is fun to dig for buffalo bones. Horsemanship tips
from the cowboys will be available in the evening.
THURSDAY: 8:00 Breakfast. 9:00 leave for Cody. 11:00 arrival
in Cody. Each person can decide the things they would like to see and
do. We will have booklets available in the rooms that tell of the
things going on around Cody. This is before the normal tourist season
but the Museum is always open and there are several western stores and
saddle shops in Cody. We will meet for supper about 5:00 and head home
by 6:30. Arriving home at 8:30.
FRIDAY: 7:00 Breakfast. 8:00 rope out and saddle horses. 8:30
head out of the ranch to ride. We have lots to check out and look for:
fences that are laid down by snow, ponds that should be getting full of
run-off-water, grass availability, close gates all over the ranch,
general well being of the whole place. We will ride back in for lunch
and out again in the afternoon. If time permits we will have an
additional Horsemanship sharing with the cowboys. Supper will be at
6:00. Video showing at 7:30.
SATURDAY:
Saturday is a "getting
ready to go home" morning. We eat breakfast as
always at 7:00 and have time to pick up some
things in our small ranch store as well as
exchange goodbyes with the cowboys and other
guests. We leave the ranch around 10:00 and have
some time to visit several historic sites and
get back into Billings by early afternoon.
Most of our guests stay at the Rimrock
Airport Inn - let us know if you need an extra overnight ....
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