THE COWBOY CORNER EDITION 9 VOL.1

Another foal

There is a romantic part of the whole ranching lifestyle: the vast Texas sky and extensive open plains. There are acres and acres of open land where one can breathe and feel free from the pressures of society. Seeing wild and domestic animals in their life cycles from birth until death is a thing of beauty. I see why people spend thousands of dollars a week on a dude ranch. I'm enamored with my new life, and Sunshine and Sundance are a part of that. Let me explain.

The other week, we were treated to another foal from one of the four mares our stud, little Dunn, had impregnated. Seeing all this new life on the ranch has been a treat. The new foal's name is Sundance, and his mom is Darlin. The other foal, which is in volume 6, is Sunshine. The best part of it is that both the foals are good friends. Often, I see them hanging out together. The other day, driving down to the headquarters, I stopped to take some pictures when the two passed in front of me shoulder to shoulder. It almost felt a little bit like daycare. The moms were hanging out and grazing together while the kids went to play. Once playtime is over it's back to mom for a nice drink of milk.

Work Task: Photography

At TriTails, we like to keep our business small and family-run. That means that most of what we do is in-house. Usually, when people hear family run, they think of the ranching side of our business. This is true in farming, ranching, land management, equipment maintenance, and keeping all our barns and buildings functional. We do most of the work. For this article, I would like to switch your attention to the business side of things, which we also do in-house. From bookkeeping, website design, marketing, pricing, and much more, we do this all in-house.

I would like to point out one thing in particular that is very important to our business: our photography. Recently, I have noticed that more and more businesses are doing what we do by selling beef online. However, I think that our photography stands out above the rest, and there are multiple reasons why.

Okay, I could give myself a pat on the back and say our photos look great, and they do, but there is a lot more going on. For one, our ranch photos are almost all taken in-house by our family. That means no professional photographer is coming in to add or take away from our photos. Second, none of our product photos are professionally taken or are stock images. This means our photos closely represent the beef you would receive in a beef box. I literally take beef from our freezers, stage the meat, take the photos, and then, most importantly, eat the beef afterward. That means no glues, sprays, or other outside factors ruining the meat to the point that it is inedible.

At TriTails we want the small family business side of us to come through professionally. We take joy in learning particular skill sets that further our company and us, like photography. We want our website and our ranch to look good, but we also don't want ultra-enhanced photos. Our goal is to welcome you into our way of life so that you can enjoy the stories and adventures. That is why we share our ranch on social media and do newsletters. We also want you to see how visually amazing our steaks are. We let the marbling speak for itself. We don't need to do anything other than take photos of our steaks. That is why it's a pleasure to eat the steak after I take pictures of it rather than ruin it for a photo. Remember, when you see an image on our website, it is the real thing. It's our beef untampered with for the eyes of our customers to behold.

Some Photos By Faith Harrell

GET TO KNOW THE AUTHOR: FOR THOSE NEW TO READING MY NEWSLETTER, MY NAME IS CONNOR MCCAULEY, AND I'M MARRIED TO A FIFTH-GENERATION RANCHER. I WRITE THESE ARTICLES FROM MY PERSPECTIVE A LOT OF THE TIME. AS SOMEONE RAISED IN THE HOUSE OF A STOCKBROKER IN SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA, MY PERSPECTIVE CONTRASTS WITH MY NEW TEXAS RANCHING LIFE. IN 2015, I MOVED TO COLORADO AND PURSUED A CAREER WITH THE SKI RESORTS. THAT IS WHERE I MET MY WONDERFUL WIFE, HELEN. IN 2021, WE MOVED TO HER FAMILY'S RANCH FULL-TIME, AND I BECAME A MIX OF THINGS FROM RANCH HAND TO MARKETER TO RETAIL MANAGER.