I am thinking about spending a week "cowboying" at the Rafter Star Ranch.

Anyone have any info on those folks?

I primarily want to spend a lot of time in the saddle, but to be honest, I would prefer a decent bed, grub, and bathroom!

Thanks.

BH63

So does every cowboy in the world..trust me on that one. Nothing beats good food, a good bed and that first cup of coffee in the morning.

What's the pay start at? I know of one big ranch in Central Montana that pays decent but the hours are long and the housing is marginal. The only bad thing about the place is the owner hates horses and all the gathering is done with ATVs. It was a good job until we found asbestos in the house.

Umm I believe the original post was about a dude ranch.

Most dude ranches today pamper the client, Look over the web sights and check out the references..

On a real working ranch, a good bed is a warm bedroll, decent food if your lucky, and no bathroom, its camping out, gathering cows and branding, marking and mothering up cows and calves, fixing windmills, fence and a hundred or so other jobs, whatever needs doing...Maybe on a cow outfit sheep and goat outfit, all the same, except in a Zane Grey novel these days.

My first cowboy job was during summer brake in grade school, I followed a herd of Spanish goats in the Mountains Of the big bend area of West Texas every day and brought them back to pens in the evening ON FOOT..$2.00 a day..all summer...

Next summer I told Nap Chaffin I wouldn't work for him, he asked why and I told him too much climbing..He said well, why didn't you say so, I'll furnish you a horse and gear, I said, well OK...I got dropped off at the cow camp, and there was a 4 year old bronc Mule, never had a saddle on him and a note to break him and I would get $3.00 a day, I was also given an old form fitting saddle from the 1800s at least..I wasn't aware that was a bad deal so I broke the mule and herded goats all day another summer, I learned to appreciate that form fitter saddle before summer was over....My cowboy life was mostly down hill from that day on, but I was living the good life in my young mind!! I ended up some years later in high school training cutting horses for EP Eppnauer who owned 3 world champions under the tuteledge of Orvil Braswell who some time later got tied to a kitchen table and casterated for having a go at some other guys wife..again that's apparently the cowboy way...Orville bled to death and the husband and accomplace went to jail for murder and I was on my own training cutting horses for a while.

What has all this got to do with Rafter Star Ranch? I have no idea..