Sister, Styles and some Serious Sass

Amber came to the Ranch this week! She brought her pup, and we had a good time doing ranch work, riding around with the girls and hanging out.  The most exciting part of it all was that the branding was on Friday, so Amber got to wrestle some calves with long mountain rides (on Sassy) before and afterwards.  What fun! 

I rode one of Les' horses, Belle, who was probably the most disagreeable animal I've ever ridden.  She would nicker and prance about if we were more than 2 paces away from Les' other horse, and insisted that hills were for bounding up.  The hills weren't that much of a problem, but the other horse issue nearly got me bucked off a few times.  I don't think it helped much that I have never ridden in a Hackamore, so I'm not sure how rough I was being in the reins.  After we finally got home, I was considerably shaken (not to mention totally exhausted) and I broke down on Amber about it.  She comforted me by telling me that "That mare was getting on MY nerves, and I didn't even have to ride her!" Big sisters are great.  

All in all though, Amber had a great time riding about and playing with our doggies.  Bella was in heat, so Bud followed her around everywhere we went (when he could keep up), and Blizzie just thought Bella was the coolest thing since sliced bread, and, being faster than Bella, made sure to wait for her while we were all going up the hills to my place.  

Someday, I hope Amber and I (and of course whoever else wants to join!) can live out our dream of having land, plants and critters of our own someday.

The end of summer is drawing near.  Only 6 more days, and I'll be packing up my pretty green house and heading south back to the city and back to school.   Part of me is excited; it will be a great semester with lots (but not too many) of fun, challenging classes.  I'll also be closer to Jay and my family, all of whom I miss so much it hurts. 

But, all that going home business means leaving here as well.  No more chasing cows around on horseback every other day, or toiling with fences.  It will be goodbye to Blizzie and Peanut Butter, Lucy and all the kittens, and saddest of all, to the Lankisters.  No more trying on cowgirl hats and boots or running around playing indians, convincing them that Silas is NOT a scary critter, and racing. 

I was telling Amber the other night that I'm relieved I don't have to make a decision as to whether I go or stay. I don't think I could do it.  I guess it's not really worth dwelling over now.  I'll just have to make the most of the next 6 days. :)

Parents!

A couple of weeks ago (goodness! Has it really been THAT long?!), Mom and Dad came up to Wyoming for a visit!  It was GREAT to see them!  I'd been out with Clara looking for cows in the Sawmill, and I rode in to see my beautiful parents waiting for me! How exciting!

We promptly headed towards the barn and saddled up old Sebastian and got Dad on a horse for the third time in his life!  He just rode around the corral, and really started to get the hang of using his legs to communicate with the horse. Seb was great, of course, because he's old and tired and the most willing animal I know.

After a tour around the ranch, we had good steaks and a large group around the table. And of course, we played music! Dad and I played the Hindemith and Wendi, Clara and Faye played a few of their piano pieces.

Sunday morning, Mom and I saddled up (Mom rode Drifty, I rode Ginger) and rode up to the West pasture.  Mom was a champ. It was a 3.5-4 hour ride, and she powered right on through (though she was grateful when I suggested she get off and soak her head in the creek!).  We loped around a bit and saw all the little bitty baby calves and laughed at their funny little moos.  The afternoon was relaxing since Mom refused to move (and it was over 100 degrees).   I was so grateful that they came up to share this wonderful place with me for a while. I only wish they could have stayed longer!

Last weekend the Lankisters went to Allenspark for Wendi's sister's wedding, so I stayed here and held down the fort for three whole days! I must admit I was a bit nervous, but everything went well; I didn't hurt myself and the fats got fatter. Huzzah!

Keith assigned me Lucy (a halflinger filly) as a project horse to start. I've learned very much about starting horses - just in time to prepare for my training class this coming year!  A couple of days ago, I put the first ride on her, and we did quite well (Only one buck!).  The second ride will hopefully come today once Keith and Wendi's dad get back from their drive up the mountain.  It's hard to ride a horse that hardly knows any commands. The trick is to "blend in" and stay on.  That one buck came in when I gave her a smart kick with my leg because she was turning the wrong way. Whee!  This is getting me all keyed up for school in August!

And lastly; kittens. I finally got some pictures of a litter of kittens.  These are a couple of Lizzie's kittens that, until recently, were living up in the hay loft. They would peek out the window when we were in the corral tacking up and mew at us. How fun to have an audience, especially such a cute, furry one!

This picture is so typically "Josey." She loves those kittens to death.

The kittens totally didn't care about Gnan at all. Poor Gnan felt so unloved!

Remember, if you decide you need one of these furry things, you just let me know!

Pony Games

Tuesday the 19th: Pony Express ReRide.  It's a tradition to ride the old trail from San Francisco, CA to St Joseph, MO to deliver the mail.  It was ridden in history in 10 mile legs, and after each leg, the rider would switch out for a new horse, and go another ten on that horse, and so on. (Read more about the history here)  Of course, we didn't do 10 mile legs when we rode it, though I probably rode close to 8 miles in 4 segments.  We spent all day leap-frogging other trailers with their horses and riders and swapping the mail bag from saddle to saddle, and of course, RIDING!

On the way to the first ride, we were driving down the road and discovered...

A rattlesnake! (I actually saw one today too. There haven't been many this year, luckily)

Obviously, the snake didn't last against the wrath of the Lankisters!

We picked up the Pony Express on Prospect Hill, a point on the Oregon/California trails on which you finally reach the top of a long upward slope to see the trail ahead with Independence Rock lurking in the distance in front of the mountains.

Gnan found a little horny toad friend!

Then he promptly gave up after seeing the long trek ahead to Independence Rock.

A couple days after the Pony Express, after all the chores were done, Clara, Faye Josey and I did some racing! My first galloping adventure! What fun! I learned a lot about myself as a rider in those few runs. Firstly; you can't ride a western horse in a western saddle WELL (in any sort of advanced fashion) if you're trying to ride with a dressage seat.  After the first leg of race, Clara asked how I was doing.  "I feel like I was falling off!"  "You looked like you were falling off!"

After some discussion and another race to test our theory, we discovered that I was having troubles staying in the saddle because I was trying to ride with a dressage seat (keeping in contact as much as possible with the saddle while driving as much as possible with your seat) in the western saddle (that is meant to hold a relatively still seat during which, in faster gaits, you stand up a little).  I've been working my hardest to have a western seat, but it's awfully difficult when I learned and was trained riding the complete opposite!  I'm hoping the next time I get into a dressage saddle, I don't ride like a silly cowgirl. :)

Yesterday, I got a crash course in ranch sorting.  I started learning pressure points (Shoulder to hip makes them move forward, eye makes them turn), and after that, it's just waiting for the perfect opening, and also letting the cows sort themselves.   I'm no pro, but I'm getting there.

God, please send rain.  These fires are getting out of hand. We can hardly see the wind farm up north through the smoke, and from what I hear is happening in Colorado, we've got the least of it.

Words and Words and Words

I think in the past couple of weeks, I've really developed an appreciation for good beer.  I had about 2 sips of Bud Lite Lime at the branding, and refused beer after that until Wendi brought back some Fat Tire. And golly, was that Fat Tire good! Thank you, New Belgium!  John and Lindsay: I have finished TWO beers in the past two days. You should be proud!

We finally got some much needed rain today. Just in time too! Keith and I had just come in from a 3.5 hour ride (looking for straggling cattle up in Saw Mill), and as soon as we had our saddles off, it started coming down. Then we drank beers while driving up to pick up the truck and trailer (It's a cowboy's life for me!)

The girls and Wendi are at horse camp this weekend. It's strange and quiet around here.  It's kind of nice to be left to my own vices though. Just a list of things to do and all day to do it.  I love the hard work. I also love being able to take a bit of a break whenever I need it; it's my time, as long as I get my list done, life is good.  I also very much love working outside all day.  it's mentioned in "The Secret Garden" that Mary's hair gets full and healthy when she starts playing in the garden, and though I wasn't completely locked inside all the time before this summer, I have definitely noticed a certain springiness (not to mention a lighter color from the sun!) to my hair. I like it.  It's going to be hard going back to school in the fall and having to spend all that time inside.

Keith and I spent hours talking at the table before, during and after dinner and dessert today.  I like hearty conversation.

I miss my family terribly.

I think I'm done blithering. Here are some pictures:

This is the view from the Rock gate (taken about 10 minutes before I tipped the 4x4).  It's really quite beautiful up there, though I prefer to ride a horse over driving a 4x4. Of course, I'd ALWAYS take a horse over a machine!

And of course, what's a place without a bear? I got shocked by that gate while trying to get it closed. Yeeouch!

Gnan also found a pretty flower on the way back home!

Wednesday was (cousin) Michael's 12th birthday.  I made him a cake and about 30 minutes after we ate it, he went and broke his wrist. Happy Birthday, Michael!

Nice cake, Gnan!

We all went as a family to the College National Finals Rodeo on Tuesday night. What a party! I did enjoy it, though I'm glad I chose dressage and not Rodeo! What racket!

Bronc riding! You have two events; bareback and saddle bronc. I'll let you figure out the difference.

Yeehaw!

Barrel racing. ZOOO-turn!-OOOM!

Calf tying. This is kinda funny; they rush out after the calf, rope the calf around the neck, then jump off their horse really quick and flop that calf on the ground and tie his legs. Fastest wins! I thin the fastest time was around 21 seconds?

And steer wrestling. I think this one was the funniest to watch, and also probably the most practical.  The two cowboys rush out of the pen after the cow (The guy on the right is there just to make sure the cow goes straight), then about half way down, the wrestler jumps off his horse onto the steer's horns, then flips the steer on the ground by twisting his horns (and therefore his neck).  The things some people do for fun...

Adventure days!

This week the cousins are in town. That means three more kids around! What a party.  

We all hopped on horseback yesterday to move the fats.  Rosie was scared of near everything we did-she seems to have a very anxious streak in her-and Michael rode just as well as Faye and Josie.  I got to ride Clara's young horse, Pathfinder. She's a pretty red roan who rides like a dream, and will be quite handy once she gets over her slight lameness.  

In tying up Sassy for Gracie, I nearly lost my thumb.  The Blizzie dog decided to come "help" us with the horses around in the corral, and barking around making them spook.  It was precisely at this time that I was half way through tying Sassy's rope, and with the spooking, Sassy started pulling back, catching my thumb in the bowline knot.  Luckily, I had gloves on, and so that rope grabbed me, and twisted my glove around.  I've now got a slightly swollen, stiff thumb and a nice patch of rope burn.  I'm pretty sure nothing's broken, thank God! But I've been learning the validity of the origin of the saying "sticks out like a sore thumb."

I had all six kids (5 girls and Michael) over to my house last night.  We held my snake, sang with my bird, then ate an entire bag of gummy bears while we watched Sword in the Stone. It was great to have so many cheerful spirits in my house!

Today was full of excitement as well.  Keith was off shoeing some horses in town, so I was on my own to go up to the rock gate (I'll have pictures later) and do some repairs on the electric fence up there.
Once I got all my supplies together, the repairs went quite smoothly, despite the nice shock I got while trying to close the gate. Yikes! Those things pack a kick.

On my way back I kept getting off the trail for some reason.  For the most part, i was pretty successful at picking my way through the bushes.  Then i got to the bit of trail that goes across  the side of a very large hill.  It's always a bit nerve wracking to drive that part because you have a constant feeling that you'll roll down the hill.  At some point along this stretch, i must have gotten off the trail again, because it was getting much tiltier than I remembered, and then came the bush.  It kind of happened in slow motion (it helped that I wasn't going any faster than walking pace). I hit the bush, and then i felt the 4x4 tilt more and more and more.  I tried to scramble out from underneath it, fearing it would roll down the hill onto me, but the bush (or God) stopped it from rolling onto me.  My ankle got pinned, but I was able to reach down far enough to unlace it to the point where i could slip my foot out of my boot.  After I tried my darndest to get the 4x4 upright on my own, I walked most the way down to the house (maybe 2 miles) to get reception for my phone.  Then Clara and Michael came and helped me out.

Thank goodness some one up there was looking out for me!

Now it's time for dinner and then to town to watch a rodeo! I think I'll have a new appreciation for the events now that I know where they came from...working cattle. :)

Kittens!

Today, I feel like I've finally gotten the hang of irrigation.

There's a trick to getting the tarp in the ground just so a minimal amount of water gets through.  We're all about not letting the water through, you see, because here in Wyoming there's a saying; "Whiskey's for drinking, water's for fighting."  We haven't had much rain lately, and so we're just bracing ourselves for drought conditions.  But for now, I walk around two of the fields every morning and evening and splash through the flooded areas making sure the water is doing it's job, then move tarps and pack, dig and move dirt/mud around making it satisfactory.  It's quite nice to play in the water at the end of the day!

In other big news; KITTENS!
Twelve of them, to be precise (from 3 mothers).  One group in the hay loft of the barn, one in the slats of the barn shed and another in the pile of wood in the apple orchard.  If anyone wants a cat (they'll do fine as outdoor cats!) let us know!  There are Manx, half tail and full tail kittens.  They're SO cute. I can hold them in one hand, and they make the smallest little mews!

(These cats are obviously NOT the kittens. The bottom cat is one of the mothers though, I believe.)

Branding Day

Wrestling cattle, sunburns, manure, heavy smoke from burning hair and flesh, lost boys, ropes, horses, hoots and hollers.  All the components of a full day of branding.  There were two waves of branding, during the first of which I learned how to work both ends of the calves, though I didn't get very good at it. It takes a lot of work; those little babies can pack a whollop!  The second bunch, I distributed immunizations. It took more running around and paying attention, but much less man power, and therefore, I felt more fit for the job.

This is me working the tail end.

The organized chaos ensues...

Here's how it works:
There are two to four people on horseback doing the roping.  They rope the calves by the back leg(s), and then drag them into the "fire" or the group of wrestlers (there were a good 20 or so of us), and pairs run up on either side of the horse.  The person who works the front of the cow goes to the left of the horse and grabs the cow by the tail and pulls him over (with the help of the person on the other side who has the rope that is wrapped around the ankles).  Then both jump on the cow bracing the legs in such a way that the calf can't kick and struggle as much as possible. Then the immunizations come; one sub-dermal in the neck, and one intramuscular in the rear. the cow's marked (so the ropers know that he's done), and then the hot iron comes.  One tip: do not breathe in when that iron hits that cow. That smoke smells so bad and burns the esophagus like none other.

Then everyone jumps back, and the calf runs off to join the throng of calves at the fence. 

The other day (I've lost track of what we did on what day), we built a nice fence around the area between the barn shed and the brown shed, and then planted all sorts of things to grow and eat! I dug my first post hole, and introduced everyone to Gnan.

Before... (That's Faye in my post hole on the left and Josey on the right)

..And After!

I also got new lawn mowers!

I must say, they're much cuter than that little black mowing machine.

They stayed in my yard over night, and I got to fall asleep to their soft munching, lowing, and now the faint smell of cow is in the yard.  It's a nice scent really, like freshly mown grass without the overtones of burning fuel.  I like it. I like them. I think they're incredibly cute.

Gnan came along on a little chore I had to do, and the cows liked him very much. 

The bear was slobbered on in the taking of this picture. Poor Gnan undergoes such hardships for my photo needs!

Lastly, here's a little introduction.

This is Blizzard (or Blizzy).  She's quite young, and runs along with the 4x4s right in front of the front wheels. It's a little nerve wracking, but she always seems to stay out of the way (if only just). She also chases the cows, then gets them to chase her, which causes quite the problem when you want them to be going the other way.  I do like her though.

The First (real) Drive

A typical day here at Duncan starts around 8 or 8:30am.  This morning, we were all up and at'em by 5:30 and on our horses ready to chase cows up the hill at 6.  This was not our choice, but the neighbor's.  He gets up that early nearly every day (as do most ranchers/farmers, I suppose), and seeing as we were helping him move his cattle, he got to call the shots. C'est la vie.

All in all, my first drive was a great success despite the early start.   I started out a little unsure of myself, but after a while, I got comfortable getting where I needed to get and knowing how to come at the calves to get them to move.

We had only one or two glitches.  One was an incredibly old cow who decided that two or three steps to go at a time was just too much and that down the huge ravine was the only direction to go.  Clara and I stuck in the back lagging farther and farther behind doing everything in our power to just get her to take those next couple of steps without running down the hill.  We got her close enough to the top of the road (where it evens out into a nice open field: much easier to work cows up there) when the neighbor came down and told us to leave her.  We loped a nice long distance to catch up with the others.
Drifty's lope is almost heavier in the front end than Marty's. Her trot's a dream though.

The other problem was the Duncan Ranch cow that decided to follow along. We'll have to go back and find her later.

Clara and I have been knocking out chores together this week. Weeds, fences, cows, horses.  Sometimes I get surprised by the fact she's only 12. I'd say 15 or 16 at least.  I'm so grateful for all the girls. They're so sweet, energetic and hardworking.  I hope they enjoy their lifestyle as much as I do!

Here's an interesting fact; cattle are curious critters.  If something/someone plops themselves down in the middle of their field, they will undoubtedly all go to investigate.

On Monday, we were sent to move the fats to the next patch of grass, and so we got out there, moved most of them, and were going back to take down fence when out pop about 7 more cattle!  After very unsuccessfully trying to get them to go under the fence while we held it or down to the end so we could open it for them, we plopped ourselves down and started chatting, and lo and behold, here came the seven cattle drooling and mooing with curiosity in their eyes.  We crawled a little ways, and they came plodding right along behind us.  The more I'm around cows, the more I like them. :)

I joined the Lankisters for church on Sunday.  It was fine-mainly different than I'm used to considering it's a MSL Lutheran church.  I was taken aback and got completely upset when they didn't allow me to take communion because I wasn't confirmed in their sect.  I suppose everyone has their thing.  I have a lot to say on this subject, but I don't think this is a good place for rants. Simply put, Jesus died for everyone, no matter their sect, past, etc.  If anyone knows this and, more importantly, follows Him and wants to join in with communion, they should be allowed that right, not excluded.

The Kick Off

Welcome to Wyoming. Windy, windy Wyoming.
I live in a pretty little green house with a beautiful view and a huge yard that I have yet to mow due to a finicky lawn mower.

My first week has been an all round adventure filled with glitches.
Monday was full of running about in the hot sun with the girls weeding (Hounds tongue and bull thistle), building fences and bumbling about on 4x4s.
Tuesday was fighting with the lawn mower and shooting sparks and smoke all over it and my car. Yikes. I learned to use a weed whacker and learned the horribly jiggly feeling of post-weed eater arms. and fences. and moving fences and cows.  We found a bull snake climbing a tree. He was large and defensive.  The girls wanted to kill it, but I'm sure glad we didn't. He wasn't doing any harm.

Wednesday was nice and brisk.  We finished weeding and built more fences.  Clara, Keith and I went up Sawmill on the 4x4s.  We went all over the ranch and saw many many new calves.  They're so scrawny and awkward and totally cute.  They hide on the far side of their mothers who moo loudly at you.  The hills roll and remind me a lot of Fort Collins. Which makes sense, because in reality, I'm really not that far from home.
Thursday was rainy, snowy, haily, and a little miserable. I set up a fence on my own and got so cold. I don't think I have ever been that cold before. I got home, and finished unpacking, cleaning and finally got to vacuum all the dead bugs off the floor.  Then I sat down and ate and found myself feeling quite awful.
Friday, today, I spent most the night throwing up and thrashing with fever dreams.  I kept some toast down this morning, and later a bowl of rice.  I helped Keith put up a fence (and by helped, I mean I put in a few posts then sat down and watched him do the rest) and then went home and slept slept slept.  The family did the sawmill cattle drive in the fog without me. I was sorry to have missed out, but I was grateful for the rest and their understanding that I was sick and miserable. Hopefully it'll pass soon, and I'll be back on my feet in no time.

Cows are silly creatures. They have wide, square faces with large eyes and their mouths open wide and they bellow a funny little tune.  They fallow you when you ride up on the four-wheelers in hopes that you'll bring them to new grass or a fresh block of salt.  They make me giggle every time.