The South Dakota Cowgirl

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Fixing a Water Gap

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I have mentioned before that with all the snow we’ve had, we were going to have a lot of fence to fix. That wasn’t an understatement really. We got started with some of it yesterday. As we were checking for new calves yesterday we did a double-take where we thought they were getting out and sure enough, the fence is down. Water gaps are notorious for washing out because by very nature, water runs through there, snow melts, the ground freezes and thaws-freezes and thaws, and fence posts, well they just have trouble staying put.

The following photos are what we found, and how we fixed it. It’s a temporary fix for now, seeing as how it’s too muddy and wet to really fix it, but since there’s water in the bottom of the creek, we won’t have to worry too much about cows getting down in there and heading South!

I took all of these with my cell phone, so please pardon the quality.

Here is the culprit:

Here’s Parker Creek:

Looking up at the washed out post:

What we did was put in a t-post next to the wood post. The fence was then wired (#9-wire is our friend) to the new t-post.

After we put in the first post, we decided we’d add a post on each side to further hold the wood post in place.

We ran barb-wire from the new t-post to the t-post next to the wood post.

And it got tightened by putting the wire pliers or plammers between each strand of wire and twisting.

Until it dries out this should keep the cows where they belong. When it gets dry we’ll probably do some more work on this gap.

Happy Trails!

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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.

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Comments

  1. Erica says

    Great pictures, I love studying the difference in terrain. That’s a really steep ditch to the creek…yikes!! Here we have to check for tree limbs that buckle under the weight of the snow and fall on the fences. I remember having to help pull barbed wire when I was a kid, NOT my favorite job!

    Reply

  3. the Mayor says

    “getting down in there and heading South” makes me envision the wild ones from your herd stealing away for Spring break…. only to be located weeks later complete with mardi-gras beads and tatoos.

    Reply

  6. Jacob Olsen says

    We have a small ranch north of Casper Wyoming. Soil looks about the same as your place. Thinking of getting a kattle keeper system. What do you think? would something like that hold up in this kind of soil? Tired of fixing my watergaps.

    Jacob Olsen

    Reply

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