|
 There
are all kinds of cowboys but there are only a few
real cowboys. Cowboy skills are developed from years
and years of experience with ranch life, stock and
the range. A cowboy must know how ride, pack, gather
cattle, doctor animals, repair tact, shoe, brand,
dehorn, be a mechanic, be a welder, and the lists go
on and on. Howard Horinek, the ranch manager at the
Quarter Circle U Ranch, is a good example of a real
cowboy with many of these extra skills.
Cowboys like Howard are far and few between these
days. Old Arizona cattle ranches are rapidly
becoming something of the past and more obsolete.
Feeder pens have replaced these old family ranches
through out much of Arizona making real cowboys
quite rare.
Howard lives a somewhat isolated life on the Quarter
Circle U Ranch eight miles east of Highway 60
adjacent to the Superstition Mountains. He lives on
this ranch just at the edge of modern society and
urbanization. He lives his life in surroundings he
is familiar with and well adjusted to. When he is
riding, working cattle, mending fence, working on
water holes or packing salt he feels at home with
his surroundings. His two stock dogs are always his
companions. Like any real cowboy knows, a good cow
dog is better then a half of a dozen cowboys in the
brush. Howard’s dogs work cattle at his command.
 Howard
was born in Stratton, Nebraska on July 8, 1948. His
dream as a youngster was to become a cowboy. That
was never far from his reach.
Howard has worked with horses and stock since his
high school days in Atwood, Kansas. He trained colts
throughout his high school days. Howard’s father
owned a farm in Atwood, Kansas. He was a
veterinarian as well as a farmer. Howard grew up
caring and working with animals. His father taught
him many skills needed to train horses or deal with
sick or injured animals.
Howard joined the United States Marine Corp. in
1967. He had been in Viet Nam just nine days before
he reached his nineteenth birthday. He spent most of
his time driving a truck, which was no easy task. He
spent two tours of duty in Viet Nam. He returned to
the United States and entered his first rodeo.
Howard attended Colby Community College in Colby,
Kansas. He participated with the College Rodeo Club.
and attended classes to learn how to make boots and
saddles. He became an accomplished saddle maker and
boot cobbler.
After college he thought he would try to be a feed
salesman, but found no real future in sales. He then
decided in 1973 to try his luck at being a feed lot
cowboy in Yates, Kansas. He worked for the Flint
Hills Beef Feeders for about six months when he
decided it was just to cold working outdoors in the
winter for him. Howard hired out in the summer
months to the Cross Mill Iron Guest & Cattle Ranch
in Wyoming. He worked eight years wrangling dudes
and breaking horses in the summer months in Wyoming.
He broke over 600 head of horses in seven summers
while working for Lonnie Mantle. He guided dudes in
his spare time taking them into the Wind River
Mountains.
In 1983 Howard moved down to Arizona and went to
work on the Hat Ranch for Mick Holder north of
Globe, Arizona. In August of that year he was
working for Lee Woods near Chama, New Mexico when he
broke his hip while on horseback. While recuperating
from his broken hip Howard started thinking
seriously about what he was going to do with the
rest of his life.
He was offered a job managing the JH6 Ranch (Old
Horrell Ranch) west of Globe, Arizona. He put his
life on hold again because being a cowboy was his
calling. The ranch belonged to L.R. Layton and
Howard work there from 1985-1996. He spent eleven
years gaining more valuable knowledge about cattle
ranching in the desert environment of Arizona.
After working for Layton for eleven years, Howard
finally decided he needed to settle down. He bought
a house in Superior, Arizona and started a horse
shoeing business. He shod horses from 1992-1999 for
ranchers and horse owners in the Superior area.
The call of the range brought Howard back to a
cattle ranch in 1999. Judy and Chuck Backus were
looking for someone to manage their Quarter Circle U
Ranch. Howard finally found an ideal ranch to work
on and Chuck and Judy were really happy to find
Howard; especially a man of his expertise with
stock. Howard Horinek is still working cattle,
shoeing horses, doctoring cows, making boots,
building saddles, packing salt, repairing water
holes and windmills. He’s found his niche in life
because he is a real American cowboy and doing what
he loves most. Howard is happy with his life style.
He doesn’t have the pressures of modern society to
deal with.
Howard enjoys Chuck Backus’ environmental methods of
cattle ranching. Occasionally he may have an
arrogant cow or horse to deal with but those days
are for the most part over. Most of the cattle on
the U Ranch are gentle compared to average old-time
range cattle.
There was a day when Apache Junction was primarily
known for its cowboys, prospectors and miners.
Today, if we look hard enough, we can still find a
few real cowboys living near Apache Junction. Howard
certainly epitomizes the spirit of the American West
and the cowboy. You can find him attending mass just
about every Sunday at St. George’s in Apache
Junction.
Here is a poem that Howard might enjoy…
My Horse
Riding my horse
till the sun goes down
In deep canyons
and over rough ground
Far from cars, trucks, planes
And those noisy trains
Until my heart becomes free
Now with this you may see
Why riding my horse
is so dear to me.
© Tom Kollenborn 1963 |
