One Tough Cowboy

One Tough Cowboy

Yes, real cowboys  still exist.
Thanks to a friend, I was invited to spend some time living on a working ranch and photographing day-to-day cowboy life.

Joe Maher is a tough, but soft-spoken all business cowboy who hires out to cattle ranchers to round-up, rope, tag, and drive cattle. His reputation precedes him. I heard him called a miserable SOB from more than one source, so I was a little unsure about going to live in his house for a week.
I found Joe and his wife Barbara to be kind, genuine, hospitable, and unpretentious folks.
Joe also raises horses for sale. Wherever he goes at least one of his dogs is following, ready to help move cows by nipping at their heals.
Working with young colts and fillies is where Joe’s soft side shows through. Make no mistake, these horses are not pets. They are well cared for, but they spend most of their time outside to condition them to the uneven terrain they will be working in. Even so, the horses come right up to Joe as if to say hello.

Watching Joe work was an experience I’ll not forget. I heard it said that one cannot tell where Joe stops and the horse begins. They move and seem to think as one.

I designed and sent them a photo album with some of my favorite images.

Thank you Joe Maher