The whole McNabb family has an affinity for horses (and storytelling and adventure, for that matter), but Ken decided to make horsemanship his vocation early on. He began training horses for neighbors before he was 15 years old and apprenticed himself to Colorado master John Lyons at that young age. In the years since, Ken has spent countless hours in the saddle, many of them behind a microphone teaching participants in regional equine expos, horse shows, horsemanship clinics, instructional DVDs and through a national RFD TV show. His TV show, Discovering the Horseman Within, appears weekly on the RFD satellite channel. Ken's methods are commonly ascribed to the "natural horsemanship" persuasion of training, working with a horse's natural inclination towards learning and rewards. He periodically competes in prominent horse-starting competitions including the 2008 Road to the Horse and wins at the 2007 Colt Starting Challenge at the Mane Event in Washington and the 2008 Trainers Challenge Colt Starting Competition in BC, Canada. In March, Ken made his second appearance in the prestigious 2010 Road to the Horse event in Tennessee and is scheduled to return again in March of 2021. If you don't already know Ken, you can learn more about him at www.kenmcnabb.com.
Diemer's father, Dave, first began raising beef cattle - and kids - in Wyoming's Laramie Range mountains back in 1957. The original True Ranches operation grew to include a variety of ranch locations across eastern Wyoming, including some farm ground and cattle feedlots. In 2006, Diemer simplified by moving to a smaller place at the northern end of the same mountains, acquiring the Powderhorn ranch southwest of Douglas, WY. The family still raises beef cattle in a traditional cow-calf operation, as well as focusing on quality Quarter Horses and ranch hospitality.
In 2006, the Trues asked Ken McNabb to host an all-family horse clinic so that everyone down through the grandkids could be involved in Grandpa Diemer's 60th birthday party. Due to a forest fire, Ken, DeeDee and the boys relocated the clinic to Casper and the two families spent the week riding, entertaining, debating and laughing with each other. An easy rapport developed, so they did it again the next year.
After the second horse clinic, the two families went into the Beartooth Mountains for a week of high-country packing, fishing and horse training tips. Forced by a long rain to sit in camp one afternoon, they had lengthy conversations about where they had come from and what they hoped to accomplish in the years ahead.
The seeds of the Diamond-McNabb Ranch Horse Sale were planted beneath damp canvas and thin wood smoke when the families realized that the McNabbs had always loved the bustle and excitement of a quality horse sale, and that Diamond wanted to upgrade their horse flesh and training beyond that of years past. Combining Ken's training expertise with the demands of a working cattle operation, a group of horses could get quality training and work experience from their daily ranch job. The result should be a ready-to-go horse that would make the families proud.