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From www.bridleandbit.com Arizona
Several years ago Tim was offered a job as ranch manager of two ranches in Hawaii that were being managed as one and had been ear marked for development back in the early 90’s. Although the ranches when purchased were considered two of the premier outfits in that area of the Big Island, the perceived need to prepare for a golf course and subsequent development brought the quick destruction of all livestock infrastructure. As in most locals, fire is a major concern so the stock was left to graze to minimize fire danger by reducing fuels. Over time, the capacity of the land to sustain the ever increasing number of animals became problematic as each breeding season produced increasing demands on the available resources. With little or no available facilities and no oversight for the next twenty-five years, the process continued. Tim’s job was to gather all the wild cattle, horses and other vagrants and move them to one of the ranches. He then established a modern time grazing system that was sustainable for the carrying capacities of the available resource. Tim’s experience as a Holistic manager, ranch manager, horse and cow guy, made him an ideal candidate for the job. He decided to put his clinic business on hold, pack his bags, horses and dogs and head for the state of Hawaii. When Tim arrived at the ranches, the magnitude of the undertaking immediately became apparent. On the 24,000 acres, there were 250 feral horses, 5,000 head of cattle of which over 800 were bulls weighing well over 1,000 lbs., 100 head of buffalo, llamas and thousands of wild sheep migrating in and out of the property. Of these, the wild bulls presented a gargantuan problem. Regularly they would escape to neighboring properties that included schools, hospitals, coffee farms and people’s back yards. The sounds they made at night could have been associated with sounds from Dante’s Inferno with bulls everywhere causing trouble. Daily, delinquent escapees would turn up at the hospital, the local high school, coffee farms and no doubt, at other places that were never reported. The situation was made more difficult because the stock, being truly wild, would fight any attempt at capture. The enormity of the task seemed virtually impossible. As a result, a plan was developed to simply deal with one thing at a time. That very principle is a fundamental tenet of “The Nature of Natural.” Thinking of Ray Hunt’s words, Tim began the job by, “ make the wrong thing difficult and the right thing easy.” Perimeter fencing was either built or repaired to keep the stock on the property. It also kept the crews on the ranch as stock was now confined to the deeded lands. Eventually the ranches’ reputation started to improve as the wild unruly stock was kept under control and marked for identification. As Tim laid out the plan for the next few years the overriding problem was the continued random breeding of all stock. Not only because of the behaviors that are generated from excessive amounts of testosterone, but the ranch resources could no longer support large calf and foal crops without jeopardizing the overall welfare of the herds from a grazing perspective. So the task to eliminate Studs and Bulls was seriously undertaken as the first priority. The experience that Tim had on the public lands of the west and all the great people he had been around came to be useful in this daunting task. During the first year, over one hundred, two years old studs were castrated which allowed the horse herd to be brought under control. As a stopover to their annual session at the Parker Ranch, the Nuebert brothers were hired to start colts. After they left, Tim initiated continuing horse training programs and a more controlled breeding program. The only registered stud was a Paint horse with a great disposition so he became head man with the chosen mares. The bulls were another story. It took several years to bring them under control and in the end an unbelievable eight hundred, thousand pound bulls were removed. To upgrade the genetics, particularly disposition (the most inheritable trait), thirty-three Angus bulls were purchased from the Parker ranch. Today, the stock is much better behaved with the majority on one of the ranches while the other ranch is used for contract grazing. Hawaiians refer to wild cattle as, “Vancouver. “ Now, these are seldom seen. As you can well imagine, Tim has literally hundreds of stories and scenarios that took place during his aloha adventure and he’ll be pleased to share them. Tim’s 2012 clinics will be based on what he calls “ The Nature of Natural,” a philosophy of learning behavior training based essentially on the laws of nature as we currently understand them. Many of the techniques you will already know, but how to use them, when to use them and why use them, may be new to you. We hope to see you at a McGaffic clinic when he will share some of his adventures and knowledge. For clinic information or to get in touch with Tim, write Ginny at www.Gelder40@aol.com www.bridleandbit.com |
