BASHAW, Alta.-Walter Buelow’s weathered straw hat bobs in and out of sight
behind the Grulla horses grazing belly
deep on pasture grasses.
The 89-year-old cowboy and rancher no longer rides but still checks his horses and makes harnesses and saddles on his farm in central Alberta.
He started farming here at 13 and today his son and grandson continue to produce feed and raise cattle and sheep.
Buelow maintains a herd of eight Grullas and 30 Fjords, both types of horses that
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feature a distinct line down their backs.
The Norwegian Fjords, quiet, easy to train animals that sport a Mohawk-like mane, are raised for pulling.
The hard, black feet of the Spanish Grullas make them ideal for riding.
Buelow spent three days riding a horse to Calgary in his younger years. He also used horses to break land on his family’s mixed farm, where he was among the last to use them.
“They were company for one thing,” explained Buelow, wearing a dusty ivory-coloured hat bearing the ranch’s brand, a sleepy S and an upright V, both underlined.
“If one got sick, you had another to put on. There were no sore shoulders,” said Buelow. “When you couldn’t borrow money, you just went to work with them and fed them hay and oats.”
Equally important to Buelow is his music, which helped pay for his first Grulla stallion 30 years ago.
Yodeling and his guitar, fiddle and harmonica have made him a musical celebrity and member of the local hall of fame. It has also allowed him gigs with country starts like Wilf Carter and Ian Tyson.
The yodeling comes from his Swiss and German parents, he explained.
Music also played a role in bringing together Walter and his wife, Mary, 66 years ago at local dances.
Today, the Buelows live in a modest home Walter built in 1946, just a stone’s throw from a greying 1904 shack that once served as his boyhood home.
The great-grandparents of 18 children credit their long life to hard work, drinking unpasteurized goat’s milk and avoiding vices like smoking and liquor.
Looking back, Buelow cited threshing days as among his most favourite times.
“We had a picnic every day and we had company,” he said. “I like people.”
