The saddle-making, bronc-breaking grandpa

He's a cowboy grandpa, if ever there was one. In fact, he's one of Alberta's best. By looking at him and hearing him speak, you'd never guess that he came here from the far side of East Germany. For the last 18 years, his home's been a cabin in the Porcupine Hills - surrounded by sheep, of all things. But if you want to meet a guy who knows just about everything that's known about horses, then Heinz Patberg's your man. 55 years ago, he entered Canada as a teenager from a place near the River Warte, in the far west of what's now Poland. It didn't take long before he became known in southern Alberta as "the tough cowboy from the Warte." And did he ever move around! His Canadian life started off with haying for Lundbreck ranchers. After that, he "did no end of stuff" out on the range with cattle and horses. Shoeing the latter was something he'd do for many decades. Lundbreck's Stock Association hired him to ride all the way up the Oldman River to "The Gap," Racehorse Creek and Dutch Creek. Then opportunities to work on the Waldron Ranch opened up, putting him in charge of 3,000 head of cattle. He attended the Calgary Stampede for the first time in 1955 and later "did outriding for chuck-wagon outfits" there...read more