nathanm
Active member
Reckon thats true, too.
Stupid Question
- Thread starter nathanm
- Start date
Help Support CattleToday:
- Status
Caustic Burno
Well-known member
Admit you want a horse to play cowboy well go buy one.
They are a total waste of cow pasture if they are not needed.
A horse eats as much as three cows that cuts into profit, if you are not in for profit oh well. You figure the cost of the four wheeler over a lifetime and the horse. Plus the four wheeler is an easy write off the horse you will have to prove is not for pleasure. If your operation is not showing a profit I could just see the look on my CPA's face when I tried to claim it for an expense.
They are a total waste of cow pasture if they are not needed.
A horse eats as much as three cows that cuts into profit, if you are not in for profit oh well. You figure the cost of the four wheeler over a lifetime and the horse. Plus the four wheeler is an easy write off the horse you will have to prove is not for pleasure. If your operation is not showing a profit I could just see the look on my CPA's face when I tried to claim it for an expense.
nathanm
Active member
Well i ain't into the idea to play cowboy. the way i've seen it is that the ATV sucks gas and if i ain't haulin somethin its a waste of gas. Course you got a point on the pasture, but as far as i can tell we've got enough to go 'round that one hayburner isn't gonna cut in too much. and i'm inclined to agree w/ MillIronQH that the noise has spooked ours before and my luck with the ATV's isn't good and i've spent plenty of time sittin waitin on it to get done gettin repaired.
backhoeboogie
Well-known member
nathanm":21x0ais0 said:
Mine was something like 15 years old when I bought it. I have had it 8 years and aired the tires up a few times.
Why are you "waitin on it to get done gettin repaired"? Is this a toy or a tool? I have worked the snot out of mine and it has never torn up. It is only a 250 but can pull a trailer with a round bale on it.
Jogeephus
Well-known member
I'd much rather have three more cows than a darn horse. Horses are expensive luxuries. If your cows are so wild they are spooked by the sound of an ATV you need to spend more time with them. A few trips to the pasture with a bag of range cubes and the girls will be chasing you on the ATV. Least wise thats been my experience. Of course, my buddy at the feed store will differ with me on this one. He LOVES horse people - they are his best customers. ;-)
nathanm
Active member
Guess i just got a lemon. I've worked the heck outta it. yeah its seen some bad days 'cause of yours truly but i really figured it to be more durable. o it still runs and will work if it feels like it, but my only point was that there are times im needed somethin that will be on long periods of time. now i've spent an entire day on it several times and it puttered out where (here i maybe wrong) a horse will work all day and at the end of the day will get feed its ration and will USUALLY be ready to go the next day. my atv puts the fuel away pretty good and some days it just won't work quite right. anyway, i was just curious as to what everyone else thought about hayburners just for a fence ride around or something that didn't need anything but a me or someone else.
MillIronQH
Well-known member
Caustic Burno":1sqd5ial said:
And your CPA is where? Downtown Dallas? I've never known a rancher that had any trouble writing off his horses.
If you think cowboying is playing then you are hereby officially invited to go with me to Montana next year for the spring gather. I'll even furnish your riding stock.Z
MillIronQH":3vhn1lx3 said:
The only good horse I've ever seen was someone else's. You don't by chance sell horses do you?
And as far as atv's scaring off deer - bullcrap. I've shot my share of deer off of the 4wheeler, they're more used to seeing me riding it checking cattle than some yahoo playing Gene Autry.
I'd be willing to bet there's more than a few areas in this great land where one needs a horse or three to gather cattle. Don't know, haven't been everywhere. All I'm saying is I have no use for them, to each his own.
cfpinz
MillIronQH
Well-known member
cfpinz":40b7y3mn said:
As a matter of fact we breed and raise and sell foundation bred Quarterhorses.
I also look after three ranches for absentee owners, work when needed for another I've been with for years and do day work for several others. And it's all done horseback. My old truck wouldn't know how to go down the road without the trailer attached.Z
backhoeboogie
Well-known member
cfpinz":1q0nm6ae said:
I have to agree with you on this one. I had a lease west of Tolar for quarrying stone. The place was also leased to "deer hunters" who were city boys out of Big D and Cow Town. They didn't want me to quarry stone during deer season. Too much noise was their excuse. (a train track runs through the place) I had been watching deer all day long from the backhoe. One of those city boys was crying about not getting a deer and I told him to get out of that deer stand and go sit in my backhoe and watch the oaks over by the highway. The deer come out regularly and eat acorns.
I sit there on the Caterpillar watching the deer forage right next to U.S. 377 with cars and semis blaring by. As long as those cars don't stop, the deer don't pay them much attention. The buck's will lay up in the cedar breaks right next to the highway. Beats all you have ever seen. The "hunters" are always heading all the way to the very back of the place and don't seem to fare very well.
When I shut the motor off on the Caterpillar or hoe, the deer turn their ears right towards me. I get in the truck and pull the trailer out of there. They'll drop their heads and go on about their business.
Funniest thing of all is to hear that freight train coming and see the deer stand right there alongside the fences. Nothing could be louder. I have indeed seen fawns get spooked by the noise.
Caustic Burno
Well-known member
MillIronQH":3er0iasa said:
I have owned some of the finest Quarter Horses there are there is a lot of difference in running cows on a 1000 acres of salt grass country and having to cross bayous to check on cows. Or having 50 to 100 acres and wanting to play cowboy.
Do you own them cow's in Montana or do you drive up there from Texas to play cowboy. Long way to live from your investment, who hay's them in the winter?
Apparently you CPA is not very good. Horses are considered a hobby unless you can prove it is a work animal or you are turning a profit raising and selling, your land doesn't even qualify for ag excemption in Texas with horses only.
MillIronQH
Well-known member
No I don't own the cows. They belong to ranchers I've known for years. AND it ain't about playing cowboy. It's about sticking close to my roots. It's also about making money and keeping my horses tuned up. I'm not a pup anymore but the good Lord willing I still have a few more trips north in my future.
Guess again CB. If you are a breeding and/or training facility you do qualify for ag exemption in Texas. We do both. If you have cows you can write off a horse or horses and the IRS will never bat an eye.
Admit it... You don't like horses because they require some effort that you aren't willing to expend.Z
Guess again CB. If you are a breeding and/or training facility you do qualify for ag exemption in Texas. We do both. If you have cows you can write off a horse or horses and the IRS will never bat an eye.
Admit it... You don't like horses because they require some effort that you aren't willing to expend.Z
aplusmnt
Well-known member
We own both, got a Mule (4 legged kind) and Polaris Ranger (broke at the moment 
)
The Mule is great for checking fence because most of our fences cut through wooded and brush area. Hard to drive the Polaris next to the fences. But when it comes time to fix them it easier to load up the Polaris and head back to do it.
Have carried a saddle bag with hammer and some pliers and bailing wire in it in case it is needed though.
When it comes time to check on cattle though the Polaris is lots more efficient time wise unless they are hiding in the woods.
) The Mule is great for checking fence because most of our fences cut through wooded and brush area. Hard to drive the Polaris next to the fences. But when it comes time to fix them it easier to load up the Polaris and head back to do it.
Have carried a saddle bag with hammer and some pliers and bailing wire in it in case it is needed though.
When it comes time to check on cattle though the Polaris is lots more efficient time wise unless they are hiding in the woods.
With horses they work better when they are broke. A good horse will dang near do the work for you. There are other times that a 4 wheeler just can't get the job. Horses still have a major place in the Ranch world. I do agree with caustic about the little places needing them recreation.
MillIronQH
Well-known member
A small operation can still write a horse off if the owner chooses to have them.
Some years ago I had the opportunity to reflect on why I prefer horses over other forms of getting around. I was working as a guide for an outfitter at Strawberry Az. and we also did 1/2 and all day trailrides.
A family showed up one Sunday right after noon to do a 1/2 day ride. While we were out riding along the rim the father ask me if I had been able to go to church that day. Without even thinking I told him I went to church every day. His face lit up and he ask me where. I just pointed all around me. That family came back twice a month for the whole summer and into fall to go to my church.Z
Some years ago I had the opportunity to reflect on why I prefer horses over other forms of getting around. I was working as a guide for an outfitter at Strawberry Az. and we also did 1/2 and all day trailrides.
A family showed up one Sunday right after noon to do a 1/2 day ride. While we were out riding along the rim the father ask me if I had been able to go to church that day. Without even thinking I told him I went to church every day. His face lit up and he ask me where. I just pointed all around me. That family came back twice a month for the whole summer and into fall to go to my church.Z
Caustic Burno
Well-known member
MillIronQH":1hm9rnn0 said:
Read again real slow as I said it has to be for a profit operation.
I grew out of playing Cowboy a long time ago, this is a business and horses are not profitable unless you are training them for the people pulling and driving down the road with 75,000 dollars worth of truck and trailer living in the 40,000 dollar trailer house. Playing cowboy on the weekend.
I am a Cattleman I raise grass to feed to cattle to sell as beef to produce money with the least cost.
Keep playing rodeo and cowboy and all you will end up is a crippled old man in twenty or so years. Those spills and wrecks will come back to haunt you. That is what a horse and playing rodeo or cowboy is good for.
MillIronQH
Well-known member
Keep playing rodeo and cowboy and all you will end up is a crippled old man in twenty or so years. Those spills and wrecks will come back to haunt you. That is what a horse and playing rodeo or cowboy is good for.
CB... I turned 60 in August. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Z
CB... I turned 60 in August. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Z
nathanm
Active member
If someone is playin anything then they don't really live on a farm or do but don't do any work. Now we are all here as cattlemen, not as fake cowboys or to state our false hopes.
At any rate, CB, our farm has turned up profit for a good amount of years. And anymore, its growing just fine. Now, i don't live on a 500 acre farm that all we do is farm; we've all got our jobs. Nobody here is doin any playin at all, we know where the work needs done.
At any rate, CB, our farm has turned up profit for a good amount of years. And anymore, its growing just fine. Now, i don't live on a 500 acre farm that all we do is farm; we've all got our jobs. Nobody here is doin any playin at all, we know where the work needs done.
- Status
