Horseman’s Corner Radio

For the listening public, we're talking to Brandi Iverson. I met Brandi at the Montana Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Lewistown, Montana. You were a vendor. Tell us what you're doing there.   "Yeah, so I sell wild rags, which are cowboy neckerchiefs. I bought the business about three and a half years ago to be able to stay home with my three kids more often on the ranch. I was previously a teacher in our local school, only school in the county, and it has about 55 students kindergarten through high school."   That is a grand old cowboy tradition. You didn't come in from somewhere else like so many of the school moms back in the old days, did you?   "No, I grew up in Montana. I've been here all my life and don't ever plan on moving."   And so how far away did you have to move when you went to the school there?   "I grew up in Billings, which is about two hours south, and my husband drugged me up here. We just had our sixth anniversary, so six and a half years ago we moved out here, and I never really felt grounded until I came out to the ranch the first time, and I was like, I am never leaving. I have been able to replace my teaching salary completely. I package all of the scarves, and all of my scarves come with a lifetime hem guarantee. All of my materials are domestically sourced, and so that's really great that I'm doing my part to keep our economy going."   Brandi Everson with Montana Wild Rags.

Now here's an archived interview with the late Howard Hale and Brian Neubert, Altruist, California horseman and trainer. Howard had just asked him about what he learned from working with Mustangs.   "Thinking about becoming more efficient all the time so I can get more done with less effort. And, oh, they sent me all over the country and quite a bit to Texas and you went to Florida and all over the western states and Nebraska quite a few times. But they, you know, it was kind of fun to get paid to educate yourself and trying to think constantly how I can get more accomplished with less effort and anyway I had a lot of fun with that. And really kind of learned, with what I learned with those wild horses, apply to just anything you're doing. Loading one in the trailer or handling their feeder, getting them to change leads or anything. I had a lot of fun with that actually."   Is it more of a challenge to try to teach people or to teach those wild horses?    "It's always way tougher to teach people."   That was Altruist California trainer and horseman, Brian Neubert with the late Howard Hale. 

Here's another segment of our interview with Ben Crane, an artist for Leaning Tree Greeting Cards, and we thank Ben for taking the time for doing this interview with us. Here's our final segment from Ben Crane.   "I am created. We all are. And according to the Owner's Manual, it talks about, in Psalms 139, it talks about God knitting people together. Which is a really cool visual of how much he thinks of us. So I can just see him up there, just sipping coffee and knitting me together. Oh yeah, he's going to have a gimped hand."   "And he reaches over to the yarn that makes the guy really want to play the guitar. Let's push this in there and see what happens. Everybody's got a deal that's tough for them. I ain't no different than the next guy."   Yours just shows up on the left hand there. Mine shows up on the right side of my neck.   "Or between my two ears."    There's a lot of people that shows up between their ears.    Ben Crane with our co-host David Woodruff on today's Horseman's Corner.   We'll have more tomorrow. (weekend extended edition) That's going to do it for today's program. Thanks again for listening and may God bless.

More on Ralph Loosemore from Ben Crane and David Woodruff...

Ben Crane explains that he is not the owner of Leaning Tree Greeting Cards, but one of about 200 artists who contribute to the company. His work has mainly been in their Western Humor card line, where around 18 artists were involved. He lives west of Eckville, Alberta, at about 3,068 feet elevation, in a transition area between cropland and pasture/bush rather than in the foothills. The discussion includes light conversation about local geography, weather, and early winter conditions. Crane shares his background: though born in Elmira, New York, he moved to Alberta at age two when his father took a machinist job in Three Hills instead of moving to Colorado. He grew up near town with horses, participated in 4-H, and developed strong ties to ranching and rural life. These experiences, including camping near Ya Ha Tinda and working for a rancher who used Belgian draft horses, later inspired his songwriting and art.

"There's a lot of it that plays into it. Any horse that's been very well trained for most events can go be a trail horse because they have that mindset, that willing attitude you want. Some of the things that they have to get used to is, for instance, if they're a show horse, and they've never really seen things blowing out in the wind, out in the open, or some of the big, funny-looking rock formations, they have to get used to that a little bit."