Charged with supplying horses for one of the largest cattle operations in Idaho, cow boss Monte Funkhouser taps into top performance horse bloodlines.

Dust and cattle swirl around a young sorrel colt working hard in the branding corrals. It’s late afternoon in July, and it’s hot.

Monte Funkhouser eases the 2-year-old into the herd, tosses his loop around a hefty solid-black calf, dallies and turns toward the middle of the pen. As the young horse lugs forward in a straight line, one of Funkhouser’s cowboys slips behind and heels the calf. In an instant, the calf is stretched out on its side, and the ground crew swarms around it...

The T4 Cattle Company, a family-owned and -operated cattle ranch in New Mexico, has outlasted recessions, fires, death and countless droughts through sheer deter- mination and a close connection to the land.

For Bill and Carrie Weller of Kadoka, South Dakota, success in the horse business is all about athletes and atmosphere. As far as prestigious horse sale locations go, the Kadoka, South Dakota, rodeo grounds is probably never going to make it onto anyone’s “top 10” list.

That’s not to say there’s anything shabby about the setup. The grounds themselves are well groomed and in good repair. What’s more, they’re put to use regularly for local rodeos and horse shows.

The problem lies in the arena’s geographic location.

USDA’s efforts to implement a national animal identification system have been met with confusion and outrage. With so many forms of identification already in use, horse owners question the reasons behind yet another government program.

Bruce Knight, a soft-spoken Clark Kent lookalike, finds himself in an unenviable position. As the U.S. Department of Agriculture undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs, he should be considered Superman, overseeing a process for the livestock industry that would save it from sure devastation should disease, occurring naturally or introduced through bio-terrorism, strike the nation. But instead he is, to a growing number of livestock owners, the Joker.

They might have only seven rides before being sold, but 2-year-old geldings raised on Bartlett Ranch Wyoming have found a niche in the sale ring. Their marketability stems from their bloodlines and ability, and from the renown of the horsemen who started them under saddle.

When Dr. H. B. “Woody” Bartlett’s 2-year-old colt crop goes through the ring each year during the Fall WYO Quarter Horse Sale in Thermopolis, Wyoming, the ranch-raised Quarter Horses have been ridden only about seven times. This sales approach works well for the veterinarian and longtime cattleman and horseman, who ranches in Alabama and Texas, as well as on Bartlett Ranch Wyoming, which stretches from near Chugwater toward LaGrange.

They might have only seven rides before being sold, but 2-year-old geldings raised on Bartlett Ranch Wyoming have found a niche in the sale ring. Their marketability stems from ...