by Cowgirl on May 6, 2014
Branding smoke….a fragrance that isn’t likely to be bottled and marketed by Dior or AirWick anytime soon, but nontheless a smell that evokes strong memories, pulling me into a reminiscent state of mind. I started helping brand calves when I was five years old, back when getting to go along for daily ranch work alongside my dad and siblings was what I lived for. Considering that a normal five year old would probably recoil at the sight of what goes on at a branding, I admit my abnormality of looking forward to branding days when I was a kid.
I’m concocting a grandiose tale in my head about what might have happened last weekend. It goes something like this…Cowboy Dad and I loaded up our horses and trailered out to the South Dakota plains where our cow herd spent the summer. We then rode all day gathering up the herd, enjoying the beautiful western landscape, sorting the cows from the calves, pushing them onto a semi truck trailer, and driving home to Iowa. It would have been a wonderful weekend, with stories to tell of how well our horses worked cattle, and lots of photographs to share of the splendors of the prairie. But alas, it didn’t quite happen that way.
by Cowgirl on April 25, 2012
Last weekend we took our cows out west where I grew up. From here, it’s a four hour ride in a car…a six hour ride for a cattle pot and truck and trailer with seven people packed into the crew cab. Saturday was one long hectic day. But it was one of the best weekends I’ve had in a long time, because to me it meant going home.
Last Saturday just after lunch, Cowboy Dad came driving up to the house and said, “Come on, hurry! We’ve got trouble. The cows are out and the bull and one calf are in with the neighbor’s cattle.” So I hurried to get my boots on and he loaded up my saddle.
by Cowgirl on June 3, 2010
I really don’t want to be set in my ways, or stuck in a rut because I think I know better than anyone else. It’s never too late to learn something new, and if I know anything about horses at all, I know that they are all different—each one is an individual, and I can’t be right 100% of the time.
by Cowgirl on June 2, 2010
We just got back from visiting my parents who live in Idaho. They live in a beautiful valley surrounded by snow-capped mountains and raise beef cattle, alfalfa hay, and Quarter horses. We spent several days riding horses and working cattle.
