Cowboys Without Borders [2022] Documentary | Western | Gaston Davis | Charro Reed | Richard Roth

b [Music] establishment [Music] is [Music] what does it mean to be a cowboy oh man it's my life [Music] i get to see things that people never get to see we went on down to kohila mexico we started we got the horses up early it was dark and got on horseback [Music] we went all day long and got back at night and uh but we rounded up some cows and and got them to the pens and marked them but that was in mexico and coaguila sure was a lot of fun [Music] well the fun time was getting them in the crowd and it was roping i used to pride myself on on roping and and i did good and i did bad you know but uh i enjoyed it you know and that that's true that's the truth 25 000 acres 60 head of horses and 20 cowboys and a trailer full of dogs sometimes i wish i was born 100 years ago so i could have been a real cowboy it was a long time ago and there's nothing out here but just plain old flat country except for one one spring right down here on spring arrangements [Music] i'm gaston davis it was these types of stories that sparked my fascination with cowboys [Music] for six generations the ranch has been in my family from the sheep queen of texas to the start of a new industry with the angora goat my family has always played a role in the agriculture industry [Music] for 130 years the ranch has always been a place where my family can come back and work together and keep the heartbeat of the ranch alive [Music] but the reality is that today most ranch operations couldn't stay the same [Music] there's so many opportunities outside of rural america that's pulling my generation away myself included although i was born into this ranching culture and heritage i'm just far enough removed and i've actually lived it myself i heard all these stories growing up i watched all the westerns and over the course of time i had the image of the cowboy built up so much that it was practically a myth [Music] i mean these stories were incredible but they were somebody else's and i had no personal experience to pull from and so i struggled with what was my imagination of the cowboy and what was a legitimate figure in our history and also in today's reality [Music] i found myself in the city most days with these questions burning inside of me what is the truth of the cowboy do these kind of stories still exist today do cowboys still exist was i born in the wrong generation and too late to find out so after graduation i felt called to find answers to these questions and to write my own story along the way [Music] [Music] in order to best search for the answers to my questions about cowboys i want to know where i need to go and also where the cowboy came from my first stop is with highly acclaimed author and historian professor h w brands at the university of texas well in the case of american history it's to the mexican roots of the cattle industry so cattle spread from mexico up north in the direction of the united states eventually reaching texas and with the cattle came the mexican vaqueros and they eventually taught the americans that they encountered in texas how to deal with cattle and it was really when the mexican cattle culture and mexican cattle reached what would become the united states that the american cowboy was born once beef enters the american cuisine then all of a sudden americans learn about the cowboys so if somebody were looking for the cowboy today you'd still go to texas i mean texas is the home of the cowboys and there are still cowboys in texas i suppose you got to go somewhere else in the united states montana would be a good place wyoming but some place sort of in the northern plains where there's still lots of cowboys but personally i would like to see how cowboys do their job do their work how they're viewed in other countries in the americas uh mexico would be an obvious one because the texas cowboy originated from the mexican cowboy and in south america the big cattle industry in argentina so what do cowboys look like there my time with professor brands gave me great insight of where i need to go to begin the search for the cowboy i decided to go where it all began the genesis of the cowboy [Music] we're going to mexico and meeting my mother's cousin charo at the border in del rio this will be my first time to visit my family ranch in mexico how you doing man oh it's good to see you nice to see you yeah but is there anything else that we need right here in delaware beer me okay now y'all want mexican beer right i want a model um we'll get you some mexican beer okay all right so we're right here on the texas border people live on both sides of the border here all think of ourselves as border people we don't think of ourselves as being americans or mexicans it's we're just here on the border this is tumultuous times you know we're neighbors we've been neighbors for hundreds of years so i think we'll be all right i didn't clean the windshield we're in coahuila right now and texas used to be coahuila [Music] [Music] [Music] out here it's just really different the reason it's different is because it's not different this stayed the way it always has been [Music] today's my first day with the vaqueros we start with breakfast and then it's off to work and i'll admit i'm nervous if my cowboy heroes will accept me [Music] having breakfast [Music] oh [Music] [Music] campo [Music] our big market for ours for our steers is the united states so we ship all our steers there [Music] it's still roping it's branding it's you know castrating it's doing everything the old way it's we don't we don't do it any other way [Music] um [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Applause] [Music] wow [Music] [Music] [Music] um [Music] keep working [Music] now [Music] [Music] my dad did all of this that's where this all came from this didn't come from me i'm just currently the steward of it don't put off for tomorrow which you can do today that was the way he lived his life and that's why he got so much done [Music] he was my brother [Music] he was always so sincere and so honest you know i loved him i i looked up to him i respected him i think he knew more about the cattle business than anyone i ever met we've been down there oh my gosh ever since uh 1948 and we were still down in mexico and having a lot of fun doing business with them [Music] [Music] is [Music] that night one of the younger vaqueros invited me to his home to beat his family [Music] it's a privilege and it's humbling to see the personal lives of the vaqueros on the ranch i'm eager now to step back into their working lives each cowboy has several horses that he rides they ride them for about two months a month or two months it depends and then they'll switch them out uh release those horses and bring in a whole new ramuda and then work those horses for a while we want a working horse but they're not just born working horses they start off as portrayals which are just wild cults and it's a process to get them to where it's a working horse that process takes time and effort and a lot of work from our cowboys is today the vaqueros will be breaking in a few of their portrayals first we must search for them [Music] me [Music] [Music] foreign yep [Music] [Music] yes all of the work we do on the ranch all with all the cattle is all on horseback so we have to have horses i'm not really sure which horse that we're gonna get today but uh we may get one that's either never had a saddle on him and most likely that's the case and so we'll be getting someone on a horse for the first time these horses they've already brought in work those are the large the older horses that's why when i say we start them at around two we're not we're not riding at that age no we just start getting them and they getting used to a hall turn off we're just taking these out so we don't have too many horses in here right now before we start really working on on breaking a horse some of these boys would be the first time they've ever been roped we're gonna get down to those in a minute see foreign it's not one of these horse whisperer deals that you know that you see on tv like from india where the guy gets on his back and you know rolls around the ground with them this is this is the kind of done the old way we're gentle with them but they're still it's it's breaking a horse this is the first time this animal's ever been roped oh [Music] when the vaqueros called me to the corrals i not only saw this as an opportunity to work with them but to prove myself victoria then began to show me the first step of how they break their wild horses then he handed me the rope and said probably try it but then you do that until he gets used to being in here and being on a halter that's stage one stage two is what they're doing now there's some horses that take it really quickly and they're they're very they're very gentle and some of them are not all right look over here on the right this watch is a little longer hello so the horse if he could actually rear up because he's got his back leg lift up he can't rear up right now if he could rear up and all he might rear over backwards hurt himself he could run and this way he doesn't get hurt he gets used to being touched so that's why they keep hitting him with the satellite which of course doesn't hurt him at all but it makes a noise and he gets used to the sound and he gets so he's not she's not as scared anymore pretty soon they'll be able to put a saddle blanket on him and then after a while they'll be able to throw the saddle on him as well once the horse realizes that he can't move that well then he won't buck he won't take off running and he won't get hurt until he gets used after once he gets used to all of this because right now he feels kind of helpless because he can't get that back foot down they get you'll notice right now they're starting to move his back foot some i'll start dealing with his back foot here in a minute and then they'll let his foot down do you want to get in the middle of the center of the corral because he's going to start running hey this is the third time he's been ready oh [Applause] okay [Applause] once he's actually saddled and they're riding him they'll come to a point very quickly where they'll actually take him out he'll go out with the cowboys they won't rope off of him for a while but they'll start writing going out a little bit daily writing him daily then they'll let him go after a while and bring him back in again and it's a it's a period over about six months he would go from when he was first roped to where they put a saddle on him about six months after you start riding him then they're actually roping off of him and then he's pretty much a complete animal you need a horse right you have to have a horse too many draws too many creeks too many cliffs everything is done on the horse look it up it's like this process i mean how how far back does it go oh it's just a hundred years 100 years yeah i mean several hundred years it's just the way it's always been done so to speak there was something truly special in doing a job that had never changed i felt the connection not only with my heritage but with the vaqueros despite our differences and the chorales we were equals [Music] returning home from mexico i have a newfound appreciation for where the legend began [Music] it's no coincidence that the cowboy emerges in american national concerts after the civil war up until the civil war there was this diverging sense of who we are so the southerners we hold slaves and we're part of the slave society northerners were opposed to slavery and were you know we have this different model so what brings the country together after the civil war and again it was no accident that the cowboy served very well because the northerners and southerners could could meet on the western plains and they could be sort of seen for what they are instead of having to deal with that baggage left from the civil war you know do you know how to deal with the cattle can you brave the climate can you do all that stuff so in some ways the the cowboy was this myth not so much of creation exactly but as of a reunification myth and so it pulls the country together at a time when the country most needs to be pulled together [Music] now that i know where the cowboy came from i want to know where the cowboy's going [Music] i really think there's something special about the nostalgia of of cowboy and ranching i mean it's something that's a rich part of the american heritage i don't want to ever really feel like we lose that i just think that we have a purpose we have an objective to not just kind of fall by the wayside i mean we've got so many tools at our fingertips to help us do it better there will always be a place and a time for the cowboy you need to have diversity you have to be ready for change [Music] and so we'll just continue to evolve i believe and continue to get better and better [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] how you doing good how are you nice to see you nice to see you what i thought was gonna get an overview of who we are what we're doing you know where we live down here we're in big sandy here sure um but if i zoom way out this is the scope of the ranch here goes about 45 miles southeast there's more of a big view of it there as it goes across [Music] [Music] [Music] my first morning on the ix ranch i noticed an immediate difference from mexico [Music] the faster pace the machinery and even the noises like up here is that kind of more of a a way of working cows maybe with like atvs or with dirt bikes i mean is that kind of something you're seeing around here yes and here's why i grew up riding horses but i also i grew up riding four-wheelers and dirt bikes and those types of things and we're constantly learning new and better ways to do things it's like we were talking about the motorcycle if somewhere to see me out there on that they'd be like wow that's not a cowboy you know that's that and i'd be like you know you haven't flipped a few pages into the cover of the book yet when it's 30 below and i got to bring in some cattle i'm sorry i'm not going to wear my cowboy boots and and some shops and a cowboy hat and go freeze my butt off out there just so i look like a cowboy i'm gonna look like an eskimo out there and look probably like the silliest thing you've ever seen barely getting around on a horse i gotta get the cow i mean i have to take care of the situation i don't always have to look at to be it everything that this ranch does and generates is from what it has here so i have to focus on efficiencies the fact is i have a big job to do out here and we have a lot of land to cover and a lot of things to do and my time is valuable but you got to train a horse you got to feed a horse you got a shoe a horse right less and less of that being done the motorcycle for me it allows me to see a lot of things in a day that on a horseback or taking my pickup would have a huge impact on the land i can cover so much with that bike and see what i need to see as the manager of this place and and know what needs to be done i can easily go find if there's missing cattle somewhere it's it's a part of my toolbox of things that i use to help me do my job better so yes i wouldn't say that it's like taking over because we're never going to be where we don't work at you'll see on tuesday we just we will the the gators will be out there we'll use those but it'll be to drift stuff to where we are with horses we're still doing the same thing what we're doing with the resource hasn't changed so much i think there's a disconnect anymore on urban american rural america to get that stake to their plate takes you know a lot of work all the way down the line [Applause] but we do we have a disconnect between what's really going on and what they think is going on so i think cowboys still handle cattle to the best welfare they can for the animal and then for the people are raising the cattle monday that's getting another 300 some head into the pasture so there's 900 in there so on tuesday we can sort 900 [Music] every year about this time we get ready for sorting so we start collecting these smaller groups into a large group so that we can sort the steer pairs and the half repairs and be ready to start shipping the steers at we need time i'm always thankful for being out here always kind of drained about going out west and being a cowboy out there you know i knew that if i didn't try it then i'd always be regretting it so i didn't come out to change anything i came out to do what was already there you know it's not all just about the roots the shafts the horses it's about how you to handle your cattle how you treat the cattle um you know just how you care for them and then you're gonna go a little bit back to the well as you're looking straight a little to your right back there there's an age brace where the heat is we're decided to become responsible for a living breathing thing you have to just be capable i think is what it comes down to is you have to be able to do the job and it doesn't matter what you look like doing it well i think that's really cool that your branch is kind of the meeting the two styles in the middle i'm hoping when you guys come away from it you see that there's there are still cowboys but that we're adapting i guess we have to take care of what we've got and we're just using the tools that we've got before us to do that we we're using it all if you can't see shoes on horses making sparks in the night then you know you're not out there [Music] because i don't put my caps on [Music] uh do you have somebody that can go gathered yeah go ahead but they're gonna have to go back i can go down i got about 50 head up here on top guys i've got [Music] [Music] [Music] today [Music] after we finished sorting richard went straight back to his office to put all the numbers into his books it's the hardest part of the business to focus on i think there's a change there and there has to be a change as it gets harder and harder to make money because it's still a business you can't manage what you don't measure by measuring what we're doing we're able to make more proactive management decisions instead of being so dang reactive to everything the cowboy will never go away they'll always be a need for people to do the hard jobs that no one else is willing to do because of the the passion that we have for what we do we're always learning there will always be a place and a time for the cowboy coming home from montana i learned that not all cowboys look the same only their purpose does [Music] [Music] gary in montana is one of the few people my generation that i've come across pursuing the cowboy lifestyle it seems like most millennials desire to know where their food comes from but few desire to actually be a part of the process so what is it what keeps young people coming back to a seemingly fading way of life i'm excited to explore this idea further on my next stop in reality it there are a lot of things that people can do to make a lot more money but it is a passion that our family has and it's something that through the generations our family has worked to not only keep the ranch in the family but also the family and the ranch [Music] growing up every time i would leave for school my dad would always say the same thing he'd always say son be a leader today [Music] we don't want to create pressure for our boys we want them to do what they feel called to do wildlife was kind of where he had focused his attention and felt like that was what he wanted to do he wanted to play college sports and live that dream and that was an awesome experience after going to college and making a new group of friends and seeing that i really wasn't quite like those people you know we have such different backgrounds but the background that i have i would never take back [Music] i remember two years ago tucker went with me to the florida cattlemen's convention each of those five ranches in florida that we visited guess what the question was tucker i guess you're headed back to the ranch and at each of those stops he stumbled with that question he didn't really know where he was headed next or what he was going to do that night he and i sat down for supper and i said tuck i want you to go and pursue your dreams and pursue your calling wherever it is go where you feel called to go and if that's at the ranch the door is open and then it just seemed like there was this huge weight lifted off of his shoulders and i learned that the more i was away from home the more that i just was drawn back and connected to the land that was here i was tied back home and i do believe that's where we find true joy is when we live within our calling [Music] from creation forward there have always been people that have accepted the call to be caretakers of his creation and so i see that as as a continual not as a for a period of time this is what man will do so this is my brother hey what's up okay yeah okay cool good to meet you man i think that is a continual calling of what man is called to do we're just in the process of kind of we're sorting a lot of different ways so yesterday and today two big days for us okay weaning we're sorting cows one two three four five different ways depending on which pasture they go to sure so we're a lot of record keeping here we're different being a seed stock herd we're raising breeding cattle right individual animal management is very important instead of this pasture being a unit and that pasture being in every single animal is a unity and so with that we we keep inventory of where every single animal goes we've got spreadsheets this long showing every move that every cow has made on this ramp right down here at the far two pins we've got an individual feed efficiency testing center i mean as you look at our global society we've got a lot more mouths to feed it's not any more land right so the only best way i know to feed these people is to be more efficient in producing the food with the given resources that we have [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] so on this side of town a lot of my family lives here in really close proximity my wife and i just bought this house can be moved into it here soon and then just down the street is the house where my grandfather was raised and where he lives now going to eat and everything we don't know exactly where we've been we've been south of town past the south brown ranch went west turned north came out by 50 miles well we've been dad you have a hat or a cat oh thank you okay anyway y'all come on in it still started in about 1903 in the early times in the cattle industry and a lot of it was just new and different [Music] changes happened but in a lot of ways but in a lot of ways it was the same the cattle the horses the things that made a lot of difference [Music] and as it changed we we changed with it we do a lot of things horseback and you know today you know in a pickup but still love it and take care of it we had a lot of fun put a lot of a lot of hard work to it we're just part of it and part of the family and another generation is coming on and it means a lot to us has it been fun watching dad it's it's real neat deal to help one another like i said it doesn't just happen it's taken a few generations haven't it yeah and more to come more to come and so you know when people get tied to something that always brings you back to something you want to help you want to be a part of that you've been noticing like a generational no gap so there's yeah there's been a generation gap of of people that didn't necessarily come back that were born here but didn't come back and we've seen that in our school numbers dropping in the past three years now my generation and the millennials i guess you'd say are starting to come back and be a part of the community which has been fun to watch of my age group i'm one of the first to come back but we're trying to make it to where there's not another generational gap you know we want to make we want to make it better whatever way we can what a group of people have been doing for a short time now in throckmorton is really trying to revive the school because if the school falls the town falls we've seen it happen in a lot of rural communities nelson you've throughout all of our conversations about rock martin school district you've talked a lot about what are our expectations for our children and i'd love to hear from the newest resident and homeowner of rock morton texas of his expectations of why he moved back to throttle martin if he can do that in 30 seconds took you more than 30 seconds [Laughter] my expectation is a place to be tied to whenever i graduated high school i didn't have the intention on coming back [Music] i've lived here my whole life but this has been different because i'm moving in with a new wife i can be a part of a lot a lot of different things in the community that i couldn't whenever i was in school i've definitely seen how everyone loves each other here you know if you don't move back the town's not going to be here i want to come back to the ranch and i want the town to be here we're coming in at a really good time and that you know we need to throttle morton and throttle morton needed us the impact the browns had on throckmorton was easy to see just how they cared and loved for those around them but their influence was not limited to only throckmorton in my last days there they began preparations for a ranch rodeo coming up that their family had a large presence in this will be the 37th annual texas ranch roundup in wichita falls and my dad gathered up three or four ranches wouldn't it be neat if we could find a way for our ranch cowboys to get back to what we do on a daily basis at the ranch he had kind of a vision of being different than regular rodeos going to a ranch rodeo and seeing the more kind of the way rodeo really started was what we've returned back to with ranch rodeo where the men on our ranches can compete and you do it with a team and you do it with guys that you're with and work with all the time and so my dad helped start this which is now i mean ranch rodeo is across the nation and people love it because it's their hometown team that they come to cheer for so team meeting here for ranch rodeo big weekend ahead excited about it we want to get all the plans made what needs to be done here and there and kind of coordinate that and come up with a game plan so lamb would you kick us off very pleased lord thank you for this day thank you for the rain that's in our way lord thank you for allowing us to do what we love to do lord please keep ahead of protection over all the cowboys and livestock this weekend shine your life just stand up everybody that's there i would love for you to go cheer on tucker and carly their talent competitions at one okay do you know what you're going to do nope [Laughter] we talked about it last night we're like i want to figure something don't see it tim mcgraw faith he'll do it i would maybe directional thing y'all want to win this thing absolutely [Music] we won this event in 1984 1992 to 2006. it's time primed and time to win this baby okay let's do it [Music] so every year a saddle is awarded to the top cowboy at the ranch rodeo and in 1992 donald brown won it and so elena's been training to hopefully win it this year this show my goal is to go in there and be slow and smooth and let him be correct more laid back and ready to go lanham is very talented and he's great with a horse he's great with a rope he understands cattle he's a very talented cowboy i think that this saddle would be a really big award for him that he's always wanted i'm confident lanham's going to win that saddle [Music] hello texas wichita falls how are you tonight on a saturday night well we thank you this is the original the granddaddy of them all 37 consecutive years the ranch roundup right here i'm charlie thrawn in grandview texas along with my partner in crime james orcasitas from las cruces new mexico and the intention of the event was to bring the ranch cowboys off the ranch bring them to town and have good friendly competition in the events that that mirror what we do on the ranch on a regular basis [Music] you know while cow milk and every now and then you got to catch a cow in the pasture [Music] [Applause] and you know brandon calves and doctrine one when he gets sick and being able to rope and do it in the pasture you know those are all real life situations pinning cattle out you know taking them out of the herd putting them into a pen no bronc riding we still break horses today and we need to ride one that can buck [Music] [Applause] [Music] the camaraderie has been amazing among the teams for 37 years since this event began those multi-day tournaments you don't win it in the first day you can only lose it they're in striking distance to do some good tonight we're just you know it's fun [Music] in all these places it just drive out in the country and you're going to find the same basic culture that you find in rock morton texas is alive in south saga city and japan is in australia and all the way to wherever you go all you have to do is drive out in the country and find it it's not very far away [Music] and if people in the outside world could see that that's what's out here maybe it restores some of that you're feeling about mankind still out there there are those kind of people [Music] in my time with the brown family i have not only felt their love and seen how it impacts their community but i also see them as a beacon of hope for the future of the cowboy [Music] as americans found themselves more and more living in cities and working for other people and being at the mercy of forces beyond their control the idea that at one time there was this figure who was in control of his own destiny this becomes even more powerful the farther it is from everyday reality nations sort of live on their myths the the stories they tell themselves about themselves [Music] i feel myself closer to a better understanding of the cowboy but kelly's words ring in my ear as i return home is it true no matter where i go will i find the same culture the same passion the same spirit let's find out so [Music] [Music] is [Music] we have heard the legend of the gaucho now it's time to go and see the real thing we were invited to go to miguel's estancia in patagonia just outside of san martin de los andes [Music] huh [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] a is here [Music] foreign [Music] is a [Music] foreign patagonia is [Music] so [Music] [Music] um [Music] [Music] ah [Music] [Music] once we finished working cattle that morning we stopped by a creek unsettled watered our horses and started a fire and because of the coolness of the weather they even packed lunch in their saddlebags um [Music] is you a [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] m before i arrived in argentina i heard that miguel had written a book about the forming of his ranch in patagonia [Music] so when i asked him about it he was thrilled to show me a pioneer [Music] is [Music] a okay well as it turns out kelly was right it doesn't matter where you go but if you venture into the country you will find people that share a commonality of servitude [Music] from the animals in the pasture to the food on our plates and if you take the time to get to know them what's earned is a better understanding and appreciation for what they do for us thanklessly day in and day out [Music] see [Music] [Music] is [Music] returning home from argentina i bring miguel story home with me and i'm reminded of just how powerful a story can be partied [Music] [Music] [Music] when you tell this story you automatically i think help ensure that there is a future as much myth as it is history myths are very powerful although the the moment of the cowboy in history is brief the moment of the cowboy in american memory goes on and on [Music] all established one place where we can all relate to and we can all come back to [Music] one place where we all came from very important place [Music] hey [Music] returning home it's an honor to share the stories of my journey stories of family of courage [Music] of change and of unity [Music] and i cannot put the rest to questions that once burned inside me the truth of the cowboy is simple it's our histories that make us different but our future that brings us together toward a common purpose feeding the world one plate at a time [Music] and we all have a call to answer to [Music] seek and you will find knock and the door will be open to you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] do [Music] do [Music] you

Channel: EncourageTV

Views: 279,946

Keywords: Full Movie, EncourageTV, Movies, Gaston Davis, Charro Reed, Richard Roth, Cowboys Without Borders movie, Cowboys Without Borders full movie, Cowboys Without Borders documentary, Cowboys Without Borders 2022 movie, Cowboys Without Borders 2022 full movie, Cowboys Without Borders 2022 documentary, American Cowboys documentary, Cowboys documentary, the heart of the American Cowboy, cattle operations in North America, cattle operations in South America

Id: GlBv3pDzaYQ

Length: 83min 48sec (5028 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 14 2022