Melt in your Mouth!

For supper the other day I made my mom’s ‘BBQ Texas Short Ribs’!  I love this recipe because it brings back wonderful memories of my home growing up, but also, I came to the conclusion that I LOVE perfectly done beef short ribs.  At the dinner table I had the profound realization, in which I announced to my family that, “My all-time favourite meat is:  beautifully, slow cooked Beef Short Ribs!  Even more so than a perfectly done Steak or tender Tenderloin!”  It was a BOLD statement!

For me there is nothing that compares to the fall apart, stings of rib meat that melt in your mouth.  Let me walk you through how to try this spectacular part of the beef animal.

BBQ Texas Short Ribs

1 clove of garlic

1 tsp. Chili powder

2 cups Ketchup

1/3 cup of Lemon juice

3/4 cup White Vinegar

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup Brown Sugar

1 Tbsp.  Dry Mustard

Mix all above ingredients in slow cooker, or casserole baking dish.   Our butcher cuts our Beef Ribs into 1.5″ sections called short ribs.  You need approximately 4-5 pounds of these Short Beef Ribs for this recipe.  Quickly brown, or singe, the ribs on the BBQ.  Note:  it is important not to leave the ribs too long on the BBQ as they are high in fat.  A fellow rancher, his wife and I laughed and laughed when he told us his story of how he thought he could completely cook the ribs on the BBQ.  It ended with a large fire due to the rib fat and tough, underdone ribs.   It is the slowwww cooking that makes them irresistible.  After a quick singe on the BBQ, put the ribs into the baking dish or slow cooker and stir to coat the ribs with the sauce.  Then walk away and go do something productive.  They take from the morning to supper time in the slow cooker on low.  I have also done them in the oven, and it is the way my mother did them, baking at 225 degrees fahrenheit for 6 hours.

These ribs are made up of a lot of fat, which is what makes them SOOO good, and why I love them.  Although some ‘wimpy eaters’ cannot handle it.  I made these ribs once for an acquaintance and nearly ‘flipped my lid’ when he painstakingly picked out every bit of fat!  It was painful to watch.

Here are some pictures.  I hope you give ’em a try with rice and coleslaw.  ~Erika Fossen~

This is after the BBQ, but before they are cooked all day

A Rancher’s Day Off

Today my daughter and I were hired to wrangle two hunters into the high country for a friend of ours who is a Guide Outfitter.

We saddled and loaded up our four ranch geldings, along with anything we thought we may need (leather punch, extra leather, farrier supplies, etc.) then headed out. We drove north for 2 & 1/4 hours, then mounted up. The hunters, who admitted to riding only a handful of times, settled right in. Although when they climbed off their trusty steeds for lunch, there were some groans.


After riding for just short of three hours and climbing 2800 feet, we reached camp (6800 feet). The high country was absolutely beautiful with large open meadows. The weather was great, +9 and sunny.


With daylight disappearing fast, we said goodbye and started our decent back to the truck and trailer.



With just the 2 of us coming down, we were able to make better time, reaching the truck at 5 pm.



After the horses had a much needed feed, we loaded up and headed back for home, arriving at 7:25 pm.
It was an awesome day hanging out with my super, capable daughter and putting our geldings to work. It is great when our horses can earn their keep doing ranch work, but also spectacular when they can make a little extra doing something like they did today.
~Erika Fossen~

Frontier Blue 3rd Session

Here is a video of ‘Blue’ and his 3rd session of training. As this is a series, watch the 1st & 2nd blog on ‘Frontier Blue’ if you haven’t already.

This is the 2nd time ‘Blue’ has had a saddle on and the 3rd time being worked with. The object of this session was to continue to have Blue get a feel for the saddle. We were very happy that he was able to pick up right where we left off, assuring him the saddle and rider were nothing to fear. Horses are very smart and remember what they learnt last time.

The trainer is not concerned of the speed Blue is going, wether he is at a walk or trot. The important thing is, he moves out when asked. Blue is quite laid-back, so only moved out at a walk. Although our other horse Count, took off at a lope the 1st time Doug got on his back. He wasn’t bucking, he just was a lot quicker in his nervous state.

As you can see, we use a halter for the first couple rides. The horse has enough tack to learn to get used to, so we do not add a bridle and bit into the mix. It is good for a horse to learn pressure points on his nose and the halter is teaching him these at this point.

If you notice the trainer is already teaching Blue to recognize leg pressure, and to move away from it. He will use his outside leg to steer the horse, as well as guiding his face with the lead line. It is very important to continue to teach the ‘whoa’, as you can see at the end here where the trainer asks him while he applies pressure to the nose.

~Erika Fossen~

Frontier Blue 2nd Session

Here is a video of our 2 year old Quarter Horse ‘Frontier Blue’ getting the saddle put on for the first time. As this is a series, watch the 1st blog on him ‘Introducing Blue’ if you haven’t already.

As my husband says, after you have them saddled, they are likely to ‘blow’ (throw a fit, start bucking and trying to get the saddle off of their back!) when you ask them to walk out for the first time. He was prepared for this, although Blue did not. Doug stops often and reassures the horse that it is okay, helping him to realize the saddle is nothing to fear. After the horse seems settled with the saddle and movement, Doug goes back to what the horse learnt in his 1st training session, now with the saddle on. He continues to learn his ‘whoa’ and both directions on the lunge line, but now with a saddle.
It all starts with the trainer being confident and calm. The horse is looking to Doug for security. Doug wants Blue to learn to stay calm and relaxed, that there is nothing to fear. We do not want Blue to learn how to buck. If he did start to dance around or buck, we would say whoa, and try and get him to stop as quick as possible. Bucking is a learned behaviour. We do not want him to know how to do it. The saying ‘Breaking a Horse’ came from the olden days where some people would saddle up the horse, put it in a corral and let it buck until it was too tired to keep bucking. We do not practice this type of training. Horses are very smart and we like to train them to be comfortable and calm instead. Horses also have a fantastic memory. That is why you have to be careful how you train them. For example, if you go out to catch your horse, and he runs around and around, and you think, “Maybe he doesn’t want to ride today.” So you leave and don’t catch him. Right there you have just taught him that he decides when he gets caught or not. You will then have a problem on your hands. You have to stick with the plan and catch him, even if it means more time spent or getting him into a smaller pen to catch him.
With all the horses we have trained they will always test you at some point. They may be willing at first, but at some point they will try and rebel. Both King and Count went through a stage where they would run away every time you got close enough to catch them. This went on for months but we would always eventually catch them. Now both horses know when we walk in the pen they could run around but why waste the energy? They are both awesome to catch.
All this to say, breeding is very important. We love working with these horses and their characteristics.
~Erika Fossen~