Are You Going to Have a Great Week?

October 1, 2013 by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~ Leave a Comment

This week will be awesome. There’s no two ways about it. I’ve handled colts already, tomorrow we go gather at our neighbor’s big pasture, and Friday we ship for Uncle Leo. Plua, Thursday is my birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There’s gonna be more rides on Fridge and getting these colts handled has moved to the top priority list around here (finally). Oh, and Friday last week, I may have gone and embraced my punk side with purple, pink, and turquoise in my hair!

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Yesterday, as I handled a coming 8yo (who has maybe 45 rides), I worked on getting him to pick me up off the fence, because as I’ve mentioned earlier, picking you up off the fence is less about that and more about helping the horse learn that you’re willing to let him think. I never used to want my horses to pick me up off the fence. In fact, I despised the idea. I thought it was dumb and I didn’t see the point. I couldn’t get them to a place where they were even close enough for me to try.

The point I’m trying to make here, is that our attitude can and does directly affect our success or “failures” with our horses. I believe 110% now that I CAN get my horse to a place where he can pick me up off the fence, and I see the benefits from it, but I had to arrive there on my own.

Prior to my enlightenment about getting on from the fence, or rather teaching/getting the horse ready to pick me up , I’d have spent two hours getting nowhere but angry, and yesterday in 15 minutes, Festus (Gump and Dino’s half brother) was ready to pick me up and was glad to be there next to me, where I could rub him.

I’m finding a huge difference in myself since I’ve embraced these ideas too.

You’ve got to do what you believe in or believe in what you do.

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.