We are a cattle ranching operation with ranches in Northern Arizona and North Eastern New Mexico.
The proper term in our industry is Cow Calf Operator.
We have the capacity to run 1400 to 1500 mama cows on our ranches.
(See more about Our Ranches or
check out the page on Our Brands.)
In order to graze this many cows, you need a lot of land.
In our case, that's around 100,000 acres or 156 square miles.
We gather our cows 2 or sometimes 3 times per year for
branding, weaning, and shipping, or just moving from one pasture to another.
So we have a big need for horses to get our job done.
We have been breeding horses for around 12 years, and if you know anything about us,
you know we are all about females, be it cows or horses.
In order to raise good calves you need a good bull, but most important is the cow.
Same with horses.
Our Mare Band consists of mares we have bought and raised.
We have ridden them a lot, and most of our mares are proven show winners and have proven offspring.
They are all sound and all but one can still be ridden, and often are, if they miss a year.
We break and ride all our colts and fillies, with most of the emphasis put on the fillies,
looking for the ones that might make the mare band.
We don't have our own stud, preferring to breed AI to several different ones.
We feel that if you have your own stud then you're dedicated to him, and to own the
kind of stud I can breed to for $2,000 would cost me too much to own and maintain him.
Besides, a stud like that you would probably not want to pasture breed with.
We use studs with backgrounds in roping, cutting and reining, and we try not to get
too much Doc O'Lena in our pedigrees. We like studs like
Strait Silver, Tanquery Gin, Smart Chic Olena, Playgun, Wimpys Little Step,
With All Probability, Royal Fletch, Teninas First, Playboys Buck Fever,
Zan Parr Jack, Seven From Heaven, Chic Please, and others. All good horses, and winners.
We are trying to raise the kind of horses that people like to be around, and those that
are easy to ride and train. They have to have a good mind.
We like the horse that wants to be good and tries to help you win whatever discipline.
Hot blooded horses are not that trainable, and won't work for us.
Neither will horses that buck or are mean in any way.
They also need to be athletes, and have at least some cow sense.
I like a cowy horse, but not too cowy for a rope horse or ranch horse.
I'm not saying we don't like cutters, they are fine in their place, but are
sometimes small for a ranch horse or rope horse.
I like reiners because they tend to have good minds, a little more size, and are generally outcrosses.
We don't worry about breeding for speed.
I haven't raised a horse yet that is not fast enough to catch a cow.
We have reached the point that we have a surplus of horses, and are offering some to the public.
Please visit our For Sale page.
Also, you might like to check out our Chuck Wagon, which can be rented out for parties and events.
As for our family, Jamie is Mike's head book keeper, and so far it's been working out great having our office located at our home.
Jamie enjoys heading down the road with Mike from time to time and watching him rope.
Abigail is now 6 and Sam is 12.
Sam just won 10th place in the AQHYA in Oklahoma City in the heading, he was on Topless Valentine.
This was his first world show and we are very proud of him.
Sam is doing so well on his horse, and roping very good.
It's amazing how awesome he is doing.
Abigail is riding now 2 or 3 days a week with her brother Sam or with her dad.
She loves sharing Topless Valentine with Sam and looks forward to the next time she can ride.
Sam loves to play all sports, and has even won some money roping.
Abigail is still a ball of fire, loves to sing, dance, and talk to us non stop.
Seems like the older the kids get, the faster time goes.
Jamie also volunteers with CASA (court appointed special advocate) and really enjoys making a difference in foster children's lives.
We hope you enjoy looking around our website.
Please feel free to contact us at anytime with questions, comments or suggestions.
Mike and Jamie Oden
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