horses

Number 72

3 Jun posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

In case you have been in a hole this week, my pretty, gray mare, Streakin Iron, or Sonora (Nora) as she is known, had her baby! It’s a baby that was due May 23, but wasn’t born until May 31. I must say, I am beyond excited about him. He is by our stud, WDX Nukem which means he’ll be gentle, trainable and friendly. That’s a trifecta if you ask me! And for those of you wondering, he has a 50% chance of turning gray.

This colt has been affectionately dubbed: Frigidaire, or The Fridge. Hence, the title of this blog. Those of you that are old enough to remember Refrigerator Perry, will recall that he was Number 72. I believe I may register him as Number 72, and just refer to him as The Fridge. Zach decided that would be a good name, because just a few hours before he was born, we had a new refrigerator delivered, and of course My Cowboy just thinks he’s funny calling him that. I give him points for creativity.

And now because everyone so patiently waited for photos, here they are, with a couple of my dirty papillon, Higgins, thrown in just for good measure!

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Filed Under: #Agchat, foals, horses, ranching

Another Babeeeeeeeeyyyyy!

1 Jun posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

I don’t have photos yet, but I promise to get some today! My pretty gray mare finally had her baby! He was due May 23 but was born at about 9:50pm last night, May 31. He is by our stud, WDX Nukem and he looks just like him!

Here’s some video!

Another naming contest might be in order…And if I don’t hold a naming contest, I’ll hold one of some sort, just because I can!

Happy Tuesday Trails!

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Filed Under: #Agchat, foals, horses

Branding!

27 May posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

It’s that time of year here in Old Armstrong County, SD. The time where we gather with our neighbors to brand calves and work cows. This time of year is like Christmas. Honestly it’s that much fun. I can’t speak for anyone else, but we view branding days as extra holidays slipped in just for us! I took my colt, Dino to his first branding. He just completely rocked and made my heart happy and made me super proud!

I took a couple photos yesterday, but mostly the photos I’ll share were taken by our intern, Michelle.

Gathering:

Me looking into Dino’s eye (compliments of Instag.ram):

I’m kinda sore today. There’s nothing like a branding to magnify how out of shape one gets during a South Dakota Winter!

Happy Friday and Happy Trails!

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Filed Under: #Agchat, cowgirls, horses, ranching

Run, Rival, Run!

11 May posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

Many of you will recall that I was able to witness the birth of my cute colt, Rival, a couple weeks ago. Now that he’s growing up, he’s really starting to find his legs and his favorite past-time, save for taking naps in the sun and eating, of course, is running, and bucking and kicking and otherwise stirring up trouble. He’s just a boy. What can I say?

I can never seem to catch him in the act of beings super cute, though I have managed to catch a few photos of him goofing off. So I’m going to share those with you, because who doesn’t love to see a baby horse play? No one I can think of, and if you don’t, then there’s clearly something wrong with you!

So without further ado, here is being his handsome self!

Just like his mama- tail in the air and all. His mother is sure she was born to be a wild mustang and roam the hills of South Dakota free as a bird. After all, her name is Shuttle!

Run, kid, run!

Handsome, handsome!

He is really precious and I just love him! Thanks for letting me share him with you!

Happy Trails!

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Filed Under: #Agchat, horses, photography, ranching, spring

A Day in the Life

6 May posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

Yesterday was filled with lots of ranching action.

I love days like that. Did I mention I like them? I should probably say that I love them!

First, we ran out through the cow herd to look for new babies and make sure no cows were in need of our assistance while calving.

We’ll once again thank my iPhone and Instagr.am for the photos. It’s much handier than packing around the big camera.

Second, we moved one of the horse herds. This herd is primarily our broodmares, with last year’s colts thrown in for good measure. And there’s a couple new babies in this group as well. They were in two different groups so we got one group moved knowing we were short at least a dozen horses. I underestimated by almost double- because I wasn’t counting colts!

And I have a bit of video for you too:

I’m chatting with our extern, Kara. She’s also doubling as my much needed personal assistant and the whipping boy. I’m just kidding! If we didn’t give Kara heck, she would think she were at the wrong outfit!

By the time we finished getting both sets of horses moved, it was time for dinner.

Then we saddled horses to sort more dry cows.

This was my mount of choice today, the handsome beast, WDX Nukem- or Nuke.

Altogether we brought four cows home. You will only see three in the photos- and you’ll have to look really closely to see two way out in front. Those cows were just a tad “owly”. It’s a term we use to describe a high headed, wild-eyed cow. One that we’ve maybe rushed through her handling, or one that has just got a screw loose. Sadly, Words With Friends, says “owly” isn’t a word. Probably because it’s only found in the Urban Dictionary. If you’re wondering where the other cow was, it’s because she was on the other side of the road, and Kara was in charge over there!

Then we corralled them and had to do a bit of sorting, but there’s a trailer load of dry cows to go to the sale today!

It was a fun afternoon, and as always it’s full of learning experiences for myself. Ranching is good for helping you grow!

And that, is a day in my life.

Happy Trails!

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Filed Under: #Agchat, horses, photography, ranching

Yesterday, in Photos

3 May posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

It was a nearly perfect spring day yesterday! And as such we got horseback and did some work. It’s time to start sorting off the dry cows. For those of you unfamiliar with the terminology, a dry cow, is a cow that has sloughed her calf, or lost it in some other form or fashion, be it was still-born or she had it during a blizzard when we had our hands full trying to save other calves, and missed hers- or if she for some reason didn’t take her calf. That happens. It is sad, but it does happen. There’s only so many of us to go around, and we can only be in so many places at once. I’ve said before that death is part of this life I lead, and we don’t like it, but we do plan for it.

But before we sorted off dry cows (which is a bit like looking for a needle in a hay stack- more on this later), I got to ride my 4yo, Dino. Most of you know he’d Gump’s little brother, and so I have an extra special place in my heart for him.

Here he is looking extra happy. We’ll thank Instagram for the coolness of the photos. That and my new iPhone, which, I adore.

I saw our shadows and thought that might make for a cool shot. I’m always thinking like an artist and photographer! I can’t help it.

And this is him being his cute, sleepy-eyed self.

I had a super ride on him. He’s just so cool. Part of it is his personality, and part of it is how he’s been handled his whole life.

Then it was time for supper- and I feel the need to share how much the Granny spoils us. She made boiled potatoes, hamburger gravy and cheesy green beans. And I wonder why I can’t shed 10lbs!

I saddled the Gump, and headed to the pasture to see if we could find our 22 dry cows, in a herd of over 400. So you can see how it’s a kind of like finding a needle in a hay stack, right?

Here he is looking calm, cool and collected, in the corral:

Here we are heading out:

We found three of our 22 yesterday. Which means today, we’ll be back at it!

And finally, I managed to get a photo of my awesome stirrups and cool boots.

I hope you got to take advantage of nice weather if you had it yesterday! It appears to be another lovely day here in South Dakota and I’m frankly excited about going out to play cowgirl, once again!

Happy Trails and Happy Tuesday!

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Filed Under: horses, photography

It’s a Baby and a Contest!

29 Apr posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

It’s that most glorious time of the year!
Time for babies and green grass,
Wild onions and wild flowers
Blue skies and dry ground!

I said, babies, right? It’s Spring! Glorious, wonderful, super fun, Spring!

I knew that my mare, Shuttle was getting close, but she really surprised me yesterday morning, because when I headed to the corrals at about 10am, sure enough, she was laying down and something didn’t look “normal”. So I headed over to see her and low and behold, she was having a baby!

Here’s some video of his first few breaths! Don’t watch this if birth grosses you out. I have some video of him being half-way out- but you’ll have to request that one, because I don’t want to chase away readers!

And of course, I have photos! I have a few of him at only moments old, and I may show those later if y’all ask for them. Some people are birth averse.

Gettin’ in a good stretch!

I wonder if these things work?

They might work. I think they might!

I think I can! I think I can!

They totally work!

Uh oh! Don’t fall, kid!

Sunshine and a mama’s love. Does it get better?

Here’s a 6 minute video of him standing for the first time here- he’s about 25 minutes old!

Now, here’s what I’m gonna do- we’re going to have a naming contest! Fun, right? You’ll have today, and all weekend, as well as Monday- until noon- to come up with a name for a bay colt with about 5 white hairs in his forehead. So far on the list are Baxter and Benson. If I choose your name, you’ll get a 5×7 photo of your choice from my gallery. I can even give you a 5×7 of the baby if you want! Be sure to leave your name suggestion(s) in the comments section below.

Happy Trails and Happy Friday!

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Filed Under: foals, horses

A Brumby

15 Apr posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

Two weekends ago, a herd of horses came trotting down the road. Most of them are saddle horses belonging to a neighbor. They got the jump on him and found his gate open! And like good saddle horses, they went through it. Those 7 were simply interested in taking a tour of our place and ended up in an empty pasture at a neighboring ranch, about 4 miles away. But among those were two brumbies- also known as Mustangs, or BLM (Bureau of Land Management) horses. One of them is nowhere to be found, the other, well he’s found his way into our mare herd, and that’s not exactly where he belongs. No one is entirely sure where they came from. There are several places around here that run BLM horses, so we’re making phone calls.

I knew he was in our pasture, but hadn’t seen him yet. Yesterday, the hired man found him, so I went to the pasture to verify that yes, it was indeed the brumby.

Here’s the intruder:

He’s definitely colored pretty. A bay roan is always lovely to look at.

Now some of you are wondering, “Why can’t he just stay in your herd?” Or, “Why don’t you want a wild horse in your herd”? I know you are. So here’s the answer:

Our kids, and nieces, have horses out there, and we’d rather not have to try to explain to them, again, how one of their horses is crippled or dead because a wild horse got in there and agitated the herd. Further, we actively cull our own herd to make sure there aren’t any horses around that are non-disposed to be near people naturally. There are enough natural deaths, and other injuries our horses can come up with on their own without having something new and “wild” in there with them to upset the general balance of the herd. Zach’s daughter has some of the worst luck with horses. Two years ago she lost 2 of them to natural causes and a foal to a hyena mare. If you’d like an explanation of a “hyena” mare just ask in the comments section and you shall receive. I aim to please, after all.

When we were out looking at the horse herd, they weren’t peacefully grazing away- they were worried about keeping this horse out of their personal space, and as such the brumby and our horses were having a “discussion” as to where he fits in. He is, after all just a horse, and only wants to be part of a “herd”. He didn’t seem too bothered by us being around, so we’ll try to get him in and corralled and get him back where he belongs. In the meantime, I can take advantage of the opportunity to photograph such a rugged looking subject!

I slacked this week in the blogging department because, well, I had ranching to do, but lucky for y’all it’s a snow day here! So I’m going to get everything done that I need to get done inside, and that means that I’ll have plenty of time to say what I need to say and show what I’ve got stored up.

Happy Friday and Happy Trails!

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Filed Under: horses, ranching

The Good, The Fun and The Ugly

12 Apr posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

Note: this blog post includes death, so if you’re faint of heart and don’t want to read about it- stop here.

Real life on the ranch, can be so bittersweet. Things don’t always go as planned. It’s the ups and downs of ranching or farming or any sort of animal agriculture.

Yesterday started out as any normal spring day- we needed to get our cows moved to a “fresh” pasture. I had planned, initially, to ride a colt out to do this- then I was told that I might need to go to town, so I grabbed old faithful (Gump) instead, thinking I’d need to be able to hurry the process along, or leave the job early.

Here’s some of the boys saying “Hi”, yesterday.

From L-R: Gump, his little brothers Festus, and Dino, Banjo and Dozer.

We made it to the pasture and got our cows started moving. Then we came across this:

Poor Mama. She had just delivered a very big, very red, and very dead calf. She was proud of it nonetheless and had it licked dry and was loving it to get up. Poor girl- she just had no idea it wasn’t gonna get up. By the time we finished our job for the afternoon, she’d laid down beside it and was waiting for it to wake up. Yes, this breaks my heart, but it happens. We left her there, because there was no point trying to move her yesterday. Wednesday maybe, but yesterday, No.

Then I moved a playful group of first calf heifers and some late calving cows:

As we rode along I managed to startle this little guy:

He was certain that either I or Gump were his mama. He tagged along, closer than I’d have preferred, to my horse for a little while:

Sadly for him, no mama came to claim him and when we went across a creek, he just gave up trying to cross, climbed up a hill and went to sleep. No worries, though folks. Mother nature has a way of working these things out. His mama will find him. I promise. There is no stronger bond on the planet than that of a mother and her baby.

After we lost our cute tag-along, we crossed our final creek to make our last push for the other pasture. When we got to it, the cows all bailed in- to mud up to their knees. Several of the little guys didn’t think they could make it. I had ridden up the creek and over to a little peninsula to keep anything from going the wrong direction. As I sat there, I watched our hired man help these little calves across. Several of them had mamas that stood on the other side encouraging their little ones to just come- they could do it. But one mama cow, she left her baby there and the hired man was not in the proper equipment to wade into calf deep mud. So since I was donning my very stylish, always practical muck boots, I volunteered to help a very, hefty heifer across the creek. He held Gump for me. Initially I just thought I’d pick the little girl up. But seriously, she was 85 lbs of pure muscle and I’m an out of shape girl, so I promptly fell back down. I decided I’d aim her for a section of creek where it wasn’t quite as muddy. She was certain she couldn’t make it, as at one time, she just sat down to catch her breath- which I must say was nice, because I was out of breath too by then. After a few more urgings and helping her through the mud, she made it to the other side, just in time to meet her mama who’d come back over the hill after her, once she realized she’d not made it across.

Burt ponied my horse across the creek, and I stood in the stirrup just in time for Gump to swat at one of the few flies that’s around right now, and he managed to cover me in mud from his tail!

It ended up being a good thing I didn’t ride a soft colt through the mud and the muck and the day- we covered probably 15 miles and while my horse was still relatively fresh at the end of the day I wasn’t.

Oh well, such is the life of a cowgirl.

I will have the contest results done tomorrow. I promise. In the meantime, I’ve got fence to fix and colts to ride.

Happy Trails!

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Filed Under: horses, ranching

Lily Filly

4 Apr posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

We finally had our first nice day since I returned from Texas. Friday there were blue skies and although it was ridiculously windy it was still a pretty day.

I figured I’d make good on my promise to photograph Lily so y’all could share in her adorableness. I also discovered last week that there is another *accidental* filly out in one of the big pastures. *Note to self- the fillies and colts can no longer spend their coming two year old winter together. Who would have thunk it, eh?

Anyway, without further ado:

Her mama is sooooo pretty!

And she totally has her Grand-dam’s ears:

Lil Banjo- Their partner:

She’s certain she should eat!

Cuteness!

She’s moving like a reiner!

She’s practicing being a crazy teenager already!

Heya Higgins!

Lil Banjo, are you my friend?

I just want to hug her!

Why does she have to be so cute?

Hi Mom!

About this time, I began to call her mama in for supper. Lily was less than pleased with this idea, as she thought certain it was time for her to nurse. Dolce was having none of it, but the baby was sure telling us that she wasn’t down with this idea. Look at her ears. She’s practicing to be the mini-dragon number #3. *We call her Grand-dam, Dragon as a nickname, because when she backs her ears she looks just like the dragon from Shrek! And Dolce, she’s the Gecko. I know. Why name them and then call them something else? It’s just the way we roll around here!