Happy Trails!
Come Ride With Me!
17 Jan posted by
It’s a -6 this morning, but just as recently as January 8th, I was riding through a snow-free pasture, with a long sleeved shirt and a fleece on. It was even warm enough for me to don a cowboy hat again. Here’s a short video of Gump, me, and a couple of the kids long-trotting out to check on some crippled bulls.
I love long-trotting across the prairie!
Happy Trails!
Cows Baby!
11 Jan posted by
It’s the time of year to feed cows and since the weather has been lovely the cows haven’t been too interested eating. But today, with temps in the 20s, and wind chills making it feel colder than that, along with swirling snow, today they were really interested!!!!
This silly ol’ cow was running alongside the pickup!
They’re all happy girls now!
Happy trails!
I’m Gonna Get You!
30 Nov posted by
The antics of the horses always entertain. This is a perfect example. Kismit, the mare on the right side of the photos (a coming 4yo), is picking on a yearling colt who, for the time being we’ll call Peanut (only because his older brother is called Nutter Butter- yes, like the cookie!).
Kismet was orphaned at 7 weeks old, when her mother, who was pushed into the river (the Missouri) by a hail storm, failed to make the over half-mile long swim to the pasture on the other side of Parker Creek Bay. We lost 3 broodmares and 5 colts that storm; Gump and Dino’s mother and month-old sister among them. Kismet wasn’t found right away, and we assumed her dead; that is until a neighbor called us and told us there was a colt in with his cows. The herd stallion, Silver Bueno Tom, a mare and her foal did survive the swim, and ended up in the pasture right next to where Kismet was found. There were several surviving broodmares and foals, but it was tragic to say the least.
Now she’s a healthy, trouble-maker!
Because he holds his ears sideways more than not, Peanut always looks a bit like Eyore. Maybe that’s what we should name him?
She was really trying to start something!
Maybe if I ignore her?
This isn’t working out so good.
Oh well!
Happy Trails!
It’s Friday!
4 Nov posted by
I spent the majority of my week gathering pairs, sorting pairs, and sorting calves; and of course taking a few photos. I’ve been on no less than three different horses this week and Dino got moved to the A-team as my other partner, Gump, has a little boo-boo on his chest and forearm. It was shipping week on the ranch, also known as our payday! I’ll talk more about that at a later date.
In the rest of the spare time I had, I worked very hard to finish the calendar project! It is done. And no, I’m not showing you all the pages! You’ll have to buy it if you want to see them! But you should know that there will be never-before-seen photos in it! It’ll make a great Christmas gift, and I’m only having 100 printed, and guess what- there’s only 60 left!
You should also know that I got a call yesterday from a perfect stranger. A perfectly nice stranger, that is. A perfect stranger to me. He knows people in the family. That’s just how small South Dakota is! He is a contributing photographer to the Capture Dakota project, and wanted me to know that my photos have been appearing in the Aberdeen News and he wanted our address so he could send me a copy of the paper! So see, perfectly nice!
Now let’s get to the good stuff! The pictures- compliments of the iPhone and Instagram!
Nukie and I bringing in some stragglers when we cleaned a pasture on Sunday.
Dozer, Banjo and Nuke, enjoying some grass over lunch on Monday.
The view from my lunch seat! I was leaned up against a very comfy saddle listening to horses eat!
Dino trailing pairs on Tuesday.
And that is pretty much my week in a nutshell. I really do hope you’ll consider making my newest project one of your Christmas Gifts!
Happy Trails, and Happy Friday!
My Weekend in Pictures
24 Oct posted by
I feel like I haven’t talked about what’s going on here on the ranch in forever. And it’s because I haven’t. I’ve been really busy doing stuff; what stuff I can’t even begin to say. Handling horses, moving horses, sorting pairs, moving pairs, giving fall shots. Which reminds me- I have video to show y’all from a couple weeks ago. It was SO Windy the day we chose to give one of our herds some fall shots I had to film it so you could see!
I’ve digressed. This weekend we went out to our pasture up north- about 20 miles or so from the main ranch, to try and gather our missing pairs. A pair is a cow and her calf. We knew we were missing some because a week ago we gathered our family and friends to ride the pasture and trail the cows to the corral so we could give them fall shots and get a count on them. The count wasn’t even close to right, but we knew that in some places the gates had been rubbed open, and storms can push cows through fences, or a hunter can come through and let the fence down and not get it put back right; regardless we were missing some pairs.
Saturday brought us to a pasture I’d never been in before- a Pasture with Virgin Creek running through it. Virgin Creek is named for three virgins, that I believe were kidnapped, and reclaimed. I’ll have to ask Zach’s dad for the full story. I only know that there were three Virgins because I’m currently reading “Dakota Cowboy” which is a history of the reservation.
I took all these pictures with my iPhone, so they’re not all fantastic.
Here’s a couple views of the creek from one of the highest buttes:
It’s hard to tell but those dark spots- all trees. Getting across that creek was an adventure all in and of itself! There were very few places you could cross, even horseback. Lots of cut-banks and drop offs and if you could get down in one spot, you had to make sure you could get up the other side and that there was enough room between branches you wouldn’t take out your eye or something!
I have to say I was glad I donned my hair-on-hide chinks and the extra jacket because the weather decided to catch us in a quick sprinkle of shower- and Bob, just so you know, those hair-on-hide chinks, they shed water just fine!
We managed to find 19 of our cows in the neighbor’s pasture and our one missing bull. We got them back to the corral, and sorted his cows from ours.
Did I mention yet that it was a beautiful day, Saturday?
Gumpy looked handsome as usual, no?
I love his mane blowing in the breeze:
It got late in the day and we needed to be done in time to go play football with Ty, Zach’s son, so we left our cows corralled overnight.
On our way to the football game, we saw this:
And it was honestly as beautiful as the photograph!
Sunday brought another round of riding, because we needed to get our cows that were corralled, back to their own pasture!
And that is just what we did:
Zach rode a handsome horse named Dozer, I rode my loyal partner, Gump, and Wayne, Zach’s dad rode his horse, also known as, the Polaris Ranger. Our cousins, Earp and his son Scottie, rode their four-wheelers through another pasture to check for more missing pairs, as we were still short 25 or so after Saturday’s gather. Thanks to their help, we’re only missing about 20 pairs now! Slowly but surely we will get there.
And that, my friends is just another glimpse into a day in my life…
Happy Trails- and remember to smile and ride!
Capture Dakota
18 Oct posted by
Earlier this summer I was notified that I needed to enter a contest. Or maybe we should call it a showcase. Either way, I entered about 37 photos. The point of the contest, called Capture Dakota, was to showcase The Dakotas, with photographs taken by anyone who’s been here, or lives here. It was open to both North and South Dakota photographers (amateurs and professionals alike). There was no theme, per-say. The photos just had to have been taken in either state.
Viewers to the contest, as well as those who submitted photos, were able to vote on their favorites, and badges were awarded based on votes. There were photo of the day selections, most popular, and of course, those that got 100 votes were awarded a badge. I could go on and on about the various awards.
The goal of gathering all these photos was to choose the best of the best and put them in a coffee table book. From the submissions, the top voted photos as well as editors’ choices, were selected to shape the book. It contains 200 photos and is 128 pages, and will be released November 17th, 2011.
On Thursday, October 13, I received an email stating that one (or more) of my photos was chosen to be published in the book! Needless to say I kind of jumped up and down in the kitchen when I read that. You see, I had only earned one badge for a photo getting 100 votes, and I hadn’t submitted some of the more popular photos- though I was late to the party by several months! I didn’t expect to get an email stating I’d been published. But, no matter, the editors saw something they liked, and as such I am lucky enough to have at least one photo published in a coffee table book! I had several published last month in Dirt Road Daughters Magazine (in case you were unaware).
A smattering of my entries:
Here’s what makes this the most fun- I have no idea what photo(s) they chose, as they’re keeping it a secret until I get the book into my hot little hands! I’ve had the bright idea to do a “guessing” contest with you, the readers/fans.
What I’d like to do is have you go to my Capture Dakota profile page, scroll through my photos (and vote while you’re there, please). Then choose the photo, or photos, that you think made the book- enter by leaving me a comment here on my blog. You can tweet me or Facebook too, but those entries/comments won’t count- they’ll just be for fun! The person(s) (up to 5 winners) who gets it right will be awarded a signed 5×7 of one of the prints that made the book. I think it will be fun to have the contest now, that way we can all be in suspense for the next month together! The contest will begin today- and for kicks and giggles we’ll run it until NEXT Tuesday, October 25th. Entries will close at noon central time.
In the meantime, if you’re interested in purchasing the Capture Dakota book, go here. And, I’ve started an online gallery where all of my submitted Capture Dakota prints may be purchased. They’re not all there yet- but I’m adding them daily. Wouldn’t you love to have some of this art hanging in your house? I know I’d love to have it hanging in your house!
Happy Tuesday and Happy Trails!
Working Ranch Vacations
24 Aug posted by
If you’ve ever wanted to experience the life we are fortunate enough to lead, now’s your chance. We’re opening our doors! At least the front door to our house. This is an idea we’ve tossed around for quite some time now, and we’ve finally decided we should just jump in.
If you’ve not visited the Ranch Website, here’s some history for you:
At the Ducheneaux Ranch in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, we’re a real working ranch. We raise registered quarter horses, and black angus cattle. Our location along the banks of the Missouri River put us in some of the best grass country in the land.
The Ducheneaux family has been ranching this little piece of heaven on earth for 60+ years. Now, you can join us here to experience the life of a rancher.
The vacations will work this way:
You can bring your own camper, a tent, or stay at Bob’s Resort up the road. Also, we are happy to welcome you into our home as one one of the family if you want to stay here! Some of the things you’ll get to do include feeding cattle, calving, brandings, horse training/riding, branding horses, moving cattle from one pasture to another, halter breaking weanling and yearling horses, putting the bulls out to their pastures, checking and fixing fence, sorting the bulls off the herd, and fall gathers, shipping calves. Not only can you experience them here, but we’ll take you to help the neighbors if they’re in need of our help that day. You could even tag along to a high school rodeo or barrel race if your heart desired. Every day brings a new challenge. Life here is never boring. Chances are pretty good that in the summer you’ll see rattlesnakes, blue racers, grass snakes, antelope, white tail and mule deer, coyotes, the occasional porcupine, red tail hawks, pheasant, grouse, and in the fall if we’re lucky, bald and golden eagles.
In addition to the daily chores on the ranch, of which you can certainly opt out, you can fish, hunt whatever animals are in season, help with cleaning the hen house, feeding the chickens, gathering the eggs, and gardening. You can take a Native American history tour or hear stories of the ranch from 60 years ago, told on Scatter Butte. History abounds here!
We’ll serve three meals a day- many of which will include natural, antibiotic free, home-raised beef. And we can’t forget Zach’s famous Banana and Macadamia nut pancakes for breakfast; or Jenn’s World Famous Shrimp Alfredo. We can lunch alongside the Missouri River. In the evenings we’ll enjoy sitting around a campfire with adult beverages, playing guitars and singing; sitting on the back deck to watch the sun-set or we can even plop in a good old fashioned DVD. There isn’t a phone here, but we do have wireless internet access and your cell phone, well it might or might not work, so if you want to hide from humanity, this is THE place to be!
We’d love to hear from you, so if you want to experience this life, please look us up!
Happy Trails!
Scatter Butte
15 Aug posted by
In Black and white…
I mentioned the other day on Facebook, that I had taken some absolutely gorgeous, amazing and otherwise picture er, um book-worthy photos and that you’d have to wait until the book was released to see them, and I haven’t changed my mind about that. But, I couldn’t stand the suspense, so I decided to share a photo, that’s still good, but that isn’t MY favorite, and turn it into a black and white, so you can still see the view, but it won’t be in color.
And without further ado:
Enjoy your Monday!
Happy Trails!
Yesterday Afternoon
11 Aug posted by
We’ve been having some lovely weather here in South Dakota recently. Those of you in the South don’t hate, please? I got the chance to saddle Gump yesterday and move some pairs and I must say, it was a gorgeous ride! I took my iPhone and snapped a couple pictures. Someday folks, I will pack the big camera, but for now these will have to suffice.
Below you will see blue skies, grass and happy cows as well as the best way to view the world- from the back of a horse you know? There’s also pretty lighting!
Happy Trails!
