Ted Harvey, Wrangler
An American Tradition
By
Gina McKnight
It’s 5:00 am in Cody, Wyoming, a
couple of hours before sunrise. Ted
Harvey is awake and ready for his first cup of black coffee. He’ll go through a half pot of coffee before
noon. Ted is a handsome man and a solid
buckaroo; a seasoned rancher and wrangler.
He wields the wrangler stride, necessary mustache, Levis that fit in all
the right places and a wide smile. He has a solid history of skilled
horsemanship, lasting kindness and engaging friendship.
It’s 7:29 am now. The sun is up and
trying to shine. On most days the sunrise is golden, azure and gleaming in Cody. But today it is gray, perse and rainy, a
typical autumn morning in cowboy country; hard, rugged and everything nature. A climate manipulated and defined by the
calloused hands and the sun-baked complexion of weathered wranglers. Ted has
just returned from the barn; pulling horseshoes and trimming hooves. He reaches for another steaming cup of stiff,
wrangler coffee.
In 1967 Ted came into this world in
Seattle, Washington. His family moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina when he
was five years old. At the age eight, he was introduced to a horse for the
first time while visiting distant relatives in France. His encounter with the horse was exciting and
humbling. Ted remembers, “We were on a
farm and there was a horse there. My
twin brother and I had gone out in the morning to pet the horse. The farmer had just fed him his oats. I
really wanted to pet the horse. My
brother kept telling me to leave him alone. The horse was swishing his tail and
laying his ears back. I really wanted to pet him. After a bit, the horse had had enough, turned
around, and kicked me squarely in the butt.
He kicked me clear over a fence.
My brother is still laughing about that one.”
In 1981, at the age of fourteen, Ted
and his family traveled to Cody, Wyoming for a dude ranch vacation. Arriving at Valley Ranch, a large ranch south
of Cody, Ted became fascinated with the ranching lifestyle. Staying at the ranch lodge, he became
accustomed to the aroma, feel and sensations of western living. The horseback
riding was exceptional; well-equipped for family vacations and novice riders. “Back
then, I don’t remember much in the way of instruction,” says Ted. “They showed
us how to go, stop and turn and that was about it. In the lodge each evening at dinner there was
a sign-up sheet for riding the next day.
You could choose between slow, intermediate or advance. I went on every advanced ride for the two
weeks we were there and I was hooked. I
knew then that dude ranching was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.” Ted’s experience at the ranch would set the
course for his future vocation and instill his love for horses.
Returning to North Carolina, Ted
dreamed of being back in the mountains of Wyoming, riding horses and meeting
new people. “At that point in my life I
knew nothing of horses or dude ranching.
I needed experience. So, during
high school, I worked shoveling manure at local stables. They would let me ride
from time to time. At seventeen, I
returned to Valley Ranch and enrolled in their Wrangler School. This was a six week course and consisted of
eight other wranglers. This was the real
beginning of my formal education as a wrangler; I was a boy of seventeen from
North Carolina chasing eighty horses across the Shoshone River at 5:30 in the
morning with real cowboys who at the time I considered legends.”
While attending Wrangler School, Ted
had the opportunity to meet some real western characters; famous wranglers,
gracious hosts and lifelong friends. “Everyone has people they have met who
have had a profound effect on their lives,” he says. “For me one of those people was a woman I met
at Valley Ranch named Irma Larom. Her
husband, Larry, started the ranch in 1914 with one of the Brooks Brothers as a
partner. By the time I got there in the 1980’s he had passed away. But she was still there. She was about 140 years old. She wore full-length formal dresses
everyday. She liked to flirt with the
wranglers and tell stories about going to New York City in the 1920’s and
staying at the Waldorf Hotel. They would
party in New York in the winter and invite their friends to Wyoming for summer
adventure. Irma said to me once, ‘A
well-run dude ranch is hospitality at its finest.’ That has always stuck with
me and I have tired to live up to it.
Valley Ranch no longer exists, but for me it is where everything began.” Ted’s journey to becoming a world-class
wrangler was becoming reality. His hard
work and dedication to his dream was coming to fruition. All he needed was a good horse, fitted chaps
and a wide-brim hat. Oh…and a good dog.
Wrangler. It’s a tough word, not for the weak of
heart. Being a wrangler is hard work,
long days, extreme environments, great friends and the sweet fragrance of
horses - a lot of horses. Wranglers have an honorable place in American
history. Ted explains, “Historically,
wranglers were teenagers hired on the big cattle drives of the 1880’s – 1890’s
to take care of the string of horses the cowboys used to work the cattle
herd. Depending on the size of the herd,
a cowboy might have as many as six to eight horses. On most drives, the cowboys did not own the
horses they rode. They were owned by the
cattle company. This was to prevent the cowboys from quitting and riding off in
the middle of a drive that lasted for several months. During an average day, the cattle might only
move eight to ten miles, but the cowboys would ride three times that and change
mounts several times a day. It was the
wranglers job to make sure the horses were groomed, fed, shod and generally
cared for so they were ready for the cowboys. Today, wranglers are people who
work for outfits taking usually inexperienced riders on trail rides, cattle
drives and arena events.”
After wrangler school at Valley
Ranch, Ted attended college in Riverton, Wyoming. He studied the rules of horsemanship, a
two-year program including training in overall horsemanship; livestock feeding,
colt breaking and training, farrier science, ranch management, English riding
etiquette, and team roping. “What I really took away from this experience was a
little knowledge about many different equine areas, and it gave me an
experience base to land my first paying job as a wrangler,” he states. “But, if I had known then what I know now, I
would have majored in business.”
Ted’s first position as a wrangler
was at Black Mountain Ranch in McCoy, Colorado. It is at Black Mountain Ranch where he met
Rowdy, a bay Quarter Horse gelding. Rowdy’s dam was a Quarter Horse named Joker
who belonged to Sam, the manager at Black Mountain Ranch. Ted recalls his years
at Black Mountain. “I started there in 1987 as a wrangler. After about a month
into my first summer, the head wrangler was fired for let’s say inappropriate
behavior with a married female guest.
The manager came to me and said you are the head wrangler now. The following summer we had a guest named
Chuck. He was a wiry, cocky twenty-three
year old from Pennsylvania who, after being a guest like me, wanted to live the
dude ranch life. The manager and I
agreed to hire him. Chuck turned out to
be the best wrangler I had ever known.
We only worked at Black Mountain for three years together and went our
separate ways. Chuck went to work as a hunting guide for an outfitter on the
western slope of Colorado. I went to
Tumbling River Ranch near Mount Evans, Colorado, and became the head wrangler
there.” When Chuck left for his new
position in Colorado, he took Rowdy, the bay Quarter Horse gelding, with him.
Rowdy has been in Chuck’s family for nearly twenty-three years now. Recently,
Chuck was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). Ted says, “Chuck and his family now live in
Cody. I am honored to keep his horse for him.
My daughter, Wren, who is six years old, is learning to run barrels on
Rowdy. She won’t ride any other horse.”
While at Black Mountain Ranch, Ted
had the opportunity to meet great equestrians from around the world. “In 1988,
a group of guys called the Newfoundland Trail Riders came to Black Mountain
Ranch. These guys all owned horses and
were good riders. They brought their own
chaps, spurs and saddles with sealskin saddlebags – packed with dried salted
cod and Screech rum!” Ted exclaims. “We took them on an all day ride everyday they
were there. We did a 3-day pack trip and
really had a lot of fun with these guys.
At the end of the week, their president thanked me for a great week. He said they wanted to have a pair of custom
chaps made for me to show their appreciation.
They were really beautiful and well-made, excellent leather, and
stamped, ‘Thanks from Newfs, 1988’. That
was one of the nicest gifts I ever got.”
Ted’s riding tack has grown
throughout the years. He is not partial
to a particular saddle maker, but, through experience, prefers custom
tack. “The saddle I ride was built on a
wade tree, with a big Mexican horn and a five inch cantle. I have saddlebags that are actually permanently
attached to the saddle,” he says. “I also ride with a custom made leather
cantle bag. With the cantle bag, I don’t
like saddles with Cheyenne rolls.
Working on dude ranches, I ride a lot of different horses and find that
the wade tree, with its high gullet, fits most horses well.” A classic ‘wade tree’ saddle is designed for
working ranch horses. The tree defines
the shape of the pommel and cantle. Riding horses with diverse physics require
a multi-fit saddle that the rider is accustomed to and is appropriate for all
horse types.
Between 1992 and 2001, Ted was hired
as head wrangler for Tumbling River Ranch in central Colorado. Located deep in the Colorado high country,
this ranch had an elevation of 9,200 feet.
“We rode to 12,000 feet on all-day rides every week during the
summer. One of the rides was a place
called Rosalie. There is nothing quite
like riding a good horse above timberline with 14,000 foot mountain peaks all
around you. This was my church.” The Colorado Rocky Mountains. Beautiful, breathtaking and a trail riders
dream.
In 1994, while head wrangling at
Tumbling River Ranch, Ted meet his sidekick, Spur. “I think everyone is
entitled to one great dog in their lifetime.
Mine was a black and tan coon hound named Spur,” Ted says, remembering
Spur. “He was a birthday present from my parents. He was the runt of the litter. When they went to pick him up he was nine
weeks old, had pneumonia, was tied under a pickup truck and the breeder was
going to let him die. My parents got him
for $50. I had Spur for fifteen
years. He spent most of his life on a
dude ranch and went on trail rides daily in the summer. Spur was truly my best friend. On my 30th birthday, I was on a
working ranch in Roy, New Mexico. This
was a 23,000 acre ranch and very remote.
The closest neighbor was about 45 minutes away, if it wasn’t
raining. On my birthday, I was the only
human on the ranch and I didn’t get a single phone call all day. But Spur was there for me. In his later years he slept about 23 hours a
day. In the end, he died at the age of
fifteen on his couch in his sleep. He
lived well and died well. I will never
have another dog like him.” No wrangler is complete without a well-loved
dog. Spur was just that and much more.
From the Colorado high country, Ted moved to Whitefish, Montana. There he was the general manager of the Bar W Guest Ranch. This was an opportunity to meet more horses, more dude ranch vacationers and make new friends. Ted says, “For my 40th
birthday the staff gave me a pair of custom boots. These were really high quality boots with my
initials on the uppers. During a cattle
drive on the Blackfoot Reservation, a man offered to take my duffle bag which
had a leather vest, a pair of Levis, gloves a fifth of Wild Turkey, and most
importantly my custom boots. I thought
he meant he would take them to the truck, but apparently he meant
take-for-good. I miss those boots.”
After leaving the Bar W Guest Ranch,
Ted purchased Zeus, an almost-black Appaloosa.
Zeus had been stabled at Bar W for over five years. Zeus was notorious for his disorderly disposition
and bucking episodes. He was originally purchased from Mouse, a Blackfoot
Indian. Ted explains, “Mouse is a horse
trader in the truest sense of the word and has some really great horses. The Blackfeet have always been known as the
best horseman of all the tribes. Zeus was the kind of horse that exploded into
everything he did. Because he loved to
GO, the wranglers tended to let him go.
Unfortunately, this was not what Zeus needed. He needed a consistent rider that would help
him to calm down. He now lopes on a
loose rein and is a different horse. My
four year old son rides with me on Zeus.”
Ted owns another horse, Comet, who
also came from Mouse. Comet is a fifteen
year old Palomino gelding. “Comet was given to me as a gift by the owner of Bar
W Guest Ranch when we left there to move to Cody in October of 2010,” Ted says.
“At that point Comet was already my horse since I had been, with a few
exceptions, the only one to ride him. Comet is my friend and really fun to
ride. He is the kind of horse that will
run the barrels at a dead run and five minutes later walk around the barrels
with my four year old son, with his head down and a loose rein. Comet has power steering, power breaks and
cruise control. In my life I have had
several great horses, but Comet is the best.
He will do just about anything I ask; cross a deep river, go over the
bridge, or jump off a cliff. He is fun
to ride.” Comet is 15.3 hh and 1,200
lbs. He is Ted’s all-time favorite
horse, friend and confidant.
Ted’s favorite horse breed? A
Quarter Horse, of course. American bred, with the largest breed registry in the
world, the Quarter Horse is a wranglers dream.
Quick, efficient, compact and smart, the Quarter Horse is well-suited
for American terrain. Ted expounds on his experience with other horse breeds,
“I am a believer that after each breed’s basic characteristics, horses are a
product of their environment. In high school,
I worked at a couple of Arabian Show barns mucking stalls. The horses spent most of their time in a 12 x
12 stall and they were always trying to kick, bite or stomp me. At the time, I hated those horses and thought
that was just the way Arabians were.
Since then, I have had numerous Arabs on dude ranches and while they
generally are a little more high strung, I have had some that were great dude
horses. I have known mountain trail
riders who swear by various breeds, but in my opinion, most of them can be
turned into great trail horses if they are treated and used right.”
Working outside, in the elements,
with horses, surrounded by sky, streams and mountains. Wrangler.
A vocation synonymous with chaps, saddles, bits, bridles, manes, tails,
and dirt. What is the difference between
a cowboy and a wrangler? Ted explains, “Often the words cowboy or wrangler are
used interchangeably, generally representing a man who can ride. A funny story: On Cowboy Sunday, the kids
were at the front of the Church and the Minister asked if they knew a
cowboy. My daughter answered that her
dad was a cowboy. When asked then if I
have cows, she said, ‘no, but we might get chickens.’ My three year old son
stood up and then announced to the congregation that he was a cowboy…and he had
a toy gun, boots and spurs to prove it.
I used to think being a real cowboy was having those things, too, but I
have learned it takes a lot more. When
my son crawls into bed at night we always say ‘The Words’….they go like this:
Always
tell the truth
Always
be honest
Always
do the right thing
Always
admit when you are wrong
Always
do what you said you would do
Always
respect others
Someday,
whether my son is riding the range or working in a bank, I hope he will
understand that his character and the choices he makes are what make him a true
cowboy.”
Ted is currently a wrangler
instructor and a dude ranch consultant in Cody. “The thing I am spending the
most time on these days is managing Turpin Meadow Ranch in Jackson, Wyoming,”
he says. “This ranch was foreclosed and
the bank hired me to run it until a new owner can be found. My consulting includes caring for ranch
horses, legal issues, horse program development and long-term ranch
management. Most likely I will be
involved with this ranch for some time, including finding a new string of about
sixty horses for the ranch.” Ted is a successful wrangler, businessman,
equestrian, family man and friend. If you are considering a dude ranch vacation,
give Ted a call. He’ll provide you with
accommodations befitting any want-to-be-wrangler; a steady horse, a sturdy
rope, a night under the stars and memories that will last forever.
For more
information, visit Ted….
Sincere
best wishes to Chuck, Ted’s family, Comet, Zeus and Rowdy; thanks, Ted!
All rights reserved. Copyright 2012.
1st Publication Going Gaited 2012
2nd Publication Equine VIP 2012
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