Quick Updates On Our Ranch

The Weather

So far this spring we have been blessed with good rain showers. Although there has not been any storms that have compared to previous years, there has been a consistent amount of showers and storms. This has been great for our pastures. As Sam says “we are not in the business of raising cattle but growing grass.” Obviously you should take that with a grain of salt but there is some truth. We are very reliant, as all farmers and ranchers are, on rain and grass. When our pastures grow tall grass that saves us from needing hay and feed to sustain the herd.

The Foals (Ponies)

We like to inform you that we have finally decided the name for our current newest colt. Taco is his name and, to be honest, this might seem a little silly. However, once you understand our love–as a family–for Mexican food, this all starts to make a lot of sense. Taco, Sunshine, and Sundance, who are our three foals, are doing quite well and are growing healthy and strong. We are very excited to see them enjoying the wide open horse pasture with the rest of the horses and, of course, their moms.  Stay tuned, we are expecting one more foal soon!

Read more about our foals here.

The Cattle

I've been seeing a lot more of the cattle since I bought my dirt bike. Although I do help out cowboying from time to time those moments are few and far between. With the dirt bike I can cover large amounts of the ranch with ease. I can tell you the calves that were wee little cattle this winter are growing quickly this spring. The mom’s are soaking up the green grass and ample room to roam. Let me tell you what, these are some fat and happy mama’s.

The Humans (Our Family)

As for us, we are doing well. We all have been busy each doing his or her job to keep the ranch up and running. I believe each of us are falling more and more into our own place and perfecting our skills. Faith and Aaron have been doing a great job fixing fences and making sure that the cattle are fed and healthy. Helen and Sam have been doing a bunch of work on the logistics involved with providing the most top of the line cattle at a reasonable price. Mary is doing great making sure that everyone is happy and taking care of (especially the puppy dogs…but us too!). I have been working away at making retail the best experience for you. I hope to have a secret project done and available to the public by the end of the month.

To learn more about each of us make sure to check out our first newsletter ever here.

Sometimes You Just Need A Machine

Sometimes in ranching you have to use unconventional means to make things work. For us one factor that comes into play is the large amount of canyon land that we have on our ranch. The canyon is used as grazing grounds for our cattle and has ample room and fantastic grass for our herd. However, the thing about the canyon is that it can be unforgiving; that is unforgiving to us not the cattle. There is plenty of room for cattle to roam and graze but with broken fences this can become a bit too much room. Sometimes they get too far away from us to call with a siren and round them up by truck alone. When this happens it's time to call in the big guns. That means it is time to call in the helicopter.

If you think that a horse is good at rounding up cattle, you're right but a helicopter is much more efficient. There is a huge advantage being high up in the sky and being able to spot cattle that we could not see otherwise. The helicopter can move to and fro rounding up the cattle and slowly move them out of the canyon up into the flats so we can further care for the herd. The thing that is surprising to a lot of people is that the helicopter is one of the least stressful means of gathering for the cattle. It does not bother them despite being louder than a horse or ATV.

One cool part of the day was that Aaron and I had to wake up early to go open up some of the gates for the cattle. It was cool because we were able to ride our dirt bikes to get to the gates. Dirt bikes are probably the fastest way to get around on the ranch besides maybe a helicopter. It was a joy to get to ride and get paid to do it. I told Helen that I must be a professional dirt biker now that I’m being paid for it and all.