Girlee gets a rider

Hey, you remember me writing about our horse, Girlee, the 3 year old that had never been ridden! Well, our friend and young cowboy, Loran, has been coming over to work with her in hopes to get a ride.

He saddled her up with a new saddle and all the other gear that Henry bought at an auction. First he put on a lead rope and walked her around and around to see how she obeyed his promptings. Next, using the lead rope, he ran her around the barn yard. I think this was all more about getting her attention and use to him than anything.

Henry then took the reigns and Loran began leaning on her, putting his weight onto her body and stroking her neck. It took a bit of time to get his boot into the strirrups and lift himself onto her back. Surprise, Girlee just turned her head and looked at him as if to say, "what cha doin?". Encouraging the horse, Loran began to walk her around the yard, first one direction then another.

He rode for about 20 minutes without any bucking!

It was a good day for Girlee and good for us to see that she can be ridden. Maybe one day you'll see a picture of one of the Prattes in the saddle. Thanks, Loran!

Eric Catches a Big One!

Last weekend, Eric came to visit us at the Ranch. I had been after him to come and with the baby on the way, it was now or much later. So he took a long weekend and fly to Denver. I picked him up Friday morning and we make the journey back to the ranch.

As many of you would, his comments were how different the landscape was from the lush green of Alabama. The perception of the Colorado mountains is pretty different from the flat semi desert of the Front Range. Being the homebody that he is, it was apparent from the moment he arrived that he was ready to go , as in been there ; done that; go on to the next thing!

We arrived at the house following a 6 mile ride along some dirt farm roads and he was glad to get out of the car. I didn't realize how scary it was to travel 60 mph along dirt roads when you're not use to it everyday.

I showed him to his room and gave him a tour of the house and barn. Following lunch, we went to borrow some fishing equipment and hit the bass pond. With a full charge on the trolling motor and fishing poles and tackes and a cooler, we pushed off of the pier. Starting with a recommended bait, we didn't catch a thing. Eric noticed a school of silvery small fish and thought that it would be a good idea to change to a like plastic worm. He found one in the tackle box, quickly changed out the lure and within minutes he had caught a bass, followed by another one that weighed about 4 pounds! Eric is a good fisherman, reading the pond just right.

Henry cranked up the old jeep and took Eric for a ride. The Eric kinda claimed the jeep during his visit. It's fun to drive and a pretty cool toy. We took four-wheeler wides all around the ranch and Eric got a good picture of the area where we live.

Friday night friends from the ranch came over for a bonfire weiner roast. That was fun for everyone and Eric got to meet some of friends and co-workers.

Saturday was more fishing and four wheeler riding followed by a trip to AJ's Tavern for burgers and pool.

We had a good visit. Now I'm looking forward to the day when he will bring his family out to see Grandma! It's getting close, only about 6 weeks to go before LeighAnne and Eric welcome a little boy into their family.

Jane

Preg Checking

A couple of weeks ago I watched a new activity on the ranch, Preg checking. Now preg checking is probably what you imagine when you read the title but I'll explain anyway.

First 400 or more cows are gathered from the pastures. These cows are driven in an old fashion cattle drive into holding pens by the cowboy on horse back. The young man in the picture is Joe, he works along side the cowboys to help herd. He has pretty good poise on that big on horse, I'd say. The gathering can take several hours as the animals graze on about 5,000 acre pastures. Once the cows are in the pens, the real work begins.

The pens are outfitted with alley ways that lead into skinnier alley ways that end up at a cattle chute. A couple of cowboys and / or cowgirls parse out a few cows at a time and head them into the alley. As the alley gets tighter the cows are forced to for a single file row of mooing varments.

Along the way, helpers encourage the cows to move closer and closer to the squeeze chute. The "squeeze" chute is the end of the line and where all the action occurs. There awaits the vet. Now the vet has the task of preg checking as he examines the cow to see if a calf is in the womb. He seems methodical and professional as he completes each examination. Upon completion, he instructs assistants to mark the cow, bred or open, provides any necessary medication and the frees the cow from the chute. The chute opens and the bred cows go into one pen and the un-bred cows go another. The open cows may end up at the market, I'm not sure. The bred cows will be moved into fields where their diet and their general health will be monitored as everyone waits the eventual birth of the spring calf.

Quite interesting if you ask me. There is more to ranching than I ever knew.

Until next time...Jane

An actor is born.

Hank was in the recent production of Huck Finn at Wiggins High School. His character was the con man, Bridgewater. This was his acting debut and he certainly surprised Henry and I. For a small school with limited number of students interested, I thought Mrs. Epple, the English teacher did a great job.