Harrimon got his start with cattle on the family ranch near Hugo, Okla. Hard work was the way Dale’s parents raised him and his 7 siblings.


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ust before daybreak and his fi rst cup of coffee, 62-year-old Dale Harrimon pulls on his boots and walks out to saddle his horses. As he knocks the dirt off their backs with a soft brush, he mulls over the pastures he’ll ride fi rst. He fl ips a blanket up, then heaves on the saddle and


draws the cinch just tight enough to hold the saddle in place — a task he’s repeated countless times. After he loads the horses into the trailer, Dale pats his coat


pockets for gloves. Spurs ringing, he walks back to the barn for his yellow raincoat and ties it to a saddle in case the front blows up a shower later in the day. Looking east toward the horizon he gauges his time. He’ll be at work and ready to ride by sunup. Dale might say the profession chose him. “I was born and


raised with cattle, and [being a cowboy] is what I like to do,” he says. But it took a few bumps in the road to get him there. Yes, true cowboys still exist, even in Central Texas.


Finding his niche Dale grew up in Hugo, Okla., 1 of 8 children on a 600-acre ranch. The family baled hay, worked cattle and cut fi rewood. “All


December 2013 The Cattleman 65


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