CLOVERFIELD RANCH - A blog, a vlog, a podcast

Free Wheeling

Since you made a decision to cross the pond to this wild place, I welcome you with all My heart.
This is a wild place but at the same time it is quite and surreal. This is all about what happens here on a day to day basis. What happens in the brain and what happens out side. What happens in the ranch and what happens with all the critters. From the fast paced world when you cross the pond , you relax ,see the beauty, enjoy it and have a smile in your face. It is a vlog and a blog and a podcast. Above all, it is just free wheeling.

At camaro rally sturgis, sd

6/23/2022

A Proud day for his dad and mom, Not really. It is Hisssss destiny, we just happened to occupy a tiny space in the realm of the the legend "Wyatt" .

It was fun day, no doubt about it. But more fun was when I cleaned his ear the day before .He was scratching with his back hoof on the base of the ear. I stuck my finger in to his ear and give him a good scoop out and what came out was crude oil. Oh I would never forget that precious face getting the best ear scratch.
Camaro rally visit would not have happened , but for Clinton who worked very hard to get us a liability insurance which was mandatory for the rally. He also visited us at the rally with his wonderful family. Thank you Clinton.
I decided to asses his state of mind and physique by taking him for a run. Tha t is the best way to really asses him, he came out of the stall "mooing" in his ever deepening voice, then started to canter alongside the truck smooth, easy , enthusiastic, energetic, powerful yet light. From the bed of the truck I could not hear his hoof beats.
From that canter he arched his back more and pulled both his back leg under him together and I knew what was coming. The tail shoots up and he goes to a powerful gallop,leaving the truck at 30 miles behind and gaining.

I still could not hear the hoof beets. After a drink of water from the pond he came for the oats.
I tied him to the truck and started brushing him and the saddle was out and ready. I think he understand this routine very well and know that we are going somewhere special. He started to calm down and cooperate very well and I see in his eyes that he is ready to jump into the truck once the oats is done.
I did not saddle him since the day was very hot. We were allowed a 10 by 10 set up for Wyatt, so I strapped some panels and a gate panel on the outside of the trailer. These panels were provide by Greg a great friend of ours.
I knew Wyatt is a legend since Evan and Neilo decided to come along and help us and help they did. They set up the whole 9 yards so that I could focus on Wyatt and Sam could focus on PR.
A special thanks to both of them.

wyatt's first job, visiting skyline pines

5/13/2022

The village at Skyline Pines, Assisted living and memory care facility.

It was an amazing place and experience. Far more touching and spiritual than I anticipated. Wyatt's very first job was an excellent experience. It was a total success. But "success" here was having an eclipse before the effect of spirituality.
Everybody had a beautiful smile in their face, probably the best smile of their life. The effect of Wyatt on them was a heartfelt smile. They sang about him , they blessed him and TOUCHED him. And I saw FIRE in the eyes of those who touched him.
The facility stands tall on a hill carpeted by wild grass. While turning from the Mount Rushmore road to the facility
I was getting ready to have an initial assessment, which is just my intuition. Call it good or bad. I did call it. The gravel road up to the facility that turns to the right from the actual road ( service road that i took ) was very comforting. The familiar sound of gravel rolling under the tires made all of us feel at home. As we come up on the incline beautiful tree lines and the hill gave me ideas, I quietly said to Wyatt "We will have some adventure before we go home".
I proceeded to unload him in a quite area and take him to the grass. He was as calm as ever. He did not hesitate to jump out of the truck and walked very enthusiastically to the grass and started eating. Then he raised his head up and gazed at the amazing view of Rapid city and the suburb from that vantage point. From the courtyards of Skyline pines, between his two horns I saw that too. I saw grace in his eyes and in the silhouette.
A sudden realization hit me, this is his first job. He is making his money doing a very honorable and spiritual job. His mission is to bring happiness to the needed. Will he full fill ? or will he act up and throw temper tantrums. No, that is not Wyatt. I said to myself. He is elegant, handsome, brilliant. But do all these things matter ? More than everything it is spiritual.
A song came to my head " Amazing grace how sweet that sound , that saved a retch like me"
Smiles started where Wyatt met Laura at the courtyard, she called, "Wyatt" very softly and touched his forehead. He acknowledged that elegantly, She opened the door for him and said let's go in.

A fearful world

Memory loss, the most fearful state of existence. I could not even think how it feels. loss of memory , how will you feel ? is that a world of silence and despair ? or can you still be happy ? or are you truly lost ? why did Wyatt has such an impact on them, why did they all smile and talk about him with an enthusiasm in their voice ? why did they keep coming back to him to touch him and talk to him. Wyatt was an angel for them who brought good vibe and happiness to them, it was a joyful time that they spent with him . I saw that he was happy too. Happy to spent all the time that they needed or rather destined to be.

The challenge

When we stepped through the front door , The gravity of the situation has fully sunk into my head. This is very special and my responsibility is to help him bring that beacon of buffalo light shine. Laura said we either have to take the steps or the elevator to reach where we are going to meet the residents. All of a sudden a challenge was thrown at me .
I like it that way, assess the situation and make a fast decision rather than extensively planning ahead and when the plan fails, which is consistently true in my case, will end up fighting the failure to make the failed plan successful and end up in total frustration and emotional nonsense and ruin the happiness for those who needed it. I will not let that happen.
I looked at the stairs , winding large stares with grey carpet without much open space on either side to see. I made a decision against taking it. It was a little confusing to me , I may not be able to stay in his space, with him because of the two leg. four leg imbalance. In the stares I might end up in front of him or behind him and that might make him uncomfortable. But then the next choice is an elevator and for some reason i was very confident that he will trust me and will walk into the elevator and I could be next to him where my space is . Being with him. not in front, not behind.
As the elevator door slowly opened, I saw him looking at the space inside the elevator with a little curiosity. The elevator was well lit that eased my concerns a lot. I smiled at him and encouraged to go into the elevator with me and he happily moved forward, as the elevator door shut he was slightly concerned but clearly trusted me and stay put, giving a new aura to the term "Bull in a china hutch" or "Bull in an elevator"/ As the elevator slowly ascended there wasn't any rodeo happening inside , it did not break apart or turned upside down , no sounds of Horns clashing with the elevator walls. No holes were happening to the walls. No bucking was happening inside the elevator. It was a smooth sail.

Buffalo whisperer

I never imagined that I would meet a Buffalo whisperer in that realm. As we proceeded through the living room introducing Wyatt to the residents everyone's face started to lit up and there was glitter in the eyes and smiles everywhere and they started calling his name. The whole energy level started to raise out of that world. The reluctance started to slowly fade away and they all become awake . there is a buffalo in the house. As we slowly strolled though the room, Wyatt was very calm and relaxed.
I thought a breath of fresh outside air at this point is good for him. Before that thought was over Laura said we can go out to the courtyard and then we will decide how to proceed from there to the next stage. Once in the courtyard he stretched out a little bit and looked all around but was not eager to go check the grass.
Around the corner came lots of people , they came forward towards him . He was relaxed, just pawed the ground a little bit and laid down. I sat down with him to be with him. One by one they came to him with a smile in their face and glitters in their eyes , they called his name, they touched him and gently ran their fingers through his Mohawk. They told stories and they all said how handsome he is. They talked about his horns, his beard, his Mohawk. They came back again and again, They asked his name again and again and every single time I said "Wyatt" with the same excitement. I would have said that a thousand times with out any hesitation. I saw how he created a beautiful new memory for them. There comes Marie in her wheel chair, she came forward slowly and asked his name. She sat very close to him and sang a song. She kept on singing and I saw Wyatt slowly pointing his ears towards Marie and gazing towards the sound of the song and then slowly closed his eyes and went to sleep. Marie is one true buffalo whisperer, I witnessed it.

Back to the ranch

Coming out of the facility I asked him if he want to go down the hills and have a little rodeo. He was ready. Running down the hill jumping over stones and ridges was fun. At the bottom of the hill was Percy, Wyatt was ready to go home, he loaded up without any hesitation and we went back straight to the ranch.

Wyatt had visitors

5/6/2022

It is always exciting when Wyatt's fans comes over to the ranch to meet him. Today was such a day. A wonderful family came over . We got up in the morning, finished all the chores and were ready for the visitors and they showed up on time. I parked the flatbed near the pond so the family can comfortably sit and enjoy Wyatt's shenanigans. Sam opened the corral and Wyatt came out he was a little skeptical, mooed and walked around a little bit and then started the run towards me. I was standing on the ground near the truck bracing for the morning love, which of course is rough and tough with head butts ,horn rubs and a little hooking here and there. It is a buffalo love, so no complaints.
But the family had a wonderful time.

Wyatt gladly accepted a bottle of milk from them and oats from the boy. After that he calmed down and started walking with us and the boys were able to pet him and walk him and spent quality time with him.
Off course, Bonnie the pig has to meet them. So she came out and started spending time with the family.
Next comes the heelers. The younger boy is a dog whisperer, The heelers instantly fell in love with him and there started the retrieval game

May 05th, 2022

5/5/2022

The Morning was beautiful. No wind, sunshine and clear weather. After coffee we decided to have a little play with Wyatt. I always wanted to see his reaction if I scared him. Will he go into an attack mode? or will he use his brain to think before action. I was not sure, but I expected after all these games that I play with him, he has to be using his brain to try to recognize a situation and act accordingly.
So my idea was to put on the wolf mask that we bought for the last Halloween day celebrations and hide in he goat house and call him. We planned everything meticulously. I decided to put on the mask and a duster and get inside with out the dogs and Wyatt seeing me. Sometimes the horses will watch this and will become curious and will cause some issues, so I slipped out and walked behind the house to the trailer where we keep the hay and put it out behind the house for the horses to eat and they somehow knew it and came over. By now Sam went to the barn and called him to the barn stall so that he could not see me getting into the goat house since the barn and goat house are very close to each other. Once the initial stage is set, I slowly walked around the duck coup and slipped into the goat house thorough the back opening that faces between the hay pen attached to the barn and the pond.
Everything went good so far and all set for the play. I put on the mask and the duster and started to sweat right away. The goat stink was strong but I was excited about the play and was prepared. I could faintly hear Sam telling him, Hi Wyatt go find your daddy and hear the grunt and the very faint sound of his hoof beats coming out of the barn. Now I could clearly hear the deep grunt and it was going away from my position towards the corral. So I called " Wyatt" in a very hush voice. All of a sudden the sweetest blue heeler ever " Thara" shows up through the hole. I pulled her in not to giv e up my position away. But now I could hear the grunt coming closer. But then it stopped again. I was laughing from inside because I could imagine what is going on outside from all these games I played, how he grunts, how he looks around and listen to find me etc. I called one more time in a very hush voice. Now the grunt is coming and all of a sudden the bison head pops through the hole and the wolf and the bison come face to face. He did a dead stop and stared at me . The look on his eye was precious. I howled and crawl out of the goat house in typical wolf style. He backed off and was staring at me with his ears perked up and frozen. Then he backed away and started to move away in an attemp to avoid the wolf and move away rather that getting ready for a fight. I took off my mask and smiled at him. Still he was little confused. But then he came to me and greeted me. All through this play I could hear Sam laughing.

connecting and communicating with horses mentally

4/29/2022

A safe riding horse who enjoys the riding along with you is a joy that has no parallels "
TR

It was kind of a dull day with 30 mph wind and no sun shine. I have two new horses for training in the coral and started them and put solid 6 days of ground work on them and they have calm down a lot and started to connect.
I decided to give Wyatt a day of rest after his adventure at Jenny Gulch. He was just lying down and chewing the cud all day long. Fed all the critters and came back inside. But by 10 pm the rain and wind started to get stronger. The horses Monte and Cruze turned their butt towards the wind and trying to escape the wind and rain.
This is a good opportunity to see how well they will do in the nasty weather. This is a time when the verbal cues will not work, it is night, we will have to use flash lights and it was raining and they were cold.
I always do this to asses how good they will connect and listen and will take leadership from me. The idea was to get them out of the coral and walk them to the stall. Cruse has never been in a stall before she came here. I took her to stall twice and she fought real hard not to go in . But that is a very good opportunity to train her. To make her into a good riding horse she need to come out of the claustrophobia.
But in this situation staying calm, relaxed and pleasant is very important, If you stay calm and relaxed and talk to them in your mind, they will understand that, and will come to a better state of mind. If they spook out and run I will abort the whole process not to cause an accident for horses or for me. Because if that happens then the whole training fails. You don't need to be successful, but you should not fail. If failed, it will lead to a loss of trust that I built with them in the past 6 days.
As I walked into the coral both of them came towards me which is very encouraging but were very nervous and shivering. They had wide open eyes and were jumpy. Cruze came to me first, but Monte nudged her away and he wanted to go first. In that situation when they tell you something it is better to go that way rather than the human way. So I took Monte and stayed calm and he came out with out much issues, trusted me and walked with me to the barn and went in the stall.
By now Cruze is freaking out, But I was able to lead her to the stall too. It was a good trust and confidence building training. I can tell you that training from this point onwards will go smooth,
The point is to stay calm , relaxed and forget about the elements and stay above the elements with out complaining
( wind, rain , mud etc. )If you can stay above the elements, then the horses sense it and would know that they are safer with you . That is exactly what you want. That will bring trust and they will willingly do what you want them to do.
If you break their spirit and force them to do things, there will be a blow out one day . That will make them unsafe,
A safe riding horse who enjoys the riding along with you is a joy that has no parallels.

If you would like to watch the video please click the above pic

Taking wyatt for gracing

4/28/2022

Evening was very pleasant and I took Wyatt out for grazing. Listening to him munching on grass is like music to ear.
He came back with a full belly of fresh green grass , went to the pond drank some water and is in the pen with his bud Gunner the painted colt and went to sleep.

a long productive day

4/28/2022

It was a wonderful morning , that means one thing here in the ranch . No Wind period. It was sunny and the birds were chirping, the ducks were quacking. I called Wyatt from the front door and heard the grunting mooo coming back instantly. That is how we begin the day. But I decided not to have the "peek-a-mooo" with Wyatt since he was tired from the long trucking, trekking and climbing adventure at the Jenny gulch in Pactola lake. Boy he had a good time but he was tired and after the ritual MOO in the morning he went back to sleep in the hay stack.
After having the coffee I decided to work the two new horses that are here for training. Today will be the 6 th day of training . The horses have calm down a lot so it was time for a real good 30 mts work out. When I start a horse I keep the sessions to a maximum 10 mts so that they don't get played out and dislike the whole process and when they are not mentally ready to start the training process they will not connect with you and it all become physical rather than a philosophical and pleasant experience especially for the horses. The training was successful and as usual Wyatt joined the training and was very curious about what I do with the horses. I played with him a little bit while training horses and that is also good for him to see me interacting with other animals and not being jealous about it.
At the end I played with him a little bit, Teaching him to lay down on command which he was very willing to do.
Also I pulled his tail a little so that he gets used to it and it was fun. He enjoyed it.
On the way back home we got some eggs from our girls and they are the best. I still do not know how these ranch eggs are so much better than the store bought eggs. All heelers and bonnie the pig got their share of eggs and we had pototos and scrambled eggs for brunch . It tasted real good for one Sam can make a real good tasting meal out of nothing also we were hungry hippos.

a bison splash

4/28/2022

a journey to a sacred place with a sacred soul

4/26/2022

I was checking the ground to see if any of the grass seeds that we put in the snowstorm germinated,
It was a wonderful sight to see some new grass. Mama was feeding Wyatt down near the pump house.
But then I heard a distinct powerful grunt "MOO" right away I knew who that is. Bye the time I got back to the truck and started rolling down, he started to walk up the truck and greeted me with another grunt and a look , "where were you"

We did not have any plan than daily chores. It was a rest day for the two new horses I was training, so nothing much other than daily feeding. So we decided to just go to town have the truck filled up since we knew another rainy day is coming and the truck was empty on diesel. Out here sometimes we get stuck in the mud and the last thing you want is having no fuel,
Wyatt jumped in the truck happily. But an inner feeling happened . I want to take him to Jenny Gulch, it will be a good experience, It will be a good training. Above all it will be a good day. Sam agreed. She is always ready for any adventure , day or night .
Usual stop at Common-Sense for food and drinks turned out to be as usual with lots of Wyatt's fans around him.

I never realized that people get such a kick out of watching him jumping in the truck. It was just a normal routine for us. But now since people love it, I kind of watch and enjoy it too.

Jenny Gulch

A heavenly valley in the Pactola lake deep inside the legendary Black Hills of South Dakota . Jenny Gulch, is so rich with wildlife , and nature. You will feel the breeze of Jenny Gulch touching your soul and clearing your thoughts. You will feel fresh and rejuvenated once you visit this place. It is a very sacred place to the Native American people and culture.
The serenity of this place can not be expressed in words. You have to experience it.

On the way to Jenni Gulch we went through Rapid city which is historically a hay town. Wyatt was not very interested in sight seeing because he laid down and took rest. When we passed Dark Canyon which is another historical site which experienced a flood in the 1972. It is a beautiful canyon, I want to take Wyatt over there one day. For the time being we continued our journey towards the Black Hills. Once we passed the city he jumped up and assumed his normal position at the window of the truck and started enjoying the scenery again. He had a very good footing while I was negotiating the ups and downs and the curves which were becoming tighter and tighter.

At Jenny-Gulch he was very eager and jumped out of the truck and started looking around . I could clearly see his enthusiasm. Of Corse the blue heeler Percy was with us and he is always incognito. You will never see him but he is always there. An explorer by nature. As we slowly walked to the Pactola lake , he was very cautious, but slowly touched the water and drank a little bit. Then he picked up his head and looked into the beautiful scenery. It was slow and deliberate , typical bison style.

From there we walked up to the other side of the hill through exposed root system on the ground which is kind of an obstacle course for him and then started a deep descend to the water. That was a good training for him and he took his time and enjoyed the whole climb and the descend. There he found some nice grub between the rocks and munched on it.

Off course, Percy had to go for a swim before we left

Wyatt was tired and on the way back he lied down and slept peacefully all the way back home. What a wonderful day.