This Saturday I attended the annual Hell’s A-Roarin’ Horse Drive in Gardiner, Montana, a tradition since 1982. When I first heard of the opportunity to experience a slice of “real Montana” and uh, real cowboys, I was excited for days leading up to the event!
And it didn’t disappoint; instead it turned out to be an amazing day and a grand experience, albeit a bit rainy and chilly. But not even a pair of muddy boots could keep me from grinning from ear to ear from all the excitement of experiencing a piece of Montana history – or maybe it was from all those cute Montana cowboys…well, I’ll never tell.
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Beginning at the corrals, the drive then parades down the main street of Gardiner before making its way up miles of winding mountain dirt roads in pursuit of summer pastures:
Here they come!
As they approached, I strategically placed myself behind a boulder which didn’t make for the best shots, but did provide me piece of mind that today would not be the day I would be trampled on by 150 excited horses. How embarrassing would that have been in the presence of all those cute…nevermind. ;)
Even children were in on the fun. What lucky kids!
Cute cowboy number one…
Cute cowboy number two…
Cute cowboy number three…
Cute cowboy number…oops, hey cowGIRL!
The parade of onlookers continued up the mountain after the horses, excited for the BBQ party and live music to follow:
Happy horses in their summer home. What a day!