Cowboys + Horses + Montana + Small Town = Horse Drive

Last year around this time I wrote about the annual Horse Roundup and Horse Drive that can only be experienced in small town Montana.  You can read my post here.   Last weekend it was that time again and I was bound and determined not to miss it this year.  So we arrived way early and enjoyed the day basking in the sun and warm temps (the first nice temps of the year so far).

This roundup and drive attracts cowboys from all over the world who participate in this 4-day event where they roundup the horses from their wintering pasture and drive them back to the Mantle Ranch where they will be sent out to other areas around Montana where they are used for horseback trail rides.

While waiting for the horses to arrive we walked around town and visited the many vendors.  We enjoyed listening to the live band, eating good food and people watched (my favorite past-time).  I took many photos which pretty much speak for themselves.
 

We are hanging out in front of the historical Sacajawea Hotel

This looks like fun!

Dear Hubby 

The horses finally arrive being led by these cowboys

There were about 300 horses that are being driven through town.  

These horses are beautiful!

They were taken to a pasture on the other side of town where they would be staying the night before moving on the next day

I just LOVE Horses!

And here we are together

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After the horse drive we went on a short drive to a nearby river area.  It really was a gorgeous day.  

I loved this bridge

Lots of Bees and this Pheasant

Some people might think gophers are a pest but I think they are cute!

This little guy was posing for me

And then we stopped by the Three Forks ponds and got to see these Pelicans

I have never seen pelicans in real life before

So Awesome!

Last weekend was the perfect weekend.  Not only was the weather perfect, but it was Easter, and it was so very nice to get out and enjoy the outdoors!  My next post will cover what we did on Easter Sunday, so look for that coming up soon.  

HORSE DRIVE

A few weeks ago we heard about a horse drive that runs 400 horses down main street of a small town about 20 miles west of us.  They drive the horses from their winter quarters to where they will be staying for the summer. When I heard about this, I knew this was something I just had to see.  It was scheduled for the following day, Saturday, April 24th. 

I gathered as much info as I could to find out what time it started and where we needed to be.  Being new to the area I had no idea it was such a huge event.  This would be the 7th Annual Spring Horse Roundup and Horse Drive and it is really the last of its kind.  People all around the world come to take part in this event.  You can read more about it here.

Since we only learned of this the day before I didn't know what time we needed to be there to see them drive the horses through town.  The only information I found was they would be arriving in town sometime between 2-4pm.  Bill works nights and would need a little sleep so we planned on arriving about 1:30. 

So we drove 20 miles to the neighboring town of Three Forks, MT to see the annual Three Forks Horse Drive on that Saturday arriving approximately at 1:30.  We arrived just in time to see the horses being driven into their holding area where they would stay that night.  We had missed the horses being driven down main street!   I was so bummed.  But seeing the horses running in the open field was a beautiful sight anyway and I was able to take some pretty good pictures. 

Like I said, we had no idea how huge an event this was until we arrived in that tiny town.  There were so many people there.  There was a band playing, horse wagon rides giving tours of the town and its history, there were street vendors serving all kinds of yummy cowboy food.  I was so sorry we missed being there earlier so we could have seen the horses being driven down main street. 

Here is a video clip from the local news station.  Make sure you check it out.  Like I said this kind of thing is the very last of its kind and only something you would find right here in Montana. 



Here are some of the pictures I took.  The horses are so beautiful!

Look closely. Do you see something out of place?

Yes, thats a Llama!  There was one lonely Llama in that field looking like he was wondering what the heck was going on with all these horses taking over his place of residence.  I thought it was pretty funny.

I loved the reflection in the windows of this Saddle Shop.

One of the carriage rides through town

I am a huge fan of historical places.  And the history of this town is huge. 

I have mentioned before that if I could live in another era of time it would be in the 1800's.  I love almost everything about the whole western scene.  I would love to have a ranch full of horses, and I would love to be the cowgirl driving her horses to their summer location.  In my dreams!  So I will definately be back next year (on time) to watch those horses run through town.   There is such beauty in a horse!