Lazy Six Nine Ranch...Goes Big or Goes Home (as seen in Today's Horse Magazine)

Our magnificent Mack is in the Today’s Horse 2019 Breeder’s Edition! We are truly honored that Maegan McPherson wrote about Mack and us. It covers a bit of who we are and a bit about our plans for our half/draft breeding program. This dream of ours has been a long one that was finally set in motion in early 2018. We are so excited for the future as our first round of colts are born this coming spring! We also have a few more surprises up our sleeve too, which makes everything that much more meaningful. Thank you for a wonderful article, Maegan!!

The Lazy Six Nine Ranch

Goes BIG or Goes HOME

By: Maegan McPherson

Shane, Cheyenne, and their son Stone Wilson are fifth generation

ranchers, residing on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, and have been

ranching there since 2005. Cheyenne and Stone are enrolled members of the

Oglala Lakota Sioux tribe. They run a cow/calf operation and they also began a

half-draft breeding program this past summer.

“We fell in love with half-drafts back in 2006 when we purchased our first

one, Shark,” stated Cheyenne. “Since then we’ve added quite a few to our herd.

Nothing compares to them in terms of bone, heartiness, stamina, and overall

attitude (in our humble opinion). We enjoy them so much that when the

opportunity presented itself we dove in head first, and went big with 25 head of

AQHA registered mares and a registered Percheron stud. We are so excited to

see this dream unfold, as our first foals arrive in the spring of 2019.”

Shane and Cheyenne met at the Bison Bar in Miles City, Montana. “I was

working and he was playing. He was quite outgoing and told me loudly that I was

pretty. I had a habit of never dating anyone from the Bar, but I made an

exception for him and about 2 months later we went on our first date. He cooked

supper for me. Beef, of course. Even though we couldn’t eat the meat (that’s a

funny story for another day and has no reflection on his cooking abilities) I fell for

him. We’ve been together ever since. We have been together almost 14 years,

and married for 12 of those years.”

Their son Stone, was born in the late summer of 2008. Cheyenne claims

that, “He was truly the greatest gift we’ve ever received. I was told I couldn’t have

children by several specialists over the years so you can imagine our surprise

and delight when we learned that he was on the way. He truly is our miracle and

we feel blessed to be his parents. He is a delight to be around and his smile is

almost as big as his joy for life. We feel extra blessed to be raising our 6th

generation rancher/cowboy in the same fashion that we were raised in. In this

day and age, the more dirt you have under your fingernails early in life is a good

thing in my opinion!”

Shane was raised on his grandparent’s place south of Greycliff, Montana

in the Beartooth Mountain range. It’s located between Big Timber and

Absarokee. He went to school in Absarokee. Cheyenne was raised on her

family’s place on Cherry Creek north of Terry, Montana - northeast of Miles City,

and went to school in Terry. They both grew up horseback working with cattle

and horses, and learned how to ranch through their personal experience, and fell

in love with the way of life at an early age. They both competed in rodeo and

earned full-ride rodeo scholarships for college. Shane went to Miles Community

College in Miles City, MT and Cheyenne went to Dawson Community College in

Glendive, MT.

Shane learned to break colts and ride young horses at an early age. He

also spent summers working his grandparent’s day rides. He was taking rides out

all by himself when he was just 11 years old. He also spent many weeks each fall

in hunting camp as his grandparents also had an outfitting business. “One of

Shane’s fondest memories when he was a kid was the steer he broke to ride.

They went all over the place together. Whenever he talks about Smoky he smiles

extra big!” exclaimed Cheyenne.

Cheyenne spent all of her extra time helping out on the ranch. There

wasn’t a day that she didn’t learn something new when it came to cattle and

horses. She also started writing when she was quite young. “I became a

published poet at the age of 12. I wrote for the local newspaper and pretty soon

worked my way up to writing rodeo results for various publications. I eventually

worked my way into blogging and now write daily/weekly. My blog is

www.thenativecowgirl.com. That is what I am after all!”

Cheyenne’s biggest aspiration is to write a book, and she states, “I’m

working on that!” Back in the fall of 2014 an opportunity fell into her lap

concerning a vitamin/mineral product. She had no experience in network

marketing, but knew immediately that this product was too good not to share with

others. So, again like the Wilson Family does, Cheyenne dove in head first and

went to the top of the company in 6 short months. “It’s funny how things find us

when we aren’t even looking. Perhaps it’s fate if you believe in that sort of thing. I

just know that this product has changed our lives forever in all areas and I

couldn’t be more grateful for that. I spent a lot of my time traveling all over the

country to help my teammates and share this product with others who don’t know

about it yet. I love that a lot of our team is made up of fellow horse lovers. We

share many things in common.” Cheyenne also dabbles in photography. “I’m in

love with sunrises and sunsets and anything ranch related. I’m working on honing

this craft.”

Cheyenne’s grandfather bred AQHA horses for as long as she can

remember. He passed away in 1985, but her folks continued on his legacy. He

raised a lot of foundation bloodlines and sold horses all over the country. Most

were used in rodeo and on the ranch. “I still have folks who remember him and

rave about the horses that they got from him and my parents.”

Cheyenne has been riding horses for as long as she can remember also.

“It’s not untrue to say that I was riding a horse before I could walk. My parents

had a lot of pride in training our own horses. We never bought a trained horse for

the rodeo events we competed in. The fact that I won 3 Montana state high

school rodeo championships in 1990 and 1991 on horses we raised and trained

was a big deal to us! My mom trained her own barrel horses and competed in the

1976 NFR. My parents were a great team back then. My dad would ride the

rough out of them and start them. My mom would put the finishing touches on

them for barrels and poles, and then my dad would rope on them. They were all-

around horses when they were done with them. Many went on to do amazing

things for lots of people, with many rodeo championships earned along the way

on those horses.”

Shane’s grandfather always had a lot of horses around as well. He bred

and raised them and also bought some along the way. Shane was introduced to

horses at a young age and was breaking colts at the age of 9 with his grandpa,

Corky Hedrick. Corky also had a lot of horses that were used in the movie

industry. “I’ve heard of some of the movies they were involved in: Far and Away,

Son of the Morning Star, Maverick, Lightning Jack, Geronimo, Tombstone,

Hidalgo, etc. That’s just a couple of them. Speaking of Hidalgo, Shane worked on

that movie set and was even in the movie! He’s the soldier handing out the rifles

towards the end of the movie when they are going to shoot the horses. He

appears four times. I remember the first time he told me that, it all made sense

why his friends called him “Hollywood” and I have to admit I thought it was pretty

neat that I was dating a movie star back then!”

Both Shane and Cheyenne’s families raised horses, mostly for the ranch

and competing, but this is their first venture with their own breeding program, and

they couldn’t be more excited. “We are breeding half-draft horses because we

love what they are. They can be used for competing. We mostly use them for

ranch rodeos. I like to call these horses “dependable”. They may not be speed

demons and they may not be “catty” like some of the others around, but I can

guarantee you if I had a day full of horseback work to do, one of the guys we ride

is what I’d want. There isn’t much nonsense in them. I’m at the age where

nonsense makes literally no sense, and I don’t have the time nor patience to deal

with it. I believe others are the same, whether you enjoy riding on your place or

perhaps on a trail somewhere. The more I look around, the more I see half-draft

horses filling a big void. It makes me happy to see this and that’s why we’ve

decided to throw our hat in the ring so to speak.”

Shane found their new Percheron stallion, Mack, through their friend Brad

Lange from Oglala, SD. “We are what you call neighbors out here and he and

Shane are friends. They share a love of cowboying and big horses you might

say. We were looking for a stud at the time because as fate would have it we had

acquired 25 mares. A gal we have known for a long time (Dalice Landers) was

selling her entire AQHA mare herd. We had also bought a couple of mares from

my folks and from Bernard and Terry Beguin-Strong out of Rushville, NE, so we

needed a stud!”

Shane handled looking at him, buying him, and bringing him home. “He

had shown me pictures, and I agreed Mack was exactly what we were looking for

in a Percheron stud. He was big, well-built, a beautiful dapple grey, and he had a

really kind eye. He was also a proven breeder already. When Shane brought him

home I have to admit that I was a bit overwhelmed by his size! He came rolling

up in our half top trailer and Mack looked like he could have basically stepped

over the end gate (but he didn’t). Shane eagerly showed me his “trick”. You can

squeeze up behind his ears and he will lower his head to the ground. Shane was

delighted by that, and I honestly couldn’t believe how calm and cool he was, not

only because he is a stud, but because he is only 4 years old. I’ve been around

quite a few studs and Mack was something I’d never seen before! He was so

gentle and kind and full of good manners. I am not exactly sure if his breeders

(Michael & Sharon Perdue-Yager) deserve the credit or if it goes to Brad Lange,

but whomever taught him his manners did a stand up job! From the moment

Shane brought him home he became an immediate member of the family. He is

so majestic! I swear when he sees me getting the camera out, he knows it’s time

to pose!”

Mack is a registered Percheron with the Percheron Horse Association of

America. He is a dappled grey, which isn’t as common as black in Percherons.

“We are excited by his color, but also by his incredible personality and

temperament. We are very hopeful that he will throw his good bone, color, and

temperament onto his offspring.”

The Wilson’s turned Mack out with his band of mares in June 2018. They

are super excited to see what next April and May hold for their first round of half-

draft foals. They plan to keep a couple, but also to sell some as weanlings or

yearlings. “We aren’t exactly sure at this point as we are waiting to see how

many we are gifted with this first year. At this point we don’t plan to stand him just

yet. Again we will see what unfolds for us at that point. We do have plans to have

a second draft stud (Percheron or perhaps a Shire). We also have a registered

Gypsy Vanner (coming 2-year-old), who will have his own mare band also this

coming year. You might say we have multiple plans unfolding as time goes.”

One thing that Cheyenne loves about Mack is that you can just jump on

him with a halter and a lead rope. “Our 10-year-old son, Stone, does often and

Mack doesn’t bat an eyelash. This says a lot right there!”

This is a long term deal for Shane and Cheyenne. “We really enjoy riding

half-draft horses, so we are doing this as much for our own enjoyment as we are

for the public. We are super excited to see what temperament, size, and coloring

we get from the various crosses we are using. We believe in being diversified, so

having operations in cattle, horses, and my direct sales business just makes

sense to us. We can be involved in all of these things right on the place so it

works out in all ways!”

Cheyenne admits that her folks, (Cliff & Lila Glade) have been the most

influential people for her in the horse business because, “I have watched them

from a very small age. I know that horses don’t make themselves. It takes a lot of

hard work, patience, and determination to see a horse from start to finish. I also

have learned about the horse business from them. I know there are high points,

but there are also low points. I saw the pride in them whenever one they had

raised went on and did great things, which was a lot of them. I knew long ago

that if ever got a chance to be in the horse business, that I never wanted to get

into trading horses. I want to raise horses that we know everything about, and

that we can proudly put our name to with the history of a solidly built relationship

in our pocket, versus guesswork as to what the horse is, and what he will be.”

Shane would say that his grandfather (Corky Hedrick) has been the most

influential person in his life. Corky taught him how to work with horses from a

young age (even the not-so-nice ones). Shane learned a lot over the years

through personal experience about what it takes to get a horse though the rough

patches and how to have respect on both sides. “I can honestly say that any

horse Shane has anything to do with around here, is one that I have no issue

throwing a leg over or even having our son do so.”

Cheyenne also stated, “That finding your partner in life is a rare and

valuable thing. When you can work together towards a common goal all sorts of

amazing things will happen. I think we are blessed because Shane and I have a

shared vision in what we want, and we aren’t afraid to roll up our sleeves and do

whatever it’s going to take to get the job done.”

For many years they have ridden the half-draft horses. Shane is a big guy,

so a lot of the smaller built horses just don’t work for him. He always wants

something with more size. “What we found from riding these horses over the

years is that there was a heck of a lot more to them than just size. We found a

heart as big as the horse himself, we found lots of brains, we found a willingness

to do pretty much whatever you asked of him, and we found athleticism in the

arena and out on the ranch. There really isn’t much these big, solid horses can’t

do. I really do love their minds. They aren’t thinking about spooking around, they

aren’t goofing off, and once broke - they stay broke. I like that because these

days, folks don’t ride every day. Nobody wants to go out and have to warm their

horse up for an hour, so they don’t get bucked off. That doesn’t fly around here

and I certainly wouldn’t want that for the many women and men that are looking

for a good solid mount. These dream horses (yes, that’s what I call them) will be

exactly what they are looking for; pretty, kind, broke, and willing. I am really

excited for late spring to roll around to see how many we have to work with, and

what the future holds for the Lazy Six Nine Ranch. We couldn’t be any happier to

carry on our ranching tradition in whatever way we can!”