April 25-May 1, 2010 started our Cattle Drives out of Wyoming into Montana. We had an enthuastic group of all new guests to start the week out with, they were: Hans Lundgren, Gena Durette, Dennis Hedarp, Irene Barmettler, Fred Ferris and his daughter Kathryn, Bonnie Caswell and Steve DiNapoli. Getting to the Brad correls by 8:00 on a Monday morning was a challenge but we did a great job thanks to Jackie that made breakfast burritos each morning that we could eat on the drive out. The volcano made Irene's arrival a week late but we had lots to do to make up for the riding time. We trailed 237 mother cows and calves from Lovell to the Dryhead over a four day period and had three baby calves on the way. We were all glad to see the ranch. The grass is just turning green and getting a good start. As always we pray for rain which came on Friday so that we will have a good growing season and the calves were ready for a well earned rest.

April 18-24, 2010 started our second Horse Drive week. We were glad to be at the ranch for the whole week and on Monday we began looking for the mares that had spent the winter in Spring Creek with their now one year old colts. We had a group of all new to the ranch guests, Nivedita Chauhan, Gena Durette, Eamon and Maryanne O'Dowd, Barbara Kelley and our faithful helpers Pat Crociata and Lawrence Smoller. We had a great week of gathering horses and weaning colts and returning the mares to the south pasture to await the birth of 2010 colts. It was great to see that everything had made it through the winter with good flesh and good health.

We began our 2010 guest season on April 11-17, 2010 with our famous Horse Drive. This spring we trailed our horse cavvy from our homeplace in Lovell to the Dryhead Ranch in Montana. We had been feeding the geldings and getting the necessary coggins and health and brand inspections needed to trail between Montana and Wyoming.

It was an exciting three days and the horses were ready to be back at the ranch and out on open range. We had two returns back with us, Pat Crociata and Lawrence Smoller and two new guests, Mario Sclafani and Amy McElmurray. It was a great week and the two days at the ranch gave us time to look for the 9 horses that we could not find in February and get the electric fence fixed so we could put our horses on the best grass.

Dryhead Ranch 2010

With the sunshine lately and the snow melted here in Lovell it seems like we are about ready for spring. This picture will get everyone excited for green grass if the warmer weather hasn't already done the trick.

Here in Lovell we are having 8-10 baby calves a day. Will, Jake and Jessie are tagging everyday to keep up with the older cows as they have their calves. Here in the feedlot better than half of the heifers have had their calves and we have hauled them down into the pasture below the main house. We will continue to have calves all the month of March and they will grow big enough to be ready for the cattle drives the end of April and the first week in May. With the sunshine we hope that the ranch will look just like this when we get the cows there in May.

We were able to drive as far as the upper gate at the Dryhead Ranch on Saturday. There is about 8-10 inches of snow laying level everywhere at the reservation gate. We walked down to check on the cats and the buildings. All is well and quiet. We fed cake to about half of the horses and they are doing well for the amount of snow they have to dig through to get to grass. They don't have to go far for water as the snow is plentiful. I don't think we will be seeing the ground very soon.

Iris is taking bookings daily but we would like to offer a 10% discount to any return who will book before the 11th of April when our first horse drive begins. Because of the snow we will trail our cavvy horses to Lovell on Saturday, March 6th, 2010 where we will feed them for the next six weeks. For our first horse drive we are going to do all the vet work on the cavvy horses here in Lovell and then trail them back to the Dryhead Ranch for the beginning of the guest season. This first horse drive needs a few more people, if anyone out there is interested in a great adventure with us this spring. Give us a call.

Iris and I drove to the ranch today to check on our cavvy horses. Not many see the ranch with its winter coat on but it is a beautiful scene. The Pryor Mountains are in the distant background and seeing the horses come into the yard to get their share of the cake we feed them in the winter is a beautiful site. Today looked like this with sunshine reflecting off the 8 inches of snow and crisp fresh air.

We have added an earlier Horse Drive on April 11, because of the interest in moving horses. If there is anyone out there who would like to join us, please give us a call (307-548-6688) and sign up. Come and help us vet our cavvy horses in Wyoming and then trail them 50 miles to the ranch in Montana that first week of the 2010 guest season.

Tyler, Cowboy Extraordinaire

There is no better place to ride than at the Dryhead Ranch. Lots of beautiful open country to ride in and enjoy the peacefulness of being horseback. Tyler is working on the responsiveness of his horse, Badger as well as the obedience skills of his dog, Bear. He owns several horses of his own and rides colts and spoilt guest horses for the ranch. In this picture we are moving horses back into the neighbors pasture and so there is a lot to pay attention to and be excited about. Tyler is very talented at mechanics and woodworking. Cassie and Tyler are planning a wedding for June 12, and he is making a log bed for their house. He is working at GP driving a scrapper this winter so he can afford a wedding and college in the fall.

Dryhead Ranch is the caretaker of 22,000 acres where we graze 800 mother cows with their calves and 100 head of horses. We offer authentic cattle drives and horse drives and ranch weeks that let you participate at any level that you want to.

Jackie, Our Ranch Cook

Cooks are never praised enough and this post is especially for Jackie. She is my sister and the redhead in this posting. Riggs, is the cooks helper and they were a fearsome pair. At the Dryhead Ranch we feed our guests three meals a day. Our menu accents beef since we are a beef raising family and ranch. We offer tender angus beef roasts and to die for hamburgers. This home grown beef is better than what you can buy in any store. Thursday the specialty is Indian Tacos, a favorite in our family as well as with our guests. Homemade bread dough is fried as the base of the taco and then many toppings (hamburger, chill, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, salsa, olives, fried beans,) are added according to diet and taste. They are a Dryhead country specialty. Tri-tip sirloin steaks are grilled to perfection on the last day at the ranch, Friday. So send Jackie an email (clickme2@tctwest.net) and tell her your favorite recipe to add to our Ranch cookbook and line up your favorite meals for 2010.

Dryhead Ranch is an authentic working ranch. Our guests come as strangers and leave as friends. We share a unique, seldom experienced anywhere else vacation. It will capture your heart and your dreams. We begin our season in mid-April and end in early November. We, the Bassett family, own our land and our cows. We give to you as a partner for a week, one of our best cow horses, to experience what a real working ranch does and how real cowboys live.

After you have looked around in the website and have any questions, please feel free to ask here. We are happy to chat about your thoughts.

Dryhead Ranch

Dryhead Ranch (formerly Schively Ranch) is one of the few truly real working Montana Horse Ranches / Cattle Ranches. This Montana Working Ranch was built in l898 and has run thousands of head of cattle and been the home of many cowboys who have rode and trained hundreds of foundation bred quarter horses over the years.

We invite you to join us at the Dryhead Ranch to experience a cowboy lifestyle that you see only in the movies, we are a Montana Dude and Working Ranch.
When you come to the Dryhead Ranch you will get to participate first hand in a real Cattle Drive or a challenging Horse Drive or have the opportunity to brand a calf. We offer the hands on challenge of imprinting our colts and halter breaking our yearling colts.

The Dryhead Ranch is a Montana Guest Ranch on the east slopes of the Pryor Mountains, south of Billings, Montana. We will share with you one of the largest Buffalo Jumps in the United States. Our Dryhead Canyon offers this awe inspiring Buffalo Jump with a hands on indian flavor to interest any history buff. The Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range near by is the oldest refuge for mustang horses. You can see and photograph spanish blood mustang horses who run wild and free on 70,000 acres. We offer a truly unique authentic cowboy experience. Our cowboys care for 20,000 acres of grassland mountain country. We watch over 800 head of mother cows and calves and 300 head of mares, colts, cavvy horses and several foundation bred quarter horse studs on our Montana Ranch. Our guests come as strangers but leave as cowboys and friends.

Come join us for a week or more, it WILL change your life

www.dryheadranch.com