Howard Wesley “Jack” Sipe, Sr.

1938-2011

Jack Sipe, the youngest of eight children, was named Howard, but when he was only a few days old he had colic and his crying led his dad to start calling him Jack, a name that stuck. He grew up on a ranch in Moorcroft Wyoming, with his parents and seven siblings until high school. Then he moved to Bighorn, Wyoming, with his parents.

While in high school, Jack worked milking dairy cows before and after school including delivering the milk to Meadow Gold in Sheridan. He was also active on the football and basketball teams. He learned how to shoe horses when he was 11 years old. This was a skill he continued to use throughout his life. From his father he also learned how to shear sheep.

In the spring of 1978, Jack moved his wife, Maxine, and children, Dawn and Tiger, to a little place between Sheridan and Bighorn. At this same time, he started his own business, Sipe Horseshoeing. It did not take long for Jack’s reputation to get around Sheridan and neighboring counties. It was not uncommon for him to shoe 15-18 horses each day for days in a row. There were times Maxine would have to put her foot down to get him to take a day off.

Jack not only loved shoeing horses, but loved teaching others how to do it. His last student was Dawn (his granddaughter that he raised from the young age of three). During the winter months when the horseshoeing was slow, he would haul hay (small squares loaded and unloaded by hand) for ranches around the county.

While working on a variety of ranches, he started many young horses. He was one of the first board members for the Sheridan County Rodeo and with friends from that rodeo he helped start the Wyotana Chariot Racing club. Because of his farrier work he had connection to many ranches including the Hat Ranch out of Kaycee, the PK Ranch, Dow Ranch, Cato Ranch, and Ligocki Ranch in Sheridan County plus TP Association and the Forest Service. He was also involved in the start up of the Blue Sky Saddle Club in Sheridan.