Working Ranch Magazine January/February 2025

Oh Hell Yes pictured with Jim Brinkman

The HP Ranch Horse Invitational is the highest paying Ranch Horse competition in the country.

PITZER RANCH

PITZER RANCH

despite being scared. They’re caught, lead around, petted on and soon are relaxed and chewing their lips. That is the extent of their disposition train ing, two-to-three months later those colts will be put in the Pitzer Ranch sale. A sale which for the last 45 years has sold over 800 horses a year. This system is designed for the crew to learn the colt, which they score for balance, muscling, etc. as well as to keep the horse safe for when custom ers load the colt into the horse trailer and take him home. That twenty min utes they spend will prevent a lot of headaches later on. According to Brinkman, if you can put a halter on him like that when he’s really green and he doesn’t get wild, he’ll probably score better when you’re roping on him when he’s an 8-year old. Over the years, they have had dif ferent stallions they’ve purchased and brought into the program and after seeing the first foal crop, “We would sell the stud off, there were just too

many bad-minded ones in the group. I always add the disclaimer, you always have to read the fine print on all this stuff. When lightning strikes, it will strike anywhere and may never strike there again. So in every line of horses, there is that one exception that is a World Champion, but in general, I’ll be right about what breedings will yield.” Brinkman who has been a breeder, rancher, and competitor for the entirety of his adult life, has seen and owned a lot of good horses, including Mr Joes Song (Mr Baron Red x Watch Joes Song) who holds a special place in his heart. “That horse really fit me very well and his sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaughters have been good. He was a really good show horse, could do anything on him, and then you could let kids get on him. He had all kinds of turn up but a very quiet disposition.” When it comes to disposition, breed ing matters most. The Pitzer Ranch has over 75 years to prove it.

after year to the Pitzer Horse sales knowing they will head home with a horse that’s outfitted with a good dis position, ability, and conformation. When asked how they can provide this consistency, Brinkman explains their one-and-done system. “We’ve done this since the sixties, we bring all the colts in about two to three months of age, usually around the 4th of July. We walk in the stall with mama and the baby and we stick a halter on him and pull him out of the stall and lead him around the arena.” Up until this time the colt has never been touched, his days have been spent running the hills with mom. At this juncture they are a raw slate so “when you grab him and he reaches down and bites you on the leg, his mother has a tendency to not make the disposition cut. Or when you walk in there and he double-bar rel kicks you in the belly, his mom doesn’t make the cut for producing gentle progeny.” The ones that make the cut are colts that don’t do much

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