Recently the Matador Ranch was named the recipient of the 2013 AQHA Best Remuda Award. We are humbled to receive such a prestigious honor. We are very aware of the previous winners and the caliber of their programs, as well as those who applied for the award this year. There are other outstanding programs with which we are associated in one form or fashion that have top quality Quarter Horses, and we are honored to count them as friends. To be named among them is an honor for which we are grateful.

 

Since the 1800s, the Matadors have always had good horses. However, in the 1990s we began to recognize that we needed to make a change to our horse breeding program. The horses we produced were functional for the Matador Ranch and worked fine for us, but customer demands were changing. Terry Forst with Stuart Ranches once told me that we now have a much more educated customer. Customers looking for horses can go online to the AQHA website to research pedigrees and statistics, along with accessing information about horses from numerous other sources.  

 

We recognized that demands from customers were changing and understood that we had to make changes to our breeding program and how we trained our horses in order to provide customers with a product they valued. We stepped back and restructured our entire equine program, using the process of creative destruction to improve and innovate the way we breed and train horses. Other companies have used the process of creative destruction in their businesses to meet changing customer demands, such as Apple® did with upgrades to its iPad®.

 

All business must learn to apply creative destruction, as Charles Koch (2007) said in his book The Science of Success:

 

Even successful companies struggle to keep up because, given human nature, we tend to become complacent, self-protective and less innovative as we become successful. It is often more difficult to overcome success than adversity. At Koch Industries, we have countered this tendency, in part, by relentlessly applying our business philosophy. MBM® teaches that we must continually drive constructive change in every aspect of our company or we will fail. As a result, we constantly pursue innovations and opportunities through internal and external development and acquisitions. Similarly, we shed businesses and assets that are unprofitable or worth more to others.

 

We believe it is essential to drive creative destruction internally; otherwise, creative destruction will drive us out of business. (p. 29)

 

At the Matador Ranch we try to apply creative destruction to all aspects of our business. The horse program is just one example, but we apply this to our cattle operations, our hunting and wildlife management operations, and range management. As I said in the last article, not every change we have made was the right thing to do, but we can't sit still when the world and our customers are constantly changing. We must use creative destruction to improve our business or as Mr. Koch said, "...creative destruction will drive us out of business."

 

Oh, by the way, our prayers for rain were answered a couple of weeks ago. We received anywhere from 1.2" to 3.3" of rain across the Matador Ranch. It is amazing what a rain will do for the land. Lots of bob white quail are calling, and we are hoping for a good hatch this year of all our upland game birds.

 

 

Koch, Charles G. (2007). The Science of Success (p. 29). Hoboken: Wiley & Sons.

 

  by Jenn Dace

 

Matador Ranch team members Les Woolsey, Jenn Dace, and Randy Lair attended the 2013 Sporting Clays US Open at the Backwoods Quail Club in Georgetown, South Carolina, May 13-18.

 

The ranch hosted a booth next to Team USA's from which team members visited with shooters and potential customers throughout the week. We distributed brochures and talked with attendees about the ranch and its hunting opportunities. In addition to talking about hunts, we bragged on the ranch's first class lodging and meals and the impressive genetics of our deer herd.

 

The weather was beautiful during the week-long festivities which included competitive shoots, shooting games, and 35 vendors selling merchandise. There were 15 events including the US Open, Pure Gold Cup, Five Stand, FITASC (Fédération Internationale de Tir aux Armes Sportives de Chasse), and Iron Man.

 

Pictures of the event can be found on Instagram @BackWoodsQuailCub.

 

Next year's US Open will be in Claythorne, Kansas, June 2-8. Claythorne is approximately two hours southeast of our own Spring Creek Ranch. We hope to have another great turnout next year at our third consecutive Sporting Clays US Open. Hope to see you there!

  

 

While the drought is not yet over, the added moisture has resulted in a change that offers hope and some beautiful green grass.

 

To understand the widespread effect of this drought and how important the recent rain is for the Matador Cattle Company ranches, consider the following. Because of the dry conditions at the Beaverhead Ranch in Montana, last summer we grew almost no forage for the upcoming winter. Spring Creek Ranch in Kansas grew limited winter forage, and more importantly there was almost no water in stock tanks. The Matador Ranch in Texas has had limited to no forage growth for over two years.

 

With the recent rains at all three ranches, the picture has changed. Beaverhead Ranch is now able to maintain its inventory. Spring Creek Ranch has sufficient forage and ground water to continue operations. Rains at the Matador Ranch have provided a start and a promise of improvement. We can now continue to do what we love-grow forage and raise livestock. Thank you, Lord.

 

Living and working day-to-day with challenges and adversities such as drought causes me to consider why we persevere and who we really are. Recently while attending a Memorial Day service and reading through the list of names carved on the granite monuments in our small town, I began to think about the people named there. Who were they and why were they willing to give the ultimate sacrifice-a sacrifice that laid the foundation for a better future for our country. Were they so different from you and me?

 

Such thoughts follow Bob's discussion of creative destruction. The willingness and drive to create a new and better future (or products and services) often require the destruction of the now. Destroying the old and creating the new is often required for a better tomorrow.

 

So, change really is the only constant. Throughout time people have endured change, although not always willingly, because it was inevitable. We face the choice of simply sitting back and passively allowing change to happen or committing our all to ensure that the change will result in what is best for ourselves, our families, and society. Those who paid the ultimate sacrifice to keep our nation free chose the latter. Forward thinking businesses choose likewise. These businesses are not content with the status quo however functional and profitable their product or service may be. They are willing to risk dramatic change in an effort to anticipate and meet the needs of tomorrow's customers.

 

Change happens daily in this business. We may be trying a new feed product or using a new vaccine to improve the health of our livestock. Yesterday we may have operated our pastures using continuous grazing, but today we manage forage with rest/rotation grazing. We remain open to what tomorrow may bring. Perhaps we will discover a different breed that will continually improve our product or move back to some past operational procedure that has proven to be the most efficient.  

 

The many unknowns regarding change take us out of our comfort zone. However, the path of creative destruction is more successfully navigated when we value and have a thorough understanding of who we are, where we have come from, and what we are striving to be.

 

H.G. Bohn said, "He that would know what shall be must consider what hath been."

 

It's what we do every day. It's just all in a day's work.

 

 

   

Deana Washington started cooking when she was just a little girl.

 

Her mom preferred to drive a tractor instead of spending time in the kitchen, so Deana and her sister cooked meals for the family. But it wasn't a chore, it was fun, and her grandmother was always there to guide and teach.

 

Then and now, the favorite meal of cowboys is a crusty chicken-fried steak, steaming potatoes, and smooth, creamy gravy with hot biscuits on the side and topped off with yummy peach cobbler.

 

Deana is still feeding hungry cowboys. She is the cowboy's cook for the Matador Ranch, and when they are working cattle, she is busy working the kitchen.

 

In another life, Deana says she would have become a chef, but she loves her life as wife and helpmeet of Tim Washington, camp man for Russellville.

 

Deana and Tim met as teenagers when Tim broke a horse that her father had gotten for her. That teenage romance remains strong 40 years after tying the knot.

 

Following is her favorite recipe for a delicious sheet cake, cowboy tested and approved (thank you, Betty Crocker®).

Deana Washington

  

Almost-Better-Than-Anything Cake

 

1 box German chocolate cake mix

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

1 jar (12 ounces) caramel topping

1 container (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed

1 Hershey® bar

 

Bake the cake according to directions in a 9x13-inch pan. Cool 10 minutes. Poke holes in the top of the warm cake every ½ inch using the handle end of a wooden spoon. Drizzle sweetened condensed milk evenly over top of cake. Drizzle caramel topping over cake. Run knife around sides of pan to loosen cake. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hours. Spread whipped topping over top of cake. Garnish by shaving chocolate bar over cake with a vegetable peeler. Drizzle with just a little bit more caramel.

 

 

 

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