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[ggamer]

good attitude, sheb!

Oh, and if the ranch is that big you might have to learn how to ride a horse. I'm not sure if they have guys to handle turning out cattle or not...

Then again, they'll probably offer lessons either way. Not that there's much to learn. Saddling a horse is putting a mat on, a saddle, feeding the horse the reins, then buckling one strap on the bottom of the saddle and climbing on. Riding is much more of the same, though I guess it takes a little bit of savvy to pull it off.

You'll get plenty of strength training moving hay, saddles, stocking tack rooms, etc. They'll probably set you to feeding and cleaning stalls, which is actually rather pleasant for horses, but involves a fucking ton of riding in an atv/small vehicle around the property filling up feed troughs for cattle.

[RedKing]

I can think of worse ways to pass the time than riding around the Black Hills in an ATV. Just pretend you're hunting skags. 

Spoiler: This is actually Badlands National Park, about an hour from Belle Fourche. (click to show/hide)

Also, I just remembered that you'll only be about 50 miles from Devil's Tower in Wyoming. You should go see if you can find some aliens.

Spoiler: For those who might not have seen Close Encounters of the Third Kind... (click to show/hide)

[Sheb]

I can ride already. Or at least could, didn't do any horseriding for the last 3 years.
It's actually 3 diffrent ranches, in two of them they use ATV, but in the Montanan (Is that a word) they're using horses.

Anyway, due to the technique they use, most of the job will be moving those herds of cattles. I should write something about Holistic Management, I'll do that tomorrow.

[RedKing]

Yeah, I'd be interested in that. I have an uncle who works out of Hardin, MT for the Bureau of Land Management, working on buffalo herd management.

Oh, and I went and looked at the maps and remembered now that we used to drive right through Belle Fourche, because we'd get off the main road, go through town, and then take Hwy 212 NW up through the corner of Wyoming and into Montana. It was kind of insane, because the entire 20 miles you're in Wyoming, there were no exits and no sign of civilization.

Man, I am getting envious. We were hoping to go out that way this summer for a family reunion but we just couldn't afford it. Haven't been back out that way since before my kids were born (and haven't been back to South Dakota since I was about 12). 

[GlyphGryph]

Is riding actually difficult when you've got a saddle? I mean, I've only been a few times, and I've probably pulled in less than half an hour of "ride wherever you want whenever you want" sort of activity, so I'm by no means experienced, but I don't remember it being difficulty in the slightest, even when you've got the horse going at a good clip.

Actually, faster was easier, because he wasn't inclined to see if he could nudge just a little bit over to gnaw on that thing on the way.

I guess the difficulty would depend on the horse though, and the learning isn't so much about riding the horse as controlling it even in less than optimal conditions? What exactly does the process of properly learning to ride a horse entail?

[Tellemurius]

Rapid City, South Dakota

Denver, Colorado

i see some issues here

all i can say is, welcome to the wild west

[RedKing]

Depends on the terrain, the degree of training of the horse, and how fast you really want to go. That's some rough country, I'm not surprised they opted for ATV's. By contrast, most of eastern Montana is flat or gentle riverine valleys (pretty, but boring as hell compared to the OMG picturesque western portion of Montana). Likewise, southwest South Dakota is rugged (Black Hills/Badlands areas) but the eastern and central portions are pretty damn flat.

Most of my learning to ride concerned learning how to NOT fall off when the horse moved in a direction you weren't expecting. And how to stand up in the stirrups a little bit when your horse gets up to speed, so that you can still father children later in life. 

A decently-trained horse will more or less drive itself, you just need to be able to tell it to stop or go. A camel on the other hand...D: D: D:

[GlyphGryph]

Man, I didn't even think of rough country, that would definitely make things a bit stickier. (I did manage to figure out the standing up a bit thing being a good idea within the half hour I had, though. Man, I got to say, I find horse riding in general to be pretty boring and the opportunities that don't involve working with them expensive, but racing them was actually pretty fun, even if we were ultimately probably going at pansy speeds.)

Sheb, have you spend much time on ATVs before? Those... those I had a bit more trouble with than horses. Don't treat them like a dirt bike or you will regret it rather quickly.

[Pnx]

If you've got good balance it's not hard to ride a horse, the horse will know plenty about riding around already, they're pretty intelligent animals, although this does mean they do have minds of their own (and personalities, different horses are different). The hardest part will probably be saddling up and taking care of the tack.

[Solifuge]

This thread promises to let me vicariously be a cowboy. Definitely posting to follow.

I have little advice or farm experience, since I'm every bit as (sub)urban as you are. I suppose I've handled and ridden some draft animals before. They're incredibly strong, but thankfully tend to be fairly docile. Still, don't underestimate even the strength of the young, if you're working with them... and if you're riding and get thrown, scramble and get up quick; you don't want to be under their feet... them things are sharp and hard, and have a lot of force behind them.

Oh, and if it's your first time traveling into the middle of nowhere, bring lots to do... books, plenty of writing implements or sketchpads, etc. If you can swing it, snag a travel guide or local history of the area too, and look for old settlements or other sights in the area. Oh, and cameras; I fully expect pictures of the area.

[ggamer]

mainly riding is just getting used to the dumb shit that horses do.

This one time my dad was riding in our round pen and his horse fucking laid down in the middle of the pen and started rolling over.

There's actually some pretty epic stuff my dad's done with horses. One time he was trying to break a two year old colt, and when it tried to get away he punched it.

My dad punched a god damn horse.

AMERICA.

[Sheb]

Nah, never roda an ATV before. I mean, I kinda expected it to be easier than a bike: after all, you've got twice the amount of wheels, amirite?

But hey, I'll have plenty time to learn there I guess. Or die trying. Or whatever. :p

One thing that jus dawned on me is that the legal drinking age is 21 over there. I'm only 20, but the legal drinking age is 16 (well, for beer and wine, 18 for liquors). Is that kind of stuff strictly enforced? I mean, not being able to drink a cold beer after a long day of hard work will suck.

[Frumple]

It... it's spotty. And depends on the police in question, heavily. I've watched 21 year olds walk into a store, buy a 12 pack or whatever, and walk out into the parking lot and begin distributing it to ~16 year olds, all while a cop was in the store, watching. Nothing happened. I also saw a few guys kicked out of the dorms I was in for storing drinks in their room while they were rooming with underaged folks.

Far as I know, buying the stuff is... somewhat strictly enforced, or at least not as lackadaisily enforced as other aspects, but in general it's just not something consistently enforced and can vary heavily based on place, situation, etc.

Now, caveat. All that is secondary observation and not very rigorous observation, t'boot. I've never drank despite being legal for a while now, so I haven't really paid attention to how strictly it's enforced. Take advice at own risk, and know that being a foreigner has a pretty strong likelihood of upping the chance and risk of being caught

Nah, never roda an ATV before. I mean, I kinda expected it to be easier than a bike: after all, you've got twice the amount of wheels, amirite?

Nooot quite, at least as far as I know. Buggery things are pretty dangerous, it seems.

[Ancre]

Regarding alcohol, it depends. From the limited experience I have, it looks like buying it is more strictly enforced than looking at what people do with it once they have it. Probably because it's not as much the store's responsibility if you're 22 and buy stuff for your 18-20 years old friends.

You may have more success simply asking the people you're staying with.

We have a somewhat similar place just on the NC/SC called South of the Border. Only where Wall Drug is cowboy-themed, South of the Border is Mexican-themed. And tackier.

I live a state away from that thing ! I have to see it !

When I was in Europe, I used to visit museums. Now I live in America, and I long for tacky tourist traps.

[RedKing]

Nah, never roda an ATV before. I mean, I kinda expected it to be easier than a bike: after all, you've got twice the amount of wheels, amirite?

But hey, I'll have plenty time to learn there I guess. Or die trying. Or whatever. :p

One thing that jus dawned on me is that the legal drinking age is 21 over there. I'm only 20, but the legal drinking age is 16 (well, for beer and wine, 18 for liquors). Is that kind of stuff strictly enforced? I mean, not being able to drink a cold beer after a long day of hard work will suck.

Being that it's rural South Dakota, I don't think the cops are going to be staking out your shack. Might not be able to buy it in town, but if you can procure some beer I think you're probably okay as long as your hosts don't mind (that'd be the most important part to determine...hell, they might even offer to buy you a case if they're amenable to the idea). Downside? You're gonna be restricted most likely to cheap American macrolager, and....

...hold the phone. There's a microbrewery in Spearfish. You lucky bastard.
http://www.crowpeakbrewing.com/

They don't have any Belgian-style ales, but what they do have sounds tasty.