Riders: how long will we be relevant?

Like any other niche community, us horse owners and riders know what we like. We gravitate to anyone or anything that speaks our language. We can spot each other a mile away. In my neck of the woods, the ‘I get horseback’ uniform is: Long, […]

To Drift, Not To Push

Recently, I traveled to California for a Rancher-to-Rancher (R2R) field day, an event to address drought resilience. R2R team member, Kent Reeves, a horseman and friend, cajoled me into attending. Thanks, Kent! R2R is a network funded by the Regenerative Agriculture Foundation through the Soil […]

Embracing Winter with Good Gear

I reached a turning point about 10 years ago. After the good times of fort building and snowball fights and then introducing my sons to fort building and snowball fights, I’d come to disdain the coldest season. I’d complain through most of it and spend […]

Wolves in Colorado?

Editor’s Note: We welcome guest columnist Matt Barnes from Dolores, Colorado. Barnes works with landowners and managers to improve rangeland stewardship, and to coexist with large carnivores such as grizzly bears and wolves. He is the owner of Shining Horizons Land Management. Matt ran a […]

Come Mayhem, How Will We Fare?

I’m a reasonable person. Like a lot of people, I’m politically centric and middle class. I have no outstanding warrants and next to no savings. I roll through stop signs and I volunteer. I’m imperfect and reasonably happy. Like lots of folks, too, I get […]

Avoiding Deer-Car Collisions

It’s the time of year when it seems like drivers kill more deer than hunters. In fact, that’s not so. But still. According to AAA, 7,000 Colorado deer were killed in 2016. November is the worst month of all, says AAA. Blame development, habitat encroachment, or […]

Ode to Mancos

I was born and raised in Harpswell, Maine. If you swapped out fishermen and lobstermen for farmers and ranchers, you’d have Mancos, Colorado. Like this tiny town, Harpswell has an interesting, sometimes tense, dynamic between natives and transplants. And, if you elevated the Colorado water table by, say, […]

OR Highlights

Recently, we traveled to Denver to visit with folks at the Outdoor Retailer. Held at the Colorado Convention Center, the event attracts some 6,000 vendors and over 30,000 attendees. Yikes! Think Mall-on-Christmas-Eve frenzy. The OR, as it is widely known, gives us a chance to […]

A Baby Bird, A Rancher, and Me

Are you a birder? Then you probably know that many flycatchers belong to the confusing group of birds in the Empidonax Complex. These birds are all small, muted in color, and quiet. The many species look alike and are distinguished only by subtle differences in […]

Apple to Bird to Tree to Cider: Fenceline Story

Sam Perry, co-owner of Fenceline Cider, in Mancos, was a studio art major in college. So, it makes sense that he’d reference a color palette when describing the narrowness of cider flavors ‘round here. Despite the wealth of apple varieties, “we’ve been painting with brown,” […]