The S Ranch Legacy

Jim Bode Scott catching a mount from the S Ranch cavvy.
 

By Bailee Murnion

Note: Although this blog is dedicated to "handy women", I wanted to share with the readers an article that I wrote about some good friends, the Scott's. This article was first published in the Tri State Livestock News.

S Ranch

South of Billings, Montana lays the rough terrain encompassed by Big Horn County. The Pryor Mountains sprawl across the picturesque Montana landscape where one of the largest ranches in the United States operates. The true American cowboy heritage is thriving on the family owned S Ranch. Established over sixty years ago, the S Ranch operates on 200,000+ acres between Pryor and St. Xavier where they run a 5,000 head cow/calf operation. The Scott families primary business is their commercial herd of Black Angus cattle, however their legacy of breeding and using American Quarter Horses have gained them recognition worldwide.

The S Ranch is a “cowboy outfit”, where horses are depended upon for accomplishing the work needed in running a large cattle operation. All of the ranch work is done horseback on offspring that the ranch has raised. What makes the S Ranch horses unique is that they are used and proven on the ranch before they are considered for breeding. Nearly every broodmare was once used as a ranch horse or arena performance horse before she proved herself worthy to produce foals. Over the years, Scott horses have achieved success in all areas of competition. S Ranch foals have proven themselves as cutting horses, working cow horses, reining horses, barrel racing horses, roping horses and ranch horses. The Scott’s are best known for two of their prominent sires that left a lasting legacy on AQHA performance bloodlines: Doc O Dynamite and Paddys Irish Whiskey. In 2007, the S Ranch was awarded the AQHA Best Remuda Award, an award that honors American Quarter Horse ranches that continue the traditions of the past.

Scott’s Heritage

John Scott

The S Ranch’s roots in raising cattle and horses dates back to the 1800’s, when the Scott’s, who were of English and Welsh decent,  were some of the original settlers in Texas.  The Montana division of the S Ranch was founded in 1948 by John R. Scott, Jr. The Texas native, who was an accomplished roper, had a passion for ranching and raising horses. The 25 year old cowboy was looking to run cattle in Montana, hoping to leave drought inflicted Texas. While competing at the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo, young Scott heard about the grass that was stirrup deep and the water that ran for miles in the Big Sky country. He decided to travel to Montana and see the country for himself. John was enthused with the captivating scenery and satisfactory ranching conditions. It was then John decided Montana was where he wanted to plant his roots. John’s father and brothers agreed to partner on three ranches in Eastern Montana, along the Powder River. John then shipped 800 head of cattle and 25 head of horses from south Texas to the rugged territory of Montana by train and the S Ranch was established. It was there John raised his family, built up his cow herd and started breeding Quarter Horses. When John Scott retired and returned to the Texas ranch, his son, Jim Bode Scott took over the reins of the Montana operation, along with his family, who still operate the ranch today. Jim, along with his wife, Marcie, daughters Sarah Scott-Verhelst (husband, KC and daughters Paisley and Quill); Hannah Scott and son, Bode Caleb Scott continue the legacy of the S Ranch.

The S Ranch horses

John Scott had an appreciation for a good ranch horse. He strived to breed a horse with ample athleticism and adequate cow sense. “Horses were number one in my dad’s life,” said John’s son, Jim. “My dad was a cowboy. He was out riding ‘em before he started breeding ‘em.” John did not base his breeding program on registration papers alone, instead he selected his breeding stock from riding, training and competing on the horses he was breeding and raising. John’s goal was to breed the best of the best mares to the best studs. The remuda on the Scott ranch traced back to the old foundation bloodlines of the King Ranch, including Peppy and Old Sorrel. The ranch’s breeding program began in 1925 when John Scott Sr. purchased ten daughters of Hickory Bill which would supply the West Texas remuda, as well as the Montana ranches. Over the years, John Scott Jr. selected top sires for his mares including the Haythorn owned sire, Eddie 40. Scott believed that the Eddie 40 sired colts were some of their best, exhibiting the traits that every cowboy needed: a lot of cow, and a heart that wouldn’t quit.



KC Verhelst



John continued raising horses while ranching in Montana, yet he was actively searching for another good herd sire. In 1980, John Scott purchased a bay yearling stud colt named Doc O Dynamite. Sired by the legendary Doc O Lena, Doc O Dynamite’s dam was the Gay Bar King daughter, Gay Bar Dixie. “My dad paid $80,000 for Doc O Dynamite and we thought he was nuts,” laughed Jim. “That was an un heard of amount of money for a rancher to pay for a yearling back in those days, but dad saw something special in that colt.” John’s intuition was right. The bay stud that is now deceased is an Equistat All Time Leading sire of performance horses. “Dynamite’s” siring accomplishments produced winners in every aspect of performance horse competition, with his offspring earning over $1 million. Dynamite also sired the horses that carried the Scott family to numerous accomplishments in the rodeo arena. “The Dynamite’s were just outstanding horses that could do anything,” recalled Jim. “They were easy to get along with, compared the horses we had been riding.”



Jim Bode Scott

Doc O Dynamite

Anyone that rodeoed in the Montana circuit in the 80’s and 90’s could recall the amazing mare named Docs Fine Sis that carried Jim to a Montana Circuit Calf Roping championship and two Montana Circuit Calf Roping Horse of the Year titles. The Doc O Dynamite daughter they called “Sissy” was getting her start in the cutting pen as a two year old at the Texas ranch when Jim was visiting and first saw the mare in action. “She was something special,” recalled Jim. “She was just a natural. Dad thought about selling her but she got over looked because she was a mare.” During her training in Texas, a stud accidently got to Sissy and bred her. “We thought she was bred so dad stopped her training and turned her out in the brush. When she came back in that spring she didn’t have a colt on her. I figured dad would start her back in the cutting pen but instead he gave her to me,” explained Jim. And the rest is history. Jim rode Sissy to numerous PRCA championships in calf roping during their career together. Sissy was still at the top of her game when injuries forced her to retire at 18 years old. Unfortunately the mare never produced any offspring. “She was too good to breed,” said Jim. “She was my main horse, so I couldn’t give her a year off to carry a foal.”

Jim Bode Scott, CEO, S Ranch LTD

Keeping the success of Scott raised Doc O Dynamite calf roping horses in the family, Jim’s son; Caleb has also won the Montana Circuit Horse of the Year honors on his gelding, Time For Dynamite. Doc O Dynamite’s most well-known barrel racing son was Easy Does It Doc that carried Rachael Myllymaki to numerous NFR qualifications and over $200,000 in barrel racing earnings.  Doc O Dynamite passed his great siring capabilities on to his sons as well. “We feel that the best siring son of Dynamite is a stud named Doc O Montana,” said Sarah Verhelst. The bay stud owned by Jay Murnion has produced many great rope horses over the years. “We still haul 4-6 mares to Doc O Montana every year,” said Sarah.

The Scott’s legacy did not end with Doc O Dynamite. In 1992, John Scott purchased another bay stud prospect named Paddys Irish Whiskey. The Peppy San Badger sired bay stud was out of the National Cutting Horse Association Hall of Fame member Doc’s Starlight, who was a NCHA World Champion as well as a NCHA Finals Champion. Whiskey earned over $12,000 in NCHA earnings, while his offspring have won well over $1 million in earnings. “That was the magic cross,” said Jim. “We bred all of our Doc O Dynamite daughters to Paddys Irish Whiskey which resulted in some darn good horses.” Paddys Irish Whiskey never stood to outside mares during his time at the S Ranch.  In 2000, Paddys Irish Whiskey was the high seller at the S Ranch’s dispersal sale. The 6666’s ranch purchased the stallion for $560,000. Scott’s retained breeding’s on Whiskey and still have his sons and daughters in their cavvy.

Paddys Irish Whiskey

Today, the S Ranch still strives to breed the using kind of Quarter Horses. The ranch runs between 200-250 horses, with about 20 broodmares. While they only have a handful of Doc O Dynamite daughters left in their broodmare string, the ranch is turning their focus to their newest herd sire, Picks Secret, a 6 year old son of Sixes Pick out of a Special Leader daughter. “We had been looking for another herd sire for about two years,” said Sarah. “We liked this horse since he has the perfect mix of cow and run in his pedigree.” Picks Secret is earning his keep as a ranch horse but also has been hauled to bright lights of the PBR events where Sarah’s husband, KC Verhelst ropes bulls on the stud. His first crop of foals will be two years olds in the spring.

Over the past 60 years, the way in which work is done on the ranch has not changed much. The ranch has 4-6 full time employees who assist with the cattle operation. Nearly every task on the ranch is done horseback. S Ranch horses run in the Pryor Mountains where they learn to survive the brutally cold Montana winters. The Scott’s still sell a select few well broke horses at private treaty off the ranch. “We start them as 2 year olds, then turn them out until their 3 year old year, ride them a little bit more and then they start earning their keep as hard working ranch horses when they are 4 year olds,” explained Sarah. “Good withers and black feet is a requirement for our horses. The country that we ride in is so rough that a horse has to have good black feet that won’t crack and solid withers to withstand the riding that we put on them.”

S Ranch cavvy

 “Ranches such as S Ranch have contributed to our nation’s greatness and helped build the American Quarter Horse Association into what it is today,” said former AQHA executive director, Bill Brewer. The western heritage of ranching and raising good horses and black cattle in Montana will no doubt continue through the next generation of the Scott family.