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MAY 2017

6/1/2017

Whoo! What a month it's been. I know I have posted branding pictures, but that is just a part of all the cattle work we do in the month of May. We also bring all the cattle in off the winter ranges, AI (artificially inseminate) the heifers for next year and move them onto summer pasture. So on and so on. Here are some catch up pictures. There will still be several branding posts to follow.

Long days were spent on the desert bringing the cows home.

Hannah on one of her mustangs she is training.

After we AI , (artificially Inseminate) ,the heifers we take them to the Roland Ranch pasture for a month or two.

The trail was hot and the heifers were tired. Notice the purple tag. This year will be identified by that color tag.

Another job we do in May is put bulls out with the cows. Here is Hannah cutting one bull out of the pen.

Hours and hours spent on the range meant for great horse training.

This is Lady Bug. Clay has been training her for someone else. This is her 5th ride out. She did great.

We lost Dave's dad in May. He was a great man and we have felt the loss heavily. He will be missed.

Dave and his dad sorting and sizing calves.

That is a very brief idea of what May has been like for us. I have not kept up with it all. We have been busy. I hope to post more May branding pictures soon.

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WIND, WIND, AND WIND

5/6/2017

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So things got a little windy today and wow, so dusty. The camera doesn't really capture the wind.

Yep, we all looked like this.

What a crew. It always amazes me that no matter what the conditions are, or how hard the day turns out to be, these people just keep on working, and they come back for more. They are the best. THANK YOU

We even recruited some new help today. We'll see if he returns next time.. haha

I know it looks brutal, but the calves really are ok.

The ground crew is awesome.

This little guy is saying, "what just happened?"

I'm thinking we could do a Tide commercial.

Go Ryan!

Go Will!

And she's smiling.....

Ha, someone must have grabbed my camera again. I'm always sporting the latest cowgirl fashion. haha, Not.

Don't mess with our cowgirls.

Gettin' 'er done.

Go rookie!

I liked these colorful chaps.

Staying busy.

Today was not for the weak. This is a high school rodeo queen.. Now she deserves the crown. She's the real deal.

The cowboys line up on one side while a couple other cowboys are in the herd trying to head a calf or two, then these cowboys will go heal the calves. If one cowboy misses another is right in line, loop ready, to try to catch. Things are less chaotic and safer for all when there is a little organization and cooperation.

How the cowboys keep their hats on always amazes me.

One more branding wrapped up. We still have several ahead of us.
The weather wasn't good, but the help was great and somehow it turned out to be a fun day.
Thank you everyone. You are truly amazing.

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WORKING CALVES, PART 1

4/23/2017

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It's that time of year again. This is the first of many "brandings". I always say branding, but we don't brand. Each calf needs to be processed, which involves an ear mark, ear tag, vaccinations to prevent them from getting a disease, and castrating the bull calves. We also check their overall health and doctor them if necessary. I don't particularly like doing this to the calves, even though I know it doesn't hurt them. It's necessary so that we can identify our calves from other ranches and for them to stay healthy. They bounce right up and are just fine.

Mt Wheeler made a great backdrop for these branding photos.

As always, it isn't just the cowBoys that get things done. Our cowGirls are awesome.

We have cowboys of all ages.

I always feel like the ground crew doesn't get enough credit. Without them we couldn't do the job. The ropers trade off and work the ground as well.

Just because they are girls don't think they can't throw a calf.

Brothers

A concerned momma.

This is the first time Dave has had his horse, Gaucho, in the roping corral. He did great.

Ha, proof I do something besides take pictures. I know it's hard to believe with as many pictures as I take. I just run around like a chicken with my head cut off most of the time trying to take pictures and give shots.

There are so many pretty horses.

Gee, that was just round one. Stay tuned for more branding pictures if you can stand it.

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UP UP AND AWAY

4/19/2017

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Dave talked me into going up in the plane with him a few weeks ago. I am not the best flying partner. I took my dramamine and up we went. We flew over Strawberry Creek to see the damage of the fire from last summer.

We checked on our cows out North.

We looked at the fields and headed home.
I survived the flight, and it was beautiful, but I'm still not a fan of the little plane.

I did have an excellent pilot though.

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GET ALONG LITTLE DOGIES

3/30/2017

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We've been moving our cows onto their spring range, but some of the calves were too young to travel. We let them grow and came back out yesterday and today to move them along.

The weather today was quite a bit different than the nice day we had yesterday. It was windy and a little rainy.

Clay on a horse he calls Montana, Hannah in the background on Lexi.

I took this picture of this cow and calf to try to identify her later. She is a mean cow. She came at Clay on his horse yesterday. It could have been a bad wreck. Luckily his dog Callie saved his hide. Old yellow tag 53

These were pictures from today. I didn't get many yesterday. I guess I just didn't remember to take any.

This was yesterday, Dave on our new horse Gator. We have been feeding him up. He came to us quite poor.

Hannah and her horse Lexi and dog Rip. Clay and his 2 year old Maggie and his dog Callie.

Yesterday was a nice day for a picnic. Don't you love Clay's lunch chair?

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SPRING RANGE

3/17/2017

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It is time to move the cows onto spring range. The weather was beautiful, but a little too warm for very pregnant cows. We took things slow.

We all split up to gather the cows which had scattered across the large valley and up into the hills. This is the view I had. It was amazing. There is nothing like the peace you get being alone in the desert on a good horse.

I managed to find a cow or two.

Lucy helping.

Eventually we all gathered together in the bottom and headed across the valley.

Haha, who is that cowgirl?

The sky was amazing.

Boss Man.

Crossing the hard pan.

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SLOW GOIN'

2/10/2017

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We are in the middle of calving our heifers. After the babies are a couple of days old we take them and their mommas to a separate pasture. This helps keep the moms from getting confused. It is a slow process getting the little ones anywhere.

It takes some patience from the cowboys and their horses.

Sometimes the babies require a little personal attention.

We have some pretty great cowboys and cowgirls.

This cow couldn't have her calf without a little help. This is a series of pictures I took of Dave corralling the cow so we could help her.
It takes a good horse, a quick mind and quicker feet.

We have about 100+ heifers calved, only about 170 or so to go. See you soon.

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BABIES

1/29/2017

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So far this season has started off well. The weather isn't warm, but they aren't dropping in snow.
We did have thick fog this morning. It sure sparkled.

It was pretty frosty.

Geese on the frozen pond.

These two both want the same calf. One is confused.
Stay tuned for more calving pictures in February. Things are about to get quite busy around here.

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WINTER AND THE END OF 2016

12/31/2016

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Winter means frosty mornings, beautiful skies, a lot of hard work and maybe even a little fun.

A day on the range.

I broke the ice in three sets of tubs yesterday. Now that isn't three tubs mind you. It's like 8 to 11 tubs in each set. Wow, I was exhausted.

Along with ice breaking comes the winter riding. The cowboys took the cows out to the North range this week. I made Clay and Hannah pose for a couple of pictures. They are good sports.

This was a two day cattle drive, for a total of about 25 miles. Day one they went 14 miles. Then finished up the next day.

Dave and I hauled hay, mineral block and water troughs for the cows. What a beautiful day.

We managed to sneak a little fun in on Christmas day.

This old toboggan still flies down the hill. It was my dad's when he was a kid in the 50's.

This was the landing. haha

Here is a family photo. It is a difficult process getting this group to pose for a picture.
Clay, Hannah, Kori, Ryan, Tana and Dave.
So that is about it for 2016. Here's wishing you all a Happy and Healthy New Year.

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ICE REMOVAL

12/19/2016

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I went with Dave to break ice yesterday. It was chilly, but oh so pretty.

We had to use an axe to break the ice.

Then we used this fancy invention a friend of ours made for us. It was pretty handy and really saved our backs. We could get big chunks of ice out quite easily.

Obviously I was getting a kick out of using it. Why not make the job fun right?

The cows were happy, we were happy and it was beutiful.

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