First Calf of the Year

March 7, 2013 by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~ Leave a Comment

We had our first calf born yesterday!

It’s always so exciting. We got some cows from Wyoming last year and they were bred earlier than ours, so ours aren’t supposed to start until around the 1st of April. We have a few heifers to calve this year too (about 45) but they’re all brangus girls so they ought to be easy calvers.

I thought I’d share a couple photos of the cute little guy! It wasn’t exactly a very warm day to be born. There was a layer of frost on everything yesterday morning and it may have gotten to 25 in the sun and that’s not taking into account the wind that felt the need to really blow! He is kind of hidden in some tall grass, which helps keep him warmer!

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His mama. If you’ll notice she’s got a bleach mark on her shoulder. That means she’s in the “first cycle” of calvers. We put that on them when we preg tested. It’s handy.

Then I took my camera back to the corrals. I had to show everyone how fluffy Bombshell is! The photos don’t really even do her justice. Is still adorable or what?

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Here’s our pretty filly we affectionately call, Maytag, aka, DX Spin Cycle. Her daddy is Chachi and she’s out of a mare that belongs to our cousin and friend.

The cute shetland pony that belongs to Ty. His name is Little Banjo. He’s adorable, no?

And of course the always photogenic Gumpy! He makes my heart sing!

If you have a horse have you hugged him lately?

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.