A day in my life

September 10, 2014 by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~ Leave a Comment

Yesterday, I headed out to start gathering bulls. My plan was to start with the smallest group where there are only two bulls. When I left it was foggy and drizzling.

As I headed out I found the first bull. He was laying down, kicking it by the water tank. I figured I’d leave him since he was pretty close to where I needed him to go.

I rode out north and kept going, and going and going. No bull. East to the dam, no bull. And then I saw a group, hiding in the tall grass, in the northwest corner.

Success. There you are! By now it was starting to sprinkle and had rained on and off already. Poor Dino kept trying to travel with his hips to the rain, which was pelting us from a northeasterly direction.

The bull was quite cooperative and went where I asked, though he did poke along. I figured I would trail him back to the tank and pick up my handsome Brangus bull when I got back. But wouldn’t you know I couldn’t find that sucker?!

Gathering bulls, for me anyway, is probably my favorite job on the ranch. It’s amazing work for your horse; they learn to rate, and when the animal won’t line out there’s lots of lateral work to do, as a cow isn’t much different than a horse when it comes to changing eyes.

I decided just to take #191 home and look for the other later. The closer we got to home, the harder the rain came down. At least we were riding into it now and Dino, while still not thrilled with this setup traipsed along for me like the champ he is.

We got the bull corralled and for a moment I considered putting Dino in the calving barn and going in for lunch but I figured I’d still have to get him back to the barn and out to his pasture. So we trotted back.

I know he looks less than thrilled in these photos but he sure did good yesterday! It took me a while to get dried out and warm again!

When I headed out to shut the gates (via ATV), wouldn’t you know I saw that Brangus bull? I locked him in the south half of that pasture and while I have intentions of getting him today I may wait until Friday when the weather is supposed to straighten up. It’s cloudy, windy, and yucky today and tomorrow it’s supposed to rain again.

How’d you spend your Tuesday?

Happy Trails!

About ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

Jenn Zeller is the creative mind and boss lady behind The South Dakota Cowgirl. She is an aspiring horsewoman, photographer, brilliant social media strategist and lover of all things western.

After a brief career in the investment world to support her horse habit (and satisfy her mother, who told her she had to have a “real” job after graduating college), she finally took the leap and stepped away from a regular income; trading the business suit once and for all for cowgirl boots, a hat, and jeans. She has not looked back.

When Jenn first moved to The DX Ranch on the South Dakota plains, she never imagined she’d find herself behind a camera lens capturing an authentic perspective of ranching, and sharing it with others. Jenn has always been called to artistry, and uses music, writing, images, home improvement, and her first true love of horses to express her ranching passion.

Horses are the constant thread and much of her work centers around using her unique style of writing to share her horsemanship journey with others in publications such as CavvySavvy, the AQHA Ranching Blog, the West River Eagle, the family ranch website, and her own website.

Using photography to illustrate her stories has created other opportunities -- Jenn’s brand “The South Dakota Cowgirl” has grown to the level of social media “Influencer”. This notoriety has led to work with Duluth Trading Company, Budweiser, Wyoming Tourism, Vice, Circle Z Ranch and Art of the Cowgirl, to name a few. She also serves as a brand ambassador for Woodchuck USA, Arenus Equine Health, Triple Crown Feed and Just Strong fitness apparel. Her photography has been featured by Instagram, Apple, TIME Magazine, The Huffington Post, and Oprah Magazine. Jenn’s work has been published internationally, has been seen in several books and has graced the covers of several magazines.

Jenn became a social media influencer by accident when she started to explore Instagram as a way to share her life on the ranch with folks that don’t get to experience it. It’s grown into an incredible platform that she uses to empower women, create an environment for self improvement and share life on the ranch.

When she’s not working, she loves to drink coffee, play with her naughty border collie named Copper, start ranch colts, and run about the country chasing cans. Her mother still thinks she doesn’t have a “real” job.