AMARANTH, Man. – Wielding the long steel instrument, Jack Robertson bends under the paint pony and with a deft movement and a visceral crunch, turns it into a gelding.
He does the job carefully and efficiently. But this event, like most others on the Bar J Polled Charolais ranch, is a convivial family affair.
Jack’s wife Gloria, son Clint and his partner Lynn Moar assist. Nearby, Clint’s son Justin, 6, pushes Lynn’s son Max, 1, in a swing hung from the rafters of the stable.
When the deed is done, Justin scoops up the spare parts and trots outside to pitch them into the manure spreader.
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On their diverse 960-acre operation just a few kilometres from the west shore of Lake Manitoba, the Robertsons live by these words: “Family first, then livestock.”
Jack and Gloria, sweethearts on the summer rodeo circuit, bought the farm when they got married in 1964.
They started off making a living breaking and fitting horses, and keeping Angus cattle. Jack also bought cattle for a feedlot in Eastern Canada.
He remembers the first fall he loaded up Charolais-cross calves on a railcar. Upon receipt, his customer deemed them “glorified Holsteins.”
By the next fall, the customer had changed his tune. He told Jack he’d take as many “buckskin-colored calves” as he could.
And by 1969, Jack and Gloria had bought a Charolais bull for their own operation.
“I still remember that, when Dad came over here and saw that white bull, he said, ‘I don’t know what things are coming to,'” chuckled Jack.
But Jack and Gloria were impressed by weaned calves weighing more than 700 pounds in the fall, when 450 lb. had been the norm. They began to move into purebreds.
“It looked like an opportune time to do it, because they were just coming in, and so many people around were having a tough time,” said Jack.
The Robertsons never looked back.
“Where we excel is producing Char-cross calves that outperform anything else in the feedlot,” explained Clint. “We like to produce cattle that work in our environment, with the least amount of input and the maximum amount of return.”
They belong to the Manitoba Charolais Association, keep meticulous records and have been involved with the breed’s bull test station for the past decade.
Today, they have a herd of about 60 cows. They sell most of their bulls each year, but keep the best heifers to improve the herd.
While Clint said the herd is dramatically better than it was 10 years ago, his goal is to have one of the top performance herds in the province.
He works as a foreman and field representative for the Ste. Rose Auction Mart. Because cash flow comes but once a year in the purebred cattle business, the horse part of the Robertson’s operation also comes in handy.
Each December, Jack breaks colts for clients. He uses small amounts of pressure and lots of patience to do the job.
“I’ve seen him break a colt (on halter) in minutes, just minutes,” said Clint.
When the cattle go to pasture, Jack moves into a trailer at Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg, where he’s known as a gifted horse trainer.
He reconditions thoroughbreds from major stables in Kentucky, Florida and California that have soured on tough training regimens. He spends hours in the summer watching them and individualizing their routine.
“Down there, the big trainers train hard, real hard,” he explains. “Some of them horses don’t want that hard training.”
Clint admits he isn’t much of a horse-person. But when he needs a break from the cattle, he spends time with a very unique kind of livestock.
He is known as one of the top breeders in North America of Jacobin show pigeons, elegant birds with a collar of fine feathers. He is judging the largest, most prestigious U.S. show in Los Angeles in early January.
Jack introduced Clint to the hobby at age eight to teach him some responsibility.
Today, Clint has about 20 pairs of Jacobins and 30 other birds in small, clean and well-aired barns. His latest challenge is breeding a milky-colored Jacobin, a color imported from another breed.
He attributes his success in creating “living works of art” to aggressive culling and ambition.
“I’m never, never satisfied with what I’ve got. No matter how good a youngster of how good a bird I breed, it can always be better, and I think that’s the key to being successful.”
But most of all, he enjoys the diverse friends he has made around the world. One of his closest friends is a separatist who works at the Montreal Stock Exchange. Clint belongs to the Reform party.
“It’s great, because if it wasn’t for the birds, we wouldn’t have that contact or insight into what each others’ lives are like.”
When Jack is at the track and Clint is working at the auction mart or traveling to a bird show, Gloria holds down the fort.
Preened to perfection
“Mom is the backbone of the operation,” said Clint.
She is known for her talent at getting stock looking their best for the yearling sale in September.
“Boy, if we’ve got a bull or something we want fitted and looking great, it’s mom who does it,” said Clint.
Gloria is tickled pink with the extra help and good company from the newest additions to the operation, Lynn and Max.
“It makes it real nice now, because Lynn is real interested in what we all do, so she just fits right in,” said Gloria.
The Robertson’s home is full of photos and trophies for prize-winning livestock. But Jack’s greatest reward is the way their son and grandson love the operation.
“There wouldn’t be any point in me and Gloria working at something to build something up if we didn’t have anyone who was interested,” Jack said.
“The important thing isn’t if you die with money, it’s if you’ve acquired something that someone else can do something good with.”
Justin is working with show birds with his dad. He also has a goat, and a small flock of ducks he’ll sell for spending money.
Jack and Gloria have never been on a holiday. “This is what we enjoy, so why go somewhere?” said Gloria. While some days aren’t easy, they wouldn’t trade the work for anything.
“People talk about what you’d do if you won a bunch of money: I’d just do the same sort of thing,” said Clint.
“I’d buy a new manure spreader,” adds Gloria, and the room fills with laughter.
