What a fabulous year…and no, I haven’t forgotten the winter we survived. But the grass and hay are more than incredible and every morning we can’t wait for the dew to dry so we can get into the hayfield. Mother Nature has taken tremendously good care of us this spring. We had golf ball size hail that broke a couple windows in the houses – and my hummingbird feeder – but damaged our hay very little. That’s an easy trade-off! Our thoughts go out to friends and neighbors who have lost their hay to hail, or haven’t had the blessing of so much moisture. Daily, we stop a moment to take in the wonder of this hay crop and cows belly deep in green grass in July.
Sonny and I were checking on bulls when we discovered this problem. The calf jumped into the tank but couldn’t get enough traction to jump back out. We took the planks off, she jumped out and went right to sucking!
Sonny, Sid, Donald, Robert, KP and Mike seated. On this day the crew was big enough that they worked when they wanted and visited the rest of the time. It’s an honor to be at a branding with these guys.
Hope we are all so lucky to be doing what we love, and doing it well, when we are 88 years of age! What fun it was to share the day with Donald – and all our great neighbors!
Ropers, wrestlers and rest of ground crew working together
We were honored to attend two brandings of our great friends Norm & Julie and Sid & Gaye and had a great time at each. We feel so lucky to share in those days with their families and friends. So few of us have the old style brandings any more that it’s truly wonderful to see that portion of our ranching heritage carried on.
Many great photos of those brandings have been posted but will add a few of mine as a tribute to our way of life – past, present and hopefully, future.
Thank you to all who carry on our ranching traditions. Long may they live!
Winter and spring’s work load kept me away from the internet and posting, but I’m looking forward to getting back at it. It was several months after the snow melted before I’d gained the perspective on the winter of 2018 necessary to write about it…and now we’re haying!
This country couldn’t be more beautifully green, and must be growing as much grass as the buffalo ever saw.
The new four letter word around this outfit is … SNOW! With about 10 days of thawing in the last two months, the &*%# is still hock deep to a tall horse. The plowed trails the cows have been living on and eating in are now muck bordered by berms of melting &*%#. Most of the cows are calving cheek by jowl, with curious cows investigating their every move and sound. Like them, I’d be cranky and want to fight, too! Unfortunately, when a brave cow ventures across the frozen wasteland she can’t find anyplace to drop her calf but in a &*%#bank.
New gait – the snow trot
We’ve discovered a new gait on our horses. It’s the &*%# trot, which is a high step that breaks the crust on the upward stroke, a downward plunge through the soft under &*%#, a slight delay as the subcrust breaks before the hoof sinks into soft under under &*%#. The rhythm reminds me of a four year old playing a jack-in-the-box. The horses seem to prefer it to their other gaits, maybe because a lope is simply a high lunge they can’t keep up for long and they can’t seem to keep up enough momentum if they slow to a walk.
Better to ride than walk, however. I got stuck in the &*%# the other day – not in a vehicle but on foot. My left foot plunged crotch deep and my right thigh deep…and there I was until I tipped forward and belly crawled. Sonny said he thought about coming to my aid but decided it was more fun to watch than participate!
Only place for cattle to travel is on plowed trails
We have a great the trail to bring cows with problems to the corrals. It’s not hard to keep them headed in the right direction- after a few steps in the &*%# they’re eager to turn back to the trail.
We know we’re not alone in this. Though tempers are a bit frayed, we try to remember that the most important thing we can do is to take care of each other…it will all work out in the end.
Wow! Looking from this photo of the ranch to the one on the page header, it’s hard to tell the photos are of the same ranch. Just hoping all this snow means it will be a great grass year.
Storms keep rolling through. We started out to feed this morning then came back because we just couldn’t see. Once the snow let up, we headed out again following the tractor. It was rough but we got the cattle fed. Though it was getting lighter on the horizon the wind was so strong it was tough to see. Many of our plowed trails are full of snow again.
Sandy Snider Stahl 