The South Dakota Cowgirl

Life on the Ranch Through My Lens

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Rodeos, Barrel Races and More Rodeos…

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Since I last updated my little space, I’ve been to rodeos all over it seems! Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota, Montana! 

First up was Sydney, Nebraska. I took Cosmo. It was an incredible experience for her — I’ll share all about it on Cavvysavvy!  Avie and I had a stumble on the first that kept us out of the money!

From the Sydney performance, I drove 5.5 hours to Piedmont, SD. Arrived at 1:45 am, and of course by the time you get horses fed and settled and yourself to bed, it’s 2:30am and slack is at 8 the next morning.  They always have men’s events first in Deadwood, but they sure rolled through them in a hurry. Deadwood is one of my favorite rodeos but I’ve yet to get anything done there…

The following week I held my second women’s photography workshop for the year! It was so much fun! And if you missed that one, you still have one more chance — you can come see me in Kansas October 11-13! 

Monday the 5th of August, I ran in Spearfish. That’s a teeny-tiny pen, and I took down every barrel that run. I just didn’t ride my horse hard enough. That’s my fault. It’s always my fault. 

On August 8th we ran at Marshall, MN. I love going to rodeos attached to fairs, because they really get your horses exposed to a lot. Cosmo was a little afraid of all the rides and such! We made a decent run there but had a bad slip on the third. I had to turn out of the Onida, SD rodeo, which I should add, is the closest rodeo to me that I can enter.  Schedule wise, it turned out I needed to get Avie reset that day (he needed new nikes!), and my farrier couldn’t get me in any earlier than Friday at 2pm which didn’t leave me enough time to make it back for slack that day! Permit holders almost always draw up in Slack — which is the overflow from the performance. 

Thursday, August 14th, I found myself driving to Baker, Montana. That was a big pen and a tiny pattern! It was a great facility and I can’t wait to go back!  That rodeo had a photographer — Rodeo Ready — and he captured avie looking fierce. 

I got to spend the next week at home — which was nice because I haven’t done a lot of that this summer! Belle Fourche, SD for a jackpot was up next on August 24/25. We won a little money and set a PR for ourselves. I am super happy to have my horse back, and my confidence increasing in him with each run! 

Today we leave for Killdeer, North Dakota. We entered in two rodeos over the long weekend! We run Saturday and Sunday morning and then we are off to the races for the rest of the year. Our schedule kinda got crazy which is good. Cosmo is going to get a lot of exposure to different things and that’s good because she’s going to take Avie’s place — eventually.

Here are the events we’ll be attending for the next month! 

September 5-7 we run in Gillette, WY

September 13-15 we run in Belle Fourche, SD

September 20-22 we run in Bowman, ND

Then I’m the keynote speaker and am teaching two photography classes at the Black Hills Photo Shootout! 

I’m sure I’ll update you again — but I don’t have a single open weekend until the middle of November! How did this happen?

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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