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Berthoud wranglers work the Great American Horse Drive

June 01, 2023 | Community News

Photo by Terry Georgia
Berthoud residents Ralph “Bud” Walsh and Nancy Owens saddle up during the Great American Horse Drive, where they helped wrangle a herd of 250-300 horses from winter to summer pastures in Moffat County.

By Terry Georgia
The Surveyor

Once a year an event takes place in Colorado that harkens back to the days of the Old West. Professional and guest wranglers head to far northwest Colorado to move Sombrero Ranches’ herd of horses from their winter pasture in Browns Park to their summer pasture at Sombrero’s Big Gulch Ranch near Craig. Over two days in early May, the wranglers herd the saddle horses along 62 miles of scenic sagebrush and down long stretches of state highways.

This year, the drive took place on May 6-7.

Two residents of Berthoud participated in the 2023 drive. Veteran wrangler Ralph “Bud” Walsh, has done ten drives so far, starting as a guest and working his way up to group leader. He led a team of six “guest” wranglers who pay to participate in the experience. Novice wrangler, Nancy Owens, also of Berthoud, was assigned to Walsh’s team as a first-time wrangler. They both described the drive as a “bucket list” item that was hard work, but worth every bit of dust they ate during the two-day ride. Walsh’s daughter, Angela Walsh, was a “helper wrangler” in his group, and this year’s Miss Rodeo Colorado, Randilyn Madison, from Montrose, was also in Walsh’s group of six guest wranglers.

This year about 250 horses were moved in addition to another 100 ridden by the wranglers. On Saturday, the riders leave Browns Park and ride about 28 miles, mostly through prairie scrub along Colorado Highway 318 East, ending up in a pasture just outside the tiny town of Maybell. On Sunday morning the horses are rounded up from the overnight pasture, onto U.S. Highway 40 and through the town of Maybell. The event is a huge draw for spectators from all over the United States. The herd stops in the town to rest and greet adoring crowds before continuing on U.S. 40 for another 30-plus miles to the Sombrero Ranch at Big Gulch. Spectators line the route to watch the drive pass by. It is an impressive sight to witness. Horses and wranglers trotting down the middle of the highway, some kicking up clouds of dust if they prefer the highway right-of-way to the pavement.

At the 20-thousand-acre Sombrero Big Gulch ranch the horses are readied for the summer season as rental saddle horses at national parks, state parks, camps and deep country trail rides across Colorado. In the fall some are rented to hunters. Each wrangler rides a fresh horse on each day of the long Drive.

For many professional wranglers who work at the Sombrero Ranches year round, the Great American Horse Drive is the highlight of the year. Guest wranglers arrive several days before the event and stay at Big Gulch Ranch, where they’re divided into groups and matched with the horses they’ll ride. They’re trained on several trail rides and treated to hearty ranch meals and evening campfire sing-alongs with true cowboy troubadours and story tellers.

Walsh points out that “The Drive” is not for everybody, as even trained riders can have trouble completing the drive. It is as much about endurance as riding skill, he says. “You have to have the ability to ride at a “post” pace, also called a “long trot,” for up to seven hours a day over all kinds of terrain,” says Walsh. “It’s very aerobic exercise, especially through the brush.” He says he’s seen riders from a variety of disciplines who do well, and some who struggle. He’s witnessed a few skilled rodeo competitors not do as well as other riders “because they’re used to an intense ride for two to three minutes at a time, and we’re out there without a rest for several hours at a time. It’s all about endurance.” Not everyone finishes the ride, but those who drop out along the way are put to work as support staff, who accompany riders in trucks and trailers, helping out along the way.

Everyone who participates gets a specially-made belt buckle. Those who complete the ride receive a buckle with a special design. The buckles are a new design every year and highly coveted among riders.

The Great American Horse Drive was first held in 1998 and was the brainchild of Lee Peters, who has worked with Sombrero for 55 years. Peters got the idea from watching the Hollywood blockbuster, “City Slickers.” In the film, three friends from New York City decide to go on a cattle drive in the west. They have no riding experience and hilarity, of course, ensues. Peters, thought the idea was a perfect fit for the annual Sombrero horse drive which had been a working horse drive since 1959. Rex Ross Walker, whose family homesteaded in northwestern Colorado in the 1800s, and who presently owns the Sombrero Ranches, was a bit skeptical, but willing to try. “Rex was only interested in getting the horses from point A to point B,” remembered Peters, “but Rex’s son Cody got on board with the idea so we decided to try a test drive.” They invited eight women and one husband from Texas to make the ride. Only the women finished. “We had so much fun with them, they even put on a show for us at the end. Then we asked, “Would you pay for this?” Every one of them gave us an enthusiastic, “YES!” Since then, hundreds of guests have participated in the drive.
The size of the drive has varied over the years, from eight to 57 guest riders and as many as 600 horses. This year there were 23 riders and somewhere around 250-300 horses.

One of the 2023 guest wranglers was Berthoud resident Nancy Owens, going on her very first drive. A United Airlines flight attendant, Owens has been riding for many years, however she was trained in the English style of riding, doing competitive jumping. She was eager to try the drive and signed up in 2020 and 2021, but in both of those years the drive was cancelled due to COVID-19. She was all set to go in 2022, but tore a tendon, so had to cancel. 2023 turned out to be her lucky year and she was thrilled to finally participate. Owens called the experience “a little intimidating in the beginning,” but by the end she had a new riding mission, “I proved to myself that I could do it. After that drive I want to be a cowboy!” At 63, she plans to start training as a western rider and is “looking to find a cattle drive for my next adventure.” She credits much of her successful ride to her group leader, Ralph “Bud” Walsh. “Bud reached out to me six weeks before the drive and told me to start working on my core,” Owens recalled, “It was the best advice. I added extra workouts to my routine and increased my endurance. After the ride I wasn’t sore and never felt like I needed medical attention.”

Owens had nothing but praise for the staff at Sombrero Ranches. “They gave us a real experience and did a good job of keeping the guests safe. I don’t know if I can beat that experience.” She added that the last ten miles were the toughest, but in the end, “It was a good thing to do.”
The drive usually attracts riders from around the world, but there were no international guests this year. Lee Peters says most people tell him “It’s a life-changing experience.” He said that guest wranglers have gone on to give up careers as accountants and dentists to buy ranches. “We’ve even had two weddings between guest wranglers and our staff wranglers.”

To participate as a guest rider, one must fill out a detailed application which includes questions about riding experience, health and other information to establish whether the experience is appropriate for the rider. The cost to participate as a guest rider is approximately $3,000.
If you’re not a rider, Sombero also offers a photography experience connected to the drive. Professional photographers work with guests on how to capture dramatic images of the animals and wranglers during the drive. Photographers who have taken the workshop in the past were on site this year and have come back several times for the workshop and as spectators.

At the end of the summer season, Sombrero moves the horses back to Browns Park via horse trailers because the weather can be too unpredictable for another drive in the fall.

Applications and more information about the Great American Horse Drive can be found on the Sombrero Ranches website: www.sombrerohorses.com.

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